Jamie Beddard, who’s playing Joseph Merrick in The Elephant Man at Bristol Old Vic: “‘Blacking up’ has been consigned to history, while ‘cripping up’ remains de rigueur, and is often a shortcut to industry [awards]. The list of excuses for such lazy and offensive casting is pitiful. … I have expended far too much time and energy debating the problem with ‘cripping up’. But it is particularly pertinent to The Elephant Man, with its themes of the fear of difference, the gaze of others, medical and spiritual intervention, the interplay of pity and empathy, and how we reflect ourselves in others.”
Blog
The Disability Arts Movement Has Been Around For 40 Years – Why Do So Few People Know About It?
“[It] first bloomed toward the end of the 1970s, and led to major advancements in Britain, such as increased accessibility on public transport and the passing of the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act. Yet strangely, the UK’s Disability Arts Movement isn’t something that’s widely spoken about – except among the disabled creative community.”
Riccardo Muti Halts Chicago Symphony Concert Because He Just Couldn’t Stand The Coughing Anymore
“Maestro Muti stopped a performance of Chant sur la Mort de Joseph Haydn, Luigi Cherubini’s funeral cantata for the Austrian composer, dead in its tracks, and one audience member told the Tribune they thought he said ‘it’s impossible’ while another said they thought he uttered an expletive. A CSO spokeswoman would not comment on what he said.”
Berkshire Museum To Sell Off More Art Because It Didn’t Get Enough Money The First Time Around
The first round of the widely criticized deaccessioning, with works being sold in April and May, only netted $47 million of the museum board’s $55 million goal. Now nine more works will be sold, seven of them privately and two at Sotheby’s; those works include pieces by Bierstadt and Calder as well as Qing Dynasty antiques.
Westminster Choir College Is Officially Sold
“Rider University on Thursday signed a controversial deal to sell Westminster Choir College, a renowned but struggling institution in downtown Princeton, N.J., for $40 million to a Chinese company with little experience in higher education.”
Banksy Blitzes Paris To Slam Treatment Of Refugees
“Aiming at France’s refugee crisis, the anonymous British street artist appears to have targeted Paris with at least three murals and several of his signature rats in various locations. It is the first time the artist has hit the French capital with his brand of social and political commentary.”
Illegal Excavation In West Bank Raises More Questions About Museum Of The Bible
“The Green family’s evangelical Museum of the Bible has been funding a number of scholarly projects, including an illegal excavation in the West Bank. This funding could potentially influence the direction of biblical scholarship and will certainly influence how the public understands the Bible and the ancient world.”
For The First Time, An American Is A Full Member Of The National Ballet Of Cuba
“This time last year, Catherine Conley was already living a ballet dancer’s dream. After an exchange between her home ballet school in Chicago and the Cuban National Ballet School in Havana, she’d been invited to train in Cuba full-time. It was the opportunity of a lifetime, and one that was nearly unheard of for an American dancer. Now, though, Conley has even more exciting news: She’s a full-fledged member of the National Ballet of Cuba’s corps de ballet.”
Romania’s National Art Museum Withdraws Its Prized Brancusi Because It Can’t Afford The Insurance
“Wisdom of the Earth, a sculpture considered to be one of Brancusi’s defining works, was taken off public view last week. A lawyer representing the sculpture’s private owners said that the museum could not afford insurance for the modernist masterpiece, prompting the collectors to move the work elsewhere. The Romanian Ministry of Culture, which led a campaign in 2016 to bring the sculpture back into public hands, also refused to respond to requests to foot the bill, the lawyer said.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 06.25.18
Strong opinions, weakly held
The yelling and pointing in our current civic environment keeps me going back to futurist Paul Saffo and his mantra: “strong opinions, weakly held.” In his extensive work exploring the present and divining the future, … read more
AJBlog: The Artful Manager Published 2018-06-25
Monday Recommendation: The Story Of A Keyboard Pioneer
Milt Buckner: The Life and Music of a Unique Jazz Pianist and Organist (Woodward)
Willard “Woody” Woodard writes a straightforward account of the career of the keyboard artist who pioneered the Hammond B3 organ in jazz. … read more
AJBlog: RiffTides Published 2018-06-25
California to Colorado on the Zephyr: Train Art and Culture
On June 12, I boarded the train for a 34 hour scheduled ride to Denver, on my way to the annual convention of Americans for the Arts. My assignment to myself was to write … read more
AJBlog: The Bright Ride Published 2018-06-24
Second chances
Now that Mrs. T is awaiting a double lung transplant, I’ve cut down on my out-of-town reviewing … The catch is that I last visited Smalltown, U.S.A., the place where I grew up and where my brother and sister-in-law still live, in 2015, and I’ve been longing to go back. … read more
AJBlog: About Last Night Published 2018-06-25