Charlotte Higgins: “When speaking to historians, novelists and curators of the period, I found that they would, at some point in the conversation, reach for a pop-cultural analogy. The Tudors are like the Kardashians, said one. They are like the Caesars, or the Kennedys, said another. They are like Game of Thrones, said one. They are like House of Cards, said another. They are like Dallas, they are like Dynasty, said another.”
Category: issues
France’s Angry ‘Intermittents’: There’s An Agreement On Unemployment Insurance For Temporary Arts Workers, But They’re Still Occupying Theatres
After several weeks of demonstrations and several days of long negotiations, five unions, one organization of presenters, and the Ministry of Culture finalized a deal to more-or-less preserve France’s system of unemployment payments for performing arts workers between jobs. But not everyone’s on board yet, venues in several cities are still being occupied by demonstrators, and there’s a very tempting target – the Cannes Film Festival – about to begin. Sophie Rahal explains what’s in the agreement and where things stand. (in French; Google Translate version here)
Where Did All Of Britain’s Working-Class Actors (And Stories) Go?
“There’s now evidence of an inequality that runs like a seam through the entire profession and which goes far beyond the anecdotal. This year, academics from the London School of Economics and Goldsmiths College, in a peer-reviewed study, found that only 27% of actors come from a working-class background and that the profession is ‘heavily skewed towards the privileged.'”
More Protests At The Brooklyn Museum
“Organized by the Decolonial Cultural Front and Movement to Protect the People, the catalysts for the protests were a photography exhibition focusing Israel/Palestine, called This Place, as well as ongoing conflict with the museum’s director, Anne Pasternak, who many say has downplayed issues raised by artists in the Agitprop! exhibition regarding last fall’s real estate summit at the museum.”
In Motherhood Vs. Art, There Is No Wrong Choice
“While none of my professors warned against marriage, I’d been advised, directly, and by more than one of them, not to have children. At the time, in fact, I’d sensed that this was meant to be a compliment—that they’d taken my writing seriously enough to suggest I not sacrifice it for a family. And the attitude persists.”
For Mothers Who Are Actors, What Can Change?
“I lost out on four jobs due to my pregnancy. I was either not able to fly there to do the job or, in another case, I was actually told by a director that it made him too nervous that I would be seven months pregnant while shooting his project, even though I physically felt great and would have been happy to work. Pregnant women are mostly invisible onscreen.”
Private Universities Are Becoming More Like Public Universities. And Vice Versa
“While public universities can be said to be “privatizing,” another equally powerful, but typically overlooked, trend has been moving in the opposite direction — the “publicization” of private research universities, or the accelerated incorporation of public values and mission into the traditional role of these institutions.”
The Artist’s Way In The Swamp Of Corporate Creativity
When Julia Cameron published “The Artist’s Way,” in 1991, she probably could not have foreseen exactly how the very idea of creativity would collide with the marketplace. “Creative” sits right above “innovation” and “disruption” in the glossary of terms that have been co-opted by corporate America and retooled to signify an increasingly nebulous set of qualities.
Data: Here’s Who Engages With The Arts In The UK (And Why?)
“The report gives new insight into this group of consistent arts attenders and participants. They are more likely to be women (57%, compared with 47% of other respondents) in the upper socio-economic group (65% compared with 43%) and to be owner-occupiers (73% compared with 57%) who live in less deprived areas (36% compared with 25%). Most of them (86%) engage with the arts three or more times a year.”
White Woman Sues Getty Foundation Over Multicultural Internship Program
“Rejection sure is tough, especially when you’re a white applicant vying for a spot in a museum internship program that’s explicitly open only to minority groups. So tough, in fact, that one Samantha Niemann is now suing the Getty Foundation for racial discrimination after the institution refused to accept her application to its paid Multicultural Undergraduate Internship program.”