“Federal prosecutors seeking to repatriate a 10th century statue to Cambodia filed court papers Monday accusing Sotheby’s of knowing the sculpture ‘was an important piece of cultural property that had been stolen’ from a remote temple complex when the auction house put the massive sandstone artifact up for sale in March 2011.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Lyric Opera Virginia Puts Off Season Opener Till The New Year
“For financial reasons, Lyric Opera Virginia has postponed the opera originally set to open its season. Giacomo Puccini’s The Girl of the Golden West will be performed in September 2013 instead of next month. The company, founded in early 2011 by Peter Mark after he was fired from the Virginia Opera, will begin this season in January with Camelot.
Why Pussy Riot Is A Real Threat To Putin
Anne Applebaum: “Although it is often assumed otherwise, Putin’s regime has long permitted political dissent – so long as it appeals only to a small elite. … Political speech is controlled, but entertainment media are free. But in a Russia open to global pop culture, it’s getting harder to recognize who is serious and who isn’t.”
DC’s Hirshhorn Museum Evacuated After Guard Shoots Himself
“A security guard at the Smithsonian Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden shot and killed himself Monday afternoon in a basement locker room, according to authorities. The shooting forced hundreds of patrons to evacuate and drew a large contingent of federal and local police to the area.”
Nigeria’s Movie Industry Might Be The Next Bollywood, But It’s Not There Yet
“Nollywood, Nigeria’s film industry, is straining to up its game.” Production values are improving from the quick-and-cheap status quo, and more directors are switching from video to film stock. But the “declarative dialogue, some of the riper acting from the bit-parters – they feel as though they’re hand-me-downs from older art forms, like oral storytelling.”
ICSOM: 50 Years Of Making Orchestral Musicians’ Lives Better
“In 1962, most musicians in major symphony orchestras were employed little more than six months annually at an average salary of $5,000 that was barely a living wage back then. Health insurance and pension benefits were virtually non-existent. … Battles with employers were rife, and job security was tenuous.” So 30 musicians from a dozen orchestras got together and worked out how to start improving things.
The Who-Was-Shakespeare Wars: Janet Suzman Slams Rylance And Jacobi For Oxfordian Nonsense
“Dame Janet Suzman, who has played an extensive range of leading parts in Shakespeare’s dramas, has launched an outspoken attack on her fellow Shakespearean actors Sir Derek Jacobi and Mark Rylance for giving succour to ‘conspiracy theories’ that the world’s most famous playwright was not the sole author of his works.”
China Miéville Says Authors Should Enjoy Having Readers Pirate And ‘Remix’ Their Work
The novelist “has described anti-piracy measures for literature in the digital age as ‘disingenuous, hypocritical, ineffectual’ and ‘artistically philistine’. Speaking in Edinburgh at a debate on the future of the novel, Miéville said that just as music fans remix albums and post them online, so readers will recut the novel.”
A South African Miss Julie Is The Hit Of The Edinburgh Fringe
“As [director/adapter Yael] Farber and the cast explain, Strindberg’s tale of sexual emancipation and class warfare becomes a metaphor for the new South Africa, where bitter political disputes over race and land rights still rankle, two decades after the end of apartheid.”
How Alphonse Mucha Designed The Nation State Of Czechoslovakia
“On October 28, 1918, the Republic of Czechoslovakia was born and Mucha, patriot that he was, was determined to do everything he could to help the development of his new nation. When the government asked him for help designing documents, he immediately agreed” – creating the country’s first postage stamps and paper money.