“Despite being well-managed, well governed, and – crucially – able to operate without public subsidy,” says the statement, “we will not be able to survive this crisis,” the coronavirus epidemic, without rescue funding from the British government. In fact, it’s the lack of public subsidy that’s the problem: it means the Globe is not eligible for Arts Council England’s emergency support. – The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
Both Venice Biennales Postponed For A Year
This year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, which had already been rescheduled from this spring to August, will now take place in the late summer and fall of 2021; next year’s (art) Biennale will be transferred to 2022, when it will coincide with Documenta. – ARTnews
What Comes Next? III
If we as a nation come out of the pandemic with a heightened awareness of and reaction to profound economic inequality and the systemic injustice in which it is rooted, it could be that the arts are in for a difficult time. If that is the case, I think of the Pete Seeger song, “Which Side Are You On?” – Doug Borwick
Beans in My Closet
Beans and poverty. Beans and diversity. “Here’s a recipe” leads to a doubtful bean cul-de-sac, no matter how much chopped and shredded you throw on top and shove in the oven till the eternal cheese bubbles and browns. Beans, as it happens, are dangerous. Beans will save the planet. – Jeff Weinstein
Buy A Painting By This Dog And Get Free Weed
In D.C., you see, it is legal to possess marijuana but not to sell it; there is, however, no law against giving it away. So the enterprising proprietors of District Derp gallery got the idea to sell paintings by Sudo — their four-year-old mini-husky, who’s been trained to paint with a specially constructed brush — and offer purchasers, as a bonus gift, an amount of cannabis equal in value to the price of the artwork. – Business Insider
Gabriel Bacquier, France’s Greatest Baritone Of The Postwar Era, Dead At 95
In addition to his triumphs in Europe, he was one of the few French singers of his time to have a big career in the U.S., notably in Chicago and Philadelphia and at the Met, where he sang for 18 seasons. Also unusually for a francophone singer of the day, he was admired internationally for his command of Italian opera as well as the French repertoire. – OperaWire
A Book Festival For The Epidemic Era, Live From Africa
“Afrolit Sans Frontières, a series of hourlong readings and question-and-answer sessions held entirely on Facebook and Instagram, kicked off on March 23 and [is recurring monthly]. In the face of the pandemic, with countless numbers of book fairs, tours and other literary events canceled or postponed, Afrolit stands out as a gathering where readers — for some sessions, hundreds have logged in — can hear from authors and talk to them about sometimes difficult or taboo subjects.” – The New York Times
Francophone African Authors Are Finally Getting Their Work Published Within Africa
For decades, most authors writing in French in Africa have had to publish their books in France, partly because of a lack of publishing infrastructure at home and partly because French companies have insisted on worldwide rights. So if these writers’ books appear in their own countries at all, the prices are something like a week’s pay for an ordinary person. Now the authors are pushing back, insisting on retaining rights for Africa and even starting their own publishing houses to produce affordable editions. – The Guardian
What Are The Possibilities Of Socially Distanced Performance? We’ve Been Seeing Some Of Them For Years
Justin Davidson: “There is a cohort of artists and presenters who, long before the great contagion, were already rethinking the physical relationships between performers, audience, and space. They rebelled against the tyranny of the proscenium, placed intimate shows in vast rooms, coaxed audiences to roam, and expanded their palette with electronics — all techniques that could now prove essential. … I can think of a dozen powerful experiences from the recent past that might seem suddenly timely.” – Vulture
Morton Feldman’s Music Is Just The Thing For Quarantine
By the time new Washington Post classical critic Michael Andor Brodeur confesses that he used to listen to Feldman at the supermarket and when stuck in traffic, you might think he’s not impartial enough to make a convincing case. Actually, he’s pretty persuasive: “Now, as the days repeat with barely perceptible variations like one of Feldman’s figures, his music isn’t just lending form to time as it drifts by, it’s recalibrating my sense of scale. And I’m not alone.” – The Washington Post