A new exhibition puts 17 Rembrandts together for the first time. “Loans have come from museums and private collections in the United States and abroad, including the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, the Louvre in Paris, the National Gallery in London and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition to images of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the apostles, Rembrandt painted hermits and a number of the evangelists.”
Blog
Sikhs Lose In Play Controversy
Who loses in the controversy over shutting down a Sikh play in Birmingham? Britain’s Sikh community. “In a single act the community has overturned years of hard work and reverted to type as a militant tradition fixated with narrow communal interests. Doubtless the mobilisation will be seen as another nail in the coffin of freedom of speech, coming close on the heels of the murder of Dutch film-maker Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands and the proposed legislation on incitement to religious hatred. What these interpretations overlook, however, is the pioneering role of Sikhs in framing British multiculturalism, the contribution – unwittingly – of the British state in promoting the idiom of religion in public life, and the deep tensions within the Sikh community itself that have produced such a play.”
UK Close To Reducing Regional Programming Regulations
ITV will be allowed to reduce its commitment to regional programming in the UK, under proposed new broadcast rules. “The regulator argues that it must be allowed to relax some of its public service broadcasting commitments in order to survive. In return for relaxation of the rules on the number of regional shows, which tend to be little watched and comparatively expensive compared to networked programmes, ITV will be required to make more peak time drama in the regions.”
Festival Producers Howl Over New UK Fees
The UK government proposes to levy enormous new license fees for outdoor music festivals that attract more than 6000 people. “The Department for Culture, Media and Sport wants to levy fees of up to £50,000 to cover the cost of health and safety inspections.”
Charlotte Repertory Theatre Endangered
“Due to a range of factors, from overspending on a few high-profile productions to a stagnant, post-Sept. 11 economy, the Rep emerged from the brief Michael Bush era owing more money than it ever had before. Deep cuts in state funding made a bad situation worse. Now, facing a persistent and growing gap between income and expenditures, Rep officials say the company is in real danger of going under.”
Beyond The Obvious – This Year’s Best Actresses
Some critics say this has been a terrible year for women’s roles in the movies. “While it is true that Hollywood does not make enough movies that focus on women, it is equally true that Oscar voters annually overlook the best performances by actresses because they’re too lazy to move beyond the “What did Meryl Streep and Susan Sarandon do this year?” thinking that results in so many nominations for those women.”
West End On Sunday?
London’s West End theatres are getting closer to opening for Sunday performances. “West End Union leaders representing theatre technicians voted for the move on Monday which includes a 5.5% pay rise and double time for working Sundays. The remaining workers will now vote on whether to accept the agreement.”
Hollywood North Is Dying
The movie business in Toronto, long popular with Hollywood producers because it was cheaper than working in the US, has dried up. “With foreign film production down almost 40 percent from the peak years of 1999 and 2000, the debate in Canada has become how to compete with lower-cost areas like Eastern Europe or American states like Louisiana and New York that have recently introduced attractive filmmaking subsidies.”
The Books Most-Checked Out At Libraries
Mysteries top the list. “We’ve done book-buying surveys over the years, and it always comes out that mysteries are the first and romance is a close second. I do think this (list) just confirms that libraries are huge lenders of mysteries. Almost every one of the popular fiction (titles) is a mystery.”
It’s Just A Jukebox, People!
4 million iPods have been sold this Christmas season, and cultural commentators have been falling all over themselves to define what the new era of portable digital music really, really means – you know, in, like, a really big, cosmic sense. Jim Walsh would like all the technogeeks and live music doomsayers to just settle down for a minute and enjoy the moment. What does it mean? “It means that four million people will be listening to the soundtrack of whatever they call their lives at the moment… It means that four million people will go to iTunes and drink in the celebrity playlists… What it doesn’t mean is that four million people will chuck their tapes or CDs.”