UK museums are under pressure in a new report to show off their collections or get rid of the art they can’t display. “Collections are potentially museums’ most precious asset – but what business would allow up to 80% of its assets to go unused, while continuing to consume significant resources?” the report’s authors ask.
Blog
Was “Scream” Theft A Diversion?
Was the theft of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” from an Oslo museum last year merely a diversion for a gang of criminals on a crime spree? “The theft of The Scream was supposed to take the heat off them – and it worked. They successfully raided several banks in the weeks following the theft.”
Vilar Pleads Not Guilty
Alberto Vilar has pleased not guilty. “He said he was not guilty of investment adviser fraud, securities fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges in an indictment returned last week. Vilar has been unable to post $4 million in assets to secure a $10 million bail set after his May 27 arrest. Prosecutors have said Vilar is a threat to flee and suggested he is hiding assets. If convicted, he could face more than 10 years in prison.”
JVC Jazz-NY’s Got The Blues (And We Don’t Mean Music)
JVC Jazz-New York is in a down cycle, clearly playing second place to its Newport cousin. “Concert promoters always know better than critics what will break even. But the concerts in the New York festival, for the most part, do not reflect the current excitements of jazz. Filling those theaters is taking the priority over smart programming. Something’s got to change, at least to keep appearances up.”
Is Arts Criticism Dead?
“Blame it on Pablo Picasso. Anyone who took a college arts course knows that modernism began in 1907 with his painting Les Demoiselles D’Avignon. Implicit in modernism, as seen in Picasso’s use of flat perspective, non-Western art and the deconstruction of the human body, was a critique of art itself. From the death of art to the death of art criticism is a step that, amazingly, has taken a full century. The Internet is but the latest manifestation of modernism. And it follows that if in art anything goes — as opposed to the Academism that modernism rejected — the same is true for criticism. Everybody’s a critic. Blog it.”
Canada Invests In TV Programming
The Canadian government is putting $100 million into production of new Canadian TV content. “Ottawa has contributed $800-million to the fund since it was formed in 1996. The private-public partnership, which supports creation of programming in French, English and aboriginal languages, has helped create $5.7-billion in Canadian programming.”
Canadian Movie Theatre Chains Get Together
Canada’s two largest movie theatre chains are combining. Cineplex is buying Famous Players from Viacom Inc. for $500-million. “Last fall, New York-based Viacom said it planned to sell its Famous Players arm in Canada, the largest movie exhibitor in this country with a market share of about 40 per cent. Famous Players operates at 81 locations with 787 screens across the country.”
Another Look At Don Quixote
“Much is being said this year about “Don Quixote,” in celebration of the 400th anniversary of its publication. And indeed, much has always been said about this extraordinary epic, narrating the misadventures of a half-mad hidalgo who seeks to re-establish the traditions of knight errantry. Faulkner reread it annually; Lionel Trilling said all prose fiction was a variation on its themes. But aside from its literary achievements, “Don Quixote” sheds oblique light on an era when Spain’s Islamic culture forcibly came to an end.”
The man Behind King Tut
Zahi Hawass is the man responsible for bringing King Tut back to America. He “controls Egypt’s vast archaeological trove as secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, is part Indiana Jones, part P. T. Barnum – intent on dusting off Egypt’s holdings through a mix of entertainment, commerce and archaeology.”
Vennice Biennale Opens
The Venice Biennale opens, this year a confirmation of what’s hot in contemporary art rather than breaking new ground. “More tightly edited than in years past, this Biennale, the 51st, was organized by María de Corral and Rosa Martínez, who reduced the number of artists from some 300 two years ago to about 90.” Some 300,000 people are expected to attend this summer.