“Expert players vary a lot in the number of practice hours they put in, and on average amount of practice can only account for about 30% of variation in performance quality, meaning that 70% of the story about musical expertise remains untold. Here we turn to the real topic of interest: quality of practice. What makes good quality practice? … Emma Allingham, a music psychology researcher at the University of Hamburg, shares her insight.” – The Strad
Rebuilding The Shattered Great Mosque Of Aleppo
“A civil engineer named Tamim Kasmo, 73, has joined a team of architects and engineers, stonemasons and woodworkers who have taken on the task of rebuilding the [12th-century] mosque. … Kasmo’s team must put the minaret back up and repair the broken columns, scorched ceilings, and bullet-scarred walls of the prayer hall and arcades that surround the courtyard.” – Atlas Obscura
Berlin’s Biggest Art Fair Is Canceled
Berlin’s most prominent art fair evolved out of its previous iteration, Art Berlin Contemporary, and was held for the past three years in the historic Tempelhof airport each September, showing mostly contemporary art. But the fair’s owner which also runs Art Cologne, has decided after months of discussions that the conditions in Berlin are too unpredictable for its liking. – Artnet
Founders Of Chicago Theatre Leave. Theatre Erases History Of Their Involvement
“They indicated that they didn’t want to be associated with the theater any longer after they had departed, so we did that.” When I asked if they said they wanted to be excised from its history, he said, “We interpreted it in that fashion.” – Chicago Reader
Should Arts Organizations Program For The Election?
Many think there’s a separation of politics and art. But simply ignoring elections seems an abdication of responsibility. There are ways to think about how to address elections if you’re an artist. – Clyde Fitch Report
At The Jacob’s Pillow Gala This Summer, One Patron Was Subjected To Humiliating Racist Treatment By Some Other Patrons. Here’s How The Director Handled It.
“After hearing about this, I couldn’t stay silent. I wrote an op-ed for our regional paper, The Berkshire Eagle, describing how Jacob’s Pillow, like many cultural institutions, is working to create a climate of inclusiveness. ‘We can diversify the artists … we celebrate onstage, the dancers we teach in our school, and the representation of people of color on our board and staff,’ I wrote. ‘What can we do to evolve our audiences so that our institution is truly inclusive?” I invited readers to share their thoughts.” Pamela Tatge writes about what has happened as a result. – Dance Magazine
How Reading Has Changed In The 2010s
“For a while we were told that books were going to be a thing of the past. A new century had dawned, our lives were being digitised and surely there was no longer any reason to lug the pressed pulp of dead trees around. And yet, over the past decade, it seems clear that the death of the book has been greatly exaggerated.” – BBC
A ‘Byzantine Pompeii’, Discovered By, And Now Threatened By, Subway Construction
“At stake [in Thessaloniki, Greece’s second city,] is not one building or artefact but the entire central junction of the city as it existed in late Roman times: a covered, colonnaded space where carriages once rattled past, and copper-smiths, jewellers and silk-merchants did a roaring trade.” – The Economist
Canadian Literary Juries Struggle With Balance Between Politics And Art
“(Literature) should not be reduced to politics, obviously, because human experience is more than politics. But also, human experience is never without politics.” – Toronto Star
Netflix Says 26 Million Watched “The Irishman” In Its First Week
“The Irishman,” released on Netflix on Nov. 27, is expected to be watched by about 40 million Netflix households in its first month, Sarandos said. That would be well below other Netflix hits, such as the science-fiction thriller “Bird Box,” that drew 80 million households during its first four weeks. – Los Angeles Times
Theme Park Workers File Suit Against Disney Over Low Wages: “We’re Living In Cars!”
A new class action lawsuit, filed Friday in California Superior Court and announced in a press advisory Monday, argues that the Walt Disney Company, worth approximately $130 billion as of this year, failed to pay hundreds of those workers a living wage. The complaint was filed by five Disney employees on behalf of more than 400 hospitality workers. – The Daily Beast
Audience and Actors Sharing ‘The Thin Place’
Emily Cass McDonnell, who stars as Hilda in the New York premiere of Lucas Hnath’s The Thin Place, knows that it works because of magic. An important part of the experience happens near the beginning of the play when Hilda engages an audience member. But not in any usual way. – Margy Waller
How NPR Changed The Voice Of Authority
NPR has kept speaking with many voices that would sound out of place on the air anywhere else. Many, if not most, have been female. As hosts and anchors, correspondents and reporters, women have played a key role in giving NPR its distinctive sound. – The Conversation
For Gender Parity Among Filmmakers, The Middle East Is Way Ahead Of Hollywood
“A recent study by Northwestern University … found that 26% of independent Arab filmmakers are women … In Morocco, Tunisia and Lebanon, 25% of all new directors are women. In Egypt, this year’s Cairo International Film Festival became the first Arab festival, and second African festival, to pledge 50-50 gender parity by 2020.” – BBC
A Protest Song-And-Dance About Violence Against Women, Launched In Chile, Is Spreading All Over The World
“This stirring performance, titled ‘Un violador en tu camino‘ (“A Rapist in Your Path), was first brought to life by the feminist art collective called Lastesis at a protest in the port city of Valparaíso, Chile, late last month, as a way of drawing attention to violence against women. Since then, this viral action has materialized in Colombia, Mexico, France, India, the U.S. and Turkey (where an attempt to stage it on Sunday was broken up by police).” – Los Angeles Times
Turns Out Lord Elgin Actually Did A Bit Of Good With The Parthenon’s Marble Friezes
Yes, he looted much of the statuary at the ancient Greek monument (his booty now sits in the British Museum), but he also had Athenian craftsmen take plaster casts of much of what he left in Athens. Now those casts reveal a lot of detail that has since been worn away by the corrosive effects of air pollution. – The Guardian
Merriam-Webster’s 2019 Word Of The Year: ‘They’
“The US dictionary … said that look-ups for ‘they’ increased by 313% in 2019 compared with the previous year, as the public investigated the word’s shifting use [as a singular pronoun for gender non-binary individuals] and its increasing prominence in the news.” – The Guardian
May Stevens, Protest Artist Known For ‘Big Daddy Series, Dead At 95
“Stevens was known for her monumental paintings that dealt with social and political issues, as well as her activism, teaching, and writing. The artist used personal experiences and her responses to racism and oppression to inform her works, which span painting, collage, drawing, and prints.” – ARTnews
How to make museums more accessible for people with disabilities? Ask them
“Museums can be hostile places for disabled visitors, with buildings that are hard to navigate by wheelchair and exhibits presented with few concessions to those with sensory or cognitive impairments. But a handful of European institutions have conducted access studies that promise to transform this dispiriting experience, drawing on expert advice from participants with diverse lived experiences of disability.” – The Art Newspaper
Joyce Foundation, SAIC program wants to guide new faces to careers in the art world
“Art on gallery walls doesn’t just materialize — the effort of displaying works is done through preparators. And a collaboration with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and the Joyce Foundation is making sure that artistic avenue is populated with people from diverse walks of life. ‘Re-Tool 21,’ seeks to provide opportunities for traditionally underrepresented groups in the art world, including women, immigrants, people of color, the formerly incarcerated and LGBTQIA, to receive training in art preparation and handling.” – Chicago Tribune
Protests As Peter Handke Collects Nobel Lit Prize
The Austrian writer’s win in October has proved highly controversial, with politicians and writers lining up to condemn his denial of Serb atrocities during the war in the former Yugoslavia, as well as his presence at the funeral of war criminal Slobodan Miloševic. The Kosovan ambassador to the US, Vlora Çitaku, has called the choice of Handke “scandalous … a preposterous and shameful decision”. – The Guardian
That Art Basel $120K Banana – This Is Where We Are Now
Sebastien Smee: “What happened to “Comedian” after it became a media sensation sums up our collective disorder — a kind of media-based bulimia — exquisitely. First, at lunchtime on Saturday, David Datuna, a little-known and well-fed-looking performance artist wanting to become better known, showed up at the gallery, took the banana off the wall and, claiming to be a “hungry artist,” ate it.” – Washington Post
Peter Marks: America’s Top Theatre This Year
“This year will be remembered as a transitional one for American theater, as a new generation of leaders settled in at some of the nation’s top nonprofits, including Washington’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre (Maria Goyanes taking over from Howard Shalwitz) and Shakespeare Theatre Company (Simon Godwin, succeeding Michael Kahn).” – Washington Post