American Kristy Edmunds, a “38-year-old artist, playwright, curator and institution-founder from Portland, Oregon, was announced yesterday as director of the 2005 and 2006 Melbourne festivals.
Blog
Between Diversity And Common Dreams
Britain has become ever more diverse in the past few decades. But is this a threat or an advantage? “When solidarity and diversity pull against each other, which side should public policy favour? Diversity can increasingly look after itself – the underlying drift of social and economic development favours it. Solidarity, on the other hand, thrives at times of adversity, hence its high point just after the second world war and its steady decline ever since as affluence, mobility, value diversity and (in some areas) immigration have loosened the ties of a common culture.”
The Illusion Of Saftey Makes Us Less Safe
Does all this added security post-911 actually make us safer? Actually, most of it doesn’t, and some of it even makes us less safe. Consider ID checks: “The ostensible reason is that ID checks make us all safer, but that’s just not so. In most cases, identification has very little to do with security. Let’s debunk the myths…”
A Big New Movie Museum For LA?
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is considering building a new “world-class” motion-picture museum in Los Angeles.
“Academy executives said they wanted the museum to be a ‘major statement’ comparable to such recently built Los Angeles cultural landmarks as the $274-million Walt Disney Concert Hall or even the $1.3-billion J. Paul Getty Museum.”
US Congress Looks At Content Crackdown For TV, Radio
“Republicans and Democrats alike are forming alliances and proposing laws to crack down on growing smut on television and radio. It seems certain that an energized Congress and president will greatly increase fines for indecency on the air, especially in the wake of Janet Jackson’s exposure during the Super Bowl halftime show. This could bring a new era of activism to the Federal Communications Commission, which has found almost no time to monitor or punish broadcasters, even while under Republican control.”
The Case Of The Missing Ivories (Questions Remain)
So the small ivories stolen from the Art Gallery of Ontario have been returned. But surely that’s not the end of the story. There are too many unanswered questions about this odd art theft caper…
Leonardo – Father Of Plastic?
Did Leonardo invent the first plastics back in the 15th Century? “Alessandro Vezzosi, director of the Museo Ideale in the Tuscan town of Vinci, where the artist was born the illegitimate child of a Florentine notary and a peasant girl in 1452, found Leonardo’s recipe for artificial materials in several pages of drawings and notes.”
Russian Buys Faberge Collection
Before the Forbes collection of Faberge eggs was able to go on auction, they were bought by a Russian industrialist. “None of the parties would disclose the price of the private sale, which includes nine imperial Fabergé eggs — the second largest collection after the 10 in the Kremlin — along with some 180 other Fabergé objects. But experts familiar with the Fabergé market estimate that Mr. Vekselberg paid about $100 million for the collection, which Sotheby’s had predicted would bring at least $90 million at auction.”
Scottish Opera Facing Cuts
Scottish Opera is holding meetings with an idea of reinventing the scale and scope of the company, after it was told it must pare down to live within a budget. “Potential job losses could be as much as 80 from its staff of around 200, although the unions involved – Equity, Musicians Union, and Bectu – have not been told what losses are expected.”
Mel Gibson To Delete Controversial Line From Film
A controversial line will be deleted from Mel Gibson’s new movie The Passion of Christ. “It didn’t work in the focus screenings. Maybe it was thought to be too hurtful, or taken not in the way it was intended. It has been used terribly over the years.”