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The Lasting Damage That Movies Like “Gone With The Wind” Have Wrought

For years now activists have been attempting to cancel the Confederate flag and eliminate other monuments to the fallen Confederacy, along with removing the names of former slave owners and white supremacists that continue to adorn buildings on various school and college campuses, among numerous other attempts to destroy the legacy of the slaveholding south that was supposed to have died with the end of the civil war. We can now add films celebratory of this defeated legacy like Gone With the Wind to the list as well. – The Guardian

Can This Businessman Turn Old Kentucky Coal Mines Into Arts Centers?

“Could repurposed coal-mining sites in the Appalachian mountains of Eastern Kentucky become an art-world destination and hub for a burgeoning arts scene? That is the ambitious proposition underpinning Somewhere Appalachia, an initiative spearheaded by Brook Smith, a Louisville-based entrepreneur, philanthropist and contemporary art collector.” – The Art Newspaper

It’s Bloomsday… er, Zoomsday. It Reminds What We’ll Return To

When the public again returns to full contact — with embraces and smooches, and eating together — what will matter most is not the freedom to shop without masks, or to fly without fear. What we’ll be hungry for is the strength of culture to pull us together. As with the study and love of a difficult author, those concerts and movies and cultural gatherings will again become the commonality through which we define our lives. “Ulysses” has a fabulous statement along these lines, silently spoken by Stephen Dedalus. – Los Angeles Times

UNESCO Gets Started On Project To Restore War-Ravaged Mosul

“Restoration work funded by Germany has begun on the Al-Aghawat mosque, houses are being refurbished with the aid of the European Union, and the rehabilitation of the Dominican Al-Saa’a church is under way with funding from the United Arab Emirates. Brendan Cassar, the head of UNECSO’s culture unit in Iraq, says the projects grouped under its ‘Revive the Spirit of Mosul’ initiative are ‘modest attempts’ to rehabilitate the devastated city, whose full reconstruction would cost hundreds of billions of dollars.” – The Art Newspaper

Inside The Meltdown Of The National Book Critics Circle Board

More than half of the NBCC’s board of directors have resigned since last Thursday, when now-ex-member Hope Wanuke posted on Twitter part of an email discussion among the board about an anti-racism statement Wanuke had drafted. Some of those who quit did so because of objectionable comments by board member Carlin Romano in the exchange Wanuke leaked; others quit because Wanuke had made public what were supposed to be frank, and therefore confidential, deliberations. Reporter John Maher recounts how it all went down(hill). – Publishers Weekly

Survey: Artists Are The Most Non-Essential Workers

Many on Twitter and Instagram voiced surprise at—but also saw the funny side of—the results of a 1,000-person survey published in the Singaporean newspaper the Straits Times. The publication listed the top five essential jobs, with doctors and nurses coming out top, and the top five non-essential jobs with artist pipping telemarketer to the top position. Cold calls are seemingly more essential than art, in the eyes of those surveyed. In the poll, 71% of people listed artist as a non-essential job, while 86% listed doctor or nurse as an essential job. – The Art Newspaper

As Much As They’d Like The Business, Booksellers Are Not Rushing To Reopen Their Stores

“Many governors across the United States have been eager to begin the multiphase reopening of businesses, but bookstore owners are acting cautiously. In remarks gathered from more than 25 independent bookstores, PW found that owners are reopening to in-store traffic more slowly than state guidelines allow, guided by their own sense of what it will take to ensure the safety of their employees.” – Publishers Weekly

In Postponing The Oscars, The Academy Blew A Golden Opportunity — To Not Change Any Dates At All

Bilge Ebiri thinks there have been enough Oscar-worthy films released already this year to fill out a nomination roster. “Most are the kinds of movies that would have had a hard time standing out in the high-stakes cacophony of a traditional Oscars race — not because they don’t rate, but because they don’t come from capital-A auteurs and/or aren’t backed by big studio spending sprees. The Academy’s decision seems, in some ways, like a slap in the face to those films, as if the Oscars were saying to them that even though they’re technically eligible, they should sit back and wait for the big boys to come out and grab their trophies.” – Vulture