Dundonians are said to have developed “a new kind of swagger” thanks to the opening of its V&A museum, which is hailed as “the crown jewel” of its £1 billion waterfront regeneration. The city was rated number 15 in National Geographic’s 2019 “Cool List,” which it says are the destinations set to “hit the headlines” next year. Other locations to make the top 19 included Oslo, Guyana, Bhutan, Corsica, Eritrea and Uganda. More than 250,000 visitors flocked to V&A Dundee in the space of just months after it opened its doors in September. – The Scotsman
Category: issues
Sydney Opera House Worth $6.2 Billion To Australia Annually: Study
A report by Deloitte titled Revaluing Our Icon says that the actual financial contribution of the Opera House to the economy is now $1.2 billion annually —up 44% from the last report, five years ago — with its “social asset value,” a combination of factors such as visitor experience, willingness to pay a premium to attend a performance there, the landmark’s importance in tourist’s decision to visit Australia, etc., at $5 billion. — Australian Financial Review
Embedding Artists In The Municipal Bureaucracy
This past summer, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission began a program that assigns artists-in-residence to work in county government agencies (to start with, the Registrar-Recorder’s Office and the county library system). Pauline Kanako Kamiyama writes about what she and LACAC learned from the programs’s preparation and launch. (For example, “‘Trust the artist-driven process’ does not easily translate to non-arts staff nor governmental management styles.”) — Americans for the Arts
Using The Arts To Move Young Offenders Out Of Jail And In Restorative Justice Programs
Cecilia Olusola Tribble of metro Nashville’s Office of Arts and Culture writes about the Restorative Justice + the Arts program, which trains artists to teach and work with inmates at a Nashville juvenile detention center. — Americans for the Arts
Climate Change Report On Heritage Sites: Goodbye Venice
The map reveals the degree of threat to one evocative name after another: the Amalfi coast, the Roman city of Arles, the Greek temples at Paestum south of Naples, the crusader city of Acre, the ancient shrine of Ephesus, even the Modernist architecture of Tel Aviv. – The Art Newspaper
The Whole Concept Of The ‘General Audience’ Is A Myth
Playwright Alana Valentine: “Are we not part of a generation whose success has been to interrogate all forms of generalisation? So why do we continue to refer to a general audience? And please, I’m not taking issue with the nature of the adjective as a collective descriptor, I’m actually leaning into the definition of general as imprecise, inexact, sweeping, and vague. I’m questioning what it is that we’re referring to as general.” — ArtsHub (Australia)
Harlem’s Apollo Theater To Build Two Additional Performance Spaces
“[The] two new spaces — one with 99 seats, another with 199 — [are] part of the redevelopment of the Victoria Theater, a few doors away, on West 125th Street. The resulting Apollo Performing Arts Center … will be used to incubate works by up-and-coming artists, particularly performers of color, who might not be ready for the main theater’s 1,500-seat auditorium, Apollo executives said.” — New York Times
The UK Arts Economy Is Growing Much Faster Than The General Economy
New DCMS economic estimates show the cultural sector contributed £29.5bn in 2017 – a 7.2% increase on the £27.5bn it had generated the year before. Similar growth was seen for both the digital sector and the wider creative industries, with which the cultural sector has some overlap, which grew by 7.3% and 7.1% respectively. – Arts Professional
Why The Tech World Needs Humanities Students More Than Ever
“What matters now is not the skills you have but how you think. Can you ask the right questions? Do you know what problem you’re trying to solve in the first place?” They remind us there is a “long list of successful tech leaders who hold degrees in the humanities.
Artists Protest Impending Crackdown On Artistic Freedom For Cuban Artists
Once it is enforced, starting December 7, the law will touch every facet of Cuba’s cultural sector. The government will be able to target and punish artists, writers, filmmakers, musicians, and performers who create and commercialize art that was not approved by the state as well as the venues hosting the artists. Those found in violation of the law could face fines, seizure of property, and detainment. Scores of artists and critics of the decree have rallied against it. – Artforum