The Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, built in 1829, gets hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. “Talking about the site’s history didn’t seem like enough for Sean Kelley, senior vice president and director of interpretation. Two years ago, … [he] helped rewrite the museum’s mission statement, declaring that Eastern State would no longer be neutral in recognizing mass incarceration as a crisis.” Shannon Eblen has a look at the new exhibits that have gone up in response to that change. – The New York Times
Category: issues
If Attention Is Currency, Critics Need To Reconsider How They Spend It
“It’s time for arts writers, critics, journalists, gatekeepers, and arbiters of culture—anyone whose job it is to bestow attention onto others—to reconsider how to allocate that currency. More specifically, the most responsible thing we can do, as people who professionally dole out attention, is to withhold it more often than not. But hear me out—there’s more to it than that.” Oregon Arts Watch
UK’s National Lottery Heritage Fund Has New Loan Program For Buying And Restoring Historic Buildings
“The £7m Heritage Impact Fund will provide charities, social enterprises and community businesses – which could include venue operators – with loans to help them deliver ‘positive economic and social impact’ through the re-use of heritage buildings. But the Theatres Trust … has expressed concerns about the viability of the fund for the theatre industry in particular.” – Arts Professional
English City Is Laying Off Every Curator In Its Museums
“[In] Leicester’s arts and museums service … four posts will be scrapped as part of a complete reshuffle of the department.” Five vacant positions were also eliminated. The savings: £320,000. – Leicester Mercury
The US Arts Economy Is Now Bigger Than Agriculture, Transportation
The arts generated 4.2% of the overall U.S. GDP, with roughly 4.9 million Americans working in the sector in 2015, the latest year for which data is available. Collectively, those employed in the sector earned over $370 billion, according to the findings. – Artsy
Report: Despite Efforts, London’s Creative Workforce Has Failed To Diversify
Covering the breadth of the creative industries – from design, fashion and crafts to performing arts and TV – it notes there has been a 24% growth in creative jobs in London since 2012, but says 95% of workers still come from advantaged backgrounds. – Arts Professional
How Did Our Interactions With Historians Get So Pedantic?
Graduate students in the humanities can hardly escape reading Adorno and Foucault, and if they miss out on White, they absorb his arguments indirectly. So it is odd that, as scholars unite around the idea that historical writing constructs the past that it studies, they should at the same time turn to literalism as their favored mode of public engagement. – Chronicle of Higher Education
Talent Agency Endeavor Returns $400 Million To Saudis
Just a year ago, talent agency Endeavor helped throw a huge, splashy party to celebrate Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman. “The soiree, with guests including the Disney chief executive Robert A. Iger, the Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the former N.B.A. star Kobe Bryant, took place as Saudi Arabia’s government investment fund was completing an agreement to invest $400 million in Mr. Emanuel’s firm.” Then, in October, journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered. – The New York Times
Mexican Cinema And TV Have A Long History Of Making Fun Of Indigenous People
Last week’s utter foolishness over Oscar-nominated Roma star Yalitza Aparicio (Yeka Rosales, a TV personality for the Mexican-based Televisa network wore a prosthetic nose and thick lips to make fun of Aparicio) isn’t new to Mexico. In fact, one professor says the mocking of indigenous peoples is “as old as film” – Los Angeles Times
The Next Big Tech Battle Will Be Between Apple And Facebook
And it will be about messaging. For more than a decade, they didn’t compete: “People bought iPhones, downloaded Facebook and Instagram, and spent large chunks of time on those social networks, while using Apple’s native apps for calling and texting. Facebook made money from the targeted ads in people’s feeds. Apple made money on the hardware, while its software kept users loyal.” – Slate