“Amid growing pressure for cultural institutions to cut ties with the controversial oil company, … [British Museum director Hartwig] Fischer said today that BP’s support for the museum over the years has helped ‘create unique learning opportunities’, such as the forthcoming exhibition Troy, Myth and Reality (21 November-8 March 2020). ‘This sort of support is vital to [the museum’s] mission,’ he said.” – The Art Newspaper
Author: Matthew Westphal
Douglas Crimp, Pathbreaking Art Historian, Dead At 74
“[He] penned some of the most important art-historical essays of the second half of the 20th century, including ‘Pictures’ and ‘On the Museum’s Ruins’ … [and his] influence has been vast. His writings explored a vast range of topics, from image circulation to institutional critique to art and AIDS. It has become impossible to write the history of postmodern art without referring at least once to his criticism.” – ARTnews
Pianist Radu Lupu To Retire From Performing
“Lupu, now 73, has long frustrated his admirers: he last recorded in the mid-1990s, is absent from social media, and refuses to be interviewed. His health has been in decline; in the last two years he has cancelled appearances with increased frequency. In May, Arcady Volodos replaced him in Paris; earlier this month, Maria João Pires did the same in Berlin, coming out of her own retirement.” – WFMT (Chicago)
Alvin Ailey Company’s Second-In-Command To Step Down
“Masazumi Chaya, the associate artistic director of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater since 1991, will retire on Jan. 5, 2020, after the company’s annual City Center season. But he’ll still be involved with the organization: After he steps down, Mr. Chaya, 72, will be in charge of a licensing project that will assist in the restaging of Ailey’s works.” – The New York Times
Hans Graf Named Chief Conductor Of Singapore Symphony
The 70-year-old Austrian — formerly music director of the Houston Symphony (2001-13), Calgary Philharmonic (1995-2003), and the major orchestras of Bordeaux, San Sebastián, and Salzburg — succeeds Lan Shui, who stepped down in January after 22 years. – The Straits Times (Singapore)
Cunningham Abroad
Compagnie CNDC-Angers/Robert Swinston dances Merce at Jacob’s Pillow – Deborah Jowitt
“That Little Exhibition”: The Late Douglas Crimp on His Show that Anointed “The Pictures Generation”
Here are some excerpts from a brief but illuminating chat I had ten years ago with Douglas Crimp, the influential critic, curator and art historian who died Friday at the age of 74. – Lee Rosenbaum
Life As A Dancer In Khamenei’s Iran
Writing under a pseudonym, an Iranian woman who studies and practices traditional Persian dance describes both the art form and attempts to preserve and perform in in today’s Islamic Republic. – Dance Magazine
A New Play Brings The #MeToo Discussion Forward In Singapore
“In Singapore, … many still hold to another century’s view of the roles of men and women. Victims of sexual misconduct often face shame and blame, and the global reckoning seems far away. … In May, [Ken Kwek’s] play This Is What Happens to Pretty Girls was performed to sold-out audiences, sparking a new wave of conversation.” – The New York Times
In The World Of Video Games, Black Women Are Making Themselves Heard And Felt
“Black women are among the least represented demographic in the $135 billion global gaming industry. … But an emerging generation of millennial women of color is now beginning to carve out space for others like themselves. They’re building a network of support organizations that never existed before, aimed at facilitating, encouraging and training aspiring female gamers of color to reach new heights in the industry.” – OZY