Or, to put it more pessimistically/realistically, ticket sales have plummeted across the board in the US and UK, but the biggest drop has been in older audience members, according to the new report “Who is Booking Now? Changes in Ticket Buyer Demographics Post COVID-19.” – TRG Arts
Blog
Art Basel Miami Beach 2020 Is Officially Cancelled
Thanks, COVID: following similar decisions for Art Basel Hong Kong and the flagship fair in Switzerland, 2020 becomes the first year in decades without a single live Art Basel event. – ARTnews
Here’s An Art Biennial That’s Going Ahead Smoothly
The 2nd Bangkok Art Biennale won’t be exactly what it was at its debut in 2018: there will be nine venues instead of 20, and organizers are having to look more to local audiences than to overseas visitors. But the event is happening, starting October 12, and there are some big names involved. – The Art Newspaper
London’s Royal Festival Hall Announces Fall Concert Season Featuring Nonwhite Composers (But No Audiences)
“Classical music has long been criticised for being overwhelmingly white, but the Southbank Centre said its first post-lockdown season in the Royal Festival Hall would feature works by 16 composers of colour. … Musicians will be returning for the three-month series of concerts at the centre, but audiences will not. Instead the events will be streamed online and 10 of the concerts will be broadcast on [BBC] Radio 3.” – The Guardian
Should Foundations Spend Down Their Assets To Truly Make A Difference?
By 2030, if only the 5 largest foundations spent down the entirety of their assets, approximately $73 billion would flow directly to large-scale issues that require only cash to be truly solved. Even if only half of that were to boost US issues, $36.5 billion in ten years might solve food insecurity. It might provide responsible housing for those who fight for it. – LinkedIn
Maybe We Need To Expand Notions Of What Creativity Is
Imagine instead that we worked with idea that creativity wasn’t about novelty. That doesn’t mean we’d have to give up the value of originality entirely, but rather see it as one of a range of possible outcomes. Casting a wider net in this way might hence make creativity (whatever it involves) easier to achieve. – Psyche
The Venice Film Festival Is About To Open. Will It Be Safe?
Ahead of the event guests have been sent a list of Covid-19 guidelines, including information on passing through thermo-scanners as they enter the festival and anyone found to have a body temperature of 37.5°C or higher will be denied access. The guidance also states that face coverings must be worn at all times, including in outdoor areas. It is not clear how that rule will be enforced, or whether attendees will be allowed to eat or drink while in screenings. – The Guardian
Why We’re Drawn To Stories About Monsters
Loving monsters is a love of chaos, a longing to dance a little with death to better understand the danger. Cryptid violence is more approachable than human violence. It’s easy to ponder ways to control something that is other, a thing. We’ve built entire political and economic structures based upon just that—imperialism, colonialism, racism, sexism. It’s more difficult to figure out how to survive the things we do to ourselves. – LitHub
How The Classical Music System Conspires Against Minority Participation
White people and some ethnic groups follow a progression of youth orchestras and schools of the arts and then are often paired with principal musicians in local professional orchestras. Meanwhile, young Black musicians inevitably draw attention to their raw talent but can’t afford the coaching and mentoring to help develop technical expertise and to help direct the way through the audition maze. Having little or no experience in a youth orchestra, they arrive in college music departments with, as one musician put it, “a lot of heart and personality but may not catch every note.” – San Francisco Classical Voice
Susan Jaffe’s Plans As Pittsburgh Ballet’s New Artistic Director
Beyond navigating COVID-19, Ms. Jaffe has big ideas for PBT and its growing school. She wants more diversity in choreography, more collaborations with museums and other institutions and someday, perhaps a choreographic festival in Pittsburgh. In regards to the PBT School, additional satellite locations are being considered as a way to bring ballet into more communities. – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette