“It’s bizarre to be this busy and not presenting music,” said an official at one festival; “We’ve had to unravel a pretty huge ball of yarn while transitioning to working remotely,” said another. Not only are there the issues of contacting patrons (individually, in some cases), testing the cancellation clauses of contracts, and dealing with lost income, there are problems like airlines giving (in place of refunds) travel credits to the ticket holder, not the festival who paid for the ticket. – The Post and Courier (Charleston)
If Travel Is Shut Down Do You Need Travel Books? Lonely Planet Shuts Down
“I was fearing bad news about a big travel firm this week: perhaps an airline, holiday company or cruise line. But I never expected to hear that the world’s leading travel-guide firm is proposing to shut its two main hubs: the original HQ in Melbourne, and the London office where much Lonely Planet content, including the magazine, is created.” – The Independent (UK)
Is There Anything More Useless In A Time Of Crisis Than The Humanities? Maybe Not…
“Even in good times, the humanistic academy is mocked as a wheel turning nothing; in an emergency, when doctors, delivery personnel, and other essential workers are scrambling to keep society intact, no one has patience with the wheel’s demand to keep turning. What is the role of Aristotle, or the person who studies him, in a crisis?” – The New Yorker
The Ceramics Sculpture Studio That Starts With Making Garden Pots
Now it’s pretty much stopping with the garden pots as well as the artists can’t mentor young proteges in the studio. But the already created ceramics are serving a purpose: “We hope that by arranging contact-free delivery and collection we can help people get on with their gardening at home during this strange spring. … That’s a nice transfer from the work of people making pots to something that can entertain people at home.” (And the youth get paid, too.) – The Guardian (UK)
To Heck With Streaming Everything; It’s Time To Read Montaigne
Well, why not? The original essayist might be the way to go. “On Solitude is one of Montaigne’s many small masterpieces. It’s an essay, typically short and, as always, disarmingly conversational. It discusses, without any hint of didacticism, the merits of being alone. Montaigne insists throughout his essays that he’s writing only to further his own understanding of life; that he’s totally unqualified, and we can ignore him if we like.” But let’s ignore our screens instead. – The Irish Times
Note To Fundraisers: Get The Unions On Board Before You Make A Plan Not To Pay Performers
The charity Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS was planning a stream of a November 2019 (remember those halcyon days?) concert that celebrated the 25th anniversary of Disney on Broadway. Problem: While SAG-AFTRA and Actors’ Equity were on board, the American Federation of Musicians was not. The union’s president: “Especially now, with zero employment in the entertainment sector, the content producers should care enough about the welfare of those who originally performed the show to see to it that they are fairly compensated when their work is recorded and streamed throughout the world.” – The New York Times
Baritone Ludovic Tezier Warns That The Virus ‘Will Have The Skin Of The Arts’ If Governments Don’t Step In
The opera singer says that the lyric arts are particularly at risk with the shutdown, and he addresses President Macron directly in his column. “I speak on behalf of troubadours and acrobats who go on the road, often far from their own, and whose only possibility of building their life rests on the intangibility of the next contract. There are very few wealthy people in this laborious little world, very few whose calendar goes beyond the next ten months. The life of artists is a daily struggle.” – Le Monde
City Lights Books Sends Out A Cry For Help, Gets $400,000 In Donations
The iconic San Francisco bookstore founded by Beat poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti said in its GoFundMe appeal that it was continuing to pay salaries and health care for its employees, but that it wasn’t doing online orders to keep its people safe – and thus was out of money. Thousands of people responded. – San Francisco Chronicle
Girl With A Purell Earring And Other Tweaks Making The Art Rounds During The Pandemic
Truth: “Art meme-ing has long been with us, but some mix of quarantine creativity, idle isolation and the need to connect through humor in these uncertain times is sparking a stream of mischievous art alterations.” (The Scream without the screamer? Whoa.) – The Washington Post
Restaurants And Retail Are Closed, So What’s An Out-Of-Work Hollywood Artist To Do?
Podcast from home, of course. (Or work in video games or animation – those industries, perhaps unsurprisingly, are doing just fine.) – Los Angeles Times
Pandemic Virtual Book Clubs Are Popping Up All Over The Internet
Are books therapeutic? Is reading itself, with the concentration it requires, even possible now? Yes, but make it social. “The experience has been, by turns, surprisingly insightful and predictably frustrating, but above all, it has given me something to look forward to.” – The Atlantic
Diane Rodriguez, Longtime Champion Of Theatre Artists Of Color, Has Died At 68
Rodriguez, a writer, actor, and former associate artistic director at Center Theatre Group, died of cancer on Friday. “‘Diane was an incredibly disciplined artist, with equal talent as a writer, director and actor,’ said CTG Artistic Director Michael Ritchie. ‘But she was never more animated than when she was advocating for the work of other artists. The arts community mourns the loss of a leader and advocate for accessibility, inclusion and community.'” – Los Angeles Times
The Show Is Going On
No matter how bad the technology may be, actors gonna act; singers gonna sing; and a theatre-loving public may get some benefit from the many performance livestreams. – BBC
Craft Workers Side-Eye The Not So ‘Sanitary’ Conditions On Hollywood Sets
When should Hollywood start up again – and can it fix all of this? “Until now, lackadaisical hygiene has largely been accepted as part of the job. While production was shut down in an effort to slow the virus’ spread, the global pandemic has stirred debate on established cleanliness practices, raising broader questions and concerns about the definition of safe work spaces in Hollywood, particularly among production crews who are often the most exposed.” – Los Angeles Times