Category: issues

“Ending an arduous yearlong journey, 50 Cuban performers were granted political asylum this week after what is believed to be the largest group defection of Cubans in American history. The musicians, singers and dancers of the ‘Havana Night Club’ revue, which recently changed its name to the ‘Havana Night Show,’ celebrated the official statement on Thursday and planned to appear together in another venue on Friday, the local Social Security office. There they hope to begin the process of becoming permanent residents and, ultimately, United States citizens.” Their push to defect began when Cuban authorities raided their Havana headquarters and deported their founder. After finagling a U.S. travel visa, the whole troupe defected in November 2004, while performing in Las Vegas.

The Walt Disney Company used to be the cultural barometer for everyday Americans, combining a cutting-edge marketing apparatus and wide-ranging distribution with legitimately creative product. So what the heck happened? The author of a new book about the company points out that “the creative flame at the heart of the place is flickering rather dimly at this point,” but there’s more to it than that. It’s not just Disney that has changed – the world that once embraced Disney has changed as well, and may no longer be receptive to the happy-go-lucky message of the world’s most famous mouse.

London’s Royal Opera House has given troubled philanthropist Alberto Vilar 60 days to pay up on his £10 million pledge, or else. Or else what? The ROH isn’t saying if they’ll take Vilar’s name off its building. “The 1999 agreement allows the Royal Opera House to give Mr Vilar notice in writing that, by not making the payments he has committed a material breach of that contract. If he does not resume making payments by the end of a 60-day period specified in the agreement, the ROH will then be entitled to notify Mr Vilar that the agreement is terminated.”

Washington’s Kennedy Center has big aspirations beyond the beltway. “With its new $125 million education initiative, the Kennedy Center aims to give the performing arts bug to more than 11 million people across the country. The center’s expanded programming targets not only young, would-be art lovers but also art managers, aspiring dancers and musicians, and even board members at other cultural institutions.”

Many of New York City’s cultural institutions are asking why the City funded increased security out of a $2 million pot at only three museums. “Insurance costs are off the chart. Since 9/11, it’s the fastest-growing cost of doing business in the world of exhibitions. New York museum officials became particularly worried after the looting of the Iraq National Museum in Baghdad, speculating that they would face some kind of retribution.”

Five major Toronto arts organizations have joined forces to ask their provincial government for more cash to help complete major expansion projects currently in construction. “The united front is occurring at a crucial time in Toronto’s cultural renaissance, as organizations strive to find the final 10 or 15 per cent needed to complete their projects.”

Italy is trying to assure tourists that its cultural treasures are safe from terrorists. “Police evacuated La Fenice — Venice’s famous opera house — on Tuesday after finding a suspect package in the building. It proved to be a false alarm.”

The annual Burning Man festival is 20 years old this summer. Last year a number of artists were upset about what they perceived as a decline in artistic merit of the event. So they staged a revolt. “BORG2, made up of artists and others upset by the lack of art at last year’s Burning Man, did not meet the $250,000 fund-raising goal set at the beginning of the revolt, but did manage to start a nonprofit, elect an art council, raise more than $20,000 and hold an election to decide which artists would get the cash.”

New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs “gives more money for the arts, officials there say, than any other government agency in the United States, including the National Endowment for the Arts. The way they do it, however, doesn’t have everybody cheering. ‘It’s inequitable, it’s irrational, it doesn’t satisfy anybody,” says Norma Munn, who has been following the city’s arts budget since she helped found the New York City Arts Coalition two decades ago. ‘The bulk of the organizations that get the money use it extremely well. But as a city policy, the way it’s distributed just doesn’t make much sense’.”

Want to invite a celebrity to your next party? Better pony up the presents (or should we call them bribes?) and we’re talking big-ticket items. “Instead of a small token of appreciation given to celebrities at parties, now it’s a ‘swag suite’ full of long tables of iPods, digital cameras and designer clothes, which VIPs stuff into luggage. The practice has become so excessive, so key to luring stars to awards shows and parties, that there’s now a college class devoted to it.”