“He succeeds Jeffrey Weiss, who resigned at the end of February after just nine months in the post, saying that he felt that it did not allow him to focus enough on curatorial and scholarly work.”
Month: June 2008
Greek Government Embarrassed Over State Of Cultural Sites
“Extra staff have been dispatched to guard the great cultural gems of Greece as the government in Athens tries to deflect growing criticism of its handling of national treasures.”
For Certain Movies? Critics Not Welcome!
“Distributors and publicists are now increasingly trying to stop newspaper reviewers from seeing certain movies before the public does. These embargoes prevent daily critics (whose pieces traditionally appear on Thursday or Friday mornings) from noticing the films at all and force weekend writers to rush to multiplexes at lunchtime before their usual Friday night deadlines.”
America’s 40 Greatest Paintings. And Britain’s?
“As a result of John Updike’s efforts, every school there will shortly receive 20 double-sided posters. On each side will be a reproduction of an artwork. Taken together, these 40 images are intended to trace the history of painting in the US. The campaign has not been without controversy. It strikes me that Updike’s central idea – providing 40 reproductions of paintings, free, to the nation’s schools – is needed urgently in Britain.”
How The Met’s Opera Movie Series Has Changed One Fan’s Life
“There, in a comfortable fold-down seat with a slight smell of popcorn in the air, I watched Anna Netrebko lie on her back, dangle her head down into the orchestra pit, and sing Bellini like her heart was on fire. Are there words for this?”
Islamic Scholar Voted World’s Top Thinker
“A hitherto largely unknown Turkish Islamic scholar, Fethullah Gülen, has been voted the world’s top intellectual in a poll to find the leading 100 thinkers. Gülen, the author of more than 60 books, won a landslide triumph after the survey – which is organised by the British magazine, Prospect, and Foreign Policy, a US publication – attracted more than 500,000 votes.”
Britain’s Tallest Sculpture
“Aspire, a landmark for the university, will be three times taller than The Angel of the North and more than eight metres higher than Nelson’s Column. At 33 metres, the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, would have paled against it.”
Italian Culture Minister Strikes Fear In The Hearts Of Opera Fans
“The minister’s announcement apparently foretells nothing less than the dismantling of Italy’s entire opera system, as currently based on a network of 14 state-supported Fondazioni or chartered opera houses — the 13 singled out in the 1996 reform law plus the recently added Fondazione Petruzzelli at Bari.”
How Last Week’s Tony Awards Will Transform Chicago Theatre
“Even for someone not inclined toward theatrical xenophobia, it was a night to burst with civic pride. So what does it all mean? Does this win Chicago theater permanent fame and fortune? A Broadway pipeline? A chance to retire the Second City moniker for good? More theaters? More jobs? More audiences? More media coverage? More funding? Does it maybe even help with the Olympics?”
Architects To Commemorate The Plan That Changed Chicago
“Two internationally renowned architects, including Pritzker Architecture Prize winner Zaha Hadid, will design temporary pavilions in Millennium Park to serve as focal points for next year’s regionwide celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Burnham Plan, the visionary document that changed the face of Chicago.”