Blog

Why India’s Government Is Trying To Demonize Bollywood

If you had switched on news television in India in the past two months, you would have found a country obsessed with a singular subject: the taming of Bollywood, supposedly a wild, drug-addled place where horrible things happen to outsiders; India’s Gomorrah, infested with vile liberals and Muslims. This hysterical campaign of vilification and the persecution of numerous actors is an attempt to distract people from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s failure to handle the coronavirus pandemic and a sinking economy. – The New York Times

How Museum Gallery Design Will Change Post-COVID

In the future, experts anticipate bigger galleries that will be purpose-built to allow for social distancing, with the option to divide up the space with partitions as needed. Adjustable gallery architecture “is going to be important”, says Bruce Davis, a partner with the New York architects Cooper Robertson. “You’ll want spaces that can easily be changed and can adapt to changing trends in the display of art as well as the pandemic.” – The Art Newspaper

‘He Had A Ringside Seat For Many Of The Towering Works Of Postwar American Cinema’: Cinematographer Michael Chapman Dead At 84

He started as a camera operator for such landmarks as Klute, The Godfather, and Jaws; he went on to be cinematographer on movies ranging from Invasion of the Body Snatchers to Personal Best to Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid to All the Right Moves (one of three titles he directed) to the big-screen remake of The Fugitive (his second Oscar nomination). His most admired work, perhaps, was in four films by Martin Scorsese: American Boy, The Last Waltz, Taxi Driver, and (his first Oscar nomination) Raging Bull. – The Guardian

“Nothing Left to Lose” — My First Orchestra Job, etc.

Harvey Lichtenstein took me out to lunch and informed me that the Brooklyn Philharmonic had lost over two-thirds of its subscribers in two years. Would I be interested in taking over? I said yes, provided I could do what I wanted. And what is it you want? Harvey asked. Cross-disciplinary festival programming, I replied. Harvey said OK – he had nothing left to lose. – Joseph Horowitz

Why The Mellon Foundation Is Investing In Rethinking Monuments

“This is not a Confederate monuments project; it is a monuments project,” says Mellon Foundation president Elizabeth Alexander. That means addressing the larger issue of what values and ideas about identity are embedded in this country’s public architecture of history and memory. What is preserved, what is forgotten and what is suppressed? – Washington Post

The Little Piece Of Papyrus That Rewrote The History Of Christianity (Until It Didn’t)

Dr. Karen Leigh King had become a very rare thing: a theology professor whose speaking engagements could sell out a venue. Her work on the Gnostic Gospels, in particular a fragmentary Coptic manuscript called the Gospel of Mary (referring to Mary Magdalene), had brought to light the real possibility that women could real influence and authority in the earliest centuries of Christianity. Then, in 2010, she received an email with the subject line “Coptic gnostic gospels in my collection” … – Literary Hub

Canadian Opera Company Shuts Down For 20/21 Season

“Earlier this summer, our team made a promise to ourselves — and to our audiences — to explore every possible option for going ahead with our season. Since then, however, the changing local health situation has made it clear that cancelling our original winter and spring programming is the only safe decision for our staff, artists, and audience members.” – Ludwig Van