“Forty years ago, music was leading a social revolution, disrupting the establishment and empowering a new generation. Today’s web technology and social media, known as Web 2.0, or the second wave of the internet, are leading a similar challenge and the long-term effects are likely to be greater. Once again we are divided into those who get it and those who don’t.”
Blog
Rare Blake Watercolors Sold
Nineteen rare watercolors by William Blake were auctioned Tuesday in New York. “The works, illustrations for “The Grave,” a 1743 poem by the Scottish writer Robert Blair, were discovered five years ago by two British booksellers. At the time, experts heralded them as the most important Blake discovery in a century and said the illustrations should stay together. It appeared that the public agreed; some in the audience spoke of the breakup of the collection as a criminal procedure.”
Scottish Arts Get Funding Boost
“They will share the £2.1 million funding increase in 2007-8 – a rise of almost 14 per cent – bringing Executive spending on them up to a total of more than £22 million. The extra cash will be shared between Scottish Ballet, Scottish Opera, the Royal National Scottish Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the National Theatre for Scotland.”
How Do Arts Organizations Get The Word Out?
A conference in LA discusses what works. “Newspapers are still the dominant source of information about arts events, but e-mail is becoming increasingly important. About $30 billion was spent online in the 2005 holiday season, an increase of 30% over 2004. The average age of online users is 49, but all age groups are users. Sixty-five percent of users are women, and of them, 47% have postgraduate degrees. Household incomes of those using the Internet average $75,000.”
Bid To Buy Waterstone’s Fails
Waterstone’s founder Tim Waterstone has withdrawn his bid to buy back the bookseller from HMV. “Mr Waterstone, who founded the business almost 25 years ago, claimed HMV had imposed ‘ludicrous’ conditions for the deal, leaving him and his backers, Lazard European Private Equity Partners, with no alternative but to withdraw.”
Monet Waterlilies Get An Unveiling
“After six years of renovation work delayed by archaeological mishaps, Claude Monet’s giant Water Lilies are finally back on display at the Orangerie museum in Paris, in a space restored to match the French impressionist’s vision of how his work should be hung.”
More Plagiarism In Viswanathan Book
More plagiarism charges have been made against Kaavya Viswanathan’s “How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life.” At least three passages “bear striking similarities to writing in ‘Can You Keep a Secret?,’ a chick-lit novel by Sophie Kinsella. The copying from Ms. Kinsella’s book does not seem to be as extensive as Ms. Viswanathan’s borrowing from two novels by Megan McCafferty, ‘Sloppy Firsts’ and ‘Second Helpings,’ both published by Crown, a division of Random House. In that case, Crown contends that more than 40 passages were copied from Ms. McCafferty’s books.”
Board Member Boot Camp
Getting quality board members for arts organization is a problem. So one Boston program is trying to change that, training and placing business executives on the boards of local arts and cultural organizations. “Leaders in the arts community say graduates of the program have been a boon for arts and cultural organizations that are competing for a smaller pool of funds.”
Egypt Makes A List Of Antiquities It Wants Back
Egypt is making a list of antiquities it wants returned from other countries. The list of national icons “starts with the Nefertiti bust in Berlin and the Rosetta stone (ca. 200 b.c.) in the British Museum in London. Both of these objects left Egypt a long time ago, the Rosetta stone in the 1820s and the Nefertiti bust in 1912. From the Louvre, [secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities] Zahi Hawass wants the Dendera zodiac (50 b.c.), a map of the heavens that was sawed and blasted out of the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor at Dendera by the agent of a French collector in 1821.”
An Abu Dhabi Guggenheim?
Guggenheim director Thomas Krens still has dreams of world empire. He’s negotiating to open new Guggenheims “in Abu Dhabi and Moscow, ARTnewsletter has learned. According to an informed source, Abu Dhabi representatives have made a $2 million deposit to the foundation in connection with their discussions.”