Said Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger, “I don’t see how it’s practical for us to continue to shoot there [if the law takes effect] … I think many people who work for us will not want to work there, and we will have to heed their wishes in that regard.” The statement came a day after Netflix announced it would “rethink our entire investment in Georgia” if the law was not overturned. – Reuters
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Baltimore Museum Of Art Asks The City’s Communities What They Want To See
“On Wednesday, the BMA revealed plans to send an updated version of [a] 1937 questionnaire to about 300 local schools, nonprofits, and other organizations. The results will inform future exhibitions, acquisitions, and programs at the BMA, according to the museum’s director, Christopher Bedford.” – ARTnews
Stan Lee’s Former Business Partner Arrested On Theft, Fraud, Elder Abuse Charges After Fleeing California
Keya Morgan, who was captured and detained in Phoenix, “is facing felony charges including theft, embezzlement, forgery or fraud against an elder adult, and false imprisonment of an elder adult.” Lee, for many years the star creator at Marvel Comics, suffered from dementia; he died last November after a turbulent final year. – Yahoo! (AP)
More And More Museums Consider Offering Free Admission
Just last week, L.A. MoCA announced that it will eliminate admission charges; earlier this year, MoCA Cleveland did the same thing, while Toronto’s AGO made itself free for visitors under 25. Other cities have made their museums free for limited groups such as public benefits recipients or library card holders. Many museum administrators now find themselves torn between the public library model (“where you can walk in for free and learn something”) and “a gut feeling that people value things more when they have to pay for it.” – The New York Observer
Playwright Lynn Nottage Has Written An Opera For The Met And Lincoln Center
The two-time Pulitzer winner (for Ruined and Sweat) adapted her 2004 play Intimate Apparel into a chamber opera with a score by Ricky Ian Gordon (The Grapes of Wrath). The piece, part of the joint commissioning project by the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater launched in 2006, will premiere late next February on the smaller of LCT’s two stages. – The New York Times
UK Government’s ‘Hostile Immigration Policy’ Will Be ‘Devastating’ For Edinburgh’s Festivals, Warns Edinburgh Lawmaker
Stressing the enormous financial benefits that the city’s festivals bring to Scotland, a member of the Scottish Parliament is arguing that the increasingly frequent, seemingly arbitrary denials of visas to international artists and writers invited to Edinburgh is discouraging those writers and artists from even trying to come. – Edinburgh Live
Disgraced Conductor Daniele Gatti Gets Second Big Post In Italy, At Abbado’s Orchestra Mozart
The 57-year-old Gatti, fired from Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra last year for sexual misconduct, has been named chief conductor of the Bologna-based chamber orchestra founded by Claudio Abbado in 2004. Last December, he was appointed music director of Rome’s opera house, and earlier this month he was hired to conduct a brand-new orchestra in Milan called LaFil. – The Violin Channel
We’re Not Returning This Painting To Italy, Even If It’s A Leonardo, Swiss High Court Rules
“Switzerland’s highest court has rejected Italy’s request for the return of an oil painting attributed by some to Leonardo Da Vinci, ruling no Swiss laws were broken when the work was brought over the border. Titled Portrait of Isabella d’Este and dated to the 16th century, the painting became the subject of an international tug-of-war after an Italian woman, Emidia Cecchini, sought to sell it in 2013.” – Reuters
Police In India Have Been Arresting Young Men For Playing Country’s Most Popular Video Game
Video game culture in general in India is relatively new. So when PUBG (official name PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds) skyrocketed in popularity in the months after its release, a nervous backlash developed among those given to moral panics, with warnings about the game’s violence and addictiveness. But the major cities in the state of Gujarat went farther, actually banning the game — and that ban wasn’t just for show. – BuzzFeed
The “Most Dangerous Art Ever” – A Laptop Loaded With Viruses – Sells For $1.3 Million
Dubbed “The Persistence of Chaos,” the Samsung NC10 contains six viruses that have caused an estimated $95 billion in damages. Despite what you might think, it’s not meant to be a tool for any world domination scheme. It’s intended strictly as an art piece — though it could be used for academic purposes — and it’s currently isolated and air-gapped to prevent foul play. – Engadget