What do Australians like to read? If a new poll is to be believed, fantasy rules. On a list of 110 favorite books, “J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings was voted the most popular book in Australia, and there were no surprises when it came to J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series being voted consecutively at number two, three, four and five. Harry Potter and The Chamber of Secrets was the most popular of the series, being voted Australia’s second-best read.”
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Broad Gift Of $60 Million To LA Museum
Philanthropist and art collector Eli Broad has given the Los Angeles County Museum of Art $60 million to build a new wing for art since 1945. “The cash gift, the largest in the museum’s history, will cover ‘every penny’ of a $50-million wing that will be named after Mr Broad and designed by an architect of his choosing, subject to board approval. Details are yet to be ironed out, but the rough outlines call for a 70,000-square-foot structure facing Wilshire Boulevard and bridging the gap between LACMA’s main campus and its under-developed annexe known as LACMA West.”
Three Gorges Dam Floods Important Archaeological Sites
“Nearly 1200 sites of historical and archaeological importance along the Yangtze River are now underwater as the first stage of China’s massively ambitious Three Gorges Dam hydro-electric project reached completion on schedule. On 1 June the waters began rising in the huge 375 miles long reservoir created by the 185 metre high and two kilometre wide dam. The archaeological findings have established that the Three Gorges region was one of the main meeting places between East and West in ancient China…”
The Squeeze On KQED
San Francisco public broadcaster KQED has 200,000 members and counts itself one of America’s more popular public stations. But corporate contributions have been down and the station has to reduce its budget by 10 percent – likely forcing some layoffs. “In 2003, corporate donations are expected to fall by as much as 30 percent. The station is expecting to receive about $6.5 million to $7 million, compared with about $9 million donated in 2002. At the same time, dues to PBS and NPR, which supply much of KQED’s programming, have increased and the station is still working to comply with federal regulation that forced a conversion to digital broadcasting.”
Working To Build California’s First Full-Time Children’s Theatre
A group of community leaders in Beverly Hills are trying to raise $30 million to build the state’s first full-time professional children’s theatre. “The move comes at a critical time for arts education as budgets shrink for public-school programs and computers and television claim a substantial share of kids’ leisure time. At the same time, children’s theater, traditionally the stepchild of the professional stage, is maturing to new levels of excellence as evidenced by last month’s Tony nod to the wunderkind of the genre, the Minneapolis-based Children’s Theatre Company, the first such troupe to win the award.”
Toronto Museum Cuts Staff, Programs While Working On Gehry Expansion
Even as Toronto’s Art Gallery of Ontario works on an ambitious expansion with architect Frank Gehry, the museum is cutting staff and programming. The museum’s workers are protesting. “Last week, the AGO announced the impending layoff of 29 workers, along with cuts to several programs including the cancellation of guided tours for school groups. The moves were a result of a 25% reduction in admission revenue projections for the current fiscal year due to larger economic woes, the AGO said. In particular, a SARS-related tourism decline has hurt the gallery.”
The Royal Winnipeg’s Rocky Path
It’s been a difficult few years for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. The company has gone through four managers in the past decade, and its financial fortunes have been shaky. There have also been questions about the RWB’s artistic future as it made difficult transitions from longtime artistic director Arnold Spohr..
US Recovers Stolen Iraqi Art
U.S. forces in Iraq say they have seized 5,000-year-old artifacts from a suspected smuggler and recovered 12 pieces stolen from a Baghdad museum.
Report From Iraq: What I Saw Of Museum Looting
How and why did the looting of the Iraq National Museum happen? ARTnews sent a reporter: “During a week in May in Baghdad, I interviewed about 30 people concerning the looting: Iraqi museum officials, the U.S. troops accused of failing to protect the museum, members of the U.S. team investigating the thefts, foreign archeologists who led international protests against the U.S. role, and more than a dozen people who lived in the neighborhood and who witnessed the looting and the combat that preceded it. The most striking fact to emerge from dicussions with those living or working around the museum is that, in the days before and during the looting, they saw the museum being turned into a major military defensive position by Iraqi forces. In plain violation of the Hague Convention of 1954…”
Flash-Mobs – Art Or…
“In recent weeks, New Yorkers have been using forwarded e-mails to coordinate ‘flash mobs,’ or not-so-random crowds that appear and dissipate within a matter of minutes. Is it performance art? The cutting edge of a new social movement? Or just an easy way to flummox carpet salesmen?”