Singer Achinoam Nini, Israel’s representative in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, “asked if she could bring along her current artistic collaborator, an Israeli Arab singer, Mira Awad. … But coinciding as it did with Israel’s Gaza war and the rise of Avigdor Lieberman, the ultranationalist politician who threatens Israeli Arabs with a loyalty oath,” the decision to allow the duo “was labeled by many on the left and in the Arab community as an effort to prettify an ugly situation.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Musicians: Radio Stations Should Pay Us For Song Play
“Musicians ranging from will.i.am to Emmylou Harris and Sheryl Crow gathered for a different kind of performance on Tuesday, pushing for legislation to require radio stations to pay royalties to musicians when the stations play their songs. … Bills have been introduced in the House and Senate to require radio stations to pay royalties to performers. Songwriters already receive royalties.”
Asian TV Removes ‘Gay,’ ‘Lesbian’ From Oscar Speeches
“Gay Asians voiced indignation Wednesday after television broadcasts of the Academy Awards in their region censored the words ‘gay’ and ‘lesbian’ in speeches that called for equal rights for homosexuals.” The censorship did not occur in the live broadcast. “But viewers who caught recorded telecasts in the evening on STAR, an Asian satellite TV service that says it reaches more than 300 million viewers in 53 countries, noticed that the sound was removed whenever both men mentioned ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian.'”
Francis Bacon, Carpet Maker: Pair Of Rugs Discovered
“Bacon’s early life as a rugmaker is almost forgotten, and his output so small that an example held by the Victoria and Albert Museum was thought to be one of only three to exist. His rug oeuvre has suddenly increased, however, after an Iranian carpet dealer cleaned out one of her storerooms and took a pile of rugs to an auction house in Wiltshire.”
Poet Laureate, One Job That Could Be Eliminated
“Like the awfulness of our National Anthem, the futility of the post of Poet Laureate is one of those running sores in our national culture which seem beyond healing. … Poetry doesn’t need a Poet Laureate: I’m not even sure it needs a ‘flag waver’. All poetry needs is poets, with a rich store of language to draw on.”
Downturn’s Upside For Buyers: Bargains (& Time To Think)
“It’s hardly a surprise that gallery hopping has slowed during the recession. People are focused more on the necessities of life and less on what some might call extravagances. But for collectors, who see paintings and sculptures as both culturally important as well as an investment that will increase in value, the downturn is presenting a rare opportunity.”
Dreamspace Artist Guilty Of Safety-Rules Breach
“An elderly artist whose huge inflatable ‘dream machine’ broke loose from home-made moorings at a summer fair, killing two women trapped inside, was convicted of breaching health and safety rules yesterday. A jury found Maurice Agis, 77, guilty after two days’ deliberation, before retiring to consider two further charge[s] of manslaughter of the victims through gross negligence.”
House Bill Would Add To Budgets Of NEA, NEH
“An omnibus bill for the current fiscal year introduced on Monday by the House Appropriations Committee includes $10 million each for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, which would bring each of their annual budgets to $155 million.”
Naomi Klein Wins £50,000 Warwick Prize
“The complexity of Naomi Klein’s portrayal of the rise of disaster capitalism, The Shock Doctrine, has won its author the inaugural £50,000 Warwick prize for writing. The biennial prize, run by Warwick University, is promising to be one of the most unusual prizes on the books calendar, not least because it will tackle a different theme every two years, with ‘complexity’ chosen as its initial focus.”
The Man Who Named A Woman Concertmaster In Vienna
Clemens Hellsberg, president of the Vienna State Opera Orchestra since 1997, “has been a force for change in a body long resistant to it, increasing social awareness and trying to pull the orchestra into the 21st century. The female issue apart, he has fostered the idea of giving back, even making reparations of a sort, as in the performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony at the Nazi concentration camp at Mauthausen, Austria, in 2000.”