The Pechanga Indian Tribe has backed away from a deal with the financially troubled Southwest Museum in Southern California “The proposed deal would have given the Pechangas a chance to borrow thousands of the Southwest Museum’s artifacts, 98% of which are held, unseen by visitors, in the Mount Washington facility’s storage rooms. To display the artifacts, the Pechangas proposed a museum and cultural center of their own, which would rise near the tribe’s hotel and casino on the edge of Temecula. In exchange for the loan of artifacts, the casino-wealthy tribe was to have provided $750,000 yearly to the Southwest Museum for five years, then as much as $1.3 million yearly once the items were on display at the reservation.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
Sex Sells – One Museum That Turns A Profit
The Museum of Sex in New York has been open six weeks, and at $17, its admission price is high. But already the museum has attracted 15,000 visitors, many more than needed to “make a profit.”
Anger Over Street Art In Argentina
About 60 artists placed dozens of human-like dolls covered in fake blood and vomit on the streets of Buenos Aires. The controversial art project angered many when “ambulances were called and passers-by distressed after seeing what they believed were dead bodies on the corners of some of the city’s major streets and avenues.”
Selling Out?
“Where once pop musicians and their fans were revolted at the thought of letting beloved singles be used to sell sports cars, software or beer, today’s fans are largely accepting while many musicians are eager to sign on. To some degree, this change in attitude represents a shift away from the Sixties-schooled idealism of the Baby Boomers and toward the media-savvy cynicism of Generations X and Y.”
Strategy – Overwhelming the Download Business
Recording companies have been fighting downloading services, trying to discourage (or sue out of existence) those who enable downloads. Now they’re getting into the downloading business themselves. The “companies continue to use their financial muscle to slow the growth of file-trading networks and to acquire digital-rights management technologies that limit what people can do with MP3s and other files.” The plan? take control of the download market and shove the competition out to the curb.
Looking For A Saviour
The English National Opera, leaderless, £3 million in debt and about to be ousted from its home because of a costly renovation, is looking for someone to save it. Could that savioor be Graham Vick, one of “Britain’s few real world-class opera stars and a man not afraid of working with a large heap of manure?”
Don’t Copy, Don’t Play
Recording companies tired of seeing their new releases copied and released online even before they hit stores, are tightening security. They’re not sending advance copies out, and limited pre-release copies are digitally marked so they can be traced if copied. “With certain releases, the record companies are much more careful. Record reps are now booking appointments with me to play certain songs. I either have to hear it in their cars or in my office, or somewhere else private, and they won’t leave behind a CD.”
Death of Theatre:
Is theatre dying in Great Britain? “The statistics bear this out. While overall theatre attendance in Britain has recovered after the dip caused by 11 September, young people today are much less likely to go to the theatre than any other age-group. According to a recent report by the Arts Council of England, only 23 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds attended a ‘play or drama’ in 2001. The figures aren’t much better for 35- to 44-year olds.”
Little Evidence Violent Games Harm Adults:
Governments around the world have been considering legislation regulating sale of violent and pornographic computer games. Australia recently banned two controversial games. But social scientists say “more careful research before we can reach a definitive conclusion, (but) I know of no scientific evidence that the interactive nature of computer games makes them more harmful than other popular media.”
Australian Dance Theatre on Top:
Adelaide’s Australian Dance Theatre has won three of eight top awards in the sixth annual Australian Dance Awards.