Western museums have traditionally resisted requests to return cultural heritage to their countries of origin. “Yet museums and claimants may be inching toward some common ground. American museum directors said recently that they are revising guidelines for addressing repatriation claims. And some combatants are working toward creative solutions. Even the Elgin sculptures could make a visit home for the Olympics. Greece and the British Museum reportedly are discussing a possible loan. And while they defend the idea of a ‘universal museum’ with the common heritage of humankind on display under one roof, museum directors are looking for new missions.”
Month: December 2003
A Culture Gap Between Europe And The US
Is there a growing gap between the cultures of Europe and America? A group of five European and American writers get together to agree that there is. But as for how the gap is defined and what its causes are…
Two Glitzy London Theatres Get A Redo
“If you want plush, if you want opulence, if you want to revel in the theatrical experience, then this winter you are in for a treat with the rebirth of two of London’s finest Edwardian theatres, the Hackney Empire and the Coliseum. Thanks to dollops of lottery cash and the generosity of private individuals these two masterpieces by that greatest of Edwardian theatre designers, Frank Matcham, should open on January 28 and February 7 respectively.” But what about London’s other theatres?
Canadian Theatre’s Color Problem
There’s a big problem “simmering beneath the surface of mainstream Canadian theatre,” writes Kate Taylor. “In a country that is increasingly racially diverse, the on-stage faces continue to remain almost exclusively white.”
Frayling Named Arts Council England Head
Art historian Sir Christopher Frayling has been named as the new head of Arts Council England. Sir Christopher has been rector of the Royal College of Art since 1996.
Judge Strikes Down Screener Ban
A federal judge has overturned a ban on independent producers sending out screener DVDs to awards judges. The Motion Picture Association of America had instituted the ban as a way to cut down piracy. But the judge ruled that: “the screener ban will significantly harm independent films, thereby reducing the competition these films pose to major studio releases.”
The Awards Biz
After the end of the year, the awards season begins in earnest. A documentary reports that there are “565 show-biz awards competitions each year, of which 100 are televised. That’s better than one broadcast every four days.” Why so many? The awards “mainly reflects outstanding achievement by the industry in ginning up ever more shows for viewers to watch – and thus ever more outlets for promoting entertainment product to the public.”
NYU To Film Student: No Porno
This fall a New York University student proposed making a film in which there would be pornography. University officials have forbidden her to and say they would “issue a written policy requiring student films and videos to follow the ratings guidelines of the Motion Picture Association of America, with nothing racier than R-rated fare allowed.” Is this a threat to academic freedom?
The Downfall Of MTV
“MTV has always pursued teenagers; what has changed is the sort of teenagers it is chasing, and what ideal of cool it established to court them. During the 1980s and early 1990s, the network tried to convert its viewers, suggesting to hungry-for-hipness suburban teens that there was something out there cooler and more compelling than their own high school melodramas. The gospel has since changed. What MTV is selling its teen audience now (with “Sorority Life,” “Fraternity Life,” “Spring Break: Cancun,” a more juvenile “Real World”) is a bland vision of the immediate future in which the first years of college look pretty much like high school, but without parents or homework. The focus is on having fun, not being challenged by new or different experiences.”
Oregon’s Balanchine Shift
Oregon Ballet Theatre is fast being made over into a Balanchine company. “For OBT, long known as a haven for contemporary pop ballets, it’s a radical shift. And Christopher Stowell, the company’s first-year artistic director, is doing the shifting.”