The 6.0 quake, centered 22 miles north of Bologna, largely spared that city but wrought destruction in smaller towns and villages across north-central Emilia-Romagna. Several fresco-filled medieval churches and palazzos were severly damaged, while a 14th-century clock tower split down the middle and later collapsed.
Month: May 2012
South Africa’s President Sues Over Satiric Portrait Depicting His ‘Spear’
“A painting [titled The Spear] by a white Cape Town artist, Brett Murray, depicting South African President Jacob Zuma as Soviet leader Lenin – but with his genitals exposed – has caused a storm of controversy. Zuma and the ruling African National Congress have sued the Goodman Gallery in Johannesburg to force it to take down the work.”
US Federal Court Finds California Resale Royalty Act Unconstitutional
“You can almost hear the sighs of relief coming from art galleries and auction houses up and down California: Federal Judge Jacqueline Nguyen has declared the California Resale Royalty Act unconstitutional. The highly controversial, widely misunderstood and little enforced state law that took effect in 1977 was designed to provide artists with 5% of their resale prices under certain conditions.”
Making A Depression-Style Dance Marathon Into A New Theatre Piece
In the work they call Dance Marathon, performance troupe Bluemouth Inc. wanted “to draw parallels between the Great Depression and what was in 2008 a nascent economic downturn.” They found that audiences wanted to participate rather than merely watch – and they were startled as people’s competitive juices began flowing and the show morphed into a genuine dance endurance contest.
Giotto Frescos In Padua Could Be Endangered By New Construction
“[The paintings] in the 14th century Scrovegni Chapel, are now said to be threatened by a symbol of the modern world: a futuristic 30-storey tower of flats, shops and offices” just across the Bacchiglione River. Critics “warn that digging the tower’s foundations will affect drainage across the area and could cause subsidence of the chapel walls, on which the frescoes are painted.”
Angela Lansbury At 86: ‘I’m The Bionic Woman’
“It surprises me that I didn’t get left behind. I’ve always managed to keep up. In the process of keeping busy, I’ve always stayed relevant. And that is a surprise to me. Because they still will allow me to get out there – particularly in the theatre – it’s total illusion. If you can sell that you’re 50, the audience will believe you.”
How David Zinman Got The Idea Of 10PM Concerts For Young Adults
The conductor recounts how he asked his 16-year-old son, “‘You like classical music, but why don’t you go to concerts?’ He said ‘but none of my friends go to concerts’. I said ‘why don’t they go to concerts?’ He thought about it and said ‘they don’t want to be seen with their parents’. A little light bulb went off in my head: Let’s have late concerts where parents aren’t allowed.”
Opera News Stops Reviewing Met Opera Following Pressure From Met Boss
The magazine, published by the Metropolitan Opera Guild (a fundraising and support organization) and the most widely circulated classical music publication in the US, made the decision following strenuous objections by Metropolitan Opera general manager Peter Gelb to negative reviews in recent issues.
Star Of UK’s Coronation Street Musical Says It’s ‘Bedlam’
“Paul O’Grady has spoken out for the first time about his experiences working on the ‘postponed’ musical Street of Dreams, labelling it ‘bedlam’ and calling on the show’s producers to pay all of the cast and crew involved immediately.” O’Grady, who plays the narrator of the show based on the long-running soap opera, called the show’s producers “incompetent, inept and unprofessional.”
A New Showplace For African Art In Johannesburg
“A former gas station, car dealership and dental school building are helping to transform central Johannesburg from a hotbed of crime to a hub for art. The repurposed buildings make up the Wits Art Museum, which open[ed] Saturday as a showcase for African art.”