“[Theaster] Gates is just one of several high-profile board members (including Chance the Rapper, his father Ken Bennett and Eric Whitaker) who have departed in recent weeks. People familiar with the DuSable [Museum] say its problems stem from mismanagement and from precarious finances, as well as board and staff instability.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
How To Fix The Mess At Chicago’s DuSable Museum
“The DuSable Museum of African American History, which has the largest collection of African-American historical artifacts in the country, is facing a crisis of underfunding and management at a time when it should be getting ready for the arrival the Obama Presidential Center … First, though, the 57-year-old museum must regain financial and organizational stability in its day-to-day operations. If it can’t, it’s not clear it will survive until 2020, let alone the next decade or two. [Here’s what’s] on the punch list.”
What Should Museums Do When Artists They’re Displaying Are Accused Of Abuse?
“As accusations continue to unfold, US museums have been forced to confront, publicly and in real time, ethical dilemmas such as how or whether to show work by alleged abusers — but there is no standard, accepted institutional response to such situations.” Jillian Steinhauer looks at the choices five different museums made.”
Here’s Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Idea Of What A Great Classical Concert Could Be
“‘Foreign Bodies’ [is] a one-night-only interdisciplinary extravaganza on Friday that marks the end of his three-year tenure as the [New York Philharmonic’s] composer in residence. But the program isn’t only a showcase of Mr. Salonen’s work; he shares billing with the New York premiere of a violin concerto by Daniel Bjarnason, a video installation by Tal Rosner and choreography by Wayne McGregor. If anything, the evening is a manifesto for what Mr. Salonen thinks the 21st-century concert could — and should — be.”
London Mayor Reveals Second Plan For £1.1 Billion Arts District At Olympic Park
“Featuring an outpost of the Victoria and Albert Museum, a Sadler’s Wells dance theatre and a new home for the London College of Fashion, along with residential towers, the park’s planned arts district, once known as Olympicopolis, in tune with [former mayor Boris] Johnson’s penchant for ancient Greek, has been reborn as East Bank, with the addition of a new base for the BBC Symphony Orchestra and recording studios.”
The First Livable 3D-Printed Houses Are Coming
“In what is considered a world first, a single-floor, three-room house made of 3D-printed concrete will be ready for occupation in 2019. More than 20 people have already registered their interest in the house since Dutch construction company Van Wijnen announced the project. It will be the first of five 3D concrete homes to be built in a wood in [the Dutch city of Eindhoven].”
Kamila Shamsie’s ‘Home Fire’ Wins Women’s Prize For Fiction
“The British Pakistani author’s seventh novel” – which edged out Jesmyn Ward’s Sing, Unburied, Sing, winner of the US National Book Award – “reworks Sophocles’ tragedy Antigone to tell the story of a British Muslim family’s connection to Islamic State … The [£30,000] annual award, which has been won by authors including Lionel Shriver, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Naomi Alderman in the last two decades, was previously known as the Orange prize and the Baileys prize.”
Jazz Festival Boss Fired After Saying That Gay People Don’t Exist And Homosexuality Can Be Cured
“The board of the association behind the festival, Pori Jazz 66 ry, met on Wednesday evening to discuss [incoming CEO Aki] Ruotsala’s views as expressed in an interview with [the Finnish regional newspaper] Satakunnan Kansa. In that interview Ruotsala said he does not believe there are homosexuals, only homosexuality, and said that it was similar to drug addiction in that it could be ‘fixed’.”
As Ticket Prices Rise, Attendance Drops At Britain’s Regional Theatres
“UK Theatre’ member venues, comprising more than 200 auditoria, took a reduced total of £469.8 million from ticket sales in 2017, down £1.9 million on the previous year. The total number of tickets sold was also less than in 2016, falling 1.87% from 19 million to 18.7 million. … This is despite a 2.9% increase in the total number of performances in 2017.”
When Did Humans First Figure Out How To Count?
“Although no one knows math’s exact origins, modern mathematicians … know that spoken language precedes written language by scores of millennia. Linguistic clues show how people around the world must have first developed mathematical thought.”