Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Arts is on track and on time for next September’s opening of its much-anticipated new home on the city’s waterfront. “The new ICA, designed by the New York firm Diller Scofidio + Renfro, will be marked by a distinctive glass cantilever that stretches out toward Boston’s harbor. Inside, it will feature a 325-seat theater and two-story educational center. The 65,000-square-foot museum will triple the ICA’s current exhibition space… ICA leaders hope the museum will transform an institution that’s been considered no match for its counterparts in other major cities.”
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Editors Jump From Penguin To Random House
Two highly successful editors from the Penguin Group have announced that they will leave the company to head up a new division at Random House. “The move by the editors, Celina Spiegel and Julie Grau, was a major loss for Penguin, where [the imprint they brought to prominence] is celebrating its 10th anniversary and is having a stellar year, with nine of its books having reached The New York Times’s best-seller list, two of them climbing to No. 1.”
Nat’l Book Awards To Vollman, Didion
“Europe Central, a sprawling series of 37 intertwined stories by William T. Vollmann that examine the moral decisions of characters, some real and some fictional, in Germany and the Soviet Union during World War II, won the National Book Award for fiction on Wednesday night… It was a surprise victory over for Mr. Vollmann over E. L. Doctorow, a previous winner and literary lion; Mary Gaitskill, a sentimental favorite for her piercing stories that demonstrate a willingness to challenge societal norms; and two other finalists.” In the non-fiction category, Joan Didion took home the top prize for her memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking.
Swiss Art Seizure Denounced As ‘Financial Terrorism’
The businessman behind Swiss authorities’ seizure of 54 paintings from Moscow’s Pushkin State Museum this week has been trying to collect a debt from the Russian government for 14 years, and his “relentless legal assault on Russian assets abroad has previously been denounced… as “financial terrorism’… This is a man, after all, who once filed suit to seize President Vladimir V. Putin’s personal jet. In 2000, he impounded a Russian sailing ship in the French port of Brest, along with its crew, for 11 days. He nearly seized two Russian fighter jets at an air show in Paris a year later.”
U.S. To Maintain Internet Control
A U.N. conference on global internet issues has spawned an agreement that will work to combat cybercrime and e-mail “spam,” but which also leaves the internet firmly under U.S. control, a controversial move opposed by many other countries. “A U.N. working group, followed by governments including China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and the 25-member European Union, had all proposed taking away control of the domain name ‘root zone file’ from the United States and handing it off to a multinational agency… The United States and business groups had opposed the proposals, arguing that multilateral control would compromise the stability of the system, and that the current model has generally worked well.”
It Can’t Really Be Any Less Legit Than Cats, Can It?
An effort to build a permanent home in New York City for the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil has stalled after opponents objected to the location and questioned whether the project was an appropriate use for civic money designed to prop up struggling local companies. One state assemblyman went so far as to declare that Cirque, which puts on shows around the world, is not ‘legitimate’ theatre. Organizers “originally planned to [build] a classical music center that would have been overseen by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. But the developer instead decided to create space for House of Blues, a large nightclub and music hall. When that proposal ran into opposition at the City Planning Department and Community Board 4, [planners] turned to the idea of Cirque.”
Winnipeg Scales Back New Music Fest
For the last decade and more, the Winnipeg Symphony’s annual new music festival has served as a shining example of how orchestras can present contemporary works without driving audiences out of the concert hall. But this year, the WSO has announced a stripped-down version of the festival in response to declining ticket sales and waning public interest. Gone will be the well-regarded composers’ competition, and there will be no high-profile composer-in-residence, as there has been in past years.
Russia’s Dueling Opera Giants
“Opera has long had a prominent role in Russian cultural life, and the Bolshoi and Mariinsky have dominated the scene since the outset.” The two companies have survived political turmoil, societal upheaval, and other threats for well over two centuries. But in post-Soviet Russia, adaptability is an absolute necessity for arts organizations, and the Bolshoi and Mariinsky have been struggling to maintain their international profiles at a time when budgets are tight and classical music faces an uncertain future. Still, both companies are pushing ahead with ambitious plans for the future.
MIA Only $25m Away From Campaign Goal
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts has officially taken its $100 million capital campaign out of the so-called “quiet phase,” having already raised $75 million from its wealthiest donors. “Part of the money will pay for a $50 million renovation and addition to the museum’s building, a nearly complete project designed by Michael Graves that is scheduled to open June 11, 2006. The additional $50 million will be invested as an endowment for the purchase of art, especially 20th-century objects.”
Colorado Ballet Scraps Nutcracker Performances
Colorado Ballet has cancelled six performances of this year’s Nutcracker. “These performances had been showing poor ticket sales, and their cancellation will save the company the labor and rental fees owed the city. The company is currently paying down debts incurred from engagements this season and last at city-owned venues.”