“Some of the British Muslims now say, ‘We think we were wrong.’ Some of them for tactical reasons, but others are actually using the free-speech argument: ‘If we want to say what we want, he has to be allowed to say what he wants’.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Brazil’s Pied Piper Of Street Art
Bel Borba is from Salvador do Bahia, whose “streets, walls, plazas and beaches have been his canvas since the late 1970s. He is a well-known, even beloved, figure there, regularly greeted on the street by residents who encourage him to come and work in their neighborhoods.” He’s now doing his first residency in New York.
Why Can’t We Sell Charity Like We Sell Perfume?
“What if we let philanthropies operate like businesses? Let them pay for talent, advertise aggressively to build market share – even build a stock market for charity. Maybe then capitalism could finally save the world.”
Iranian Clerics Raise Bounty On Salman Rushdie’s Head
Just in time for the release of Rushdie’s memoir of his time in hiding, an Islamist foundation in Iran has increased its reward for the author’s murder to $3.3 million, arguing that if Rushdie had been killed for writing The Satanic Verses, the anti-Muhammad video Innocence of Muslims would never have been made.
Ivan Vasiliev Joins ABT
“American Ballet Theater has recruited Ivan Vasiliev as a principal dancer, … the company said on Monday. Mr. Vasiliev and the ballerina Natalia Osipova created a stir nearly a year ago when they announced they were leaving Moscow’s Bolshoi Ballet for the Mikhailovsky Theater in St. Petersburg.”
Brace Yourself: Even More Cuts Are Coming, Says Arts Council England
“Simon Mellor, the new executive director of the arts at Arts Council England, pointed out at the ITC summer conference … that there were likely to be more cuts to arts funding to come and ‘maybe sooner than we think’.”
Silver Linings Playbook Takes Top Prize At Toronto Film Fest
“The offbeat romantic comedy Silver Linings Playbook, David O Russell’s follow-up to the Oscar-winning The Fighter, has won the top prize at the Toronto film festival,” the People’s Choice Award. “Toronto has no jury but its top prize is nevertheless a useful indicator of future Oscars success.”
David Byrne Says Acoustics Make All The Difference
“In a sense, we work backward, either consciously or unconsciously, creating work that fits the venue available to us. That holds true for the other arts as well: pictures are created that fit and look good on white walls in galleries just as music is written that sounds good either in a dance club or a symphony hall (but probably not in both).”
Actor John Moffatt, 86
“Although perhaps best known as Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s moustache-twirling detective, on BBC radio, … [Moffatt] was a devastatingly clinical and classical stage actor of irreproachable taste and valour. He seemed something of a throwback, but there are very few today who could rival his armour-plated technique, his almost uncanny empathy with comic style … or his incisive articulation.”
Uganda Arrests British Director For Staging Gay-Themed Play
“Producer David Cecil – who faces up to two years in jail if found guilty – was charged Thursday with two counts including one of ‘disobeying lawful orders’.” He was jailed last Thursday and released on bail Monday. “The groundbreaking play – titled The River and The Mountain – was performed at several venues around Kampala last month despite an injunction by Uganda’s government-run media council.”