“In a society which prides itself on being a melting pot, 17 per cent of Australia’s performing artists, and 14 per cent of artistic directors, claim a non-English speaking background, a new report says. The roles these performers are offered are largely ‘minor, tokenistic or stereotyped’.” – Sydney Morning Herald 11/06/00
Author: Douglas McLennan
BROUHAHA OVER THOMAS THE TANK
Can a dealer sell the original artwork used for films, books, or comics? There’s been an established trade in such artwork for years. But now the copyright-holders for Thomas the Tank comic want to prohibit a dealer from selling art from the original comic. There could be larger implications. – The Telegraph (UK) 11/06/00
PARSE THIS
A Ph.D student from the UK goes to Yale for courses in literary criticism and reports from the front lines: “I am struck by the thought that literary criticism – at least as it is practised here – is a hoax. And the universities that offer it, and the professors who in America earn large salaries teaching it, are fraudulent, wittingly or not.” – New Statesman
A TURNING TIED
Last week’s Giller Prize in Canada ended up in a tie between “Mercy Among the Children” by David Adams Richards and “Anil’s Ghost” by Michael Ondaatje. “Nobody likes a tie, except the co-winners; half a prize has got to be better than no prize at all. For the rest of us though, a tie is unsettling. Why can’t the judges make up their minds? Are they cowards, in thrall to their friends, or just plain lazy?” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
THE RACE FOR THE BOOKER
The Booker Prize for literature is to be announced Tuesday night. “London bookmaker Ladbroke’s gives the shortest odds (11 to 8) on Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Blind Assassin’ getting the £21,000 prize.” – Toronto Star
BARENBOIM VS. BERLIN
Daniel Barenboim’s dispute with the Berlin government over funding of Barenboim’s Staatsoper has gotten out of hand. “Like the fracture lines of a smashed mirror, its ramifications have darted in every direction, raising sensitive questions about the way the arts are funded in Germany, about how much culture a reunified Berlin can afford, about the authenticity of German reunification and even about whether Barenboim, an Argentinian-born Jew, is the victim of an anti-semitic plot. At heart, though, it is a simple issue of conservation.” – The Guardian
BACH TO THE DRAWING BOARD
Melbourne just wrapped up a blow-out festival devoted to the music of JS Bach. “But did this 17-day program of events constitute a festival? Sadly, not really. A festival summons up images of a city caught under the spell of the performing arts: when shows are the talk of the town, where there is color and movement on the streets day and night, and there is such a flood of international artists that you might end up in a table-top tango with an Argentinian performance artist at five in the morning. Maybe that happens in Rio, or Adelaide, but not Melbourne.” – The Age (Melbourne)
SO WHAT’S THE POINT? “What is the charter of the multi-artform Melbourne Festival? To offer choice and take the odd gamble? Or to project the ideas and tastes of the artistic director charged with pulling the event together?” – Sydney Morning Herald
WAS SHAKESPEARE A POT-HEAD?
“Two South African scientists are about to embark on a series of forensic tests to prove a case that will blow smoke in the eyes of traditional Shakespearean scholarship. They believe that the man who bestrides the classical canon was not just a genius, but a very early pot head.” – The Independent (UK)
BALLET FOLKLORICO FOUNDER DIES
“Amalia Hernandez, the founder of Mexico’s Ballet Folklórico and a pioneer in the revival of traditional Mexican dance styles over the last 50 years, died Saturday at the age of 83.” – Dallas Morning News (AP)
THE FIRST GREAT AMERICAN COMPOSER
“Copland was the first, the only and probably the last American classical composer upon whose greatness and importance everyone could agree. His 100th birthday is Nov. 14, and the celebration has taken on something of an iconic status. If we fall into the temptation to look back at the 20th century as the American century, Copland, born as it began, becomes a ready symbol for a nation coming of age.” – Los Angeles Times