Nurmuhammad Tohti was imprisoned in one of the camps, which are estimated to be holding up to one million ethnic Uighurs from China’s Xinjiang Province, from last November to this past March. Relatives say he was denied medication for heart disease and diabetes and was released only when completely debilitated. – The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
Staff At Scotland’s Arts Funder Deemed Two Organizations ‘Unfundable’ — Then The Bosses Funded Them Anyway
The last-minute interventions were revealed as part of a (none-too-favorable) independent review of Creative Scotland’s operations and processes that followed a major controversy over funding decisions last year. – Arts Professional
Publishers Are Changing The Deals They Give To Libraries For Ebooks
“These days, the question driving the debate is whether publishers should sell ebooks to libraries at a higher price for a perpetual license, or at a lower price for a license that needs to be renewed,” with several major publishers moving from the former to the latter model. – Melville House
How to Attract Visitors to an “Esoteric” Exhibit
We’ve all seen museums do a lot of odd things in recent years in attempts to draw people into their galleries – cat video contests, crowdsourcing curatorial decisions, and so on. Some may have “worked,” in the sense that they did attract visitors – but generally only for the one exhibit or particular gesture of outreach. Instead, the Getty, with Book of Beasts, generally took the high road. No dumbing down, no “unicorn days,” no silly contests. – Judith H. Dobrzynski
Bravo De Salvo! Unpacking Donna’s Sudden Exit from the Whitney Museum’s Deputy Directorship
With less than two weeks’ notice, the Whitney Museum has announced that Donna De Salvo “has decided to leave” the museum where she served with great distinction for the past 15 years, in order to “pursue other interests.” Adding to the mystery of why this news was sprung on us so precipitously, Adam Weinberg, the Whitney’s director, enigmatically commented: “We wish her the best as she embarks on the next phase of her career.” – Lee Rosenbaum
Not All Shrinking Cities Are Poor And Suffering (And A Few Are Positively Prospering)
Richard Florida looks at a study of shrinking American cities and breaks down a couple of myths about them, and about why some cities remain vibrant even as they lose population while others enter a downward spiral. – CityLab
Method Acting And #MeToo: A Brief History
“At least three of the fathers of the American Method — Lee Strasberg, Sanford Meisner, and Elia Kazan — had reputations for treating men and women differently, as well as for treating both women actors and women characters as sex objects.” Holly L. Derr examines what these men did, how they justified it, and how the aftereffects linger on. – HowlRound
‘The Wild Bunch’: At 50, It’s Aged Disturbingly Well
“[Sam] Peckinpah’s notion that mercy and virtue may be outmoded ideas in the hectic, grabby sprawl of the 20th century has ossified into prophecy as we’ve rolled into the 21st. … His work resonates wherever betrayal can be adopted as an acceptable strategy for success.” – The Guardian
Robert Therrien, Whimsical Sculptor, Dead At 71
“[He] was best known for his oversized sculptures of chairs and tables that he produced at larger-than-life, room-filling scale. In doing so, everyday pieces of furniture seem unreal, and viewers become like children, crawling beneath kitchen tables. They have become staples at museums across the world.” – ARTnews
San Francisco Ballet Recruits Two Stars
“Longtime Boston Ballet star Misa Kuranaga will be joining the company as a principal dancer for the 2019-20 season, while Dutch National Ballet principal Sasha Mukhamedov will join as a soloist. They join a slew of newly promoted SFB principals and soloists, announced earlier this year.” – Pointe Magazine