Is the Turner Prize good for art? Is it valuable because it “gets people talking about creativity and ideas” or is is bad because it steers art in the directions championed by a select elite few?” – The Observer (UK)
Author: Douglas McLennan
THE ACROPOLIS SUBWAY STRATEGY
In their latest attempt to get Britain to return the Elgin marbles to Greece, the Greeks have come up with a new tactic – a subway station at the base of the Acropolis. “The Greeks have chosen this subway station to send a message to thousands of people every day: The marble sculptures that once adorned the Parthenon should come home from London. To make the point, the inside of Akropoli station has been decorated with replicas of the Parthenon Marbles.” – Washington Post
DRIVING EDWARD VILLELLA
In the 15 years since he founded it, Edward Villella has turned Miami City Ballet into a respectable, successful company. “But Villella, though exhausted by years of overwork and in failing health – he has a bleeding ulcer and underwent his third major hip operation last May – keeps pushing toward new peaks. It’s almost as if the closer he gets to the mountaintop, the harder he drives himself – and the more frustrated he becomes at not reaching it.” – Miami Herald
MAINTAINING A GOOD IDEA
Five years ago Britain set up the lottery-supported Heritage Fund, setting forth £1.5 billion in spending on arts and cultural projects. “Who could have imagined in 1990 that so many longstanding conservation problems would be resolved or that such bold initiatives would have found funding? Without it, the world would have been a much duller place. Yet, just as the achievements of the fund are becoming clear, so are the dangers that surround it.” – The Telegraph (UK) 11/19/00
HOW DO YOU CENSOR THE UNCENSORABLE?
“Film censorship nowadays is a mess: it has neither legal nuance nor intellectual force, and instead it relies on a vague outrage about the unacceptable. Anyway, the new freedoms instituted and exercised right now by the internet are making a mockery of regulation.” – The Telegraph (UK) 11/19/00
USING THE ARTS FOR COMMUNITY REGENERATION
In Britain’s “vast, scorched, abandoned” industrial outposts, traditional industries are in full retreat. “What can save these places? Enter the good fairy of the arts with her magic wand and her bag of enchanted lottery dust. Hey presto – cultural regeneration!” But wait just a minute…” – The Sunday Times (UK) 11/19/00
ART MEETS VEGAS
Art museums aren’t the only higher artform to discover Las Vegas. The performance offerings are changing too, and serious artists are beginning to see a new market (and one backed with plenty of cash). – Orange County Register 11/19/00
RIGHTING WRONGS SELDOM WORKS
“Within my memory, there has not been a successful major revival with a revamped book of a problematic show. Yet the lure of going back in time to make things rights persists. Composers sometimes yearn to solve the problems that weren’t addressed when the show was in try-outs in Boston, Philadelphia or New Haven. If only they had just a little more time, a little more money, a little more luck.” – Hartford Courant
DIFFICULT GENRE TO CROSS
Classical musicians are probably the most-trained of any musician. But that still doesn’t mean they can make the switch to jazz. Big-time classical musicians talk about why making the crossover is risky business. – Chicago Sun-Times
BRAND-NAME MAESTRO
“No conductor since Karajan has achieved brand-name recognition on record – with one exception. Nikolaus Harnoncourt is a Habsburg by blood, a descendant of Holy Roman emperors, who used to earn his crust as a back-row cellist in Vienna’s second orchestra until he decided that he knew better than most maestros how classical music should sound.” – The Telegraph (UK)