Waves of looters are combing over Iraqi archaeological sites, picking them clean and disposing of artifacts on the black market. “The Iraqi police force, which disintegrated at the end of the war, is not only powerless but afraid to stop the heavily armed groups that now prowl over dozens of sites. American soldiers are generally too occupied with reducing street crime and restoring basic services like electricity to pay much attention. As for the people who live near the big archaeological sites in southern Iraq, they became so poor under Mr. Hussein that they are grasping at any means to make money.”
Tag: 05.28.03
Huge ROM Gift Could Come Today
The Royal Ontario Museum is holding a ceremonial groundbreaking today to kick off a $200 million renovation and expansion, and sources say that the ROM may have locked up one of the major gifts it needs to fund the project. “Insiders are abuzz with unconfirmed reports that [Canadian philanthropist Galen] Weston is about to hand over $25 million — which could put the ROM close to its phase one campaign goal of $150 million, and position the museum fundraising blitz to move into phase two, with a goal of an additional $50 million for a total of $200 million.”
Finally, A Conductor For San Francisco
The San Francisco Ballet has announced the appointment of Andrew Mogrelia as conductor of its resident orchestra, capping a search which has dragged on for five years. “Mogrelia has a long history with dance companies, having conducted for the American Ballet Theatre, English National Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater. He was one of six guest conductors who led the Ballet Orchestra this season.”
No Pots Of Gold In Sight For ‘Rainbow’
‘Reading Rainbow’ is one of public broadcasting’s most successful and award-winning programs. The program, which focuses on bringing books to life for a young audience, is twenty years old, but has had to cut back production in recent years due to a lack of funding. Executive producer and host LeVar Burton continues to shake every money tree that comes his way, but as he picked up the show’s seventh Emmy this month, even Burton had to acknowledge that ‘Reading Rainbow’ may not be around for much longer.
Toronto Film & TV Industry Hits The Skids
Toronto has, in recent years, enjoyed a healthy economic bump from a burgeoning film and television industry. But this year is different: SARS, a weak economy, and various other factors have contributed to a marked slowdown in the industry, and other Canadian cities are cherry-picking Toronto productions on a daily basis. It could just be a bump in the road, of course, but some in Toronto fear that the slump may not be temporary.
SARS Fears Continue To Plague Festival Season
With a fresh outbreak of SARS feared in Toronto, officials of the Shaw and Stratford Festivals in southern Ontario are fearful that the public will once again start to stay away. Advance sales are down amid fears of the outbreak, and there is simply no way to predict whether the latest round of quarantines will cause festival-goers to change their plans. Said one producer, “Fear is a difficult commodity to argue with.”
Translation? What Translation?
A Canadian publishing house has announced that it will stop publishing the names of translators on the cover of books that were originally published in French. The reason is reportedly that consumers tend to be wary of translated books, and House of Anansi Press is hoping to attract new readership. Translators, who fought long and hard to get their names on book covers back in the 1970s, are understandably upset.
Media Consolidation Makes Strange Bedfellows
“When National Public Radio decided to create its first new news magazine program in almost 20 years, it turned to Slate, the Microsoft-owned online journal. Not only is it an unusual media partnership, the NPR/Slate production, a one-hour weekday program called ‘Day to Day,’ is the first programming collaboration NPR has had with a commercial outlet in its 33-year history.”
Boston Opera Chief Stepping Down
“Leon Major, artistic director of the Boston Lyric Opera since 1998, has stepped down from his position but will remain active with the company as a stage director… Throughout his tenure at the Lyric, Major commuted between Boston and Maryland, where he heads the Maryland Opera Studio at the University of Maryland, while maintaining an active schedule as guest stage director with many American and Canadian opera companies.”
Nissinen Era Firmly In Place In Boston
When Boston Ballet hired Mikko Nissinen to turn the company around, no one quite knew how such a feat could be accomplished. The company had been in chaos for several seasons, and could not seem to shake its image as something of an also-ran in Boston’s estimable arts scene. So how is Nissinen doing, one year into his reign? “It’s clear that Nissinen’s push for change, however subtle, has had an impact. The company that performs next season will be vastly different from the one that opened last September. There will be fewer performances and a smaller administrative staff. More dramatically, four of nine principal dancers, or featured stars, will be gone.”