The culture ministers of the Group of Seven industrialized countries (the US, Germany, Japan, France, UK, Italy, and Canada) are gathering in Florence to discuss cultural diplomacy, protecting cultural heritage, and fighting the traffic in stolen and looted art and artifacts.
Author: Matthew Westphal
Frank Delaney, 74, ‘The Most Eloquent Man In The World’
As NPR’s Scott Simon said of the broadcaster, author, and literary scholar, “We kept asking him back to talk about books, Ireland and even soccer because no one could make more of a ceremony out of a sentence.”
What The Young Ella Fitzgerald Really Wanted Was To Dance
For Ella’s upcoming 100th birthday (April 25), Amy Henderson recounts the story of that fateful Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater, Ella’s original plan for it, and why she changed her mind just before going on.
Artists’ Resale Royalties Must Be Paid By Sellers, Rules French Court
“There has been a new twist to an eight-year old legal battle between Christie’s and France’s associations of antique dealers and galleries. A French court stated on 24 March that artist’s resale rights must be paid by sellers, with no exception. Saying that the ruling might hurt the contemporary art market, the auction house is now challenging the judgement in front of the high court.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.30.17
Bonding with Bondil: Montreal MFA’s Head on Succeeding as a (Female) Museum Director
“In the end, I’d say that I’d hope I had been chosen for what I had between my two ears and not because of what I don’t have between my two legs,” Nathalie Bondil, director … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-03-30
Art, Censorship, and the Death of Emmett Till
Well, it’s really come to this, hasn’t it? … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-03-30
Is classical music consolation?
Classical music … its role in our culture … that’s something I’ve pondered for a long time, and talked about often here. My usual answer hasn’t been very positive. … read more
AJBlog: Sandow Published 2017-03-30
‘We Didn’t Know What We Were Doing’ – Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s Leading Actress Talks About Surviving The Messes He Made
“His muse was Hanna Schygulla, who brought her enigmatic, haughty allure to 23 of his film and television works. Now 74, with a wild mane of grey hair, she has collaborated with directors such as Godard, Béla Tarr and Carlos Saura … But she only ever gets asked about one person. Seated in the window of an empty restaurant in west Berlin, she tells me: ‘It’s because I’m one of the survivors.'”
Okay, Guys, Here’s Garrison Keillor Explaining How To Write Poetry For Your Beloved
“Men are wired for combat, to bash the enemy into submission, and it’s hard to wipe the blood and gore off your hands and sit down and write, ‘O wondrous thou, the wonderment of these my happiest days, I lift my pen to praise thy shining beauty’ and so forth. But you can do it. The first step is: Imitate.”
How Do You Turn John Cage Into Staged Theater? With A Chess Match, Of Course
In Chess Match No. 5 from Anne Bogart’s SITI Company, “the two people onstage are conspicuously playing chess; they also make toast, fiddle with a radio, drink tea and trade disconnected aphorisms and anecdotes [from Cage]. They are not visibly doing theater, if that means plot, traditional characters or singing cats.”
Should Translators Of Books Receive Royalties Just As Authors Do?
This is one of those questions that becomes more complicated the more you think about it – not to mention the fact that the views of translators, book publishers, and original authors on the matter may vary. Tim Parks, both author and translator, gives the issue a serious look.
Destruction Of Cultural Heritage Is Officially A War Crime, Per UN Security Council
Resolution 2347, adopted unanimously last Friday, reads in part, “directing unlawful attacks against sites and buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, or historic monuments may constitute … a war crime and that perpetrators of such attacks must be brought to justice.”