Looking at Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Luang Prabang in Laos, and the Vietnamese town of Hoi An (whose historic buildings and streetscape miraculously survived the 20th-century wars), art and cultural management professor Jo Caust argues that the mass tourism that comes with the coveted World Heritage designation can turn such places into theme parks and suggests some steps that should be taken to mitigate that danger.
Month: July 2018
Did Michel Houellebecq Predict The ‘Incel Rebellion’? (Yeah, Basically)
“For the last 25 years, in novel after novel, Houellebecq has advanced a similar critique of contemporary sexual mores. And while Houellebecq has always been a polarizing figure — admired for his provocations, disdained for his crudeness — he has turned out to be a writer of unusual prescience. … Houellebecq, whose work is saturated with brutality, resentment and sentimentality, understood what it meant to be an incel long before the term became common.”
Why Isn’t Art Criticism More, Well, Critical? That’s Not Really The Problem
Melissa Gronlund: “Critics, this thinking runs, need to hold artists’ feet to the fire. Now, I would love for a more ambitious art world to emerge, but I’m not sure more stringent criticism is the means towards it. If anything, the answer is art education: better educated people make better art and provide better critiques. And, sadly for myself, I don’t think criticism still wields that much power. … Everyone knows artists do better to curry favour among biennale organisers than among those of us who tromp along to the openings, notebooks in hand.”
Producers Of Hit Podcast ‘S-Town’ Sued By Estate Of Main Subject
“According to plaintiff Craig Cargile, who filed on Thursday in Bibb County, Alabama, on behalf of [John B.] McLemore’s estate, [senior producer and host Brian] Reed, Serial Productions, This American Life, Chicago Public Media, and others allegedly used ‘McLemore’s indicia of identity in a commercial manner’ and seeks damages. Echoing concerns of some listeners, Cargile says McLemore never consented, nor would he have, to the podcast revealing or speculating on certain ‘mysteries’ of his private life.”
In A Rio Favela, Ballet Classes As ‘Anesthetic’ And Aspirational Tool
An Afro-Brazilian phys-ed teacher keeps her free program running through funding cuts, building closures, negotiations with drug gangs, and the ever-present threat of violence, all to give her students discipline and a taste of things beyond the slums.
Laid-Off Educators Sue UK’s National Gallery To Be Compensated As Employees, Not Freelancers
A group of 27 lecturers, art historians, and artists who provided services for the museum’s education department (until they were made redundant last October) “say that they were paid through the National Gallery payroll, taxed at source and wore staff passes. ‘We were required to attend staff training and team meetings and received formal reviews of our work,’ they write.”
Chief Of Scotland’s Arts Funder Is Out After No-Good-Very-Bad-Year
“Janet Archer, the chief executive of Creative Scotland, has resigned from her post” – effective immediately (and with six months’ severance pay) – “after a turbulent six months following uproar in the cultural world over its long-term funding decisions.”
Indian Court Rules That Actors Can’t Be Held Liable For Their Scripted Dialogue (Yes, This Had To Be Ruled On)
India’s broad defamation laws allow complainants to file civil or even criminal charges for insulting the feelings of religious groups or communities as well as individuals. Repeated suits along these lines have been brought against the producers of the hit Netflix India series Sacred Games. In one of the latest, concerning an epithet a character uses to describe the late prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, “the Delhi High Court on Monday said actors cannot be held liable for the lines they read from a show’s script.” (The court also asked the complainant to demonstrate why his lawsuit was in the public interest at all.)
Former NEA Chairwoman Jane Chu Joins PBS
In her new role at PBS, Chu will help identify opportunities for public media to broaden access and representation in its presentation of the arts to audiences nationwide. Chu announced in May that she was resigning from her role as Arts Chair of the NEA after a four-year term.
Car Company Makes Ad With Graffiti In Background. Does It Owe Artist Royalties?
These days, graffiti is having a renaissance and is used by fashion labels and major corporations in their ad campaigns. Rebranded as “aerosol art,” it has now become what it rarely was before: a marketable commodity. The law, however, is struggling to catch up with the change in taste and culture, especially when it comes to the issue of when graffiti — an ephemeral form of art — deserves the safeguards of a copyright.