Pottery artist Grayson Perry has won this year’s Turner Prize. “Perry accepted the award in a dress, as his female alter-ego Claire, thanked his wife and said he was ‘stunned’. A popular choice among the public, he beat off competition from the favourites, the Chapman brothers.”
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Australian National Gallery Courtyard Attacked
A courtyard at Australia’s National Museum in Canberra has come under attack. “The public is overwhelmingly hostile towards the courtyard. They don’t like it and something has to be done,” says the chairman of a council set up to review the work. “Conservatives, led by former Howard speechwriter and council member Christopher Pearson have decried the museum’s futuristic design and complex architectural symbols since it opened in March 2001.”
The Museum Shopping Experience
More and more museums are opening stores – often in malls and shopping centers far away from their homes. “Totaling more than 1,800 nationwide, such stores generally offer a range of products tied to their museums’ missions. You typically don’t need to pay admission to shop, and purchases help provide vital financial support, up to as much as a third of some museums’ operating budgets.”
Overlooking Dali’s Fascism?
The 100th anniversary of Salvatore Dali’s birth is coming. Vincente Navarro writes that: “The Spanish establishment, with the assistance of the Catalan establishment, wants to mobilize international support for their painter, Dali, portraying him as a “rebel,” an “anti-establishment figure” who stood up to the dominant forces of art. They compare Dali with Picasso. A minor literary figure in Catalonia, Baltasar Porcel (chairman of the Dali year commission), has even said that if Picasso, “who was a Stalinist” (Porcel’s term), can receive international acclaim, then Dali, who admittedly supported fascism in Spain, should receive his own homage.”
Museums And The Issue Of Who Owns Culture
Western museums have traditionally resisted requests to return cultural heritage to their countries of origin. “Yet museums and claimants may be inching toward some common ground. American museum directors said recently that they are revising guidelines for addressing repatriation claims. And some combatants are working toward creative solutions. Even the Elgin sculptures could make a visit home for the Olympics. Greece and the British Museum reportedly are discussing a possible loan. And while they defend the idea of a ‘universal museum’ with the common heritage of humankind on display under one roof, museum directors are looking for new missions.”
A Culture Gap Between Europe And The US
Is there a growing gap between the cultures of Europe and America? A group of five European and American writers get together to agree that there is. But as for how the gap is defined and what its causes are…
Two Glitzy London Theatres Get A Redo
“If you want plush, if you want opulence, if you want to revel in the theatrical experience, then this winter you are in for a treat with the rebirth of two of London’s finest Edwardian theatres, the Hackney Empire and the Coliseum. Thanks to dollops of lottery cash and the generosity of private individuals these two masterpieces by that greatest of Edwardian theatre designers, Frank Matcham, should open on January 28 and February 7 respectively.” But what about London’s other theatres?
Canadian Theatre’s Color Problem
There’s a big problem “simmering beneath the surface of mainstream Canadian theatre,” writes Kate Taylor. “In a country that is increasingly racially diverse, the on-stage faces continue to remain almost exclusively white.”
Frayling Named Arts Council England Head
Art historian Sir Christopher Frayling has been named as the new head of Arts Council England. Sir Christopher has been rector of the Royal College of Art since 1996.
Judge Strikes Down Screener Ban
A federal judge has overturned a ban on independent producers sending out screener DVDs to awards judges. The Motion Picture Association of America had instituted the ban as a way to cut down piracy. But the judge ruled that: “the screener ban will significantly harm independent films, thereby reducing the competition these films pose to major studio releases.”