American representation at next summer’s Venice Biennale is in jeopardy. “The committee that recommends an artist to represent the United States at the Biennale has been disbanded by its overseer, the National Endowment for the Arts, which is rethinking its involvement with federal advisory committees. And the State Department, which is responsible for American representation at this and many other international exhibitions, is not only looking for someone to run it but also to help pay for it.”
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Radio Shy – Brendel Quits Live Broadcasts (Almost)
Pianist Alfred Brendel is allowing his Proms concert this summer to be broadcast. “This will be the last time that a Brendel performance will be heard in a simultaneous relay. ‘I stopped live broadcasting two years ago but it was not trumpeted out. Microphones make me nervous. I have had microphones on stage at the Festival Hall for many years during my recitals, but the concerts were recorded, not broadcast live. There are quite a few of my colleagues who never do these things, even younger ones, so it’s a matter of feeling that I have now reached a certain age and I can do without the radio’.”
Three Antiquities Thieves Convicted In Guatemala
Guatemala has convicted three men for “stealing an eighth-century Mayan altar from an archaeological site and then threatening to kill anyone who told the authorities. The trial was Guatemala’s first criminal prosecution of antiquities thieves and the first of its kind in Latin America. Archaeologists and prosecutors hope the verdict and the prison sentences for the three men will have a powerful deterrent effect on the looting of the country’s many Mayan sites.”
Keeping Track Of Books (Readers Too?)
Libraries have begun tagging books with high-tech tags to better keep track of their collections. “With their encased microchips, RFID tags can transmit information to devices designed to pick up the signals and interpret them. Some privacy advocates worry that a day will come when a library book’s tag could broadcast information about a patron to anyone nearby with a tag-reading device — stalkers, snoops, corporate marketers, or G-men.”
Turner Revealed
A copy of a JMW Turner painting that has never before been on public view has been put on display. “The watercolour, showing the Gothic Cross over the lake at Stourhead, Wilts, has been in the Tate archives since it was bequeathed in 1856. A copy of the work, which was painted in 1798 when the artist was 23, is being exhibited at the National Trust-owned Stourhead house and garden this month.”
Reopening A Bosnian Monument
In July, Bosnia’s famout Mostar bridge reopened after a decade of work. “It had been destroyed by Bosnian Croats in 1993, during the Bosnian War, to expunge a symbol of cosmopolitan Islam dating from 16th-century Ottoman times. Its destruction caused an uproar, and rightly so. Simultaneously, Bosnian Serbs were busy obliterating some 70% of the local Muslims’ historic monuments. The Serbs then moved on to similar deeds in Kosovo. The bridge’s reopening had been a belated triumph. Under the aegis of Unesco, countries such as Turkey, Italy and Croatia contributed to the project for a decade along with town residents…”
Europe’s Museums Spruce Up For 21st Century
“Ambitious new plans for the future are transforming the dusty halls of some of Europe’s most revered galleries. In Germany, Spain, Italy and Britain, museums are scrambling to create bigger, more-dazzling exhibition spaces, smart new restaurants and shops, study centers and inviting public areas. The push reflects a shift in how the public regards its artistic institutions. ‘People want more than the old-style museum. We are driven to become more an arm of the entertainment and education industries rather than the academic institutions we used to be’.”
Radio Giant Cuts Ad Time On Stations
Radio giant Clear Channel is cutting back on ads on some of its stations. “This is not because CC has become community-minded. It’s because, like a lot of mainstream media (including newspapers), they’re losing customers, especially younger ones, to ‘new media’ – cable and satellite television, the Internet, MP3, satellite radio, iPod.”
The Art That Changed Minds…
“Many artworks have sparked ideas, shaped sensibilities. The list of mind-changers in our history is a long, familiar one, from Machiavelli’s The Prince and Monet’s Impression: Sunrise to Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex. But to have a direct, political effect – provoke a war, shape a law, inspire a cause – is much rarer.” Here are six works of art that had immediate impact on their times…
Chicago Tribune Awards Wilson Literary Prize
Playwright August Wilson has won the 2004 Chicago Tribune Literary Prize. “With these awards we hope to celebrate great literary achievement, something very important in the history of Chicago and also a part of the Tribune’s long history. In committing to these awards we also aspire to bring attention and support to a variety of local literacy efforts, in our belief that literacy and literary achievement are linked.”