Mind you, the tribunal didn’t find that the 27 plaintiffs were unfairly sacked; neither did it say they should have all the rights of Gallery employees (not the same thing as “workers” under English employment law). But the ruling did say that the group, mostly lecturers and docents, must “enjoy benefits such as minimum wage, holiday pay, and protection from dismissal, which self-employed contractors do not” — a finding with major implications for how freelancers are treated in Britain. – Hyperallergic
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Brazil’s Great Sculpture Park, Inhotim, Reopens Following Disastrous Dam Collapse
“The deadly mudslides that resulted from the [Brumadinho] accident did not reach the sculpture park, which is around 20km from the site and had been evacuated, but more than 80% of its 600 employees live in the region, and more than 40 are related to some of the 300 workers and their families who died or remain missing.” – The Art Newspaper
Peter Hurford, Much-Recorded Organist, Dead At 88
He was best-known for his award-winning discs of the complete organ music of J.S. Bach, though his discography ranged from Handel and Soler to Widor and Poulenc. – Gramophone
This African Country Has A Stultifying Theatre Culture. Here’s How To Change That
“Attend three and you will start feeling the monotony in all of it; it is like each performance, each story, is the same,” writes Malawian theatre artist Isaac Mafuel. The problem, he says, is that theatre there has been used primarily as a tool for teaching schoolkids English as a second language, not as entertainment (let alone serious art), and Mafuel offers some ideas for changing that. – HowlRound
State Of The Art: Survey Of 300 Art Critics Illuminates A Field In Profound Change
In such moments, visual literacy, news literacy, social justice, global politics, and art become part of a rapidly moving whole that arts writers and critics contribute to and respond to. With audiences speaking so directly to art institutions, this raises questions about what the role of arts journalists can and should be. – Nieman
U Of Chicago President Says Trump’s Threats To Universities Over Limiting Speech Is A “Grave Error”
“I believe that any action by the executive branch that interferes with the ability of higher-education institutions to address this problem themselves is misguided and in fact sets a very problematic precedent,” Robert J. Zimmer wrote. – Chronicle of Higher Education
Too Distracting? English National Opera To Cut Back On Supertitles
The opera company said the move had been prompted by a desire to “give audiences even more choice in the new season”, which will be announced in April. “This confirms ENO’s commitment to singing English, and allows those who find the use of surtitles distracting an opportunity to see an opera without their use,” chief executive Stuart Murphy said. – The Stage
Ideas: The Mythology Of Paris And What Made It Great
The major thing is that the Paris myth, in some sense, creates its own death through saturation of believers. The truly exceptional people that came to Paris pave the way for the rest of us, but, their being truly exceptional, in some way, is what made the Paris we chase in our minds what it was. – The Smart Set
Why The University Of California Has Taken A Stand Against One Of The Largest Academic Publishers
Elsevier still made $1.17 billion in publishing in 2017, which is precisely the problem, according to its critics. At its loftiest, academic publishing is supposed to be about disseminating hard-won knowledge. But publishers charge hefty subscription fees, making that knowledge often inaccessible to researchers at all but the wealthiest institutions. Last year, the University of California paid Elsevier $11 million. – The Atlantic
State Arts Funding – Steady As She Goes (And Yet…)
On one hand, it is a testament to the continuous hard work of a lot of people that the sector is able to, on balance, keep funding to SAAs relatively stable. On the other hand, it is frustrating and emblematic of how far we still have to go in terms of effective lobbying and making the case for our value to the public, that we can’t realize consistently meaningful significant increases, sustainable over time. – Barry’s Blog