“The true architectural icon is a building that is unmistakable, often provocative, and carries cultural signals far beyond its purpose. Obvious iconic landmarks include the Sydney opera house, the Pompidou centre, even the new Scottish parliament building – all of which initially met with disapproval. These modern icons simultaneously signal their function and their public importance. They convey the spirit of their age; they are both useful and memorable. But there are also less significant buildings that aspire to iconic status but do not always deserve the profile their sponsors demand.”
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Town Of Books, Town Of Dreams
It’s been a year since “Blaenavon, the small coal and iron town in South Wales, launched an audacious experiment – to build a new prosperity based on second-hand books in a post-industrial graveyard of dead jobs. The town’s steep main street is a hill of dreams. The new booksellers have put behind them stalled lives, broken marriages, stifling jobs, and invested not just money but passionate hope.” So how’s it going?
Russian Fakes – A Growing Problem
There is growing awareness that there are many fakes of Russian master paintings on the market. “London sales of Russian masters exceed £10 million a year. But behind the scenes there are growing recriminations in the secretive world of Bond Street dealers. One accuses Sotheby’s, which dominates the market, of lack of competence. Another Russian dealer said: ‘Western auctioneers now have fakes in their catalogues all the time’.”
New Beatles Songs Found?
The songs are in an old trunk bought at a flea market in Australia. “Beatles experts had yet to properly examine the cache – thought to have once belonged to one of the British band’s close associates – but hope tapes within it could contain new material.”
Critic: Clear Channel’s “Art” Vision Should Give Museums Pause
Media giant Clear Channel is now in the museum exhibition business. But at least one critic has big reservations. “Nowhere in the promotional words from the corporation do we see the word ‘art’ or the phrase ‘high-quality art exhibition.’ The promotional phrases are all about size and scale. This should give any art museum pause. If “Saint Peter and the Vatican” is a harbinger of Clear Channel shows to come, it should give art museums further pause. There are a smattering of marvelous things in the show. For example, there’s a small Bernini sculpture that should wow anyone who loves sculpture. But the presentation is way too heavy on gold, silver and bejeweled artifacts and too light on paintings and sculptures.
A Book Printed, Then Hastily Withdrawn
Why was a book about composer Rebecca Clarke sent to reviewers last month, then quickly withdrawn? “A tangle of alleged copyright infringement and mutual recrimination — hitched to rising scholarly interest in the late Anglo-American composer Rebecca Clarke — lurks behind the dueling letters and the book’s withdrawal from circulation last month.”
Left, Right & Center – The PBS Political Slant?
Is PBS slanting right because it gave conservative Tucker Carlson his own show? “If the debate, then, is whether PBS is allowed to have a conservative on the air, well, that’s the kind of ridiculousness that paints liberals into a corner and makes PBS look bad in the process, as if it knew it was biased all along.”
MacGregor: National Opera Company Is Important
Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, has criticized the Scottish government for its treatment of Scottish Opera. ” ‘If a European country of the size of Scotland cannot support a musical life that encompasses an opera company, that is very serious. It would be ‘unimaginable’ for comparable countries such as Denmark not to have major orchestras, opera houses, ballet companies, as a central part of their national existence.’ Mr MacGregor said the fate of the opera company was not simply a matter of funding, but had elements of a Scottish Calvinist tradition in which music was not seen to be as important as literature.”
Cheap Online Books Worry Publishers
“Publishers, particularly textbook publishers, have long countered used-book sales by churning out new editions every couple of years. But the Web, particularly sites like Amazon and eBay, have given millions of consumers an easy way to find cheap books – often for under $1 – without paying royalty fees to publishers or authors. Mass-market publishers are not certain the used-book phenomenon is a problem worth addressing, but others in the industry have already made up their minds.”
How About An Arts Minister Who At Least Knows The Arts?
Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin is expected to name a new minister overseeing culture this week. His last appointment to the Heritage Ministry job had no background in the arts. “The hope is that this time around, Martin will, in the words of the Canadian Conference of the Arts, ‘appoint a minister . . . with knowledge of, and experience in the arts and cultural sector’.”