Unesco is the United Nations’ cultural wing. But it’s been disorganized and ineffective for much of its 30 years of existence. But under a sharp new director, “today Unesco not only displays more dynamism, efficiency and financial transparency—’accountable to all State holders’—than has been seen since its foundation in 1945, but it has also persuaded the US to return to membership.”
Author: Douglas McLennan
Who Owns Dance?
Who owns a dance once it’s been done? “In the 18th and 19th centuries, choreographers were rated so low that it was the composer’s name which usually headed the posters. The ownership of a ballet, if contested, would generally have been considered the right of the theatre. This meant, if you were a choreographer, that your ballet was fair game for the subsequent improving hands of producers acquiring it for other companies or staging it after your death.”
How Will Radio Evolve?
Does webcasting help promote recordings in the expectation that listeners will go out and buy? Or is it just theft of free music? Should webcasters have to pay substantial royalties for the privilege of using recordings? Have big corporations consolidated the life out of traditional radio stations? These are questions confronting those trying to determine the future of music-casting.
Don’t Box Me In
Why is it that some of the most critical people condemning contemporary art seem to have the strongest ideas of exactly what art is? And those ideas usually involve some sort of idea which has been done before. Beware, writes Martin Gaylord, having inflexible definitions of art is a sign of narrow minds…
An Arts Mayor Has Difficulty Delivering
When Atlanta’s new mayor was elected last year, hopes were high in the cultural community. “She not only understood the arts, she consumed them, championed them and lived with them long before she reached the top job at City Hall. The business of running Atlanta, however, has stifled the artistic muse. The city’s financial mess and archaic sewer system have prevented her from making arts and culture more of an official priority.”
Peel Back The Screen
It’s the art of worrying over the study or explanation of something. Suddenly ” ‘Meta” is a liminal term these days; it’s creeping more and more into everyday conversations, even if it’s not nearly as widespread as, say, ‘irony’. Some people talk about meta all the time…
Harlem Song to Keep Singing
Producers of Harlem Song said two weeks ago that the show would close early on Broadway if $300,000 wasn’t raised. Now the producers say they’ve raised the money and the show will run as planned. “Among the groups that stepped up to sustain the show is the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone, which had previously denied the Harlem Song application for $1.2 million in financing that its producers had requested.”
The Bard Goes Inside
The London Shakespeare Workout Prison Project does pretty muchy what its name suggests. “Last year the group did 51 workshop sessions in 13 prisons involving 1,071 inmates, 147 prison officers and 602 professional actors. Well-known actors and theatre makers such as Jonathan Miller have all been involved, and keep coming back for more. At one prison, Miller got so excited about the talents of one inmate that he wanted to cast him in a production. He had to be gently reminded that the man was incarcerated and not freely available for rehearsals.”
Guggenheim Visits Down 25 Percent:
Is the Guggenheim Museum in danger of going bankrupt, as a New York Sun story suggested in late September? Not at all, say museum officials. Sure the museum is hurting – staff has been cut, and the museum’s Soho gallery was closed – and attendance is down 25 percent this year. For next year? “Staff layoffs, reduced museum hours, and changes in the exhibition programme were all suggested as possibilities, according to a spokesperson for the Guggenheim.”
Booker Won’t Admit Americans:
Organizers of the Booker Prize say that they have decided not to open up the award to American writers. Earlier this year the Booker, which is given annually to an author who writes in English somewhere in the Commonwealth, toyed with the idea of including Americans in the competition. Critics complained the move would damage the tone of the award.