“Artists, collectives, new bars, farm-to-table restaurants, startups, and alternative music venues are amassing in Athens. Abandoned buildings, the scars from what Greeks simply call ‘the Crisis’, are turning into cultural spaces and homes for startups. Political statements are now emblazoned as street art. Artists from Mexico, Bali, New York and Western Europe are making Athens a new base. Is Athens the New Berlin? No, it is Athens. But, something is happening.”
Author: Matthew Westphal
Kyle Abraham Explains Why He’s A Political Choreographer
“There are times when I do just want to make a dancey dance. … But for me, I always get to a certain point when I feel it’s a waste of time and energy. Being black and gay there’s so much that I’ve faced in my life that I can’t be oblivious to what’s happening in the world. I can’t put all that aside and say: ‘Let’s just choreograph this pretty picture.'”
From A Rural South African Township To The National Ballet Of Canada
Siphesihle November, aged 19 and a new member of the NBC corps de ballet, talks to Q about his personal and artistic journeys to the far side of the globe. (audio)
An Angry Marina Abramović Explains What Happened To The $2 Million Raised For Her Institute
Responding to a New York Post article – headlined in the print paper “The Art of the Steal” – questioning the fate of the funds intended for her now-abandoned performance-art institute in Hudson, New York, Abramović – in a statement titled “The Art of the Truth” – wrote that “the [tabloid’s] allegations are so false, libelous and in every way untrue that I must address them.”
Last Missing Piece Of Magritte Painting Found After 85 Years
“The enigma of The Enchanted Pose, which depicts side-by-side female nudes, began decades ago. It is listed in the comprehensive catalog of Magritte’s works, but its location had been marked as ‘unknown’ since 1932. Magritte, who died in 1967, never said anything about its fate.” Turns out he cut it into four, painted over the pieces, and sold them as separate paintings. They were all hiding in plain sight, as it were, and the last of the missing quarters has now been identified.
L.A. Phil Picks Seattle Symphony’s Simon Woods As Next CEO
“The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s spring news earlier this year that its longtime president and CEO, Deborah Borda, was departing for New York sent the arts world spinning. Since then, one question has hung – or rung, like a symphonic triangle – in the air: Who would replace her?” We now have the answer.
Matthew Halls Says No One At Oregon Bach Festival Notified Him Of Any Complaints About Behavior
Following the report that, at the time Halls was fired from the OBF artistic directorship, he was being investigated over claims that he discriminated against women, he wrote in a statement, “I am reading about these complaints for the first time now. At no stage did anybody from the University of Oregon or the Oregon Bach Festival leadership present me – or my attorney – with these documents.”
Comcast In Talks To Buy 21st Century Fox: Report
“Comcast is interested in the same set of assets that Disney approached Fox about earlier this year, sources said. Also of interest to Comcast is acquiring the international assets of Fox, given that the Philadelphia-based company is heavily concentrated in the U.S.” (includes video)
‘How To Survive A Plague’ Wins UK’s Top Prize For Nonfiction
“Opening with a quote from Paul Monet, ‘Grief is a sword, or it is nothing’, [David] France’s book chronicles how the activist community fought to develop the drugs that would turn HIV into a largely treatable condition. … [The book] beat titles including Simon Schama’s Belonging and Christopher de Bellaigue’s The Islamic Enlightenment to win the £30,000 award,” the Baillie Gifford Prize.
Gaudí’s First Masterpiece, Casa Vicens, Opens To Public In Barcelona
“The Moorish-influenced Casa Vicens, commissioned by the stockbroker Manuel Vicens Montaner [as a residence] and built between 1882-88, was the architect’s first major project. … Fifteen lavishly decorated rooms by Gaudí have been restored with input from the descendants of its original tenants as well as extensive archival research.”