“There may be a fundamental weakness in the way opera companies present new work: There is so much pressure on each single piece to get white-bread eaters to magically develop a new palate that it becomes somehow less appetizing. What stimulates the appetite is the sight of a rich assortment of different kinds of flours and seeds and rolls, sweet and savory — what you see when you go into any bakery.”
Month: February 2018
UK Museums’ Collecting Crisis
The implications for collecting are stark. Only half of the UK’s museums and galleries have money to make acquisitions, and “they often failed to obtain the art or the objects they sought, either because they lacked sufficient funds, or because the prices were too high.”
More On UK Museum Funding Crisis
David Cannadine points out that the price of Leonardo’s Salvator Mundi, which sold for £333m last November, represents over half of central government’s total funding for museums last year. Of 266 museums he surveyed, only half had a dedicated acquisitions budget and in most cases it was less than 1% of their expenditure. The Art Fund report, entitled Why Collect?, calls for a national debate on the challenges over museum acquisitions.
The Temporary (And Constantly Changing) Balloon Art Of Jihan Zencirli
For her most recent large piece for the New York City Ballet, she “has set tens of thousands of balloons, measuring from ten inches to ten feet, throughout the David H. Koch Theater. They scale the building’s exterior and spill into the Lincoln Center plaza. You may even spot them around town, a colorful off-campus salute to NYCB. And because even professionally inflated balloons constantly change their shape and pop spontaneously, her creations will look different if you attend the ballet more than once this Winter Season.”
BAFTA Winners Are In, And It Looks Like Some Actors Are Cruising To The Oscars
Are best director – Guillermo del Toro – and best picture – in BAFTA’s case, Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri – now a lock for the Academy Awards? (Maybe!)
Is Gibson Guitars Going Bankrupt?
A Nashville reporter and editor says the financial situation looks bleak for the epic, storied guitar company. “The situation facing the iconic Nashville-based music instrument maker, which has annual revenues of more than $1 billion, is far from normal. … CFO Bill Lawrence recently left the company after less than a year on the job and just six months before $375 million of senior secured notes will mature. On top of that, another $145 million in bank loans will come due immediately if those notes, issued in 2013, are not refinanced by July 23rd.”
The World Of Afro-Futurism Goes Way Beyond ‘Black Panther’ – Here’s A Primer
The term comes from a 1994 essay, and it applies to everything from the fiction of Octavia Butler and Nnedi Okorafor to the music of Janelle Monáe and the recent Jay-Z video “Family Feud” (directed by Ava DuVernay). Basically: Afro-futurism “refers to an aesthetic that infuses science fiction and fantasy with cultures of the African diaspora. It shakes up our preconceived notions of history and race by envisioning an often utopic future shaped by black technological innovation.”
A Competition For Women And Nonbinary Composers Has Its First Winners
The judges, all composers, selected three out of a field of 140 entries in the Hildegard Competition, which comes with a cash prize and mentorship. Paola Paolini, a composer and co-founder of National Sawdust, the sponsor of the prize, said, “The future of composition is bright and the need for opportunity, vast.”
This Ballerina And Choreographer Is Unafraid To Push Discussions About Gender And Ballet
Lauren Lovette, whose “Not Our Fate” for New York City Ballet featured a pas de deux for two men, says she’s proud to be a part of this ballet-world conversation. “A lot of times, we talk about things but we don’t actually do them. … We’ll post on social media, but when you actually make art that represents what you’re trying to say, you’re a part of the action.”
Public Radio Hosts Feel Like Good Friends To Many Listeners, Which Is Why Its Me Too Moments Are So Explosive
It’s not clear yet whether the firings of many reporters and hosts will affect listeners’ willingness to donate money. However: “WNYC held a one-day pledge drive in late December, after Mr. Lopate and Mr. Schwartz were fired, and the station had its hosts address the controversy and promise transparency. The station declined to disclose the full results of that drive, though it said last week that listener donations in December and January were up 11.5 percent from the same period a year before.”