“Widely respected as one of the fathers of contemporary Italian popular music, … [he] belonged to a genre of Italian songwriters known as ‘cantautori,’ whose lyrics gave voice to the aspirations and frustrations of a postwar generation seeking societal change.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Can A New Arts Center Make Las Vegas A Cultural Destination?
“While the glitzy Goliaths populating Las Vegas Boulevard lure out-of-towners, this downtown property” – the Smith Center for the Performing Arts, built on the site of an old railroad switchyard – will cater to locals, “many of whom say they have yearned for this for decades.”
Tate Gallery Buys Eight Million Works By Ai Weiwei
“The Tate has acquired approximately 8m individual sculptures, its largest number of works of art ever, although each is smaller than a little finger nail: 10 tonnes of Ai Weiwei’s famous porcelain sunflower seeds.”
A New Ellsworth Kelly Sculpture For The New Barnes Foundation?
“The Philadelphia Art Commission is expected to vote on Wednesday on plans to erect a 40-foot-high stainless steel sculpture by Ellsworth Kelly at the end of a reflecting pool in the garden of the new Barnes Foundation.”
Telling Gay Prisoners’ Stories In A Site-Specific Play
“In a cold and dilapidated rehearsal room … five men in blindfolds are being led on lengths of thread by five others. On the floor are sheets of paper covered in bread arranged into sculptural shapes. … From 16 March, in a short run in a secret location, audiences will walk through an installation led by actors playing prison officers and … experience moments of tenderness in the gay prisoners’ harsh lives.”
Yet Another Controversy Over 9/11 Museum
“The planned museum at ground zero in Lower Manhattan has hit yet another stumbling block as families of some of the victims of the 9/11 attacks have voiced opposition to a plan for storing human remains below the museum.”
Netherlands Dance Theatre, Post-Jiri Kylian
“Under Mr. Kylian’s 24-year directorship, the company acquired international fame for the resonance and beauty of its dancing … But Mr. Kylian stepped down as artistic director in 1999. In marketing-speak, Nederlands Dans Theater has a branding problem: How to reconstruct its identity while remaining faithful to the heritage of Mr. Kylian’s work.”
What’s The Problem With The Term ‘Philosophy’? Lay People. (So Let’s Find A New Term)
“They immediately assume you are in the business of offering sage advice, usually in the form of unargued aphorisms and proverbs. You struggle to explain that you don’t do that kind of philosophy, at which point you may well be accused of abandoning your historical calling.” Prof. Colin McGinn suggests a new name for his field – a name that sounds more like a science.
The London Olympics’ Exciting New Buildings That You Don’t Know About Yet
“While Anish Kapoor’s tower and Zaha Hadid’s Aquatic Centre have received all the coverage in the run up to the Olympics, there are plenty of other stunning structures ready to break from the pack.”
Five Hundred Unknown Fairytales Discovered In Germany
“A whole new world of magic animals, brave young princes and evil witches has come to light with the discovery of 500 new fairytales, which were locked away in an archive in Regensburg, Germany for over 150 years.”