New York’s city government is asking developers to submit proposals to revitalize and redevelop Governors Island, a 175-acre parcel of land that sits just south of Manhattan, and which has been virtually abandoned since the Coast Guard pulled up stakes ten years ago. “In asking developers to take the lead, government officials risk quashing creativity at the outset. More broadly, their appeal raises questions about how American cities — New York in particular — are approaching large-scale urban development these days, handing over enormous swaths of public land to private interests.”
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Met Museum’s Illicit Antiquities Problem Reaches Further Into Museum Community
New York’s Metropolitan Museum is returning 21 works of art to Italy. But “while Italy secured a victory in this instance, the Met remains enmeshed in a broader tangle of donors, trustees and curators, some of whom have dealt in illicit antiquities, according to Italian and U.S. court decisions. At least three members of the Met’s board or its curator- appointed committees have bought smuggled artifacts for their personal collections, according to rulings in three Italian and U.S. cases since 1999.”
Shakespeare’s Mask
“Forensic scientists claim to have proved a bust and a death mask are the exact likeness of William Shakespeare. Scientists in Germany scanned the sculptures using computerised imaging techniques to show that they match up with portraits of the Bard. The systems, used by police, map out a person’s face to identify whether they tally with known pictures. Elizabethan experts deny the claim, saying busts and portraits were not true likenesses [and] often look similar.”
Law & Order: Video Piracy Unit
A newly organized police unit in London will be dedicated exclusively to combating video piracy. “By targeting the financial gains at the heart of film piracy, the Metropolitan Police unit hopes to prevent the funding of criminal activities in other areas.” The unit will be working closely with an advocacy group that fights piracy on behalf of the UK recording industry.
Domingo Rebuffs 2T’s, (End Of The Three T’s)
It’s official (well, maybe not quite official official – but the Three Tenors has sung its last gig. Placido Domingo is going it alone sans the two other T’s. “No matter who wins the football, Placido Domingo will walk away from Germany 2006 as the richest and most powerful operatic personage on earth. Where the Three Tenors carved up the record business between them in royalty deals worth more than 40 million dollars, Domingo now has the game all to himself.”
Italians: Next Stop, Boston’s MFA
Encouraged by their success in getting the Metropolitan Museum of Art to return art treasures, “Italian police will travel to Boston next month aiming to persuade the Museum of Fine Arts to return at least two dozen objects they contend were stolen.”
Would Anyone Notice If The Junos Disappeared?
The Juno Awards are the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys. “To the average Canadian, however, the Junos barely register. They’re just one in an apparently endless line of awards galas that exist only for the purposes of filling up a couple hours on the television schedule. So why not get rid of the Junos? Isn’t that the logical thing to do? Why not get rid of a few awards shows while we’re at it? Be honest — would you even notice? Awards are meaningless once they become ubiquitous.”
Looking For Diversity In The Great White North
The lack of racial diversity in major arts organizations is one of those nagging issues that no one ever seems to know how to address, and the lily-white quality of many on-stage productions registers immediately, even in a lily-white city like Duluth, Minnesota. “Arts administrators and artists of color gave myriad reasons why diversity in arts is lagging behind diversity in the local population: Socio-economics. Image. Lack of arts education in schools. Most discouraging, the lack of diversity appears to feed itself.”
Frey Loses Book Deal
First James Frey’s agent dropped him. Now his publisher has backed out of the rest of its multi-book deal. “A publishing source told PAGE SIX’s Jared Paul Stern that Riverhead decided the author was too much of a liability and has just nixed the deal after much discussion. ‘That is correct, and we have no comment,’ Frey’s rep says.
Hilton Kramer Leaves NY Observer
After almost 20 years of weekly front-page appearances in the New York Observer, Hilton Kramer – “one of the most outspoken, not to say controversial, figures in art criticism” has moved on. “The constant demand of traveling back and forth to New York and writing on deadline was interfering with the rest of my life.”