“Ever since the Dec. 26, 2004, Indian Ocean tsunami that left at least 216,000 people dead or missing, artists from around the world have tried to capture the epic scale of the horrific event… The Thai Culture Ministry organized an exhibit in October in the popular tourist resort of Phuket, where many people lost their lives in the waves, to help make tsunami art more accessible to the public. About 30 artists showed their sculptures, installations and paintings.”
Blog
Six Indicted In Scream Theft
Six indictments have been handed down by Norwegian prosecutors in the August 2004 theft of Edvard Munch’s masterpieces, The Scream and Madonna, from an Oslo museum. “Three of those indicted are already in police custody. Five of the suspects are charged with aggravated robbery tied to organized crime, which could result in prison terms of up to 17 years. The sixth is charged with fencing, because he allegedly helped store the stolen paintings. Neither has been recovered.”
Government Continues To Bully Australian Opera
“The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra cannot budget for productions because the Federal Government is refusing to reveal the results of a review of its funding and management.” The review is completed, but the government doesn’t want to give away its funding priorities in advance of next May’s budget negotiations in Parliament. Australian Opera has run significant deficits in recent years, and was forced to hire nearly an AUS$100,000 worth of extra musicians last month when new workplace regulations deemed sound levels in the orchestra pit legally unhealthy.
Iranian Leader Bans Western Music
Iran’s new hardline president, who has made waves in recent weeks with his comments questioning the scale of the Holocaust and calling for the destruction of Israel, has banned all Western music from state-owned radio and TV stations. The ban includes everything from American pop to European classical music, and is “an eerie reminder of the 1979 Islamic revolution when popular music was outlawed as ‘un-Islamic’ under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.” The move comes weeks after the conductor of the Tehran Symphony quit his post and left the country in protest of the government’s ill treatment of his musicians.
Well, There Are Only So Many Ways To Describe Bloodstains
Crime writers have long been relegated to an unfashionable corner of the literary sphere, somewhere between political satirists and romance novelists. But why should great writing go unrecognized and unrewarded just because it happens to concern cops and robbers? At least one prominent author is speaking out.
Architect of Faith
Whether for better or for worse, religion is becoming an important global issue once again, and more often than not, matters of faith seem to be fodder for bloody conflict and bad feeling between nations. So a prominent architect who specializes in designing houses of worship can be counted not only as a progressive development, but a profoundly unusual one. But Mario Botta’s driving inspiration goes beyond simple religious faith, and crosses over into a complex and deeply felt belief in “ethical” design.
Paris’s Rodin Reinvents
“Big changes are afoot at the Rodin Museum in Paris. There is a new and more spacious entrance on the Rue de Varenne, and a new and more generously stocked bookshop. Orientating oneself through the gardens and into the main body of the museum in the Hotel Biron feels less bemusing than in the past. What is more, a new director, Dominic Vieville, has just been appointed, and the museum’s 19th-century chapel, closed for restoration for almost a decade, has reopened as a space for twice-yearly temporary exhibitions.”
Making Their Own Way
A new Boston-based children’s magazine may be the ultimate in niche marketing, and it represents a fascinating crossover between the world of traditional publishing and the do-it-yourself ethos of the online world. “On several counts, Kahani is unusual. The founders knew nothing about magazine publishing when they started in 2004 but found their way with study, practice, and expert advice. They have no advertising; they’ve funded the project themselves, so far. Most unusual is the publication itself: the first children’s literary magazine for South Asian kids in the United States.”
Your Own Slice Of The Pi
From the moment Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The Life of Pi, came to public attention, it seemed to cry out for images to match the vivid prose. A deal for the movie rights predictably followed, and now, Martel is taking the unusual step of soliciting illustrations for a new edition of the book. Amateurs and professionals alike are invited to submit entries in the competition, which is being sponsored by Martel’s publisher in partnership with newspapers in Canada, Australia, and the UK.
A Wunderkind Cut Down…
Alexei Sultanov was 7 when he began performing as a soloist with professional orchestras in his native Uzbekistan. He was 19 when he became the youngest pianist ever to win the prestigious Van Cliburn Competition. And he was barely 30 when five simultaneous strokes wracked his brain and left him a shell of the energetic young musician he had always been. “Though doctors eventually stanched the hemorrhage, the damage was done. The strokes destroyed portions of his brain that are central to normal life and to the extraordinarily complex task of making music.”