Arsenale 2012 “takes place in an old weapons arsenal on a pretty hilltop street that overlooks a sea of apartment blocks typical of cities of former Soviet states. Peace and quiet is broken only by the solemn chime of church bells from the adjacent monastery … Unsurprisingly, the locals are not over the moon about their new neighbour, which aims to attract some 30,000 globetrotting art pilgrims in its debut summer.”
Month: May 2012
Bill T. Jones To Create New Rite Of Spring
The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company’s upcoming season, which will also include reconstructions of some of the group’s early works, will feature a new version of the Stravinsky ballet co-created with Anne Bogart’s theater company, SITI.
Ex-Royal Academy Of Music Official Jailed For Embezzlement
“A former finance director at the Royal Academy of Music has been sentenced to 20 months in prison after defrauding the institution of £236,000. Janet Whitehouse, 56, admitted to three counts of fraud, including faking paperwork to boost her pension fund.”
Israeli Authors Band Together To Fight Bookstore Chains Over Discounting
“Over 270 writers, translators and editors” – including Amos Oz, David Grossman and A.B. Yehoshua – “signed a letter to Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat, urging her to continue pressing for protection of Israeli authors’ royalties.” Livnat is sending to the Knesset “a bill that would bar retailers from discounting new books for the first 18 months after publication.”
South African President Drops Lawsuit Over Satirical Portrait
“After weeks of confrontation over a controversial painting depicting President Jacob Zuma with genitals exposed, the South African leader and the gallery that had shown the work have settled their legal fight out of court, they announced Wednesday.”
Playing Shakespeare’s Caesar As Idi Amin Or Mobutu
Gregory Doran, director of the RSC’s new Julius Caesar: “Then you look at African history over the past 50 years … The sequence frequently is of leaders coming to power on a wave of popularity, pulling power to themselves in a one-party state, feeling that they have to seize control. Then, that being followed by a military coup which is followed itself by a much worse dictator and then, possibly, civil war. That’s Julius Caesar:you’re describing.”
BBC Radio Host Held In Zimbabwe For Alleged Visa Violations
Petroc Trelawny, a presenter on BBC Radio 3, was arrested last week for allegedly working in Zimbabwe without an employment permit. (He was emceeing a music festival on a volunteer basis.) A judge dropped all charges on Monday, but immigration officials are refusing to return Trelawny’s passport and want to try him for violating the terms of his tourist visa.
Iranian Customs Returns Seized Jackson Pollock Canvas To Tehran Museum
“Mural on Indian Red Ground was seized by the country’s customs service on 11 May after being on loan to Japan. The service said it confiscated the work over money owed by the Ministry of Culture,” which operates the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art.
Council In London Borough Has Library Stripped Bare In Dead Of Night
“Workers assisted by police officers entered Kensal Rise library” – which Brent borough council decided to close due to lack of funding – “between 2am and 3am on Tuesday, removing furniture, murals painted in the 1930s for the library … along with the books, according to campaigners [fighting the closure].”
Nico Muhly Dismisses The Whole Death-Of-Classical Music Idea
“The internet is filled with people saying that blah blah classical music is dying blah blah. Chances are, they are being paid to say this. … I just don’t buy it. Classical music is urgent and vibrant because we are making it that way, and I don’t see how Beethoven 7 being used to disperse people is symptomatic of any bigger problem.”