Scientists who have been examining what they thought were Petrarch’s remains have discovered that the skull belongs to someone else. And they suspect it could be that of a woman. ‘This must have been robbery. It is not, frankly, a nice business’.”
Month: April 2004
Where Are The Women?
Women artists are badly represented in British museum collections. And they don’t fare much better in the contemporary art markets either. “Only eight women are responsible for 12 paintings in the National Gallery: they are outnumbered by around 400 male artists responsible for more than 2,300 works. And while women artists may appear, at first glance, to be a strong presence in Tate galleries – a survey of the entire collection undermines this view. In 2000, Tate owned work by 316 women, and nearly 2,600 men. A total of just under 11% of Tate artists are women, and their works make up approximately 7% of the collection (leaving out the 30,000 Turners).”
The Royal Opera’s £10 Revolution
Royal Opera House boss Tony Hall says a sponsorship that will reduce some of the best seats in the house to £10 is revolutionary. “The adjectives are extreme, but it is hard to argue. Best seats in the house to see some of the biggest opera and ballet stars in the world – including Plácido Domingo, Cecilia Bartoli, Bryn Terfel, Darcey Bussell, Carlos Acosta – for less than the price of a West End cinema ticket. In some cases, that represents a saving of £165. Hall can scarcely contain his enthusiasm. ‘This is really opening up the opera house’.”
It’s An Aesthetic Aesthetic World
What do academics interested in aesthetics do when they get together? They talk about ideas. “One of the things that I really love about the American Society for Aesthetics is that it’s quite balanced… . There’s serious scholarly work that’s pursued on major texts in the history of aesthetics… . At the same time, there’s not a condescending attitude to the emergence of cultural forms.”
Passion Of The Christ On Its Way To Best-selling Movie Of All Time?
“The Passion of the Christ has already earned $330 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales since it opened six weeks ago, breaking all sorts of box-office records along the way.” Now there’s even speculation that it could ultimately displace Titanic as the highest grossing movie of all time.
Study: TV At Young Age Harms Children
A new study says that young children exposed to television are at risk of developing attention deficit disorder. Scientists found that “every hour of TV toddlers watch per day increases by 10 percent the chance they will develop concentration problems and other symptoms of attention-deficit disorders by age 7.”
Give Me Those Suburban Blues…
Chicago is still a Blues kind of town. “But as the marketplace changes and the fan base becomes more suburban than inner-city, it’s not your father’s or granddaddy’s blues that they’re playing. The blues is more than a museum piece in sweet home Chicago, but many purists believe the music is being sanitized to appeal to tourists.”
The Royal Opera House’s Premium £10 Tickets
London’s Royal Opera House is slashing the prices on 100 top price tickets for opera and ballet on Mondays, cutting their price to £10 each, thanks to a corporate sponsor. “It follows a similar scheme – also funded by the same company – at the National Theatre last year.”
Playwright Cancels Because Of Winnipeg Smoking Laws
English playwright Ronald Harwood has pulled out of a planned production of his “The Dresser” in Winnipeg because of the city’s smoking laws. “The reason for going back on my word is that I am a cigarette smoker. I have recently visited Canada and had to suffer the most draconian anti-smoking regulations in restaurants and public buildings. I had no intention of allowing myself to be forced out into the street in winter to partake of one of my great pleasures.”
Voigt Says Weighty Publicity Has Been Good For Career
It might have been embarrassing that the Royal Opera House fired Deborah Voigt from its production of Ariadne for being too large. But Voigt says it’s brought her a lot of positive publicity. “The timing of this couldn’t be much better, quite frankly. You can’t really buy this kind of publicity, and good, bad or indifferent. There’s the old adage that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. I’ve sort of been asking myself, would you have admitted this or brought attention to it had you realised that you would become international news? And I’m not really sure what the answer to that is yet.”