Composer Danny Elfman, who wrote the theme music for the long-running series, told an Irish podcaster that “from what I’ve heard, it is coming to an end. … I don’t know for a fact, but I’ve heard that it will be in its last year.” The Guardian picked the news up, and rumors spread quickly until showrunner Al Jean shut them down: “No disrespect to Mr. Elfman but we are producing season 32 starting next year and have no plans to end after that.” – Metro (UK)
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The Guardian Is Asking Readers To Report Looted Benin Bronzes Held In UK Museums
“The British Museum and other UK institutions with Benin bronzes in their collections are facing growing pressure to return them to Africa. Now, the Guardian newspaper has increased the heat by launching a public appeal to map the location of sculptures looted by the British in the late 19th century.” – artnet
At ‘Slave Play’ Q&A, Woman Shouts That Playwright Is ‘Racist Against White People’
“According to witnesses, the woman, whom [playwright Jeremy O.] Harris has nicknamed ‘Talkback Tammy’ on Twitter, stood up from her seat and loudly interrupted the Q&A just as it was finishing up. She accused the queer black playwright of being ‘racist against white people.’ At one point, she complained that she didn’t want to hear that white people are the fucking plague all the time.'” Harris patiently responded to her and even sort of defended her reaction afterward, saying “Rage is a necessary lubricant to discourse.” – Gothamist
Nine Black Actresses Have Now Been Cast As Hermione In ‘Harry Potter And The Cursed Child’, But The Producers Refuse To Discuss Race
“The play’s producers, Sonia Friedman Productions, declined to comment for this article, noting that the subject of Hermione’s race had been discussed at length when the play opened in London. But that was eight Hermiones ago. When asked to discuss the cultural significance of the casting decision in the era when diversity and inclusion have become priorities in theater, the producers rebuffed The Times‘ attempts to speak with the show’s director, actors or anyone else in the production.” – Los Angeles Times
Two Members Of Nobel Prize For Literature Committee Resign, One Because Of Award To Peter Handke
“Author Kristoffer Leandoer said he was leaving because he had ‘neither the patience nor the time’ to wait for the committee to complete its reforms” called for after the scandal that led to the postponement of last year’s award to this year. He said that his resignation had nothing to do with the very controversial choice for this year’s prize of Peter Handke, but the other departing member, Gun-Britt Sundström, said her decision was for just that reason. – Reuters
As Police Spray Tear Gas, Hong Kong Museum Of Art Closes One Day After Reopening
“Hong Kong police deployed tear gas during a protest yesterday that took place close to the city’s Museum of Art just one day after it reopened its doors to the public. The use of tear gas at the museum, which re-opened after a three-year renovation with a travelling show from the Tate, prompted concerns over whether the police’s wide use of the substance is putting important works and museum visitors at risk.” – The Art Newspaper
The Outsized Role Instagram Is Playing In Dance
Dancers who are already stars in their field, like American Ballet Theatre principal dancers Isabella Boylston and James Whiteside, have had their photos liked, commented on, and reposted by A-listers like Jennifer Garner and Sarah Jessica Parker. And today, SJP’s simple “like” carries far more cultural cachet than if she were, say, to catch a matinee performance of Giselle. Why? Because that appearance on SJP’s personal feed means that some Sex and the City fan (or, if you’d rather, The Family Stone fan), who has never seen so much as a pirouette, is suddenly introduced to the art form, with a trusted endorsement to boot. – The Observer
What A Movie About Jordan Peterson Says About Today’s Arts World
The Rise of Jordan Peterson is not a propaganda film. It’s a film about propaganda. It’s about the way facts have become helpless in the face of distortive framing. Whereas we once entrusted our arts institutions to highly trained specialists whose authority lay in their expertise and taste, today’s cultural arbiters often find themselves going along to get along. In the process, they risk defeating the very purpose of their job, which is to discern good art from bad art and to know what’s propaganda and what’s not. – Medium
How Sesame Street Thrives After 50 Years
“Sesame Street” was inclusive before anyone really knew what that meant, the first safe space. It is a friend to everyone, which has a lot to do with why it’s the first TV show to receive Kennedy Center Honors. – Washington Post
How Art Basel Transformed Miami
The Art Basel Miami Beach fair features 269 exhibiting galleries. Nearly two dozen satellite fairs have also sprouted around Miami. Add in pop-up shows, celebrity-studded product rollouts, as well as Miami’s own galleries and museums all putting on their best faces, and you have the circus that local boosters have taken to calling “Miami Art Week.” – The New York Times