Natalia Kalaida, one of the members of Belarus Free Theatre, which was exiled for its political stances, explains that “art has long been used to express political and moral opposition, particularly in countries where open criticism can lead to arrest and even execution. But when citizens have nothing to fight for, Kaliada says, the importance of theatre wanes.” – ABC News (Australia)
Author: ArtsJournal2
The U.S. President Thinks News And Satire ‘Should Be Tested In The Courts’
After a Saturday Night Live cold open recreated It’s a Wonderful Life without Donald Trump as president, the man who should most clearly understand the First Amendment tweeted, “It is all nothing less than unfair news coverage and Dem commercials. Should be tested in courts, can’t be legal? Only defame & belittle! Collusion?” – Variety
Should Britain’s Art Courses Warn Young People About Their Futures?
Lyn Gardner says that although UK government inspector Amanda Spelman has faced a massive backlash – for good reason – some of her statements were probably fair. “Watching each year as arts graduates head into the world sometimes feels like a David Attenborough documentary showing nature at its most brutal. As thousands of young people – who have been taught to call themselves artists but not necessarily given the skills artists need to survive – head for the choppy waters of the industry, they seem like vulnerable baby turtles heading for the ocean.” – The Stage (UK)
Twist In The LA Mural Story: Shepard Fairey Says He’ll Remove His Mural If LAUSD Paints Over Another Artist’s Mural
Fairey’s mural, at the same school, is of Robert F. Kennedy – at the Robert F. Kennedy Community Schools complex, on the footprint of the hotel where Kennedy was shot. It is “arguably one of the school’s defining visual elements.” If Beau Stanton’s mural of Ava Gardner is painted over, he says, his should be too. He’d rather not, though: “I thought that cooler heads would prevail because this is absurd.” – Los Angeles Times
A Second Actress Accuses Geoffrey Rush Of Inappropriate Sexual Behavior
Yael Stone, who plays Lorna on Orange Is the New Black, says the actor danced naked around her dressing room, watched her while she showered, and sent inappropriate text messages. (Rush says it was all about “the spirited enthusiasm I generally bring to my work.”) – The New York Times
This Year’s Movie Trend Is The Revival Of The Rom-Com
The teen rom-com, that is, revived by Netflix and Love, Simon to incorporate old tropes and new characters – including a Korean American nerd, a gay boy on the cusp of coming out, and a fat girl not as punchlines but as the protagonists of their own love stories. – BuzzFeed
Putin Says Russia Should ‘Take Charge Of’ Youth Culture And Rap Music
That’s not ominous or dictator-like at all. And of course, as the article says, “The Russian government has long had a complicated relationship with music.” – BBC
Bryan Tyree Henry’s Breakout Year
Though he was already a star in the TV show Atlanta, not to mention a turn in the movie Widows, Henry is finding acclaim in Moonlight director Barry Jenkins’ new movie, If Beale Street Could Talk. “He can be agile and profound, menacing and open, composed and undone. Put more plainly, Brian Tyree Henry has the range.” – The Atlantic
Spain’s Lost Decade Of The Arts
Since the economic crash, the arts in Spain have suffered massive hits – and then there’s the internet. “Between 2007 and 2017, one out of every three musical performances and a quarter of the film showings have disappeared, according to the SGAE 2018 report. There is no cultural activity that does not register a decrease in performances (from 17% of classical music to 57% of the dance) and tickets sold (between 7% and 47%).” – El País (Spain)
The Los Angeles School District Will Whitewash A Mural Accused Of Being Racist
The mural, by Brooklyn artist Beau Stanton, features Ava Gardner with a radiating starburst behind her head. And in a 16-page letter sent to the LA Unified School District last month, a neighborhood coalition president objected strenuously to the starburst as a symbol of Imperial Japan. The Times‘ art critic: “Given the motif’s architectural roots in Art Deco design, the prominence of stylized light beams in nostalgic wall murals is hardly surprising.” – Los Angeles Times