The current right-wing nationalist government in Warsaw is not happy with the way history is presented at the Gdansk museum, which opened two weeks ago, and they’ve been trying since they took office to scrap the museum or merge it with one more to their liking. Now the country’s Supreme Administrative Court has given clearance to do the latter.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.06.17
Accessible or hospitable
We talk a lot in the arts about being “accessible” — which tends to mean open and available to many different people. The assumption (and often the experience) is that a lot of artistic work … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2017-04-06
Barratt’s Back: A Harbinger of the Met’s Administrative Readjustments?
Last July, it was reported that the Metropolitan Museum’s deputy director for collections and administration, Carrie Rebora Barratt, was one of those who had taken a voluntary buyout at the Met. Now, it appears, she’s … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-04-06
He’s The Most Hated King In India’s Long History, But Does He Really Deserve It?
The Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was no saint: he (over-)extended the empire to the largest territory it ever had, but he killed his brothers and imprisoned his father (Shah Jahan, builder of the Taj Mahal). Aurangzeb is also said – especially by modern-day Hindu nationalists, including the ones in the current government – to have killed countless Hindus, destroyed countless temples, and to have ignored or suppressed the great Indian artistic traditions brought to their height by his great-grandfather, the emperor Akbar. Historian Audrey Truschke argues that for centuries, for political reasons past and present, the evidence about Aurangzeb was deliberately distorted and that he was no worse than any Muslim ruler of his era.
Imagining The Future Is Now Big Business
The industry doesn’t have a name, but its main product does: Design fiction. “It’s science fiction made real in the form of interactive exhibitions, product demonstrations, and behind-the-scenes consulting work. And it tends to pop up at any event Davos-ish enough to include the word ‘influencers.'” Kyle Chayka visits both a leading studio in the field, as well as perhaps the biggest example of design fiction: the Museum of the Future in Dubai.
The (Surprisingly Complicated) History Of Catalog Cards At The Library Of Congress
“Librarians spent decades figuring out how to best organize its constantly growing collections, which would render systems dated as their contents reflected new industries, and thus required new vocabularies. Heads butt over how to organize the stacks; casual rivalries even arose between librarians who had different visions.”
Why Authoritarians Attack The Arts
University of Chicago sociologist Eve L. Ewing: “Art creates pathways for subversion, for political understanding and solidarity among coalition builders. Art teaches us that lives other than our own have value. … Authoritarian leaders throughout history have intuited this fact and have acted accordingly.”
Outwitting The Companies That Want To Mine And Sell Your Browser History?
Thomas Beller writes about “Internet Noise,” a piece of software that will load your history with countless randomly generated search requests – the idea being that your real history will be drowned within all the “noise.” Brilliant? Or quixotic? (Quixotic, we’re afraid.)
State-Of-The-Art New Dance Studio Will Give Away 5,000 Hours Of Free Rehearsal Space Every Year
The just-opened Studio Wayne McGregor (yes, the choreographer) in London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will make the free space available to dance artists at all career stages. But there’s a catch – a good one …
U2’s Producer Is Now Selling CD With Kentucky Fried Chicken In Indonesia
It sounds, surreal, but it’s true: Steve Lillywhite, who has won six Grammys, is now CEO of a Jakarta company that compiles and packages pop music discs that are sold in KFC restaurants throughout Indonesia. They move half a million CDs every month.
New Museum Of American Revolution Surpasses $150 Million Fundraising Goal
Thanks to a $2.5 million gift from Comcast/NBCUniversal and the Roberts Foundation, the Philadelphia museum, which opens on April 19, has raised a total of $152 million for its building and endowment.