Emily Nemens, 34, comes from Baton Rouge, where she has been a co-editor of The Southern Review for five years. Shew replaces Lorin Stein, who resigned in December following a board investigation into his sexual relationships with magazine staffers.
Author: Matthew Westphal
America’s Most Popular Museum Has A New Leader
“A former NASA chief scientist and a leader in the effort to send humans to Mars will make history as the first woman to lead the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Ellen Stofan will become the John and Adrienne Mars Director of NASM starting April 30.”
Anime Director Isao Takahata, Co-Founder Of Sutdio Ghibli, Dead At 82
“He is probably best known for his first film at Ghibli, the critically acclaimed Grave of the Fireflies (1988), a tale of two children struggling to survive at the end of World War II. Takahata himself survived heavy U.S. bombing of Okayama City when he was 9 years old. … The Tale of the Princess Kaguya, Takahata’s fifth and final for Ghibli, was one of the most expensive Japanese films made, anime or live-action, with a budget of around $50 million.”
World’s Tallest Statue Is Going Up In India
The “Statue of Unity”, a 600-foot-tall figure of Sardar Vallabhbai Patel (an anti-colonial leader who became independent India’s first deputy prime minister), is going up on a small island in the Naramada River in the state of Gujarat. The $460 million structure will be twice the height of the Statue of Liberty.
Top Posts From AJBlogs 04.05.18
Historically informed performance: How does it translate into the real world?
Are we there yet? That classic question that comes with long-delayed arrival was inevitable after a weekend packed with early-music concerts in New York … read more
AJBlog: Condemned to Music Published 2018-04-05
Deaccession Dejection: Court Allows Berkshire Museum Sales
Justice David Lowy of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court has just handed down a lamentable decision that rubber-stamps the devil’s bargain between the Attorney General and the trustees of the Berkshire Museum … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2018-04-05
Bill Kirchner: Two Views
Composer, saxophonist, bandleader and author Bill Kirchner is the subject of two new articles that recognize his decades of creativity. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-04-05
Here’s Why English Spelling Is Such A Confounding Mess
Linguist John McWhorter explains the reasons (such as our language’s mongrel origins) in this Lexicon Valley podcast.
How Orchestras Can Make Their Programming More Diverse
Derek Bermel, artistic director of the American Composers Orchestra: “I’ve spoken to several artistic administrators and conductors who insist that their audiences aren’t asking for more of the new; their internal research shows that their audience wants to hear what they already know. When I hear that argument, I think, ‘Well, of course! Audiences haven’t experienced what they don’t know, so how could they possibly be clamoring for it?’ One of the responsibilities of curators is to introduce the public to work they didn’t know existed or to help bring it into being. Five years ago, how many regular music theater patrons were yearning to see a hip-hop musical? We all know that answer: very, very few. Today it’s impossible to get tickets for Hamilton. Some of that audience is coming from outside the typical music theater audience; all the better!”
Even After 326 Years, No One Is Sure What To Make Of Velázquez’s ‘Las Meninas’
“An enigmatic group portrait of sorts, Las Meninas is populated by an odd cast of characters, including a princess, a nun, a dwarf, and the Baroque artist himself. A stark divergence from traditional royal portraiture, many have likened the painting to a snapshot, in the sense that it packs in a wealth of action. At the same time, close examination reveals that it doesn’t seem to follow the rules of perspective. Without clear evidence of the artist’s intentions or the wishes of his patron, viewers and historians alike are mostly left with theories and unanswerable questions. … Below, we break down what we do (and don’t) know about this inscrutable Spanish masterpiece.”
The Selfie-Driven Attractions That Have Hijacked The Concept Of A ‘Museum’
The Museum of Ice Cream. The Museum of Feelings. The Candy Museum. And, inevitably, the Museum of Selfies. Mitchell Kuga argues that these often-corporate-sponsored projects (the Museum of Feelings was an advertisement for Glade air freshener) could change Americans’ idea of museums – and not for the better.
How Women See How Male Authors See Them
“The canon is lousy with authors who yearn to be admired for their sensitivity to the full range of female personhood, be that personhood luscious, pert, or swelling coyly against a sheer camisole. These are writerly men confident that they’ve nailed women’s psyches, all because of how single-mindedly they want to nail women.” Katy Waldman calls out “the ridiculousness that ensues when bookish men perform interest in women’s inner lives out of a misbegotten sense of nobility. No one is fooled. “