Why do the rich and powerful pay for this to happen? Do they not know that they are sponsoring people who are critical of the very structures and processes that enable their own wealth and power? Why help artists, writers, filmmakers gain new audiences? Why give them prizes? –Scroll (India)
What Scientists Learned From Analyzing 24,000 Chess Matches
Over the last century or so, chess players, the study shows, have been getting better as well as younger. This parallels the so-called Flynn effect in intelligence, or a notable rise in raw cognitive scores. “Performance increased steadily over the course of the twentieth century,” the researchers write, “but the data also reveal a steepening of the performance increase during the 1990s.” – Nautilus
A Grand Unifying Theory Of Culture?… (Meh)
“In the same way that Darwin’s theory explains how life follows pathways of adaptation via natural selection, cultural evolution proposes that human cultures develop and transmit deep understandings and values across generations. There are many pathways of cultural evolution, Henrich contends, and no single human culture. To better understand the world and Europe’s influence on it, we need to recognise that European culture is, in Henrich’s key acronym, “weird”: western, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic.” – The Guardian
Houston Grand Opera Managing Director To Depart; Company To Reorganize Leadership
Currently HGO is overseen by artistic and musical director Patrick Summers and Perryn Leech as managing director, with both reporting to the board of directors. The company’s new leadership structure will result in a new general director who will serve as a single point of leadership, to whom Summers will report as HGO’s artistic and musical director. – Opera News
My Grandpa Was Part Of The Nazi Language Police
Martin Puchner, Harvard comp lit professor and editor of The Norton Anthology of World Literature, writes about Rotwelsch — an amalgam of colloquial German, Yiddish, and Romani spoken for centuries by itinerant people in Central Europe and incomprehensible to outsiders — and about how he discovered that his grandfather, a historian named Karl Puchner, had worked with the Nazi regime to suppress Rotwelsch and keep the German language pure. – Literary Hub
Is This The Dream Sheet Music App We’ve Been Waiting For?
“Artificial intelligence experts working with musicologists at a Berlin startup have spent years gathering hundreds of thousands of published scores and creating digital editions of each of them. The Enote app will give musicians the chance to interact with sheet music by instantly transposing it, switching between movements or measures, turning pages, changing the size of scores, and printing them on the go.” – The Guardian
Fred Hills, Legendary Editor At McGraw Hill And Simon & Schuster, Dead At 85
“During his four decades in publishing, Mr. Hills brought to market both commercial hits and literary prizewinners and edited more than 50 New York Times best sellers. His stable of authors encompassed an eclectic assortment from multiple genres — Heinrich Böll and Jane Fonda, Justin Kaplan and William Saroyan, Raymond Carver and James MacGregor Burns, Sumner Redstone and Joan Kennedy, Phil Donahue and David Halberstam.” – The New York Times
Why I Steal From Museums: Mwazulu Diyabanza Makes His Case
“These artefacts belong to me, because I am African and Congolese. But also because I am a descendant of Ntumba Mvemba, one of the royal families that founded the Kingdom of Kongo in 1390. … People have to understand that if someone stole their heritage they would react as I am now. Many of my ancestors died protecting these items: they were beheaded. … Their pain is inside me.” – The Guardian
The Remarkable Life Of The Notorious Art Thief
The privilege and social rank that Bridget Rose Dugdale repudiated gave her the trained intellect and discerning eye that made her the most notorious (and nearly the only) female art thief in history. – Washington Post
Relax and enjoy the show
Though we would all rather have the option of being able to gather together to see performances and exhibitions, there are real benefits of the relaxed atmosphere of watching from home, the power of which should not be underestimated. Here are a few tangible ways that our current mode of arts participation makes for a satisfying arts experience. – Hannah Grannemann
Philadelphia Museum Of Art Closes, Furloughs Staff
The PMA reopened on September 6 after almost six months of closure. In August, the museum laid off 85 of its employees; an additional 42 workers accepted voluntary separation agreements. The decision to reduce staff was announced two days before the outcome of a union vote at the museum in which 89% of workers voted “yes.” The August layoffs followed a reduction of over 20% of the museum’s workforce (100 employees) in June through a combination of furloughs and voluntary separation agreements. – Hyperallergic
Actor Wes Studi Revisits ‘Dances With Wolves,’ And How Native Depictions Have Changed On TV And Movies
Some things have improved – and others have far to go. Studi: “We’re getting to see Natives in contemporary situations and still bringing it as skins — as Indians. It’s never enough, and never soon enough, but we’ve got to live with the world we have.” – Yahoo! Entertainment
Artists Are Turning London’s Residences Into Street Galleries
The newly developed (for Britain’s second lockdown) Artists’ Walk has more than 115 artists signed up so far – meant for London, yes, but including artists as far away as Wales. One artist: “It’s a great idea and affords people a different experience during their daily walks. … It does mean that those who would be reluctant to set foot in a gallery can still view contemporary art, and others can get their fix.” – The Guardian (UK)
Nelly Kaplan, Director Of Films Including ‘A Very Curious Girl,’ Has Died At 89
The Argentine turned French director, whose death was caused by COVID-19, made “witty, satire-tinged French films about female empowerment and revenge.” – The New York Times
After Poets House Suddenly Closes And Lays Off Staff, Accusations Of Retaliation Arise
What’s going on at the nonprofit foundation “co-founded by Stanley Kunitz, the nation’s 10th Poet Laureate, and Elizabeth Kray, a devoted supporter of poets in New York City”? The ex-staffers, all of whom were laid off in a Zoom call, have some ideas. “The move followed months of staff-led organizing to hold management and the board accountable for ‘frequent complaints of workplace discrimination, sexual harassment, and exploitative labor practices,’ says a statement authored by ex-staff in response to Poets House’s announcement.” – Hyperallergic
Bringing A Social Sculpture To Life During The Pandemic
And at a retirement home, at that. “With the 31-acre community as her canvas and its 500 residents and staff members as her medium, [Elizabeth] Turk envisioned ‘a wild garden on steroids” for a moving-art installation.” – The New York Times
As ‘Queen’s Gambit’ Shows, The Stories We Choose To Tell Can Change Lives
Chess sets are sold out all over the United States, and little kids (and adults) of all genders are suddenly very, very into chess. What if Queen’s Gambit had been the rage 50 years ago, instead of, or alongside of, stories about Bobby Fischer? – Los Angeles Times
Can’t Travel, Can’t Go To Concerts, But This Irish Cellist On YouTube Is Bringing The Joy
Like many musicians, Irish cellist Patrick Dexter decided to post performances to YouTube during Irish lockdown. He thought, well, what the heck, now I have time to play music outside for other people. “The open-air recitals, shot outside his picturesque cottage in Mayo on the rural west coast, have been viewed millions of times.” – BBC
As If British Bookstores Aren’t Having Enough Trouble, Books Can’t Get Into Port
Yes, it’s partly due to Brexit, and partly due to the pandemic, but the port at Felixstowe backed up so far that some companies won’t even try to import. “People are contacting us saying they’ve paid for books on pre-order as gifts, and we ultimately can’t guarantee delivery.” – BBC
How Bollywood Is Adapting To The Coronavirus
Bollywood is up and running again, kind of. Some adaptations: Very restricted international travel, smaller numbers of people allowed for dance scenes, and sprinkler systems that douse costumes in disinfectant. Still, the infection numbers continue to mount. One director: “All I could think was, it’s like you’re a sportsman and the rules of the game have changed.” – Los Angeles Times
The Met Is Offering Opera Workers Pandemic Paychecks – In Exchange For Big, Lasting Cuts
The offer for a paycheck would be very tempting – but it comes with 30 percent pay cuts post-pandemic, ones that wouldn’t be recovered even if the opera company recovers. “The unions that work with the Met are against making such significant concessions that could affect workers long after the most severe impacts of the pandemic subside, and have accused management of taking advantage of the outbreak in order to get them to agree to cost-cutting measures.” – The New York Times
Australia Gets Ready To Restart Live Performance As (Almost) Normal
“Live performance venues and events will be allowed to reach capacity of up to 75% in states that have recorded no new locally acquired coronavirus cases in 14 days. … In what has been labelled the ‘Covid normal’ of the near future, indoor events and seated outdoor events will still be ticketed only, and additional restrictions will still apply to large-scale multi-day outdoor music festivals.” – The Guardian
AI-Powered Virtual Sheet Music Could Be Game-Changer For Musicians
Artificial intelligence experts working with musicologists at a Berlin startup have spent years gathering hundreds of thousands of published scores and creating digital editions of each of them. The Enote app will give musicians the chance to interact with sheet music by instantly transposing it, switching between movements or measures, turning pages, changing the size of scores, and printing them on the go. – The Guardian
Most Musicians Earn Tiny Pittances From Streaming. China May Have A Solution
“On several streaming platforms under the umbrella of China’s Tencent Music … micropayments from fans help compensate artists where royalties fall short. This has partially allowed artists to do some smaller-scale hustling every time they release a new album. In part it’s given them a digital tip jar. But it hasn’t been all small change. … [And] there’s no reason why Tencent Music’s model can’t be applied beyond China.” – Slate