“A second man has been charged in connection with a raid at Durham University’s Oriental Museum in which artefacts worth almost £2m were taken. Thieves cut a 3ft wide hole in the wall of the museum on 5 April and stole a Chinese bowl and figurine.”
Month: May 2012
How Are Humans Different From Animals? We Make Rules
“The question of whether every human society has formal laws is far from settled, but they do all have rules. This is a peculiarly human trait.”
How Else Are Humans Different From Animals? We Entertain Ourselves
“But no other species pursues such a wide variety of entertainment or spends so much time enjoying themselves. The list of universals includes such diverse extracurricular pleasures as sports, music, games, joking, hospitality, hairdressing, dancing, art and tickling.”
How Else Are Humans Different From Animals? We Cook
“Where [animals] just eat, we make a meal of it. The main difference is down to one of humanity’s greatest inventions: cooking. People in every culture cook at least some of their food.”
How Else Are Humans Different From Animals? We Gossip
“Language was once thought to be the defining characteristic of humans. These days we are more likely to consider it as part of a continuum of animal communication. … Arguably, [humans’] way with words reaches its apogee in gossip.”
How Else Are Humans Different From Animals? We Have Sex In Private
“This coyness is not just the consequence of particular cultural or moral views. ‘It is the rule across all kinds of human societies,’ says cultural anthropologist Frank Marlowe of the University of Cambridge.”
Sydney Theatre Company Posts First Deficit In Three Years
“A lacklustre response to its 2011 season and a splurge on IT systems have combined to push Sydney’s premier theatre, Sydney Theatre Company, into the red for the first time in three years … a sharp turnaround from a profit the year before of nearly $1 million.”
Sydney Dance Company Sees Attendance Rise By Nearly Half
“Sydney Dance Company, led by artistic director Rafael Bonachela, has turned in an operating surplus of more than $500,000 and a 47 per cent increase in paid attendances. Almost 50,000 people saw SDC perform in Sydney and on tour in Australia and overseas.”
A Look Inside (And On Top Of) The Paris Opera
Your correspondent travels from the honeybee hives on the roof of the Palais Garnier, through the opulent auditorium and foyer, back to the 19th-century stage machinery, and over to the office of director Nicolas Joël at the glass-and-granite Opéra Bastille.
Jerry Saltz Hates Big Art Auctions
“Not just because they’re freak-show legal casinos, spectacles where the Über-ultrarich can act out as profligately in public as possible, trying to buy immortality, become a part of art history, make headlines, and create profit. … I hate them for what they do to art, for the bad magic of making mysterious powerful things turn into numbers.”