A (white) Democratic congressman recently argued that most whites would not go to such a museum, and that only Latinos and Native Americans go to museums dedicated to their heritages. He also argues that such cultural separatism is “not what America is all about.” Does he have a point? Should African-American history exhibits be integrated into mainstream history museums instead?
Tag: 05.20.11
US Supreme Court Justices Talk ABout Writing
“In a trove of interviews that are to Supreme Court obsessives what the State Department cables released by WikiLeaks were to students of American foreign policy, eight Supreme Court justices described how they write their opinions, what they look for in briefs and the art of legal writing generally.”
Hollywood’s Movie Schedule Has Gotten Into A Rut
“Film executives are creatures of habit, and habit dictates that certain types of movies are released at certain times of the year to satisfy certain types of movie goers. There are exceptions, of course.”
Should Art Museums Protest Ai Weiwei’s Imprisonment? Even If They Have Big Chinese Art Exhibitions?
The detention of China’s most famous living artist has drawn a huge amount of protest from the international art community – but from individuals much more than from institutions. Are museums morally obligated to speak out for Ai? Would it help? And what if protests provoked the Chinese government were to revoke permission to display borrowed art and antiquities?
Atlanta Mayor Reverses 50% Cut In Arts Funding
“In a stunning admission, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said Thursday he was wrong in proposing ‘draconian’ cuts to local arts projects in his 2012 budget. Instead, Reed has fully restored funding to 2011 levels for the grants program sponsoring groups and emerging artists.” (The city’s total arts budget, with funds restored: $470,000.)
What Was The Hardest Part Of Nikolaj Hubbe’s Return To The Royal Danish Ballet?
“I think the hard part was moving from New York to Denmark and going from being a dancer to a director. I didn’t miss the dancing, it was the new job. And the culture shock. I was 17 years in New York. I knew the language but I was self-conscious about speaking Danish. I didn’t know the country and the ins and outs anymore.”
Boston Ballet Star Larissa Ponomarenko Retires
“After 18 years as principal dancer for the Boston Ballet, Larissa Ponomarenko (above) has retired from the stage without fanfare. She gave her final performance May 8.” She will continue to work with the company as a ballet master.
London’s Borough Councils Withdraw All Arts Funding
When London Councils (the umbrella body for the local borough governments) cut £3 million from its arts budget last December, a judge canceled the cuts and ordered a do-over of the process. The result: the councils have now cancelled all local funding for arts organizations, starting this autumn.
Andrew Lloyd Webber Creates £32M Arts Fund
“Andrew Lloyd Webber’s charitable foundation is to embark on a £32 million grant-giving programme targeted at supporting the arts.” The money comes from the sale last year of a Picasso painting from ALW’s collection.
Want Faster Computers? We May Have To Use DNA
“With DNA-based computing, you can do more than have ones and zeroes. DNA is made up of A, G, C, T, which gives it more range. DNA-based computing has the potential to deal with fuzzy data, going beyond digital data.”