“The first tribunal devoted exclusively to art disputes, the Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA), will open for business 1 April in the Hague. … Instead of judges unfamiliar with evaluating scientific evidence of authenticity or selling an artwork on a handshake and an invoice, CAfA’s arbitrators will be experienced art lawyers who understand expert evidence and market practice. … CAfA will hear disputes ranging from authenticity and fraud to contract and copyright, and proceedings can occur anywhere.” – The Art Newspaper
Blog
Actor Playing Lead In ‘The Color Purple’ Fired For Old Anti-Gay Facebook Post
Oluwaseyi Omooba, who had been cast as Celie, a queer character, in the revival by the Curve Theatre in Leicester and the Birmingham Hippodrome in England, wrote on the social media site five years ago, “I do not believe you can be born gay and I do not believe homosexuality is right, though the law of this land has made it legal doesn’t mean it’s right.” – The Guardian
Conductor Thomas Wilkins Works To Get Composers Of Color Into Boston Symphony’s Repertoire (And Into The Canon)
Wilkins, the BSO’s conductor for young people’s and family concerts, makes his subscription-season debut this weekend with a program of music by Florence Price, Adolphus Hailstork, Roberto Sierra, and Duke Ellington. Wilkins is aware of the charge of tokenism: “The easy observation would be to say that this is just a night of box-checking so that we can move on. In reality, it is not. It is, in fact, a launch. … And you know what? You gotta start somewhere.” – The Boston Globe
Tate Galleries Will Accept No More Donations From Sacklers
Just a couple of days after the National Portrait Gallery in London announced that it was turning down £1 million from the family whose company makes OxyContin, the Tate announced that, while it would not remove the Sackler name from any existing gifts, “in the present circumstances we do not think it right to seek or accept further donations from the Sacklers.” – The Art Newspaper
Fistfight At The Opera: Lawyer Punches Designer In Dispute Over Seats At Covent Garden
“Matthew Feargrieve, 42, was accused at Westminster Magistrates Court of repeatedly punching Ulrich Engler on the shoulder in the performance of Wagner’s Siegfried at the world-famous [Royal Opera House]. It is understood the dispute began because Mr Engler allegedly grabbed a coat belonging to Mr Feargrieve’s wife from an empty seat and threw it on her lap.” – The Telegraph (UK)
In A Country With Few Public Libraries, Ordinary Citizens Create Their Own
There’s the tuk-tuk bookmobile toodling around Jakarta schools. “There is the Perahu Pustaka, a library boat that sails around West Sulawesi. There are libraries on the back of vegetable carts, shelves lugged around by horses in Serang and in West Papua. Across Banten, a 200-strong motorbike gang called the Komunitas Motor Literasi (Moli), brings books to homes from a box attached to their vehicles, delivered with the ease of a takeaway.” – The Guardian
Finally, An Online Space Where Black Artists In UK Can Find Each Other
“Make Online has been created by [Talawa] Theatre Company for artists across the UK, and is described as an online community that will give black British artists ‘ownership and agency of their careers’. It is available for black artists at all stages of their careers to develop networks with their peers and the wider industry through open discussions and event listings, as well as access job postings, commissions and castings.” – The Stage
Why Universities Shouldn’t Act Like Commercial Art Galleries
Art schools that commit to The MFA Fair by representing recent alumni in their first outing as professional artists are clearly endorsing the idea that “the market” is the dominant way for artists to make a living. This is misleading at best and completely irresponsible at worst. – Hyperallergic
Get Out The Pitchforks! What’s The Difference Between Criticism And Intimidating Work Out Of The Market?
“When it comes to Young Adult literature, what, precisely, is the difference between the marketplace of ideas and a Twitter mob? A group of unpaid readers—one with an undeniable personal investment in the Y.A. community—seems to be doing much of the work of critique that is usually first the task of agents and editors, and then that of booksellers and critics. But, when these particular readers do that work, they are derided as pitchfork-wielding hysterics.” – The New Yorker
North American Movie Box Office Set New Record In 2018 (But Worldwide Box Office Down)
The Motion Picture Assn. of America said Thursday in its newly released annual survey that worldwide box-office ticket sales rose slightly by 1% to $41.1 billion for 2018. – Los Angeles Times