“Between June and December of 1950, a government-backed exhibition of Moses’s picturesque American scenes toured six European cities. … One Foreign Service officer who was involved with the Moses show declared that the exhibition had been as valuable as ‘pure gold’ in promoting ‘the core of our national character which we are endeavoring to articulate in opposition to the efforts of the communists.'” – Smithsonian Magazine
Blog
UK Venue Demands Theatre Companies Guarantee Their Shows Won’t Offend Patrons Or Face Fine
“The management may demand in respect to its right to object to any song, speech, dialogue, business, costume or gesture that forms part of the production, that may offend the ticket buyer; which the management may represent. If withdrawal or alteration is not so made, the management reserves the right to refund ticket money at its discretion and to deduct the amount refunded from the settlement figure.”
A Family History Chart Of The World’s 100 Most Widely Spoken Languages
“This diagram, created by WordTips, breaks down the world’s 100 most-spoken languages by their roots (e.g., Indo-European for English and Spanish, or Sino-Tibetan for Mandarin) and by the number of native speakers and total speakers. The resulting chart helps reveal some interesting insights.” – Digg
Should LACMA Start A New Building When It’s Already $443 Million In Debt?
According to the museum’s most recent 990 tax forms, filed in 2018, LACMA is carrying $331 million in county bond debt that was used to pay for construction of the Resnick Pavilion, the Broad Contemporary Art Museum, the Pritzker Parking Garage and other projects. In addition to that debt, the museum has $112 million in other liabilities, such as accounts payable and accrued expenses. This brings LACMA’s total debt to almost $443 million. – Los Angeles Times
Another Job In The Arts You Hadn’t Thought Of: Narrating Porn For The Blind
Pornhub launched this particular initiative in increasing access for the disabled to the arts four years ago, hiring professional freelance writers to produce text and professional voice actors to read it. Here’s a Q&A with Kathryn Simpson, an art history Ph.D. who has written the narration for 35 Pornhub videos. – Slate
Attendance Isn’t A Good Enough Metric, So This Museum Is Trying To Measure Its Social Impact
“Working with a group of social scientists, the [Oakland Museum of California] devised an innovative plan to take stock of both its ability to connect with visitors and to foster connections between visitors themselves. The idea came after previous data collection efforts revealed a more thorough snapshot of the institution’s audience, which is one of the most diverse in the country.” – Artnet
Researchers May Just Have Located Nefertiti’s Secret Burial Place Inside Tutankhamun’s Tomb
“A radar survey around the tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings has revealed possible evidence of further hidden chambers behind its walls. The findings … resurrect a controversial theory that the young king’s burial place hides the existence of a larger tomb, which could contain the mysterious Egyptian queen Nefertiti.” – Nature
Inventor Of Computers’ Cut-Copy-And-Paste Functions, Larry Tesler, Dead At 74
A researcher and executive over the years at Xerox, Apple, Yahoo, and Amazon, Tesler had enormous influence over the experience most people have when using a personal computer today: in addition to cut-copy-and-paste, he developed such basics as WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get, meaning what you print out should look like what was on your screen), double-clicking, and how hard you need to press a mouse button. Indeed, he was a pioneer in simply asking regular users, as opposed to programmers, how they wanted their computers to work. – The Washington Post
Major New Alexander Calder Museum Planned For Philadelphia
“A little more than two decades after a Calder museum was first proposed for the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the long-dormant idea has blossomed again, funding has materialized, and backers say that, by spring 2021, construction should get underway between 21st and 22nd Streets across from the Barnes Foundation and the Rodin Museum.” – The Philadelphia Inquirer
Nearly 100 Luminaries Sign Letter Threatening Boycott Over Ballet Director’s Firing — But Some Of Them Say They Never Agreed To Sign
The open letter, published in the French newspaper Libération and originated by choreographer Maguy Marin and theatre director Ariane Mnouchkine, threatens to withhold rights to all signatories’ work from the Lyon Opera Ballet unless it reinstates ousted director Yorgos Loukos. But several individuals whose names are on the letter, including choreographers William Forsythe and Benjamin Millepied and former Paris Opera Ballet director Brigitte Lefèvre, say they did not agree to sign it. (This, by the way, is the second scandal Libération has been involved with this month.) – The New York Times