Nine of the country’s ten largest passenger carriers have donated a total of $28 million for a makeover of the exhibition on the history of commercial aviation at the Smithsonian’s most popular museum.
Month: February 2018
Met Opera Fires Stage Director For ‘Inappropriate Behavior In The Rehearsal Room’
“[John] Copley, 84, has been one of the opera world’s foremost directors for decades. He was at the Met directing a revival of his 1990 production of Rossini’s Semiramide when a member of the chorus reported that Mr. Copley had made him uncomfortable at a rehearsal on Monday with a sexually charged remark, according to two people familiar with the complaint.”
National Book Awards Add Prize For Works In Translation
“The new category marks a radical departure for awards, which began in 1950 ‘to celebrate the best of American literature.’ The prize will be given jointly to authors and translators, and will be limited to fiction and nonfiction works by living authors that are published in the United States. International authors who write in English won’t be eligible.”
Museum Takes Down Painting Of Naked Nymphs – To ‘Prompt Conversation’
“It is a painting that shows pubescent, naked nymphs tempting a handsome young man to his doom, but is it an erotic Victorian fantasy too far, and one which, in the current climate, is unsuitable and offensive to modern audiences? Manchester Art Gallery has asked the question after removing John William Waterhouse’s Hylas and the Nymphs” – and visitors are leaving their answers on Post-It notes on the wall.
This Museum Isn’t Canceling Its Chuck Close Show – Here’s What It’s Doing Instead
At the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, “there was some discussion of removing the Close show [in the wake of the sexual harassment allegations against him], but officials believed [the issues] would be better served by keeping the exhibition up and instead using it to create very pointed conversations … [by mounting] an additional exhibit exploring issues of gender and power in an accompanying gallery.”
ABT Strikes Labor Deal, Avoids Strike As Tour Begins
The dancers and stage managers of American Ballet Theater, who voted earlier this month to authorize a strike as contract talks grew tense, have reached a tentative agreement with the company … [The new contract] will raise the salaries of the lowest-paid dancers the most.”
Choir Of King’s College, Cambridge Seeks New Director For First Time In Decades
“Stephen Cleobury has confirmed that he will step down as Director of Music of King’s College, Cambridge in September next year. Such has been the length of his tenure that it’s the first time the college has sought someone to fill the post since 1982.”
‘Sculpture That Goes ‘Vroom”
“For the past few years, [Eric van Hove] has been working in Morocco on a project called the Mahjouba Initiative, which involves building a series of motorbikes using only traditional craft materials. Eric calls this work ‘a socio-economic sculpture’, the idea being that the pieces can be exhibited as artworks but also used as the prototype for a new vehicle. Anna McNamee meets Eric and his team as he works on the latest model – the Mahjouba III.” (audio)