The United Arab Emirates is launching an expensive “Say No To Crude Art campaign. “We will launch a campaign to fight this phenomenon, especially indecent video clips and messages telecast on TV. The campaign will be funded by several groups which have shown interest in fighting this phenomenon.
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Controversial Diana Ballet Debuts
“Diana the Princess, created by Danish choreographer and friend of the Royal Peter Schauffus, portrays the Prince of Wales as a heartless brute, sternly dressed in a double-breasted suit. The Prince, who spurns his wife throughout, is shown passionately cavorting with Camilla Parker Bowles in the early stages of his marriage.”
Changes At The Top For Two Israeli Lit Supplements
The literary supplements of two of Israel’s largest publications have undergone a generational change. “Coincidentally or not, the literary supplements of the two mass-circulation dailies – Yedioth Ahronoth and Maariv – are undergoing significant changes. Two months ago the veteran editor of the supplement in Yedioth retired after 39 years. He was replaced by his deputy of the past 20 years. At Maariv, the veteran editor of the literary supplement, Talma Admon, has been dismissed and Dana Elazar-Halevi has been appointed as her replacement.”
Recording Company And Scholar Clash Over Old Music
A recording company (Hyperion) wants to record ancient music. A scholar claims copyright on his work recreating them. Impass. “What are the consequences? The gloomiest scenario doing the arty rounds is that, since most old musical compositions and stage works have been edited in some way, thousands of scholars will now claim millions of pounds in royalties, destroying the finances of performing organisations already operating on the most precarious budgets.
Qatar Sheik Loses Government Art Post
“A wealthy sheik from Qatar who has emerged over the past three years as the world’s single biggest buyer of art has been dismissed as his country’s art acquisitions chief after a disagreement with the emir of Qatar over his spending habits, art world figures familiar with the case said.”
Do Readers Make Better Police Officers?
The mayor of Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico, has “ordered all 1,100 members of the municipal police to read at least one book a month or forfeit their chance of promotion. ‘We believe reading will improve their vocabulary and their writing skills, help them express themselves, order their ideas and communicate with the public. Reading will make them better police officers and better people’.”
Is Defacing Public Art, Art?
“Audacious and appalling when it’s aimed at a museum masterpiece, the vandalizing of freely accessible, open-air artworks carries its own set of meanings and effects. Community murals, public sculpture and other forms of outdoor art are clearly more vulnerable than a museum’s protected holdings. But public pieces also tap notions of shared ownership and mutual interest (or mutual distaste) to raise an ongoing, open-ended mingling of reactions, feelings and reconsiderations. The public space belongs to everyone and no one. Art that is placed there engages and enacts that idea.”
CT: Tut Not Murdered
“King Tutankhamun was not murdered, but may have suffered a bad broken leg shortly before his death at the age of about 19, a CT scan on the 3,300-year-old mummified body of the pharaoh has revealed.
When The Downloader Is Sued…
“Of the millions of people who illegally download free music using various peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, only about 8,400 have been sued by the recording industry—including, last month, an 83-year-old dead woman from West Virginia. Those odds seem pretty good, until it happens to you…”
What Comissiona Meant To Baltimore
Conductor Sergiu Commisiona was music director of the Baltimore Symphony beginning in 1968. “Without Comissiona’s long, eventful tenure – he served until 1985, when he was named conductor laureate – I doubt many people beyond the Baltimore Beltway would know there was an orchestra in the city, let alone such an important one.”