“Abu Dhabi’s leaders have recruited the most celebrated architects in the world to build [its] museums – and to provide kudos that an oil outpost in a notoriously unstable region could not otherwise obtain. … But who will visit the museums once they open? Abu Dhabi may be a city with almost 200 international communities in its midst, but culture has been something of an afterthought.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
For Small Arts Orgs, A Little Stimulus Funding Means A Lot
“In the larger scheme of things, where $502 million in stimulus money is coming into Minnesota for transportation projects alone, the $316,200 aimed at the arts hardly registers on most radars. But many small arts organizations applying for the money, some of which have budgets of less than $100,000, argue that a federal stimulus grant can be critical.”
With Recordings, Orchestras Feel Their Way In Online World
“For breadth and sheer number of albums, no one can match the world’s great orchestras, some of which have been recording for nearly a century.” Now several of the best are adding to their discographies with live recordings that they make available for download — but don’t always put out on CD.
$675,000 Fine Is No Deterrent To Illegal Downloaders
“Until the music industry figures out a way to compel listeners, especially the younger ones, to stop freeloading and pay for their tunes (a dilemma the newspaper industry can relate to), the free-music era seems here to stay.”
Mad Men Name-Checks Ada Louise Huxtable
“[H]er name came up early in the episode, set in 1963, as the show’s ad executives were meeting with developers to discuss plans to knock down Penn Station to make way for the new Madison Square Garden. … After one of the agency execs reads from a Huxtable piece condemning the plans, one of the developers gives him a sour look. ‘Ada Louise Huxtable is as green as that folder,’ he retorts….”
Theatre Is Business, Too — Even At The Fringe
“[S]urely a large number of people who bring theatre to Edinburgh come with the dream of being discovered and getting their show spotted by a promoter and booked for a tour too. Why pretend otherwise? It’s about money and opportunity and developing your company as much as it is about art.”
Her Headshot Banned For Smoking, Writer Pulls Out Of Fest
“Author and journalist Lynn Barber has withdrawn from a literary festival after the local council refused to include a photograph of her smoking in its brochure for the event. Her ferocious interview technique earned her the soubriquet Demon Barber, but this is the first time she has been branded a potentially corrupting influence.”
MaestroCam Reveals The Secrets Of The Podium
“To audiences for whom the art of orchestral conducting remains a mystery, … there is now the enlightenment of MaestroCam. At five televised Proms this summer, if you press the red button on your remote control, you can spend the whole evening focused entirely on the man on the podium. Even better, you get a discreet and informative commentary from experts….”
A James Wood Evening From Three Narrative Perspectives
“Too tired to cook, Justin ate 5-10 Oreos, called it dinner, leapt into his filthy car, and sped to Politics and Prose Bookstore. The muggy August air stuck to him, or he to it. He slipped into the bookstore a little before 7 p.m., smelling of Camel cigarettes and eyeing his mp3 recorder skeptically. He listened to James Wood speak about character – what it is and why it’s so hard to decode — for an hour.”
Slow Down. Step Away From The Electronic Device.
“How many of our most joyful memories have been created in front of a screen? If we are to step off this hurtling machine, we must reassert principles that have been lost in the blur. It is time to launch a manifesto for a slow communication movement, a push back against the machines and the forces that encourage us to remain connected to them.”