Category: issues

“Leimert Park Village, the historical enclave of black culture and arts, has been showing signs of new life lately, and not a moment too soon. … The only thing missing was foot traffic, a longstanding problem in Leimert. Enter another addition geared to the Internet generation: the Leimert Park Art Walk.”

“[A]lthough [the refugees] came from all sectors of society and many different economic backgrounds, a particular group – artists, musicians, actors, fashion designers, writers and intellectuals – have achieved a certain prominence in Jordan, participating in art exhibitions or getting parts in films shot here.”

“The art world today doesn’t much resemble today’s musical world. If it did, it would look very different.”

Arts groups say they are disappointed in the federal budget, calling it a “missed opportunity,” while a few organizations were cheered by it.

“Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has unveiled a range of measures in his budget that are intended to help encourage private giving to the arts. These changes will include a number of simplifications to Gift Aid as well as changes to inheritance tax to encourage charitable giving in wills.”

This year’s EIF “will feature the National Ballet of China performing the classic Chinese love story The Peony Pavilion, combining western ballet forms and Chinese traditional music. Shakespeare will also loom large, with Seoul’s Mokhwa Repertory Company weaving The Tempest into fifth-century Korean chronicles” and a Peking Opera Hamlet. And Tim Supple will stage a new version of The Thousand and One Nights with an all-Arab cast.

“What is the difference between a festival that is about exoticism and one that is guilty of exoticism? ‘The degree of naivety,’ answered [EIF director Jonathan] Mills … ‘There are certain things that are about the notion of the exotic that Europeans need to deal with and we are juxtaposing that with the reality of Asia’.”

“Scotland’s culture minister Fiona Hyslop has announced severe weather payments totalling £362,000 to arts organisations.
It was, of course, a particularly bad winter. The idea of going to the theatre last December was one of the last things on people’s minds, just getting out the house was more of a priority.”

“Mayor of London Boris Johnson has warned the government not to ‘jeopardise London’s position as a world creative hub’ following new research into the points-based visa system.”

One example is cellist Kristin Ostling, “of Chicago-based string quartet Carpe Diem, was ‘bullied and rudely questioned for eight hours’ before being sent back to the US. She was told that she was taking work from British musicians even though the three recitals she was to take part in were unpaid.”