“Canada is in danger of losing several of its museums because of a funding freeze that has lasted 34 years, says the Canadian Museums Association.” The situation has been brought about, the association says, by a funding freeze that has lasted 34 years…
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Netherlands Goes Nuts For Rembrandt On His 400th Birthday
“The town of Leiden hosted a festival where 17th-Century food and drink was served at restaurants and entertainers performed street theatre. In Amsterdam, some of Rembrandt’s most famous masterpieces have been put on display. Saturday also saw the opening night of the quirky Rembrandt the Musical at Amsterdam’s Royal Theatre Carre.”
Some Claim The Love’s Out Of Berlin’s Loveparade
The history of Berlin’s “Loveparade is the stuff of myth, as documented in countless guidebooks and Web sites. The first Loveparade, in July 1989, was actually staged as a political demonstration, and it attracted a crowd of about 150. Over time the parade grew and grew, the number of attendees skyrocketing for more than a decade. According to the Loveparade Web site (loveparade.net), the event has had more than 8.8 million visitors since its creation and has attracted some of the world’s most famous D.J.’s.” But changes this year have some of the original organizers protesting.
Curators Association Protests Brooklyn Museum Reorganization Plan
The Association of Art Museum Curators is objecting to the Brooklyn Museum’s plan to reorganize its curatorial departments. The group says that “the new structure ‘undermines the traditional vocation of the curator-as-scholar whose commitment to a particular collection renders him or her uniquely qualified to make recommendations regarding its care and interpretation.’ The plan, which has been criticized by some curators at other museums and within the Brooklyn Museum itself, ‘raises issues that are central to the health of art museums in North America, and in fact, throughout the world’.”
A&E Channel – Our Own Definition Of “A”
In recent years it’s been hard to find the “arts” in the A&E cable channel. Not so, says A&E’s chief programmer: “I would completely refute that. I think they’re absolutely about the arts and culture and pop culture. You look at this country and 50%, [a] huge chunk of the population belongs to gyms even if they don’t go to them. It’s a huge focus on bodies and exercise and getting fit, and I think absolutely this is representative of our culture. We’re getting at it from a sort of particular angle and following, you know, personalities here, but that’s absolutely about representing the arts and culture. So, yes, it’s — you know, we’re not focusing on the traditional arts, but I think both these series are going inside the creative process.”
Massachusetts Overrides Governor, Approves Arts Infrastructure Aid
Last week the Massachusetts legislature approved millions in funding for improving and repairing arts infrastructure. “The groups surveyed said they needed about $1.1 billion to repair, expand, or construct buildings in the next five years. Governor Romney vetoed the $13 million for the fund this summer, but this week the House and Senate decisively overrode his veto. ‘This is not the Legislature saying, ‘Hey, we want better ballet on stage. It’s saying, ‘We want these cultural resources improved as the infrastructure for tourism.’ “
At The Met – Pay What You Want To Enter (Really?)
So the Metropolitan Museum’s admission is going up to $20. But it’s just a “suggested” donation, and in truth, you can pay whatever you want. But is social pressure at the ticket window to pay the full fare enough to preclude paying less? A Times reporter goes to ticket windows with a roll of quarters to find out…
Man Hears/Records Songs Of The Dead
A Canadian fiddler claims he hears music written by dead people. “Holed up in his trailer in Inverness, Cape Breton, the 81-year-old master fiddler pens 10 to 15 tunes a day, often hunched over his kitchen table. By his own count — and he keeps a daily tally on small sheets of paper — he has produced 33,300 compositions, but he still balks at publishing them, saying he hasn’t yet reached his personal goal of 35,000. Yet MacDougall insists he’s not creating art; he’s simply recording history. ‘It’s from the people who lived here before … they could make [songs], but they couldn’t write them’.”
Building Homes For Musicians In New Orleans
Volunteers are building a housing village in New Orleans for musicians. “The housing program is run by Habitat for Humanity. Saxophone player Branford Marsalis and singer Harry Connick Jr., honorary chairmen of the charity’s Gulf Coast rebuilding program, dreamed up the idea to encourage musicians to move into one area. The group bought a vacant lot formerly owned by the city school board and is using its army of volunteers — about 3,000 of them so far — to build 75 homes. It plans another 225 houses elsewhere in the neighborhood.”
Boston’s WBUR Kills Arts Criticism
Boston public radio station WBUR is dropping its arts reviews. The station is “eliminating its online arts magazine, Arts Scene, and with it the position held by editor and arts critic Bill Marx. The station has, however, added a full-time arts reporter, Andrea Shea. Arts criticism will be phased out by the end of the summer. ‘It was a good service for people who really like in-depth criticism and commentary in the arts. There’s a role for that, it just isn’t completely tied into what our main mission is’.”