Author: ArtsJournal2

This Author Says This Moment Isn’t As New As We Like To Think

And actually, Jacqueline Woodson says, that’s a good thing to know on a deep level, so that she doesn’t only despair at lead poisoning in Flint or the rise of asthma after 9/11. “It’s so important to know that whatever moment we’re in, we’re not in it for the first time. … Knowing that something like this has happened before, and that we survived it, is really important for me as a writer.” – The Guardian (UK)

An Israeli Museum Cancelled An Artist’s Talk Because He Identifies As Palestinian

The Hecht Museum at the University of Haifa said that Saher Miahi’s identity did not fit with guidelines from its funders, the Hecht Foundation. The university rescheduled the talk for elsewhere. The artist said, “I was a student at this university and I’m still collaborating with it. Now, this museum is telling me that I don’t belong here.” The move was widely criticized by others on and off campus. – Hyperallergic

Vladimir Ashkenazy Retires Suddenly

His management company announced the conductor’s retirement from public performances. At the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, where he became Conductor Laureate last year, “Ashkenazy launched a three-year program called Vladimir Ashkenazy Masterworks and, as part of the 2020 season, was to have conducted the Northern Lights Festival in May. The SSO said today that the performances will go ahead with a guest conductor to be announced.” – Limelight (Australia)

Edith Kunhardt Davis, Author Of ‘Pat The Bunny’ Sequels, Has Died At 82

Davis followed rather literally in her mother’s footsteps when she wrote the sequels to her mother’s bestselling and beloved children’s book. But she didn’t write the children’s books until she got sober – and that was after she was pregnant and had a son whose weak heart killed him when he was young. “His death from heart disease in 1990 became the subject of Ms. Davis’s 1995 memoir, I’ll Love You Forever, Anyway. An account of her grief made all the more anguishing by her guilt, it stood in stark contrast to the cheerful children’s tales for which she was known.” – The New York Times

To Research How To Make A Better Museum, Ask Kids

Says one designer who experienced many a test lab with kids and families at London’s V&A: “A nine-year-old said: ‘Objects have rights.’ The phrase has stuck. It captures both the need to conserve objects and to consider them as active participants in the museum experience. It has brought the collection alive, allowing us all to imagine and design around objects’ ability to talk to visitors and to each other.” – The Observer (UK)

Movie Theatres With Shaking Seats Are Gimmicky – And Also A Good Education In Filmmaking

Basically, The NYT says, you could easily tell how bad Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was by going to a theatre with 4DX technology. The experience “should really be considered an intellectual exercise. Sure, the wind occasionally makes it hard to hear dialogue, and the flashing lights take you out of the movie when they light up the theater’s walls. But a lot of thought is required to artfully complement a film by adding multisensory elements. Especially when the film itself lacks artfulness.” – The New York Times

Life As A Young, Award-Winning Cellist

Sheku Kanneh-Mason has had quite the life in recent years, what with winning the BBC’s Young Musician Award in 2016 and performing at the wedding of Harry Windsor and Meghan Markle. He says, “A lot of musicians like a beer after a performance. I don’t know why exactly – maybe it’s because they enjoy more what’s well-deserved. The classical composers were often drinking a lot and doing crazy things, but I don’t think their music came out of alcohol – it’s more to do with musicianship often not being a well-paid thing, and also that music can take up so much of your mind, thoughts, passion.” – The Guardian (UK)