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Russian Authorities Shut Down Gulag Museum — But What’s The Real Reason?

The volunteer-run museum in the city of Yoshar-Ola (roughly 100 miles from Kazan) was located in the erstwhile local headquarters — including the torture chamber — of the OGPU, an early Soviet predecessor of the KGB. The founder claims that a new regional governor wants to appease the Kremlin; a group of Russian museum professionals who visited in June argued that the museum needed to be professionalized, with one describing it as “a grandmother’s trunk.”

National Theatre Wales Accused Of Not Being National, Theatrical, Or Welsh Enough

A group of 40 Welsh writers and theatre artists has written an open letter to the company’s chairman, arguing that NTW is not producing enough work — only two productions are currently scheduled through the end of next year, one of which is a photo exhibition — and that what work is being presented is given to artists from outside Wales. “We want it to be a theatre. We want it to be Welsh,” write the signatories. “These are two things we thought we could take for granted.”

The Problem With Cultural Democracy (Or, At Least The Idea Of It)

Given the renewed interest in the ideas and practices of cultural democracy and their potential to address longstanding issues of cultural policy, it seems clear that, as Owen Kelly, a key figure from the community arts movement, has recently argued, arguments about cultural democracy still resonate. But for Arts Council England, they are not unproblematic.

The Problem With Time

Time can now be sliced into slivers as thin as one ten-trillionth of a second. But what is being sliced? Unlike mass and distance, time cannot be perceived by our physical senses. We don’t see, hear, smell, touch, or taste time. And yet we somehow measure it. As a cadre of theorists attempt to extend and refine the general theory of relativity, Einstein’s momentous law of gravitation, they have a problem with time. A big problem.

Are Bert And Ernie Gay? Er… No – They’re Puppets!

“As we have always said, Bert and Ernie are best friends,” the company said in a statement Tuesday. “They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”

Is Contemporary Art The Kale Of The Art World?

It is no better-tasting and no healthier than many other vegetables. It is but one vegetable. The same is true of contemporary art. The public has shown, through its attendance at major shows of older art, that it wants a range of options. So it is time for museums to return to their true mission: the presentation and teaching of art from all significant periods and cultures, oblivious to temporary market trends and distortions.

Spotify Says It Will Let Artists Upload Their Music Directly

The new upload feature won’t work like SoundCloud, where songs can be instantly available. Instead, Spotify views it as a way for artists to have control over their own music in advance of its release date. Those who are part of the program will be shown an interface where they can upload their music and accompanying artwork, pick a release day, input additional information (like if it’s a single or an album), and then preview how it will look once published. Direct upload is being offered as a free service.