Iraq’s cultural minister says Saddam Hussein’s former palaces will be turned into cultural centers. “The 170 palaces of the former dictator will be turned into cultural centers and will be used by the Iraqi public and visitors.”
Blog
Should Norway’s Munch Museum Rent Out Its Paintings?
One of Norways political parties proposed that the Munch Museum rent out some of its paintings to help raise money. “One can raise money to take care of these great paintings and bring art to the Norwegian people. Today some of these works are in storage and this would make them available for viewing at firms or at public facilities,”
Does Crime Really Give You Cred? Probably Not.
Hip-hop culture has often been said to be inextricably bound together with thuggery and crime, and the genre’s biggest stars are also frequently the ones with the longest rap sheets. It’s all about the mysterious notion of “credibility,” a measure of personal and professional success considered vitally important to American rappers. But the conventional wisdom probably misses the point about hip-hop’s crime connection, and so, too, do many rappers: “if your rhymes don’t ring true to begin with, an arrest will probably just make matters worse… For a rapper, having your name printed in the police blotter is likely merely to reinforce whatever perceptions fans already have.”
Proposed “Freedom Museum” Changes Its Tune
Plans for a “freedom museum” on the site of the World Trade Center have changed. The museum will now focus more on victims of the 9/11 attack. “Some victims’ relatives have protested for weeks that the International Freedom Center museum would be anti-American and disrespectful to the dead. The museum, criticized for its intent to focus on global freedom movements, now will place the victims of Sept. 11 alongside the ‘freedom heroes of history’ in its main concourse.”
Music On The Brain
A study of violinists has shown that mastery of a musical instrument actually causes the human brain to rewire itself to better deal with the demands of the activity. It doesn’t mean that musicians are somehow smarter than the average adult, merely that their brains have been wired for greater manual dexterity than non-musicians. The findings can likely be extended to include other specialized areas of human endeavor, such as athletics.
Plays Rarely Require 63 Acres Of Stage Space, Anyway
Shakespeare & Company, a summer troupe based in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts, is selling half of a 63-acre parcel of land it bought in 2000 in an effort to wipe out a $2.2 million debt and give the company a modicum of financial stability. “The sale also means that company founder and artistic director Tina Packer’s stalled campaign to re-create on the site London’s Rose Theatre, where several of Shakespeare’s plays were mounted, can move forward again.”
Getting Ahead Of The Pirates
A new movie-download site sponsored by chipmaker Intel is promising to allow consumers to legally download films while they are still being shown in theatres. The project was conceived as an effort to avoid the years of infighting and lawsuits faced by the music industry when consumers began illegally sharing digital music files online. Key to the service’s success will be the industry’s ability to convince consumers that it is easy to use, convenient, and preferable to the various illegal methods of obtaining bootlegged movies.
Canaletto Sale Shatters Expectations
“A painting by Italian master Canaletto has set a world record for the artist after being sold for £11m – twice its expected price – at auction in London. The painting shows the Doge of Venice’s barge, the Bucintoro, with crowds on what is thought to be Ascension Day, when the Doge blessed the city. An anonymous telephone bidder bought the work, which had been owned by a Portuguese billionaire.”
A Promotion In Zurich
“Franz Welser-Möst, the music director of the Cleveland Orchestra, will become general music director of Zurich Opera in September, a spokesperson for the orchestra confirmed. The appointment is a promotion for Welser-Möst, who served as music director of the opera company from 1995 through 2002 and has been principal conductor since. He has agreed to an initial term of five years, through 2011. He will retain his position in Cleveland, where his current contract runs through 2012.”
Honolulu Looks For Internal Stability
The Honolulu Symphony is poised to announce a major overhaul of its management structure today, in an effort to turn around years of fiscal instability. Former Pittsburgh Symphony executive Gideon Toeplitz will be taking over as interim president, and a new board chair will be appointed as well. The changes were precipitated by a period of uncertainty a the orchestra, which began when a consultant criticized the performance of symphony president Stephen Bloom, who promptly resigned.