“The sarcophagus of the pharaoh Seti I, carved from a single vast block of translucent alabaster, cost [Sir John] Soane £2,000 after the British Museum turned it down … Almost 900 people trooped through his rooms and into the basement renamed ‘the Sepulchral Chamber’, where the sarcophagus glowed eerily, lit by candles placed inside. [His] museum recently recreated the experiment.”
Blog
Prix Goncourt, France’s Top Book Prize, Goes To Eric Vuillard’s ‘L’Ordre Du Jour’
“[The book,] a historical work about shady business dealings behind the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938, … [is] set to be translated in the United States under the title The Order of the Day.” The Goncourt’s cash prize is a mere €10, but it usually leads to a sharp rise in sales.
Grammy Organization Is Raising Millions For Music Ed In Three Big-City School Systems
“The Grammy Music Education Coalition has launched a fund-raising initiative aimed at benefiting music programs in the school districts of Philadelphia, New York City, and Nashville. … GMEC hopes to raise $5 million over three years for Philadelphia, with that money going toward both the district as well as programs run by partner education and outreach organizations.”
How Might The Rise Of China Impact Western Values?
“The rise of China will foster a self-reflection of the Western Enlightenment heritage. Ultimately, it leads to a convergence of civilisations on the basis of cross pollination. Neither the Chinese nor the westerner can cling to their past glories, or stop the course of history. The Chinese have been intensively exposed to western civilisation and adapted to changes since the beginning of the last century. In this sense, they are ahead of the West.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 11.08.17
Trusty Rusty: Powell to Retire from Longtime Gig at National Gallery
It’s entirely in keeping with Rusty Powell‘s self-effacing nature that the National Gallery’s homepage today is all about the art, with no hint of its big news: The museum’s longest-serving director, who assumed that post … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-11-08
Camerata Pacifica and Chamber Music in SoCal
Recently I’ve enjoyed a performance by the chamber group Camerata Pacifica and several conversations with its founder, Adrian Spence. I disagree with the cheeky Ulsterman on some points – I am in some ways … read more
AJBlog: CultureCrash Published 2017-11-08
Macron Magic: My Storify of Louvre Abu Dhabi’s Aborted Livestream of Opening Ceremonies
I wasn’t invited to the Louvre Abu Dhabi’s opening ceremonies today (no surprise), but I did get an emailed invitation to watch them livestreamed on the museum’s Facebook page. Below is my tweeted account of … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrl Published 2017-11-08
Rotten Tomatoes Data: 2017 Is The Best Year Ever For Superhero Movies
The standard metric at Rotten Tomatoes, of course, is the “Tomatometer” score, the percentage of reviews by critics that are positive. But with its Best Superhero Movies of All Time rankings that the site started earlier this year, Rotten Tomatoes provides weighted scores that adjust for the total number of reviews each film has received.
Toronto Looks At What It Takes To Help Independent Theatre
“The big message is that many of the hundreds of professionals in Toronto’s indie scene want to stay there, that it’s not necessarily somewhere people pass through on their way to full-time jobs in building-based theatre companies. So how to make indie theatre careers sustainable is a crucial question.”
Zadie Smith: What Does It Mean To Be New York Anymore?
“Like many a New Yorker right now I talk a good game but my mind is scattered, disordered. To me, the city itself feels scattered, out of sorts; certainly carrying on like London, like Paris, but also, like those places, newly fearful, continuing with its routines while simultaneously wondering whether it still wants to, considering decamping to the countryside while being repulsed by that same thought—oh, and a ragbag of other random thoughts and anecdotes that will now converge in the next paragraph like a half-dozen strangers united for a moment on a street corner.”
What Music Do You Most Want To Hear On Your Deathbed?
“Music therapists often recommend songs with a personal association: the first dance from the patient’s wedding, a song their mother used to hum. When Joey Ramone left us in 2001, he was listening to U2’s In a Little While. A professional psychic in Florida has provided a list of songs “people seem to universally enjoy”. They range from Celine Dion to Enya to Susan Boyle – so it might also be worth specifying what music you don’t want to hear on your deathbed.”
Once, Curators Were Elite. Now, We All Curate…
The broadened, democratic use of the word “curating” seems in part to reflect our growing need to impose order and organization on the busy, buzzing abundance that surrounds us. It also suggests the ways that we are increasingly using social media to put ourselves on display, making ourselves into spectacles.