Several recent issues involving arts groups and race have made headlines and angered minority interest groups, and each incident has rekindled old angers that we’re continually told are supposed to be passe in a “post-racial” America. “It’s an endlessly renewable rite in American life, it seems, an almost reflexive response to anything inflected by a question about race… The arts, we believe, we hope, are different, a realm where we really can connect — beyond race and class, beyond identity. We shouldn’t have to count and keep score and pay attention in that way.”
Author: sbergman
Hollywood Diversity At Issue Yet Again
The advocacy groups that were heartened last fall with the success of dramas featuring multicultural casts are unhappy with Hollywood once again, following the unveiling of the fall 2007 season. “Though minorities are featured in most of the 29 new series on the major networks, only five feature performers of color in central starring roles. While most of the shows have at least one regular minority cast member, the performers are mostly in support of the main white characters.”
The Net Won’t Kill TV, But It’ll Make It Uncomfortable
“The Internet has been touted as a rival that could destroy network television, but a new report on the Canadian TV sector suggests the two are destined to live side by side – though not necessarily in harmony… It paints a picture of tough programming decisions for the networks in the future, particularly as TV shows become available on-demand through the Internet.”
Is Martel’s ‘Harper Book Club’ Clever Or Snobbish?
Canadian novelist Yann Martel has been hand delivering a monthly book selection to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, in an effort to get the Conservative politician to appreciate the arts. It’s a clever idea, perhaps, but not everyone is impressed with Martel’s initiative. “There’s something very snooty about the idea. How would you like to see a book pop up in your mailbox every couple weeks as a sort of bookish taunt?”
A New Kind Of Public Radio (But Will It Be Any Good?)
“The soft rollout of Chicago Public Radio’s new, experimental radio station/Web site hybrid continues this week, primarily on the Web for Chicago-area listeners. It’s called Vocalo, and it wants to be bold and adventurous like performance art for the radio. But will it be the good kind of performance art (very rare) or the which-half-wit-gave-this-quarter-wit-a-grant and when-will-he-put-his-pants-back-on kind (common)?”
Using Culture As A Haven For The War-Weary
An Iraqi man who refuses to give up on the decimated city of Baghdad opened an art gallery in the northern part of town last year, and has doggedly kept it open even as life continues to crumble all around him. “He has kept it alive with a relentless rotation of exhibits, lectures, poetry readings and film screenings. There is urgency to this schedule. Mr. Nassar believes that culture can provide a pathway out of the hate and fear overwhelming Iraq, and he is trying to marshal like-minded Iraqis to join his movement.”
Alabama Doctor Wins Amateur Van Cliburn
“Dr. Drew Mays, an ophthalmologist from Birmingham, Ala., took the $2,000 first prize Sunday evening in the Van Cliburn Foundation’s Fifth International Piano Competition for Outstanding Amateurs… While professional piano competitions focus on players under age 30, the Cliburn Amateur has 35 as its minimum age.”
No Court Battle Over Pops Brawl
All charges have been dropped (or declined to be pressed) in the now-infamous Boston Pops brawl. “Boston police threw both men out of Symphony Hall but did not arrest them. The incident made national news, and a few days later the police department reversed its decision not to pursue charges and assigned a detective to investigate.” That investigation will now be considered closed.
A Good Workshop Year For NY City Ballet
“The School of American Ballet’s annual Workshop Performances are like the rookie draft of the dance world, in which students barely out of high school perform classic repertoire and a lucky, limber few get chosen to shine in lead roles (an even luckier handful are then chosen to join the corps of New York City Ballet)… This year, the crop of newbies was especially compelling.”
What If Tchaikovsky Had Seen A Shrink?
Many of the great composers of centuries past were well known to have battled depression, suicidal tendencies, and any number of other psychological ailments. But what if they’d had access to modern therapeutic techniques? Would treatment have given their artistic genius even more room to flourish, or would a happier life have stifled their creativity?