Author: Matthew Westphal

For 600 Years, The Buddha Was Never Depicted In Human Form. How Did He Get A Face?

“The story of how the image of Buddha finally broke forth into the world after 600 years of symbolism is one of the most intriguing in the history of art — one that is inextricably tied up with the advent of a new dynasty in India that, unconstrained by the conventions of the past, was able to set the image of the Buddha free into the world of men.” – T — The New York Times Style Magazine

The Hague’s New Art Court Nearly Septuples Its Pool Of Arbitrators And Mediators

“The specialist Court of Arbitration for Art … [was created in 2019] to adjudicate art world matters ranging from chain of title, authenticity and copyright fair use. Last year, the panel appointed around 30 specialists, with arbitrator experience, but this latest round of [170] appointments is more focused (although not exclusively) on qualified art lawyers.” – The Art Newspaper

How A Soap Opera Institution Is Returning To Shooting While Maintaining Social Distance

“They stand five feet apart, cannot hold hands, kiss or simulate a brawl, but the cast and crew of Neighbours — a long-running Australian soap opera that returned to production in late April amid coronavirus restrictions — still hope to convey the same heightened conflict, intimacy and drama that the show’s fans have come to love. … [The series] could set an important precedent for the global screen industry as it tries to figure out how a phased reintroduction to shooting television series and films might work.” – The New York Times

Isolation Multiplied: Artist Retreats In The Time Of COVID

“For many artists, writers and composers who have been rewarded prestigious residencies to isolate themselves in remote places and sometimes in punishing climates, it is a coveted situation. But if, as Matisse put it, ‘creativity takes courage,’ the extra isolation during a pandemic can start to wear away at even the most stoic artists.” – The New York Times

Some Young Afghans Turn To Writing Erotic Poetry To Get Through The Lockdown

In the land of the Taliban? Yes — Afghanistan is historically part of the Persianate world (Dari, the official language, is a Persian dialect), and metaphor-filled erotic poetry has a thousand-year history in Persian literature. Hundreds of young writers have lately been posting their amorous verse on social media, and while there has certainly been backlash, there’s no censorship by the Afghan government. – The Guardian

Write About Sex? Garth Greenwell Wonders ‘Why One Would Write About Anything Else’

“Sex is an experience of intense vulnerability, and it is also where we are at our most performative, and so it’s at once as near to and as far from authenticity as we come. … Sex is a uniquely useful tool for a writer, a powerful means not just of revealing character or exploring relationships, but of asking the largest questions about human beings.” – The Guardian

Thomas Sokolowski, AIDS Activist And Beloved Museum Director, Dead At 70

“[He was] one of the four founders of Visual AIDS and an organizer of the first Day Without Art … [and] his nearly four-decade career in museums included tenures at the Grey Art Gallery at New York University and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and concluded with a position, taken in 2017, as director of the Jane Voorhees Zimmerli Art Museum at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.” – Artforum

Amid The Epidemic, There’s One Place Where Dance Goes On (Almost) Undisturbed

“This rural compound in India’s southern tip is one of the few places where professional dancers can still do what the rest of the performing arts world can only dream about. At Nrityagram, dancers experience neither loneliness nor confinement. They gather in the same dance hall for hours at a stretch, every day, to train, rehearse and perform — if only for one another.” – The Washington Post

This May Be The First US Theater To Call Off Its 2020-21 Season Due To COVID

In place of a regular mainstage season, Theater Latté Da in Minneapolis will expand its “Next” workshopping program, “making public the shows it is developing for the future, keeping writers, actors and other artists busy creating work even though it’s not certain when it will be shared with audiences.” – Star Tribune (Minneapolis)