Category: issues

Two new studies seek answers: “For instance, 68 percent of theatergoers surveyed said they attended plays as a way of socializing. Only 36 percent said they went to the theater to gain knowledge. By contrast, 65 percent of those who went to museums said they did so because they strongly desired to learn something new. The study found that a large number of blacks and other minorities attended arts events to learn specifically about their own heritage. Only 15 percent of whites said the same thing.”

Vancouver’s mayoral candidates were on the hook this week to show their support for arts funding. But they declined to say they would provide for recommended arts budgets. “We are looking at a seven-percent [property] tax increase [if all the staff recommendations for next year are approved by the new council]…. In principle, I support it. But I cannot in advance tell you what the budget is going to be.”

A U.N. conference on global internet issues has spawned an agreement that will work to combat cybercrime and e-mail “spam,” but which also leaves the internet firmly under U.S. control, a controversial move opposed by many other countries. “A U.N. working group, followed by governments including China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba and the 25-member European Union, had all proposed taking away control of the domain name ‘root zone file’ from the United States and handing it off to a multinational agency… The United States and business groups had opposed the proposals, arguing that multilateral control would compromise the stability of the system, and that the current model has generally worked well.”

“Brian Sewell’s new series for TV Five, is a travelogue in which he examines ‘the dark underbelly’ of the supposedly educational journeys that were undertaken in the 18th century by young Englishmen from wealthy families. Sewell emits a winsome sigh. ‘The Grand Tour is mostly portrayed as young aristocrats who went off and came back with fine paintings. I wanted to indicate that they caught chicken pox, mumps and venereal disease. No one could distinguish between syphilis and gonorrhoea. There was no treatment’.”

“Not many music lovers have warmed to the idea that they don’t retain all the rights to the music they buy. The crux of the debate is this: When you buy a song, an album, or a movie, are you buying the content only in the form it comes in? If you purchase a song from Apple’s iTunes store, should you be able to play it on any hardware you want? Not according to Apple, which bundles each download with a “digital rights management” scheme called FairPlay.”

Corporate bad behavior over copyright protection has escalated, reaching something of a nadir when Sony rendered home computers vulnerable to hackers with its new-generation anti-piracy measures. “This kind of behavior can never be tolerated. It may be unrealistic to think many will heed this call, but someone’s got to say it: Boycott Sony. Boycott them until they come clean and recall all the infected CDs. Boycott them until they distribute a removal program. Boycott them until they promise never do anything like this again.”

Prizes have shaped and transformed our taste over the years. “It’s not just the Oscars, the Emmys, the Pulitzers and the Nobels. It’s the film festivals, best-of lists, poetry contests, architectural competitions and international pressure-cookers that serve up the next piano star.”

Richmond Virginia mayor Douglas Wilder has formed a new committee to study controversial plans for a new downtown performing arts center. “Wilder and the arts foundation have clashed in recent months over the foundation’s plans to expand and renovate the Carpenter Center and surround it with additional arts venues.”

“The festering problems at the Getty Trust burst into view in October 2004, following the abrupt resignation of Getty Museum director Deborah Gribbon from one of the most coveted posts in the field. Without elaborating, Gribbon cited sharp philosophical differences with Munitz. Since then the scene has grown increasingly bleak. How did things get so bad?”

Only a year after it reopened, La Scala is facing a huge cut in its funding from the Italian government. “The cash-strapped Italian government has threatened to slash by a third from next year the heavy subsidy which keeps the theatre in business. Across the board cuts in next year’s budget for the arts are also likely to affect the Venice Film Festival and the newly opened Music Auditorium in Rome. Other Italian cultural icons which may be touched are 12 other major opera houses, including the Fenice in Venice, plus theatres in Florence, Rome, Naples and Palermo.”