Category: issues

After skipping 2017 and 2018, the White House announced that Trump has chosen actor Jon Voight, novelist James Patterson, president and chief executive officer of WETA (a Washington, D.C. public-broadcasting channel) Sharon Percy Rockefeller, and bluegrass singer Alison Krauss to receive the presidential honor. – New York Magazine

The Clockenflap festival was supposed to run Nov. 22-24, but after yet another death in the protests (and no signs of that stopping), the organizers canceled one of the most high-profile music festivals in Asia. – The Guardian (UK)

There’s a bit of a problem: At least one study has shown that we remember less about the places and things we photograph. Going outside can combat our phone addictions and calm our brains … but there’s an issue. “Your cortisol levels may decrease when traveling in Banff National Park, but they’ll still increase every time you pick up your phone to take a picture. It’s the great paradox of our globally connected world.” – The Smart Set

This week is the application deadline for the next four-year round (2021-24) of Australia Council for the Arts funding for small-to-medium organizations, a category which includes all groups but the largest (such as Opera Australia, the Australian Ballet, and the state capitals’ major symphony orchestras and theatre companies). Hundreds of those organizations have already been eliminated, and of those remaining, the Council says that up to 60% will be unsuccessful. Project-to-project finding will still be available, but it has been slashed in recent years. – The Guardian

“I think a big part of the role of a critic is being somebody who holds artists accountable as well. When you are an artist and you’re presenting a work of art to your community, you know that you’re held accountable to your audience, no matter what your intentions were with putting out that piece. Artists can go out there and make whatever they want and say whatever they want, but its meaning is going to be received, and that merits a response.” – Howlround

Capitalism has its own rhythm, but also its own specific geography. Urban space is profoundly transformed by financial capitalism. Urban spaces are becoming expensive, and the closure of cultural spaces is, metaphorically and by extension, a reduction in the space for ideas and expression. – The Conversation

Why, as every failed political candidate has been prompted to ask their pillow, are the people always so darn disappointing? Well, in part it’s a sobering reminder that most people are not specialists in cultural fields and typically pick the best-known and best-marketed thing in any given cultural category. – Chicago Tribune