Author: Matthew Westphal

Another Casualty Of Government Shutdown: Smithsonian’s Folklife Festival

“The Smithsonian Institution has canceled this summer’s 10-day Folklife Festival celebrating the music and culture of Benin and Brazil and will replace it with a smaller event.” Instead, “[there] will be a two-day event, June 29 and 30, focused on the ‘Social Power of Music,’ in keeping with the Smithsonian-wide 2019 Year of Music theme.” – The Washington Post

Vivian Cherry, 98, Photographic Poet Of New York Street Scenes

“[Her] curiosity about people’s lives, inspired by the artistry of photographers like Dorothea Lange, Helen Levitt and Paul Strand, brought her to the city’s streets to take finely observed pictures of immigrants, street vendors, bocce players, construction workers, fruit auctioneers, farriers shoeing Central Park carriage horses, and children watching in amazement as an airplane flew overhead.” – The New York Times

The International Campaign To Rebuild And Restock The Mosul University Library

With well over half a million books in Arabic and more than one million antique maps, documents, and other materials (including a 9th-century Quran), the library was one of the most important in the Middle East — until ISIS began its destruction while it occupied the city (2014-17). Now the NGO Book Aid International and a project called the Mosul Book Bridge are gradually undoing the damage. – Publishing Perspectives

Why Have A Bunch Of Realistic-Looking Statues Turned Up In An Empty West Philly Lot?

“There is no indication at the site what the figures are or where they might go. There is no indication that a museum is in the offing. Just painted bronze figures in suits and beachwear standing on dirt in West Philly. … As unlikely as it may sound, it appears that the 4700 block of Market Street has been targeted by a somewhat reclusive private foundation — the Daniel Veloric Foundation — as the site for a museum sometime in the future.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer

Microtonality, Anyone?

Philipp Gerschlauer, David Fiuczunski: MikroJazz! (Rare Noise Records)
This exploratory venture is subtitled, “Neue Expressionistiche Music,” and the music is, indeed, expressionistic. Ears accustomed to conventional tuning may initially find the microtonal approach difficult to absorb. However, after a hearing or two the microtonality begins to move beyond exoticism, and a listener accepts that the Western equal-tempered scale does not have to be accepted as gospel. – Doug Ramsey

Here’s The First Winner Of A New Prize For Offstage Work In The Arts

“After spending years behind the scenes as an artistic and executive director of various arts organizations, Kristy Edmunds will take center stage on March 25 in Chicago to receive the inaugural Berresford Prize from United States Artists. The prize, which will be given annually to a cultural practitioner for their work on behalf of artists, comes with an unrestricted award of $25,000.” – The New York Times