“Ridicule is a distinct kind of expression; its substance cannot be repackaged in a less offensive rhetorical form without expressing something very different from what was intended. That is why cartoons and other forms of ridicule have for centuries, even when illegal, been among the most important weapons of both noble and wicked political movements.”
Blog
Why Is New York Cutting Arts Funding?
“The Bloomberg administration is once again proposing a decrease in funding for the Department of Cultural Affairs next year -– a reduction of more than $37 million from the current year, to $102.2 million, according to the Independent Budget Office. This represents the largest proposed cut in two decades.”
When The Government Spies On Its Own People
Thirty-five years ago, a midnight break-in at an FBI office revealed “years of systematic wiretapping, infiltration and media manipulation designed to suppress dissent. Underground newspapers were targeted. Students (and their professors) were targeted. Celebrities were targeted. The Communist Party of the U.S.A., the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Non-Violent Organizing Committee, the Black Panther Party, the Women’s Strike for Peace — all were targeted.” That was supposed to be the break-in to end all break-ins…
The End Of The English Arts Council?
There’s about to be a big shakeup of the UK culture-funding system. “Abolition of the Arts Council is no longer a question of whether, but when – and how soon, this government or the next. The 60th anniversary of its foundation by royal charter will fall in August, by which time every colour of the political spectrum will have accepted that the system by which public money is fed into arts has outlived its usefulness to such an extent that it constricts art and contradicts its founding purpose.”
The “Corrie” Case – Big Disappointment
New York Theatre Workshop’s decision to back down from presenting “My Name Is Rachel Corrie” says something about the current state of New York’s theatre scene. “We have reached the unacceptable face of the New York arts scene when the theater that produced the original Rent—and, more to the point, the conscience plays of Tony Kushner and Caryl Churchill—should cave in like this to peculiar, unspecific pressure.”
Where Are The Right-Wing Playwrights?
Oscar winning screenwriter Julian Fellowes says there’s a problem with today’s theatre. What? There’s a shortage of right-wing playwrights. “There are all sorts of interesting areas for the right wing playwright to get into – the subversion of parliament, the intrusion of government into every day life. You could write a play about any of these things and technically it would be a right wing play but the phrase ‘right wing’ has now been kind of cast out into the shadows.”
Getty To Help Conserve Egypt’s Valley Of The Queens
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and the Getty Conservation Institute have entered into a six-year partnership for the conservation and management of the Valley of the Queens, one of the world’s most important archeological sites.
Savannah Gets A New Museum
“The $24.5 million Jepson Center for the Arts, which opens Friday, is a shockingly modern addition to both the historic downtown of Georgia’s oldest city as well as the annex’s 138-year-old sister museum.”
A New Music Download Policy?
Recording companies are reconsidering their policy of selling singles online for download. “If the industry determines that restricting digital sales pays off with bigger album sales, fans may soon find the instant gratification of snapping up new songs online becoming a little less instant. No one is talking about a wholesale shift away from the now-common practice of selling singles online ahead of new albums.”
Culture Minister Jowell Cleared
UK culture minister Tessa Jowell has been cleared by a parliamentary watchdog of any wrongdoing in not declaring a business deal by her estranged husband.