“The artifacts – dating from the seventh century B.C. to the second century A.D. – were found two years ago in a storage unit at the Geneva Freeport that investigators traced to [dealer Robin] Symes.” Said one consultant to Italy’s culture ministry, “The Geneva Freeport is the largest undiscovered archaeological site in the world.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Books For People Who Don’t Like To Read Books – James Patterson’s Next Big Plan
“People already read James Patterson’s books – and in staggering numbers. … But Mr. Patterson is after an even bigger audience. He wants to sell books to people who have abandoned reading for television, video games, movies and social media. So how do you sell books to somebody who doesn’t normally read?”
An Entire Festival Of Plays That Pass The Bechdel Test
“Bechdel Theatre Festival has been created by Beth Watson, the founder of Bechdel Theatre, which began life as a Twitter campaign last year. It promotes and celebrates plays that pass the Bechdel Test – which asks whether a play has at least two women in it, who talk to each other about something other than a man.”
English National Opera’s Music Director Quits Over Cuts
Mark Wigglesworth said in his resignation letter, “The plan for the future is one that the Board and Chief Executive have always known I cannot support. I made this clear to them last year.”
The Composer Who Engaged His Cerebral Palsy To Win The Grawemeyer Award
“[Hans Abrahamsen’s] right hand had only two fingers capable of playing the [piano], and he could not advance. A family friend suggested he take up the French horn, which could be mastered with one hand, so he did. In his music, Mr. Abrahamsen uses restraints as opportunities for creative exploration.”
Fine Arts Museums Of San Francisco Name New Director
“The position is the top job at FAMSF, which comprises two of the Bay Area’s largest and most important cultural facilities, the de Young Museum and the Legion of Honor. … [Max] Hollein is currently director of three noted museums in Frankfurt, Germany, a broad responsibility that should prepare him for the Fine Arts Museums’ structure.”
Which Books Have Been Unfairly Maligned?
Benjamin Moser: “In [Susan Sontag’s] essayistic writing, strength expressed through categorical statements often became a besetting weakness. … In her often unloved fiction, however, she turned insecurity into a virtue.”
Charles McGrath: “What we tend to forget about Kipling, in our haste to pigeonhole him as a Victorian crank and reactionary, is that for all his failings he was also prodigiously gifted.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 03.22.16
Committing to Engagement
In Engage Now! I discuss the importance of making a public commitment to engagement. When new communities meet representatives of arts organizations they often assume the intent of the latter is to get them to … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-03-22
MoMA’s Degas Monotypes Press Conference: My Cantankerous Cameo (with video)
I’ve already awarded myself the Hilton Kramer Award for Old Fogey-ism. Lately, I’ve been feeling more and more like the Helen Thomas of art journalism. Thomas, UPI‘s (and later,Hearst Newspapers‘) veteran White House correspondent, … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2016-03-22
It’s Spring
The temperature doesn’t feel like spring, but tell that to the backyard apricot tree. See what it did overnight. Soon, the orchards around here will all be in full bloom. I hate to leave them… … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-03-22
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The World’s Biggest Street Dance Competition
“Dancers from all over the world compete in the international tour of Juste Debout in the hope that they will get the chance to battle in the preliminary rounds in France and perform at the finals in Paris. This year, for the first time, the judges are all women who have previously won in the four main categories: popping, locking, hip-hop and house.” (video)
Why It Puts People Off When Politicians Cry
“While ‘turning on the faucets’ may humanize a politician, there still seems to be a lingering threat behind such outbursts. Perhaps we prefer it as a performance more than as a real display of feelings – cynically planned outpourings rather than spontaneous displays of emotion. There is, after all, something at stake for us in these moments: we have something to fear in a politician’s tears. But what?”