Berlin has struggled mightily to rebuild since the wall fell. But some of the city’s venerable arts institutions have felt stiffed in the change. Bertolt Brecht’s Berliner Ensemble, “once proudly funded by the GDR, has gone through poverty and 11 directors in less than ten years.” Decreased funding has caused ticket prices to soar, and as a result “the company lost its reputation as a theater of the people.” – The Times (UK)
Author: Douglas McLennan
PASSION FOR CHANGE
Joe Penhall – one of the “angry young playwrights” who rejuvenated British theater in the mid-90s – will have his latest play produced at the Royal National Theatre. “There’s a raging idealism at play in ‘Blue/Orange,’ which should satisfy those who lament the absence of political theater from the British stage.” – The Guardian
IF THE INFORMATION HAD BEEN AVAILABLE IN THE FIRST PLACE…
Less than two hours after Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts put up a website Monday providing details about seven paintings that might have been looted during the Holocaust, the museum received an e-mail providing information about one of the paintings. – Boston Herald
ST. LOUIS MUSEUM INVESTIGATING —
— four of its paintings – including a Max Beckman and a Matisse to check Nazi provenance. – St. Louis Post-Dispatch
YOUR PICTURE HERE
The largest poster art project ever seen in Britain is currently on display on billboards throughout London’s East End. Artist Alison Marchant gathered candid snapshots from local families’ albums and enlarged them on 126 billboards and 85 freestanding posters. “It’s as if suddenly all the houses in the East End were made of glass.” – London Evening Standard
THE ART OF ONLINE
“Ten years ago, we used to have 500 people coming to an opening. Now it’s closer to five than 500.” Art galleries discover that many people prefer the comfort of choosing art online. – CBC
VANCOUVER ART MUSEUM —
— stands by its recent leadership decisions, despite petition by prominent artists condemning them. – CBC
FROM SILENCE TO SPEAKING OUT
- Choreographer Bill T. Jones on his decision to boycott this year’s Spoleto Festival in Charleston because of an NAACP boycott: “The questions you should be asking is not ‘Why I’m doing what I’m doing’ but ‘Why are there so few people who feel that they have to boycott? Why do so many people have a rationale that allows them to find other ways of responding to the [Confederate] flag?’ People have a lot of deep responses to the issue, but the biggest response is the silence.” – Los Angeles Times
IT’S THIS OR BRUSSELS SPROUTS
“There is something appallingly appealing about the notion of being chastised with culture. Who among us would object to being sent to Devil’s Island for a few years if we could take the contents of the British Library?” But that’s not exactly the thrust of East Connecticut State University’s new program of forcing students who infringe campus rules to attend classical concerts or opera as their punishment. – The Telegraph (UK)
RISK-FREE SHILL
Marlon Brando is the latest American actor to succumb to wooing by Italian advertisers. There’s a “Hollywood ant-trail to Italy to appear in adverts that earn fistfuls of dollars but safeguard thespian reputations by remaining unseen in America.” – The Guardian