Category: issues

“Overall, non-charging attractions saw numbers increase by 6%, with paid-for attractions reporting a decline of 1%.”

Harpa, the Reykjavik Concert Hall and Conference Center, is made of more than 10,000 glass windows, including a south-facing double glass façade that refacts sunlight like a prism. The building officially opens this weekend, but preview performances in May attracted 100,00 visitors, equal to nearly one-third of the entire country’s population.

After several years of delays due to financial fallout from the recession, “workers have been scurrying [since late June] to keep to an aggressive 37-month construction schedule that would have the first phase of the complex building opening in summer 2014.”

“Victor Willis, the original lead singer of the group, filed papers this year to regain control in 2013 over his share of [the disco anthem and the group’s other songs] under a copyright provision that returns ownership of creative works to recording artists and songwriters after 35 years. His claim … is being contested by two companies that administer publishing rights to the songs.”

“Responding to media speculation that the new venue, which is currently due to open in a year’s time, will not open its doors to spectators until 2013 or even 2015, [Mariinsky chief Valery] Gergiev said that although the deadline for the end of the construction is currently being finalized, the maestro will personally make sure that no procrastination occurs.”

“None of those improvements required huge investments. None were heralded as keystone projects for future growth. But together, they have begun to transform the phrase “waterfront development” from an oxymoron into a reality.”

The St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts board of directors is hoping to change a clause in the current contract that requires management to continue paying employees even if there is no work. “We need to stop paying people when they’re not working.”

Residencies are “moving prisons”, says one poet-artist friend. “Ooh, let’s give someone money and make them move away from all their support networks,” she says sarcastically.

Almost twice as many tickets have been sold to live entertainment than AFL games.

“These micro influencers may not have a formal position that validates their influence, but they can be recognized among large audiences as being knowledgeable and trustworthy on specific topics. They also generate up to three times more word of mouth communications than non-influencers.”