Blog

The Tate’s Giving Program

A number of well-known artists is promising artwork to the Tate to help fill in the museum’s gaps in contemporary work. “In all, 23 artists are committed to giving – and the gallery naturally hopes this will become a fashionable bandwagon which others will wish to scramble aboard. At the most conservative estimate the promised gifts are worth £2.5m. But if an auction house could assemble such a collection, it would certainly go for many times more.”

de Waart: Rebuilding Hong Kong

The Hong Kong Philharmonic has had a tumultuous few years. Now Edo de Waart has taken over the orchestra. “Although de Waart’s primary appeal is to the government, his comments seem equally pitched to the business community, from which he hopes to generate more private support. ‘The challenge for a symphony orchestra in Asia is figuring out what and for whom we play. On one hand we’re an inventor, trying to perfect our product. But we’re also the shopkeeper, keeping track of who’s buying’.”

Ode Of A Bibliophile

Thomas Benton is mad about books. “Anyone who collects old books knows that most of what we call “literature” is never read. Large collections of books are fetish objects rather than authentic scholarly resources. I’m like all those architecture students who feel compelled to buy a pair of expensive and uncomfortable Barcelona chairs. I have not yet given up on my professorial aspirations, and each new book is a small investment in that future, which, with any luck, could last another 40 years.”

The Royal Ballet’s Star Opposites

Great partnerships in ballet are sometimes the product of complementary opposites. “Now the fans are out, arguing again, defending the transcendence of either Alina Cojocaru or Tamara Rojo – pure and sensual, the one who floats when she jumps, the other who strikes sparks when she spins, the dancer’s dancer and the woman who dances.”

Slipping Ticket Sales At Glaggow Theatre Has Arts Council Asking Questions

When the success of your theatre is based on how many tickets you sold, it can be bad when attendance declines. Glasgow’s Citizens Theatre has a new director, and ticket sales are down 4,000 over the previous season. So now the Scottish Arts Council is “eyeing falling audience figures at Glasgow’s Citizens’ Theatre, amid concerns over whether the company is delivering value for money.” The Citizen receives an arts council grant of £910,000 a year, more than any other theatre in Scotland. It pulls in another £425,000 from Glasgow City Council.

Culture Front & The Cold War

During the Cold War, both sides declared culture would be one of the primary battle fronts. “In many ways Cold War cultural production was ideologically driven to a degree not seen before or since. The era thus offers an especially productive field for examining the relationship between culture and ideology—between art and politics. But there are dangers as well…”

UK Government Tries To Turn Around Public Libraries

Faced with a declining number of users at public libraries the UK government is drafting rules for libraries to beef up their collections. “The official standard will require libraries to buy 216 new items per thousand of the population they serve each year. The word item covers CDs, DVDs and other materials, but chiefly means books. The standards will also say that stock should be replaced when it is no more than 6.7 years old. There are no rules on these points at present, but many local library authorities are understood to be below the targets.”

Rapping The Political Front

Rap is popular all over the world, where it has been adapted into local cultures. “The rap form allows a powerful voice for political invective, and is being used on both sides of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The appeal of hip-hop has found a voice in the alienated Arab-Israeli/Palestinian communities within Israel, dominated by the Jewish majority and identifying with the sentiments of US rappers in their struggle against discrimination.”