“For decades, Mr. Lewiston, a classically trained pianist, roamed the four corners of the earth with tape recorder in hand, seeking out Tantric Buddhist chants in Tibet, festival music in Oaxaca, Mexico, the kecak monkey chant of Bali, the panpipe music of Peru.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Report From Mongolia: What Has The Philadelphia Orchestra Gotten Itself Into?
“Coming in for a landing at Genghis Khan Airport this week, a group of Philadelphia Orchestra musicians will be literally dropped into a parallel world where familiarity feels eerie and the exotic is oddly reassuring.” David Patrick Stearns sets the scene for us in Ulaanbaatar, where a reduced group of the Fabulous Philadelphians is giving performances and workshops this week.
Controversial Walker Art Center Sculpture Will Be Dismantled And Burned
Sam Durant’s piece Scaffold, based partly on the gallows at which 38 Dakota men were hanged in 1862, was greeted with outrage by Native Americans when it appeared in the Walker’s about-to-reopen sculpture garden. It will now be taken apart and burned in a ceremony overseen by Dakota elders.
Noose Found At Exhibit In National African-American Museum
On Wednesday, some visitors to the National Museum of African-American History and Culture “found the noose on the floor in front of a display titled, ‘Democracy Abroad. Injustice at Home.'” It was the second noose found on Smithsonian grounds this week.
SFMoMA Hires Its First-Ever Curator Of Contemporary Art (Wait, What?)
Yes, strange as it may seem, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art had not ever had a curator position dedicated to contemporary art – which (this is key) the museum defines as “the art of the 21st century.” The job goes to international curator Eungie Joo.
Paavo Järvi Named Music Director Of Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich
“[He] will take up the post with the 2019/20 season, for an initial five-year contract. … He succeeds Lionel Bringuier, whose tenure began in in 2014. Former chief conductors also include Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach and David Zinman.”
Marie Cosindas, 91, Pathbreaker In Color Photography
While studying with Ansel Adams [circa 1960], he told her she was ‘making black and white photographs, but thinking in color’ – color photography at the time was mostly found in advertising – and recommended her to Polaroid. The corporation asked Cosindas to experiment with a new instant-developing color film, called Polacolor. By the end of the 1960s, Cosindas developed her signature painterly style.”
Rome Gets Its First-Ever Permanent Outdoor Installation Of Contemporary Art
“The work [by Giuseppe Penone], titled Foglie di pietra (2017), was commissioned by the luxury fashion brand Fendi and placed outside its flagship boutique. But getting the work installed required negotiations with an array of state bureaucrats, including the landmark authority and the ministry of culture.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.31.17
The Impermanent Permanent-Collection Display: LACMA Follows MoMA’s Dicey Example
Memo to LA Times art critic Christopher Knight: You were mistaken when you wrote last week that “an impermanent permanent collection” – such as what is being proposed by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-05-31
Arcangelo
I’ve always felt open to a wide range of influences in my music. That’s not the right approach for everyone – some composers must focus on one or two strong influences – but it suits … read more
AJBlog: Infinite Curves Published 2017-05-31
Understanding Consciousness Isn’t Just A Scientific Issue, It’s A Moral One
“Debating whether other beings are conscious can sometimes feel like an unimportant academic exercise. But it’s not. The conclusion we reach determines how we treat animals – our livestock, our research subjects, and our neighbors in cities and other places we live.”