It’s an uncertain time for America’s publishing industry: things aren’t going badly, to be sure (revenue and sales figures are up slightly over last year,) but “in recent months, several large publishers have reported weak results.” Throw in a nosediving economy, and many in the business are worried about what’s to come.
Author: sbergman
From Talking Heads To Singing Buildings
Rock legend David Byrne is thinking big with his latest project – really big. Byrne is transforming the Great Hall of New York’s Battery Maritime Building into a giant musical instrument. “At least for the next two and a half months, the building will serve as a gargantuan cast-iron orchestra.”
South African Arts Funding Chief Under Fire
“As scores of beneficiaries wait indefinitely for their grants from [South Africa’s cultural funding board] and increasing numbers of people institute legal proceedings against it, the board’s chief executive Vevek Ram is being hauled before the [a national arbitration board] by his own staff.”
Iraqi Music & Ballet School Targeted By Militants
“Gunmen threaten to kill their relatives, roadside bombs make journeys to school hazardous and religious hardliners persecute them – but the children of Iraq’s Music and Ballet School have an antidote to war: music… The emergence of a new breed of militants, who target people practising arts they consider “un-Islamic”, has led several worried parents to take their children out of the school.”
A Fake Agent Who Inspired A Generation of Real Ones
Michael Riedel says that Sydney Pollack’s hilarious turn as a New York theater agent in Tootsie launched a culture of behind-the-scenes celebrity that is still in place in Big Apple theatrical circles.
Harvey Korman, 81
“Harvey Korman, the award-winning comedic actor who rose to fame playing second banana to Carol Burnett on her television variety series and who starred in hit movies like “Blazing Saddles” and “High Anxiety,” died on Thursday in Los Angeles… A tall man known for his outlandish characterizations, Mr. Korman was nominated for seven Emmys for his television work and won four.”
Harry Potter’s Back! (Okay, Not Really. But Sort Of.)
“JK Rowling has written a short prequel to her popular Harry Potter books. But the 800-word tale will not be published – instead it will go under the hammer at a charity auction in London next month.”
Now That’s Return On Your Art Investment!
“A Scot who picked up a painting on impulse at Glasgow’s Barrowland market for 50p in the 1970s was celebrating yesterday after it sold at auction for nearly £35,000. The oil painting, by leading 19th century Canadian artist Cornelius David Krieghoff, was snapped up in seconds at Lyon and Turnbull auction house in Edinburgh after a bidding war which started at £20,000.”
The New Wave of Russian Collectors
“The Russian billionaire now bestrides the art world just as the American tycoon did a century ago, with limitless resources and limited taste, provoking precisely the same combination of awe, envy, snobbery and quiet admiration.”
Hitler’s Art (Now With Whimsy Added!)
“When the artists Jake and Dinos Chapman bought a series of paintings by Adolf Hitler for £115,000, many questioned the morality of paying for works produced by one of history’s most brutal dictators. Yesterday, the brothers unveiled 13 of the watercolours, on which they had added psychedelic rainbows, stars and love hearts, and placed them back on the market for £685,000.”