Category: issues

“Calls for reform of the draconian libel laws in force in England and Wales have finally caught the ears of those in high places.” Both the Justice Minister and the House of Commons have committees exploring the issue, with particular concern about “libel tourism.”

“About 100 members of the major local musicians union picketed outside Dallas’ Winspear Opera House during the ballet’s performances of The Nutcracker there Friday through Sunday. They handed out leaflets and carried signs saying, ‘taped music is tacky.'”

“A reorganisation of Australia Council funding of indigenous arts organisations will result in 10 ‘outstanding’ groups receiving more money for up to six years and 25 other groups losing out.”

We’ve all experienced the problem after seeing a performance. “No matter how big the exit is, everybody gets jammed up and it goes really slowly. Engineers in Japan have been looking at what’s going on and how to fix it. What they found makes no sense to us, but it seems to work. Obstacles speed up exiting crowds.”

“As European cultural institutions take cues from their American brethren and rely increasingly on private donations, the perks that donors get in return for giving are growing in number and diversity. … Iconic cultural institutions like the Tate, the Mariinsky and the Louvre all have set up American or international ‘friends groups’ in the last decade….”

“Musician, composer and record producer Brian Eno is to be the guest artistic director of next year’s Brighton Festival. He will be responsible for curating a collection of events across the city featuring 77 Million Paintings, a newly commissioned sound installation.”

Having opened a year ago this week, in the midst of perhaps the most precarious period in memory for US arts groups, the center has exceeded expectations in both attendance and revenue. In fact, DPAC’s first-year earnings were four times what was originally forecast.

“The letters to the society record the march of science from the earliest blood transfusions, and attempts to capture lightning, to the confirmation of Einstein’s theory of relativity, the discovery of DNA and Stephen Hawking’s first musings on black holes. The letters reveal a history of failure eclipsed by success, and the maturation of science from a haphazard amateur pursuit to the systematised professionalism of today.”

“Painters and other visual artists seem to be less prone as a group to the kind of “artist’s block” that stymied Copland, Sibelius and Ellison. One reason for this is that unlike serious composers or novelists, who are expected to break new ground each time they create a new work, an artist can frequently return to the same subject.”

“[F]ederal Heritage Minister James Moore said the magic, startling words during a media scrum: There will be news about the Canada Prize ‘very soon.’ Many felt sure that plans for an annual international culture contest in Toronto would just vanish after a political storm that caught the Harper government by surprise in late January.”