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Iraq’s Plundered Art

After initial reports of looting of Iraqi art died down, so did concern. “Gradually, however, the extent of the loss and damage to Iraq’s heritage across the country became clearer. Many of the Iraq National Museum’s major pieces, too big and heavy to move, had been smashed. At Mosul, 16 bronze Assyrian door panels from the city gates of Balawat (9th century BC) had been stolen, as had cuneiform tablets from Khorsabad and Nineveh. In Baghdad, the National Library and State Archives building was burned down and the national collections of contemporary Iraqi and European art, including works by Picasso and Miró, were looted. Even more serious, perhaps, has been the damage to Iraq’s archaeology.”

Long-Lost Music Released To The Web

Universal Music is releasing 100,000 music tracks digitally. They haven’t been available for years. “Records are normally deleted once they cease to sell in sufficient numbers to justify shelf space in stores. It is also not economical for firms to produce low-selling records. No such constraints exist on the net, and both record companies and Hollywood have recognised the advantages of digital content’s “long tail” – they can market a huge back catalogue even if they sell only in small quantities.”

Two Paintings Authenticated As Rembrandts

Copenhagen’s National Gallery has discovered that two paintings thought to be fake Rembrandts are in fact real. “International art experts have re-evaluated 10 canvases that bear Rembrandt’s signature but were kept in storage for years because they were thought to be copies by his students. The five experts concluded that two of the paintings were by Rembrandt.”

Building Boom Threatens Books

The beloved library at Trinity College Dublin has discovered that the city’s torrid building boom is damaging its books. “The university has discovered to its dismay that a quarter of a million books, many of them irreplaceable and dating from the earliest days of print, have been damaged by building dust. The new Ireland is thus having a detrimental effect on the old, since this side-effect of Dublin’s extraordinary building boom will cost millions to put right.”

Fame As A Dead Body

Chuck Lamb wanted to be famous. But “his dream was stalled until last month, when he realized that anybody could play dead. By posing as a corpse on the Internet, he thought, perhaps he could win a role as a lifeless extra on ‘CSI: Miami.’ He took two days to build the Web site, then waited for someone to notice. It was a short wait. Deadbodyguy.com received 300,000 hits in its first three weeks. There were 530 hits from Uruguay, 6 from Iran. In two hours, the site received 2,000 hits from Spain. ‘I’m huge in Spain,’ he said.”

Ever Younger, Ever Stronger

The issue of age is omnipresent for ballet companies. Dance careers are so physically demanding that troupes must constantly replenish their supply of dancers, and the result is a near-constant tension between younger dancers and their aging mentors. New York City Ballet is currently in the midst of an “unusually intense replenishment,” and John Rockwell says that the results are visible onstage.