Category: issues

“The discussion around such efforts has shown some of the typical – if muddied – ways people talk about the arts intersecting with politics. On the right, a common theme is that celebrity protests are only going to ensure Trump’s re-election by making his supporters feel condescended to. On the left, cultural anti-Trump efforts are being taken as examples of the kind of bold truth-telling Democratic operatives should mimic. Both frames prize electoral impact – policy influence now, voter persuasion for 2018 or 2020 – over all else. Which is a strange way to think about art, a form of communication that exists to do what other forms – political, commercial, journalistic – can’t.”

“If there was one place where the Obama administration was consistently ahead of the curve, it was in the cultural sphere: over eight years, the White House served as a staging ground for countless artists, intellectuals and activists, especially those from communities of color, especially cultural producers from New York, long exiled from [institutional] Washington.” (includes audio)

The advice to owners of permanent seats, seen by the Guardian, is that they can “significantly improve income from unwanted tickets” by using secondary sites, which have become a haven for touts exploiting the most in-demand events. The author of the document, a seat owner who asked to remain anonymous, said: “Seat owners are entitled to optimise their returns.

“On an otherwise quiet Sunday at the [L.A.] museum in early June, an Australian man is chuckling with two middle school-aged kids over a pair of fake breasts from Serbia that the donor says her ex-boyfriend required her to wear during sex. … Around the corner, in a corridor in which objects recall loved ones who died, fell ill, or were abusive, a couple is ranking objects by their level of misery.”

Israel already does West Bank excavations, and lends artifacts found in them, without approval from Palestinian authorities. The new ruling permits digs done anonymously and lending artefacts without informing the Palestinians at all.

“Understanding Charlie Hebdo in context does not mean always liking it, but for those struggling to affirm their commitment to free speech in today’s climate, the paper’s example is worth exploring and, yes, celebrating.”

“What is a stake in Turkey today is not politics in any general manner; it’s a delusion that, under the banner of religion, is swallowing up the whole of reality. … Conversations with artists reveal a dark mood, and everyone across the class spectrum is focused on one topic: When to leave? Where to go? How to get a visa? What to do in the meantime?”

The official line is that it’s just like the lobbying that goes on with any governmental switch. Also, there’s a shiny new nighttime kids’ lineup: “As the broadcaster explored what a new service would look like, it heard from caregivers who bemoaned a dearth of kids’ programming in the evening hours.”

Designers, like many artists, have widely varying views on the question, but it’s complex: “Critics of those designers who’ve voiced their reluctance to dress the new first lady have maintained that it’s a designer’s job to simply make clothes — that they should keep personal opinions out of it and not pass judgment on people who wear their clothes. But over time, society has demanded much more from the fashion industry.”

Yep. Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement, said he wouldn’t go to the Inauguration – which earned him, and his town, Atlanta, harsh tweets from the president-elect. Amazon rapidly sold out of his memoir, and his graphic novels suddenly topped the bestseller lists on the data-hungry behemoth’s site. And Lewis isn’t alone – this has happened to magazines, books, even news hosts.