Artist Tracey Emin has patched up things with the class of eight-year-olds she’s been battling with the past week. “After demanding the return of an artwork she made with a group of eight-year-old pupils, Ms Emin has now told the school it can keep it – and has offered to pay the cost of a frame.”
Month: April 2004
Journalist Charges Nabokov Plagiarized Lolita
Lolita is nothing if not controversial. Vladimir Nabokov’s “relatives and supporters have rejected a claim that her character was plagiarised from a 1916 novel by a German journalist who went on to support Hitler. Michael Marr, a German literary scholar, suggested that a novella, Lolita, written in 1916 by Heinz von Eschwege, may have provided the foundations for the 1955 Nabokov novel.”
Tale Of Two Awards Shows
Canada’s Junos and Quebec’s Felix Awards celebrate Canadian musicians. But where the Felix finds its winners from artists who make their careers almost entirely in Canada, the Junos have been increasingly dominated by Canadians who have struck it big south of the border.
Movies On Demand. Anytime. Anywhere.
New wireless technology allows people to download and watch movies wherever and whenever they want. “With an extended battery life that lasts about six hours, the software allows consumers to download movies at superfast speeds and then view them on a plane. It will be like having a Blockbuster video store in your laptop. You’ll be able to download your personal movie to your personal handheld video player while waiting in line for a coffee, then go home and either watch it on the small screen in bed or plug the computer cable into a large display screen in your living room.”
The Arabization Of Europe?
Europe’s population is getting older, more secular and smaller. It’s a model that cannot sustain its current level of social services such as retirement and health care. Where to get a flush of new blood? Neighboring Arab countries have rising propulations…
The Amateur Cliburn
Time once again for the Amateur Van Cliburn piano competition. It’s actuallt called the International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs, and 75 pianists from eight countries and 27 states will compete in Fort Worth from May 31 through June 5. “The field of competitors, once again heavy on people from the medical professions, will perform in a three-part, elimination-style competition at Texas Christian University’s Ed Landreth Auditorium. The 75 were selected by the foundation from 110 recorded applications and written statements from amateur pianists age 35 and over.”
In Iraq: Destroying The History Of Civilization
“Protecting antiquities remains a low priority for both the Iraqi and the occupation authorities, according to Iraqis and foreigners involved. Archaeological sites in Iraq have been looted since the end of the Persian Gulf war in 1991, often with the involvement of the government of Saddam Hussein. But in the lawless aftermath of the current conflict, thieves invaded Iraq’s archaeological sites in large numbers and stole artifacts from the ancient buried cities of Mesopotamia. Almost a year later, thieves continue to plunder the sites and to erase the tangible record of the world’s earliest civilizations.”
The Source – Looking At The Business Of Succeeding Art
The first drafts of art history are written not by the art historians, but by those in the business of art – the dealers and collectors. But how is it that some artists/art works grab a toe-hold in this world, while others fail? The Getty is in the middle of a year-long exploration…
Choreographers: A Room Of Their Own
“The obstacles for an aspiring choreographer are formidable: he must find not only bodies who will work with little or no pay, but also a way to show the outcome publicly. Even those successful enough to get commissions from companies are usually constrained by limited time, punishing rehearsal schedules and the psychological pressures of a looming premiere. Peter Martins, the director of the New York City Ballet, has long believed that choreographers would be making more, and better, ballets if they had the chance to work without these limitations.”
The New Arab-American Playwrights
A new generation of Arab-American women playwrights born in the 1960s and 70s is making its mark on New York stages. “Their religious roots vary: they are Christian, Muslim or Zoroastrian, and their national ancestry may be, to name a few, Iranian, Palestinian, Lebanese or Indian. But they are united by a commitment to take their hyphenated experiences to the New York stage, and by their perception that, although many of them are not Arab, that is how they often are seen in the United States at this tense moment in the country’s history.”