Is “trying to produce high-quality non-fiction that is reader-friendly is pretty much a losing game in Canada”? That’s one of the lessons some are taking away from the failure of Canadian publisher Macfarlane Walter & Ross, which went out of business last month. “Many of the traits that writers and editors loved about MWR – the editorial nurturing of writers, the refusal to publish junk titles for a quick profit – are some of the very same factors that got the imprint into trouble and mitigated against a cutthroat salvage operation allowing a prospective buyer to cherry pick assets.”
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The Iraq Museum Autopsy
Who let Iraq’s National Museum get ransacked? What’s missing, and how did it happen?
Back To The Studio – Chicago Symphony Makes A Recording
Few orchestras have recording contracts anymore – even the Chicago Symphony, which has made 900 recordings over the years and won 60 Grammys. But when producers were looking to make a fast recording of pianist Lang Lang in a couple of concertos in February, the orchestra rolled into action and it was like the old days…
Back To The Bamiyan Buddhas
Two years ago the Taliban in Afghanistan destroyed the ancient Bamiyan Buddhas. So what’s become of the site? “Earlier this year, the United Nations’ cultural arm, Unesco, persuaded the Afghan government to reject proposals to install replicas of the ancient Buddhas in the towering cliff niches in which they used to stand.” But repairs to the niches – “which have begun to crumble as rain has seeped into cracks left by the explosions” – have been slow to get underway. “Unesco officials said that that project would get under way when security conditions improve, using $1.8 million given by Japan and special scaffolding from the Messerschmitt Foundation of Germany.”
Toledo Museum Cuts
The Toledo Museum in Ohio, is cutting $1.3 million from its budget, and reducing staff by 14. “Our income from our endowments is down and annual giving, both corporate and individual, is down. Grants are harder to get, and our Ohio Arts Council grant – usually about $200,000 – has been cut twice since it was announced a few months ago.”
The Oldest Writers
Archaeologists have found what they believe to be the oldest examples of human writing. “Carved into 8,600-year-old tortoise shells, the pictograms were found buried with human remains in 24 graves unearthed at Jiahu in Henan province, western China. They predate the earliest recorded writings from Mesopotamia by more than 2,000 years.”
Museum Expansions A Go In Boston
While big museums such as the Guggenheim, Whitney and Los Angeles County Museum have cancelled or postponed plans for big expansions, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts and Institute of Contemporary Art are going ahead with their plans. “The MFA is looking to raise $425 million for the project, the first phase of which is projected to be complete in the spring of 2007. With that phase, the museum will grow from 531,000 to 677,000 square feet, according to the MFA. The ICA’s new building, designed for Fan Pier on the South Boston Waterfront, has been featured in an article in Newsweek and a sketch in The New Yorker. ICA officials say they’ve raised about $17 million of the $60 million they’re looking to bring in for the project; an additional $7.5 million to $8 million should be available when the ICA sells its Boylston Street building.”
Sideswipe – BWay Producers Complain About NYT Reviews
A couple of prominent Broadway producers have complained about New York Times theatre critic Ben Brantley for disparaging shows in reviews of other shows. In a review of “Frog and Toad”, Brantley wrote that: “I’d far rather spend an airy 90 minutes with the woodland characters of ‘Frog and Toad’ than revisit a spangled runaway elephant like ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie.’ ” Producers of “Millie” say the swipe was gratuitous. “Perhaps very few of your readers would have noted your comments on ‘Millie’ – but it is very demoralizing to performers who have to get out there every night and give it their all.”
EMI To Put Music Catalogue Online
Music giant EMI announces that it will put 90 percent of its music catalogue online. “The company is to make available for sale online over 140,000 tracks from over 3,000 EMI artists, allowing customers to burn music onto CD-R, copy tracks to portable players and purchase singles online as soon as the songs are serviced to radio and in advance of their commercial release on CD.”
Going For The Fastest Book
Forty German writers are hoping to set a record for the fastest book by conceiving, writing and printing a book in 12 hours. “After the authors have finished their writing, the contributions will be subbed by editors and then sent to the publishers. Organisers hope to have 1,000 copies printed before the 12 hours is up, and a party is planned to celebrate the record attempt.”