“Beginning in the early 1990s, we got an era of market triumphalism in this country. Those who sincerely believed that the market is the best way to deliver all things are still enjoying their moment. It means that these other realms that are not as well delivered in that way are suffering. This includes questions of how we fund higher education, secondary education, healthcare, how we fund the humanities, the arts and pure science.”
Tag: 01.13.07
A Contract Between Writer And Reader
Zadie Smith writes that literature has a legacy of honorable failure. “A novel is a two-way street, in which the labour required on either side is, in the end, equal. Reading, done properly, is every bit as tough as writing – I really believe that.”
Nasher Director Quits For California
“Steven Nash, who coordinated the organization and opening of the Nasher Sculpture Center and served as director for its first three years, will leave the post in early March. He’ll be the new executive director of the Palm Springs Art Museum in California.”
Italians Renew Search For Missing Leonardo
“Culture Minister Francesco Rutelli and officials in the Tuscan city announced this week they had given approval for renewed exploration in the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of power for various Florence rulers, including the Medici family in the 16th century. There, some researchers believe, a cavity in a wall may have preserved Leonardo’s unfinished painted mural of the “Battle of Anghiari” for more than four centuries.”
Canada – King Of Pirates
“For the third year in a row, the U.S. government has placed Canada on its ‘watch list’ for a lack of IPR (intellectual-property rights) enforcement, which means this country is in the same company as notorious film-piracy hubs such as Lebanon, China, the Philippines and Russia.”
Protests Outside The ENB
Big demonstrations against an English National Ballet principal dancer. “Inside the audience there ensued plenty of scuffling, an overture nearly drowned out by shouting and – this being the ballet – a whole lot of ‘ssshing’.”
Online Radio – Music Your Way
It’s the new way to hear new music you might be interested in. “Despite all the possible hitches of these new services, they remain a far more efficient (and enjoyable) way of expanding your taste than the old fashioned methods of enduring the whims of radio playlisting, noting what somebody who bought the same item as you on Amazon also bought (usually a Dan Brown book) or trawling music papers looking for positive reviews.”
Is Met Opera Too Focused On Bigness?
“What is crucially missing at the Met, as in most opera houses around the world, is flexibility: a sensible small theatre where new work, together with old work designed for small houses, can be presented without the expenditure of millions of dollars.”
Who Cares About “Women’s” Art?
“Is there such a thing as ‘women’s art’? Do we any longer need to think of women as a special group? Should there be a prize for women artists? For many, the terms female and male are simply cultural.”
In Ottawa – Even Less Support For The Arts
Artists in Ottawa are pessimistic that the city’s new budget will short arts support. “Ottawa artists have already endured years of stingy budgets that have traditionally left the city, on a per capita basis, last among the nation’s seven largest urban centres in municipal arts funding.”