Category: issues

“The U.A.E. aspires to be an art and cultural center. While the federation of Gulf sheikdoms is relatively open and tolerant, its ruling establishments are concerned about the political turmoil in other Arab countries and are also wary of art containing graphic images or anything else that might offend conservative Gulf sensibilities.”

“The controversy raises a number of questions that are hard to answer: Is sustained focus even possible in mass audiences anymore? If not, what have we lost? But part of the discussion, taken on its own terms, boils down to a fairly tractable psychological question: Who, really, is more engaged? Is it the audience member holding a screen and responding to the action with his thumbs, or the one sitting silently in the dark with her eyes glued to the stage?”

“When Ovalhouse’s director Deborah Bestwick chose to programme Boy in a Dress last year, she undoubtedly did so believing that David Walliams’ gender-bending play had the potential to increase acceptance of those for whom sexual identity is anything but straightforward. She was right, of course, but would Bestwick have backed a piece that suggested cross-dressing equated to having a mental health problem? Probably not.”

“They analyzed the Likes of 58,466 volunteers and were able to determine with surprisingly high accuracy a range of personal information that some Facebook users may not have made public, including their sexuality, where they worship, how they’ll vote in the next election and what their IQ is.”

“Amazon is an elephant by design, and we’re all blind men. It may not even be an elephant; it could be five.”

“The federal government’s National Cultural Policy, released today, is a big win for the arts generally – it’s got new money and plenty of policy reform. But there are losers.”

“Arts Minister Simon Crean will announce funds of $20.8 million (a 30 per cent increase) to six elite training organisations today, including the national youth orchestra and circus school. Every federal MP will get $23,500 to help support ‘creative young stars’ in their electorates. The federal government will also boost six arts companies in NSW, Victoria and Western Australia where those states have agreed to extra funding for touring and education programs.”

“New York City is withholding payment into a pension system that covers some employees at … some of its best known cultural institutions, including the American Museum of Natural History, the Brooklyn Museum, the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Brooklyn Academy of Music.”

“One of the biggest challenges to the legitimacy of arts research might be… that the field often produces research reports with obscured, oversimplified, or simply absent methodological details.”

“Despite bad weather and the Olympics, there was an overall 5.1% increase in visitors at all UK attractions, from 87.7 million in 2011 to 92.1 million.”