“A growing number of civil libertarians and customer advocates wants Amazon to fundamentally alter its method for selling Kindle books, lest it be forced to one day change or recall books, perhaps by a judge ruling in a defamation case — or by a government deciding a particular work is politically damaging or embarrassing.” A petition to be presented to the company this week asks it “to give up control over the books people load on their Kindles.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Opera, Where Non-Acting Gets Applause
“Why are audiences, artists, and production teams ready to jettison their usual sense of drama when it comes to opera? … [W]hy is it that we tend to be indulgent of opera not meeting the same standards as a stage play?”
In Protest, Chinese Hackers Invade Melbourne Film Fest Site
“Chinese computer hackers defaced the website of Australia’s biggest film festival in Melbourne after it defied a request from the Communist Party not to show a documentary about a controversial Uighur activist. … Hackers attacked the website on Saturday, posting an image of the Chinese flag and leaving slogans criticising” the activist.
Film Fest’s Political Controversies Par For Artistic Course
“The Melbourne International Film Festival has it all: dramas involving officials from foreign governments, larger than life characters sticking to matters of principles whatever the consequences and the struggles for liberation.” And all of that is off-screen. “In some respects, the most surprising thing about these kerfuffles is not that they have happened, but that they don’t happen more often. While most of us think of film festivals as cultural events, the truth is that they are also deeply political events.”
Where Collectors Are Selling: Out Of The Auction Spotlight
“With prices in flux, many collectors prefer the discretion and flexibility of a private sale over the auction room’s risk and visibility. ‘If it doesn’t sell, it’s not a public event,’ said Michael Findlay, director at Acquavella Galleries Inc. in New York. ‘However, if your painting is on the cover of an auction catalog and it’s been marketed globally and then doesn’t sell — ouch!'”
Suicide Bomber Kills 6 Outside Chechen Theatre
“Six people were killed in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, on Sunday when a suicide bomber detonated explosives outside a theater as a crowd gathered for a performance.” Prevented by police from entering the building, “the man exploded his explosives beside benches and a fountain in front of the theater.”
Foundation: Two Unknown Mozart Piano Pieces Discovered
“The International Mozarteum Foundation says it has discovered two new works composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The Salzburg-based foundation says in a brief statement that the previously unknown works are piano pieces.”
Sotheby’s Breaks With Partner That Paid Clients Late
“One of Canadian art’s major auction partnerships has been scrapped after Toronto-based Ritchies admitted it missed a payment deadline for a number of clients who had consigned paintings for a multimillion-dollar joint Sotheby’s-Ritchies sale in May.” The president of Sotheby’s Canada called the payment failure a “cardinal sin” and said “that Sotheby’s moved quickly to end its seven-year association with Ritchies.”
More Delay Likely For Hadid’s Millennium Park Pavilion
“[T]he tent fabric is finally going into place over the aluminum skeleton of Zaha Hadid’s much-delayed Burnham Plan Centennial pavilion in Millennium Park,” but “the pavilion, which was supposed to be done five weeks ago, is likely to open a few days after its Aug. 1 target.”
Opening In Chicago, Billy Elliot Plans To Stay Quite A While
“Chicago is snagging the very first post-Broadway production of one of the most successful musicals of the decade. Attracting a long run by arguably the only current Broadway show with a box-office pull that could rival ‘Wicked’ is a major coup for Broadway in Chicago, which fought hard for the show against presenters in San Francisco, who also wanted their city to be the first outside New York to stage the show.”