Category: issues

“That Chinese hip-hop has so far failed to catch on is due partly to strict censorship – lyrics are vetted, so the usual staples of violence, drugs and guns are out – and that, well, drugs, guns and big-breasted gold-diggers in bikinis aren’t pressing local problems. Judging by Dragon Tongue Squad, however, the biggest stumbling block may be their amateurish output.”

“Creativity needs the spark of friction, anger and adversity. Necessity really is the mother of invention. Creativity thrives on different points of view brought about by people having a variety of different experiences. By making entry impossible to those who can’t or won’t conform to an establishment norm means ending up with a dull monotony; a once exciting ferment reduced to the functional banality of a tax return.”

“Cate Blanchett will chair the ‘Creative Australia’ discussions at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s 2020 Summit in parliament’s Great Hall in Canberra on April 19-20, the government said Tuesday. The chisel-cheekboned actress joins 10 other prominent Australians on an independent steering committee for the summit, billed as a meeting of 1,000 of the nation’s best and brightest minds.”

The British Museum saw visitor numbers rise by 12 per cent to 5.4 million. The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army was described as “the hottest exhibition in town”.

London’s cultural groups have been worried that the London Olympics were drain off money from culture funding. Now a new report says losses to culture and sports funding could be £440 million.

“The image of the penniless artist quietly expiring in a Parisian garret assumed its emotive power during the Romantic period. So do we, as today’s consumers of art, still expect its creators to suffer? Do we still picture them in a modern-day equivalent of the draughty attic?”

It is as if the ultimate dream of college admissions is to recruit a student body that is already so well educated that it hardly needs any instruction! Sitting in admissions committee meetings, it was all I could do not to ask, “Hey, why don’t we recruit bad students and see if we can actually teach them something?”

Canada’s government is trying to toughen the country’s copyright laws. So why did the ruling party make an ad using music it didn’t have the rights to? The legislation “is strongly opposed by many culture activists because it emphasizes the ability of copyright holders to control and be remunerated for precisely these sorts of uses of their intellectual property.”

The apprenticeships will be with organisations such as the Royal Opera House, Tate Liverpool and Universal Music

Piano will develop a 42-acre (17 hectare) property on the coast near the center of Athens, the capital