“Facing pressure from religious groups, civil libertarians and members of Congress, the federal Bureau of Prisons has decided to return religious materials that had been purged from prison chapel libraries because they were not on the bureau’s lists of approved resources. … The bureau has not abandoned the idea of creating such lists, Judi Simon Garrett, a spokeswoman, said in an e-mail message. But rather than packing away everything while those lists were compiled, the religious materials will remain on the shelves….”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Next Stop: Pericles Junction
“The ingenious idea of a Shakespeare tube map sponsored by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and advertising its activities on T-shirts, bags and mugs, has its dangers. I have horrible visions of Japanese visitors, the world their Oyster, taking it seriously and triumphantly working out that they have reached Tottenham Court Road when they see a sign for Hotspur, and Baker Street when they are at Titus Andronicus station. And wouldn’t they be puzzled not to find Lear or Antony at the end of a line?”
First A Rotting Shark, Now Some Leaky Cows
“Last year we revealed that Damien Hirst was to replace the rotting shark in his The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living…. Now the British artist is to repair his Mother and Child, Divided (1993),an installation of a bisected cow and calf in four formaldehyde tanks, in the collection of the Astrup Fearnley Museum of Modern Art in Oslo. The work is leaking and has been sent to the artist’s studio in London for emergency repairs.”
Elton: You’ve All Seen The Photo. Why Fuss Now?
“Elton John said a photograph of two girls by Nan Goldin has been published around the world ‘without any objections of which we are aware’ and auctioned twice by Sotheby’s. The photo, ‘Klara and Edda Belly-Dancing,’ was seized by Northumbria police from the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art in Newcastle, England, while on loan from the singer-songwriter….”
NY Phil, Musicians Agree On Five-Year Contract
“The New York Philharmonic and the union representing its 106 musicians agreed today to a new five- year contract that will boost salaries and pension payments. Players’ minimum pay for the current season will rise 4.6 percent to $118,560 from $113,360, the orchestra said today in a statement. By the 2011-12 season, minimum annual salaries will increase to $140,400.”
Strike Could Derail Chicago Lyric Opera Opening
“The union at the Lyric Opera of Chicago representing the chorus, other non-instrumentalist artists and production personnel has overwhelmingly authorized a strike, threatening a season that is to open Saturday night. The Lyric and the American Guild of Musical Artists, or AGMA, have been struggling to find common ground since their four-year contract expired May 1.”
Katha Pollitt, Human Being (Evidently That’s Forbidden)
Katha Pollitt’s confessional collection, “Learning to Drive,” a departure from her usual political writing, has been met with derision and discomfort. “So why would someone like Pollitt — so far out of the trenches of confessional journalism — dive in headfirst? Well, perhaps she feels she has a lot to say about the way human beings trust and love and how the smartest among us willingly go deaf and dumb, how the most confident of us go soft, how the savviest get blindsided.”
Under Musharraf, Pakistan At Last Gets National Gallery
“The biggest surprise for most Pakistanis is that the National Art Gallery ever opened at all. It took a marathon 28 years to develop and build, and was a victim of financing shortfalls, bureaucratic inertia and repeated shifts in power under alternate military and civilian governments, which often undid what their predecessors had started.”
Absent From The Stage: Plays On Climate Change
“No one could accuse the theatre in this country of being politically shy. In recent years, a whole range of work has been sparked by issues like Iraq, the war on terror, and the genocide in Rwanda. But the massive global threat posed by polar icecaps melting and sea levels rising has, until now, remained almost completely absent from the listings pages.” Nonetheless, “a few writers do seem to be taking note.”
China To Unveil Arts Complex With Military-Style Ballet
“Ballerinas with machine guns will grace the stage for the first performance at China National Grand Theatre, when the spectacular arts complex opens its doors on Tuesday. The Red Detachment of Women ballet is one of seven shows that will be put on during a trial of the silver, egg-shaped building designed by the French architect Paul Andreu.” Among the audience will be “people whose homes were demolished to make space for the theatre development.”