The study of old artifacts is becoming problematic when it comes to looking at objects. “On one side are archaeologists and other experts who say that most objects without a clear record of ownership or site of origin were looted, and that the publication of such material aggrandizes collectors and encourages the illicit trade. On the other side are those who argue that ignoring such works may be even more damaging to scholarship than the destruction caused by looting.”
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Philip Roth Wins PEN Lifetime Award
Philip Roth, whose many novels include “Portnoy’s Complaint” and “The Plot Against America,” has received the PEN/Nabokov Award for lifetime achievement, a prize worth $20,000.
Handel Makes A Comeback
“It’s a bit of a mystery why Handel has become so crucial for early-twenty-first-century listeners. The prior century made a cult of Bach, whose music takes the form of an endless contrapuntal quest. Perhaps, in an age of information overload and ambient fear, we have more need for Handel’s gentler, steadier art. At the same time, though, this composer appeals to the permanent hunger for high-class melodrama and psychological theatre.”
Mumbai’s Street Book Trade Endangered
Mumbai, India has a thriving street book-selling business. Or rather, had one. “Most of Mumbai’s pavement booksellers on Veer Nariman Road between Churchgate Station and Marine Drive are now an endangered species. A municipal clean-up is getting rid of hawkers in a city-wide drive to make Mumbai more like modernising Shanghai. Last summer, the city’s municipal agency evicted more than 50 of the roughly 75 pavement booksellers and carted away more than a dozen truckloads of books.”
Canadian Opera Company Tests Its New Building
“The COC isn’t interested in monuments so much as a building that can flatter the company’s talents, nurture its growth, and give pleasure to performers and audiences. In that sense, attending these concerts (including a school matinee on Wednesday) was like witnessing the first meetings of the parties to an arranged marriage. You knew it would be made to work. The question was: how, and how well?”
Davis: Voigt’s Voice Is Different After Weight Loss
Peter G. Davis detects a change in Deborah Voigt’s voice since she lost weight. “A change has also come over Voigt’s voice lately, though it’s hard to tell if it’s from weight loss or normal aging—controversy still rages over whether Maria Callas’s drastic diets contributed to her rapid vocal decline.”
Barry Munitz Gets A Job Back
The former Getty president is returning to California State University system as a teacher and fundraiser. “University officials announced Friday that Munitz, 64, chancellor of the 23-campus system from 1991 to 1998, will hold the title of trustee professor. Along with teaching and administrative assignments, he will help raise money for a new center, the Institute for Urban School Leadership and the Integrated Sciences Complex, which is under construction.”
An “Anti-Meier Committee Forms In Rome
To his admirers, architect Richard Meier has “the most consistent portfolio of any architect alive; to his detractors, the most repetitive. You can identify one of his buildings in an instant, yet they tend to go with everything. Currently, Meier finds himself at the centre of an almighty controversy. His new Ara Pacis Museum is the first significant structure to go up in Rome’s historic centre since Mussolini’s time, and as such it has attracted a great deal of attention, mostly negative.”
Three Convicted In “Scream” Theft
Sentences have been handed down in the trial of six men charged in the theft of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream.” “They faced various charges relating to the theft of the paintings on 22 August 2004 from the Munch Museum in Oslo. The three convicted men received prison sentences of between four to eight years for their role in the theft.”
“Scream” Still Missing
Despite convictions in “The Scream” theft, the iconic painting is still missing. “As long as the world-famous artworks remain missing, today will not be viewed as a conclusion by many here. The three convicted men provided the getaway car, drove it and planned the operation – meaning the two men who actually carried out the robbery are still free.”