In the past few years, as the climate crisis has become a political emergency, artists have discovered a crucial role for themselves, making an issue that sometimes seems abstract instead feel emotional and urgent. – The Guardian
Blog
A Rich New Vein Of Stories From/About Millennials
On paper they are the most educated, diverse and materially privileged generation in history but, in the western world at least, millennials are also the first to face dimmer prospects than their elders. – The Guardian
Building Boom: Korea Says It Will Build 183 New Museums
The proposed expansion includes 46 art museums, adding to the country’s current total of 451 art institutions. Altogether, the increase will mean one museum for every 39,000 people, an improvement on the current ratio of one per 45,000 residents. – Artnet
Shakespeare In Canada, Set In India
It’s the first time a Bard on the Beach production has been set in India – and that’s a boon for Sarena Parmar, the woman playing Helena, who grew up one of very, very few kids of color in Kelowna, B.C. But the country has changed, she says. “Bard on the Beach has been making a push for diversity, but even so, this is the first time it’s had such a large South Asian cast. ‘We’re getting so many more South Asians coming to see the show and suddenly they can see themselves in the story in a way that maybe they couldn’t before,’ [Parmar] said.” – CBC
Hugh Southern, NEA Chair During The Culture Wars And Co-Creator Of The TKTS Booth, Has Died At 87
Before running the NEA and, briefly, the Metropolitan Opera, Southern was the first executive director of the Theatre Development Fund. Though Broadway producers resisted the discount TKTS booth at first, they came to see its value later: “In the fiscal year that ended June 30, in which a record 14.7 million people saw Broadway shows, the TKTS booth at all three locations sold more than 1.1 million same-day discounted tickets, about 8 percent of all tickets sold.” – The New York Times
How Three Women Revolutionized The Ways We Think About Sex And Culture
Zora Neale Hurston, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret Mead – all influenced by their mentor, Franz Boas – changed the way we think about human relationships. “The anthropologists had a revolutionary new idea, which they called ‘cultural relativity.’ The phrase is a bit misleading, because it implies there is no truth to be found, but Boas and his students didn’t think that. Instead, they argued that all societies face the same basic problems—love and death, work and children, hierarchy and community—but that different societies could find different, and equally valuable, ways of solving them.” (And Mead, especially, had a lot of sex along the way.) – The Atlantic
A Chinese American Teenage Dancer Says ‘Haters Will Always Be There Hating’
But the 16-year-old says she wants to focus on what she’s passionate about – and she wants ballet to change, “to be a welcoming place for everyone and step away from traditions that can be harmful to people who might look different.” – The Oregonian
Britons Are Not Happy With Unstaffed, Self-Service Scanner Libraries
In some locations, local councils – whose library budgets have been slashed for years by the conservative government – are paying for security guards instead of library staff. “‘It’s a folly … it is dishonest to represent this as a library service when taxpayers have paid for a quality service with a librarian,’ said Nick Poole, chief executive of the UK Library Association.” – The Observer (UK)
Hong Kong Actor Simon Yam Was Stabbed On Stage In China
Yam, who was in the city of Zhongshan, was attacked during an appearance by a man who rushed him and slashed the actor’s stomach and hand. Yam had surgery for what his management team says are “minor wounds.” – South China Morning Post
Let’s Talk About Epicurus, And What He Means For Modern Life
Sure, people use the word “epicurean,” but do they know what the pursuit of happiness really means, or where it came from? In our age of deep anxiety about politics and the planet itself, it’s a good time to find out more about the original philosopher. – Aeon