“Being able to touch, explore the shape, feel the weight and even smell the replica of an artefact has the potential to transform cultural heritage experiences. In reality, these connections are the closest that most people could ever have with heritage objects. What is new about digitally-fabricated replicas is that they can be extremely accurate with regards to the shape of the original.” – The Conversation
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‘The Apollo Theater Of The South,’ Long Derelict, Restored To Its Art Deco Glory And Now A Working Arts Center
Before World War II, the Attucks Theater was the center of Norfolk’s thriving historically black business district. Like many such buildings, it fell on hard times in the late 20th century, hitting bottom as a pawn shop and decaying storage space. Now it’s a busy center for the arts for its community and city as well as a presenter of big-ticket performers. – CityLab
For 60 Years, ‘The Blue Prince Of Montmarte’ Has Presided Over Paris’s Most Venerable Drag Show
“When Michou” — né Michel Catty — “first set foot in Montmartre in the 1950s, it was a cheap bohemian area, home to artists, writers and performers, as well as beggars and an ethnically mixed working class. These days, the neighborhood gleams with an expensive gentrification. … Yet in the twilight of his life, this darling of the Parisian demimonde and his club are still attracting large crowds even while performing an act fine-tuned decades ago.” – The New York Times
Women’s Prize For Fiction Trying To Figure Out Gender Criteria After Controversy Over Trans-Non-Binary Semifinalist
“The Women’s Prize for Fiction has said it is working on a policy around gender fluid, transgender and transgender non-binary writers after featuring non-binary author Akwaeke Emezi on its latest longlist. … Emezi became the first non-binary trans person to be nominated for the Women’s Prize for Fiction last month, for debut novel Freshwater. – The Bookseller (UK)
For Its National Book Week, The Netherlands Makes Trains Free If You Showed A Book Instead Of A Ticket
Not just any book, mind you. “Traditionally, a well-known Dutch author writes a special novel – the book week gift or Boekenweekgeschenk – which is given out for free to people who buy books during the festivities or sign up to a library. But the special book … can also be presented instead of a rail ticket on every train in the country on the Sunday of book week.” – The Independent (UK)
Stairway To Heaven? Designs Revealed For New Shanghai Grand Opera House
“The building’s most prominent feature will be a helical roof that connects to the ground via a spectacular open-air spiral staircase. Snøhetta has designed this to resemble an unfolding fan, evoking ‘the dynamism of dance and the human body’. The building is reminiscent of the Oslo Opera House completed by the firm in 2008, which also featured a publicly accessible roof that slopes down to meet the waterfront.” – Dezeen
How The Museum Field Is Dealing With Repatriation Of Culture
Chip Colwell: “As a museum curator and scholar of the repatriation movement, I am stunned by the pace of these unfolding events, which seemed unlikely not long ago. I now understand that the repatriation battles are not isolated to a few museums wrestling with their colonial legacies. These clashes are fueling a war over the rights of former colonial subjects and the future of museums.” – The New York Times
There’s A Ton Of Money In Video Games. Video Game Workers Aren’t Getting Much Of It
It’s a $44 billion business. But recently there have been layoffs. Workers have no protection. And some parts of the workforce barely make $10 an hour. Not the picture you thought, right? – The New York Times
Absurd? Why Would LA County Museum Of Art Spend $650M To REDUCE Its Gallery Space?
Christopher Knight: “What was once a project designed to add nearly 50,000 square feet of critically needed gallery space committed to showcasing the museum’s impressive and still-growing permanent collection of paintings, sculptures and other global works of art has been turned on its head. Now, rather than enlarge the capacity, the scheme is to reduce the existing gallery square footage by more than 10,000 square feet.” – Los Angeles Times
Can The Shed Mitigate The Corporate Wasteland Of Hudson Yards?
Designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro and Rockwell Group, the Shed is meant to be the cultural giveback that compensates for the vulgar mess of the larger Yards project. Looking a bit like a bubble-clad airplane hangar, it sits on the southern edge of the Yards with two distinct elements defining its architecture: a boxlike form projecting out of the bottom of a high-rise residential tower, and a canopy with translucent plastic side panels, mounted on wheels and rails, that opens onto a public plaza. – Washington Post