For years, Kurdish artists documented Saddam Hussein’s crimes against Kurds. Now, “with Saddam in a prison cell, some Kurdish artists and intellectuals are putting words and images into a new battle for political goals and a dream of a longed-for homeland.”
Blog
The Passion Of The Box Office (And More To Come?)
The Passion of the Christ has taken in more than $265 million – an obvious success at the box office. So Hollywood, predictably, is wondering the big money question: has the movie industry been “neglecting large segments of the American audience eager for more openly religious fare?”
KC Cellist, 30
Veronica Freeman, a popular cellist with the Kansas City Symphony since 2000, died Thursday, one week after being diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia. She was 30.” The orchestra described Williams as “the heart and soul of the band … the uniting factor of the orchestra.”
Saving The Building Blocks Of Jazz
“In a campaign long on ambition and short on funding, music aficionados and historians have targeted for preservation nearly 2,000 New Orleans-area buildings connected to the birth of jazz — from the childhood homes of its pioneers to the mammoth halls where they performed. By poring over old phone books and dusty property records, through word of mouth and even the stubs of timeworn rent checks, researchers and historians have identified more than 600 homes and 1,300 performance halls linked to the early days of jazz.”
Wanted Above All: A Singer Of (Vocal) Heft
Yes there’s a trend towards hiring svelte singers who can look more like the opera roles they’re performing. But “if there is a truly extraordinary voice, you’ll make a place for it, regardless of how the singer looks or moves.” Apparently not, writes Charles Ward, if you’re London’s Royal Opera.
A Resale Fee For Australian Artists Proposed
A proposal for Australian artists to receive 3 percent of the resale of art is on the table. “Unlike writers, musicians and composers, Australian artists do not receive royalty – or droit de suite – payments. This means that if an artist’s work is resold at auction, or by an agent or private gallery for more than its original price, artists do not reap the rewards.”
Is Aboriginal Art Boom Sustainable?
“Aboriginal art is now worth $10 million a year to the salerooms – up from a mere $620,000 a decade ago. But Sotheby’s has been taking 60 per cent or more of the total and its main competitors want to grab their share. Others have tried, however, and failed. And whether there are enough collectors in Australia or overseas to keep five big salerooms running profitably seems highly doubtful.”
Sitarist Khan, 76
Vilayat Khan was a pioneer sitar player of Indian classical music, “he was one of the first sitar players to take his music overseas. Khan came from six generations of musicians, and taught and performed Indian classical music in the United States.”
From Bombay To New York (By Way Of London)
Meera Syal has a big London success in London with her musical Bombay Dreams. She’s hoping the show will translate to New York next month. “You wouldn’t have put money on Bombay Dreams. It isn’t based on a pop group’s output or a film, it features a whole new culture and an unknown cast. And even though [composer] AR Rahman is a demi-god in India, he was unknown to anyone here who didn’t watch Hindi films.”
Post Mortem On Creativity – What’re The Rules?
What should become of an artist’s unplubished work after they’re dead? “One school of thought says if a composer, writer or painter does not wish certain works to be seen or heard they should destroy them; that, indeed, leaving them in existence is a tacit acceptance that they will see the light of day eventually.” And yet, seeing (or listening to) this work often leads to insight on the “official ouevre.