Category: issues

“Being a critic isn’t anyone’s childhood dream, an occupation that schools set out a booth for on Career Day, a religious calling that glimmers in the goldenrod. It’s impossible to imagine George Sanders’s Addison DeWitt from All About Eve as anything other than a fully formed adult, issued from a printing press.”

“The new language of funders redresses a void in cultural “vibrancy”–the cultural qualities embedded in neighborhoods and cities. So by applying “intensity”–a synonym for deep, targeted investment–to creative pockets within neighborhoods and depressed cities, funders seek to oxygenate local fires and stoke vibrant culture from within.”

“Critics, of course, are required to sit through whatever is thrown at them, be it shocking, preposterous, dreadful or dull. But have there ever been times when they left early? “

“Allowing prisoners to take part in art schemes can help cut reoffending rates in half, according to a report commissioned by the Arts Alliance.”

“Retraction notices are increasing rapidly. In the early 2000s, only about 30 retraction notices appeared annually. This year, the Web of Science is on track to index more than 400 (see ‘Rise of the retractions’) — even though the total number of papers published has risen by only 44% over the past decade.”

“Most of your museums, symphonies, opera houses — large established cultural institutions that are promoting the European cannon. The audiences for those institutions continue to be predominantly upper income and white. So what it means is that this funding is not really benefiting everyone in our society.”

“Kansas City’s newest showpiece creates a framework for how dusty old orchestras can survive in a distracted world. The center takes all the micro things needed to put on a good show, like honed acoustics, advanced stage mechanics, comfy seats, and remixes them with today’s macro realities — that arts groups need to work together, look as relevant as the newest Apple Store miracle.”

There’s a new director for the Budapest theatre – one with right-wing credentials and, thousands of protestors say, an anti-Semitic past.

“There’s several reasons why China might want the moon, not the least of which is its trove of mineral resources that include water and helium-3, a potential fuel for fusion energy reactors. Laying claim to the moon also would have a powerful psychological impact, displacing America’s Apollo forays and catapulting China’s international status in one fell swoop.”

“Gold leaf has been meticulously layered on carved mouldings and light fixtures glisten. Seats have been re-covered in plush red velour. … But the project is years overdue and so far over budget no knows for sure how much it will end up costing.”