Category: issues

A new California law will require file-swappers in the state to register a legitimate e-mail address, or be charged with a misdemeanor. Critics are already charging that the law is merely an attempt to sidestep the intricacies of copyright law, and charge file-swappers with a newly invented crime. But the bill’s passage is a major victory for entertainment industry lobbyists, who plan to use the win as a springboard to launch similar efforts in other states.

The Arts Council of Wales has rolled out a £2 million proposal to fund Welsh arts organizations outside the capital city of Cardiff. The stated goal of the plan is to ensure that no resident of Wales lives more than 45 minutes from what it calls “top-class” arts experiences.

Deriding the politically safe notion of “false egalitarianism” in arts funding, Canadian Opera Company General Director Richard Bradshaw called Monday for more and better public and private funding to create an environment in which the arts can thrive. “We’re seeing phenomenal generosity in Canada at this moment, but most of that generosity is being directed towards buildings and the issue of funding what goes on inside those buildings remains in crisis,” he said.

In what may be a response to the government’s announcement that it will begin paying closer attention to such things, the rate at which the chief executives of U.S. non-profit companies rose at their slowest rate in ten years in 2003, according to a new survey. Executive pay rose 3.66%, with a median salary of $291,356. That rate of increase was still nearly double the national inflation rate of 1.9%, however.

The controversial Flick collection currently on view in Germany has, temporarily, at least, “put Berlin on the map with cities like London and New York. But it has also come at a steep cost. There is no promise of a gift to Germany from Mr. Flick, who can take back the art when his loan expires in seven years, and is free to sell work while the exhibition naturally inflates the value of his collection.” According to Michael Kimmelman, the Germans have made a major mistake in assuming that the art could ever be viewed by the world without being sullied the taint of its ownership.

The U.S. State Department’s Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation might be America’s best (and least known) method for building global good will. The program, now in its fourth year of existence, “assesses proposals for funds to local cultural heritage projects put forward by US ambassadors in 121 countries rated medium and low in the UN human development index.” The annual budget is a paltry $1.2 million, but considering where the money is going, that kind of cash infusion can go a long way.

Artists and musicians are no strangers to politics, of course, but this year, the Bush vs. Kerry presidential campaign has drawn the activism of an unusual number of musicians, actors, and other performers. Some of the newfound activism can be chalked up to Hollywood’s usual inflated sense of its place in the world, but the trend is far more widespread than a few loudmouthed movie stars. “So, is this an unprecedented convergence of art and popular culture in the 2004 election, or does it just seem that way? And more important, will it make a difference to voters?”

The presence of a never-sleeping, always-hungry mass media beast may have a lot to do with the current bumper crop of high-visibility activists in the arts. In the years before all-news cable channels and the internet, artists who wanted to get involved may have figured that their efforts would be best concentrated behind the scenes. But in an age when getting your message in front of the public is all too easy, the allure of putting one’s face on a political cause is apparently all too tempting.

Big arts organizations are always in competition with their counterparts in the same city for the limited pool of donors available. Usually, all sides manage to keep it civil, but this season, the Canadian Opera Company has been embroiled in a nasty behind-the-scenes spat with the National Ballet of Canada over the timing of a major fundraising event by the ballet.

It’s rare that a national government will get directly involved with a major art exhibition, but Denmark’s leaders have apparently decided that the country’s artistic riches offer the best way to promote tourism and knowledge of Danish culture. Thus, Canada’s largest city is now playing host to “SuperDanish: Newfangled Danish Culture, a mammoth showcase that features 13 artistic disciplines, 143 individual events, over 200 artists, and 85 education programs that will reach 3,000 students.” It’s partly about exporting culture, of course, but SuperDanish is also an exercise in extroverted self-discovery for a country that is just beginning to diversify.