China doesn’t have an equivalent to the Oscars, but it does have the Huading Awards, a kind of People’s Choice open to voting. “Of course, when it comes to the People’s Republic, these are the choices of 1.3 billion potential moviegoers – which explains why the likes of Natalie Portman, Mel Gibson and Hilary Swank showed up to accept their accolades.”
Author: ArtsJournal2
Pssst, Can A Rembrandt Get A Little Love, Here, Audiences?
A new approach to (some very) old art aims to entrance the contemporary museum visitor, not to mention art auction buyer. Why? “Historic pictures were for centuries the market’s biggest earners, but over the last 10 years or so they have been progressively overshadowed by postwar and contemporary art.”
These Books Didn’t Have A Lot Of Flashy Support This Year, But Hoo Boy, Are They Ever Good
The Observer critics give you ideas for all kinds of 2016 books that, as one critic says, “should have been huge.”
Prices For Classical Music Are Soaring, But What Happened To That Beethoven?
The fallout from a failed sale is causing much consternation. “While it is not uncommon for experts to differ on such matters — Is that painting by the old master or the school of the old master? — the Beethoven episode raised questions about transparency in auctions.”
Going Backstage With A Volunteer Team At A Big ‘Nutcracker’
A reporter gets a peek into the world of ballet production. “Before the first performance, the party guests lined up in the wings to make our walk across the stage. A couple of young girls in mouse costumes asked me how I felt, if I was nervous. ‘Not really,’ I said. ‘The show isn’t really about me. It’s about you guys.’ They beamed.”
An Obama Speechwriter Looks Back At The Last Eight Years, And Helps Prepare For The Next Four, Through The Lens Of Books
“It became more real: This good man was in fact going to be our president. He was going to call other presidents and be in charge. So if you ask me what I remember most from that day? The sunlight; my wife’s small brown hand in my own; the feeling that from this moment, our history could be amended, our Union made more perfect, our lives more free.
*
Now we are here.”
Want To Dance In Public (Or Your Living Room) To NPR’s Favorite Dance Tracks Of 2016? Now You Can
Oh. NPR has gotten sort of hip. “Berlin and Vancouver are obvious hot spots right now (and that’s reflected in the mix), but there are developing scenes in Atlanta, D.C., Melbourne, Glasgow, Cairo and Tokyo that are generating truly memorable tunes.”
Zsa Zsa Gabor, Glamorous Actor Who Ended Up Famous For Being Famous, Has Died At 99
The woman with nine husbands tossed off one-liners and played to her broad, adoring public. “To Gabor, everyone was ‘dahlink,’ an endearment that entered the vernacular of mid-20th century America. She was a celebrity of the old school who believed in glamour. She once said of today’s actresses, ‘When you see them in real life, they look like nothing.’ Not so Zsa Zsa, who flaunted her jewels and furs.”
Despite The Decades Of The Murderous Khmer Rouge, Cambodian Literature Is Far From Dead
This is how culture rebirths itself: With a literary festival. “There were stalwarts from the Cambodian literati, cult-classic Australian crime writers, Academy Award–winning filmmakers, feminist Khmer rock bands, and cutting-edge spoken-word poets — all generating a significant buzz as they idled around town.”
Top AJBlogs For The Weekend Of 12.18.16
This Week In Audience: How We Think About Measuring Audiences Edition This Week: Business models and arts audiences… The rising impact of crowdfunding on the arts… Big Data can measure the wrong things, so be careful… Data show audiences are less affected by information overload … read more
AJBlog: AJ Arts Audience Published 2016-12-18
Weekend Extra: “Freeway” Two Ways
Chet Baker became famous as a trumpeter, not a composer. Still, when he was with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet he wrote a tune that attracts musicians more than sixty years later. “Freeway” has clever rhythmic … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2016-12-17
‘Tis the Season
Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut at BAM Howard Gilman Opera House. Five of the dancing snowflakes in Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut. Photo: Yi-Chun Wu Mark Morris’s The Hard Nut sets the knowing audience at … read more
AJBlog: Dancebeat Published 2016-12-17
On Stage with the Marx Bros
ONE of the glories of American culture is the cinematic ensemble known as the Marx Brothers. But before Chico, Zeppo, Harpo, and Groucho became anarchic movie stars in film like “A Day at the Races” … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2016-12-16