Norway is planning a major reorganization of its national art collection as part of a modernization effort aimed at the country’s museums. “At the core of the overhaul are plans to merge four existing institutions into one that will give greater prominence to contemporary art, to be called The New National Museum for Art, Architecture and Design… [But] critics of the project fear that the changes could do more harm than good,” and are raising objections to the individual selected to coordinate the reorganization.
Tag: 09.26.04
What Makes A Metro?
In Washington, D.C., as in so many cities across the U.S., a battle for the soul of the region is being waged between those who live in the suburbs, and those who reside in the urban core. But the combatants may be missing the point: “There is a panache and prestige to being downtown — baseball owners nationwide have learned that, theaters and nightclubs have capitalized on it and retailers who fled cities after the 1960s riots are rediscovering it. And there is an ease and convenience to the burbs — as retailers, football teams and movie theater chains have long known.” In other words, cities and their surrounding areas have changed in the last 50 years, and both sides need each other more than they care to acknowledge.
Has Chelsea Finally Arrived?
It’s taken more than seven years, but New York’s Chelsea neighborhood finally seems to be making good on its claim to being the next great art neighborhood. “It now takes two full days, morning to night, to visit just the best-known Chelsea galleries. But for the first time that I can remember, doing the autumn rounds felt mostly worthwhile. There was real variety on view — of medium, subject matter, approach, scale. More important, there were a few artists and works that didn’t fit into convenient pigeonholes.”
From ABBA To Atwood: A Director’s Crossover
“There aren’t many directors who would feel equally at home staging the nostalgic ABBA songfest Mamma Mia! as well as the futurist opera based on Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.” In fact, crossing between the worlds of opera and musical theater at all tends to be frowned on, but somehow, director Phyllida Lloyd seems to have won over the finicky devotees of each. Having engineered the current Toronto production of Handmaid, her next project is the English National Opera’s Ring Cycle.
Silk Road’s Next Stage
“Over the last four years the Silk Road Project has brought traditional music from distant countries and cultures — from countries along the old trade route between Italy and China — to Western audiences, performed by masters of ancient arts, instruments, and vocal techniques and by a floating ensemble of freelance virtuosos on Western instruments.” Now, a new series of workshops aims to “take the project to the next level by bringing a new generation of performers and composers into the process.”
An Artists’ Haven In The Midst of A Man-Made Hell
The little town of Terezin, in the Czech Republic, is known throughout Eastern Europe by the strangest of descriptions: “best of the Nazi hells: a ghetto with a swing band, a concentration camp with shoe stores and cafes… At a time when Jews were banned from going to school, Terezin became their university: 2,430 lectures took place, on such topics as the Jews of Babylon, the theory of relativity, Alexander the Great and German humor.” For many, Terezin was merely a waystation on the horrible road to Auschwitz, and yet, its denizens have had an outsized impact on Jewish art and culture in the region.
Is There A Middle Ground?
A third voice has entered the Barnes debate, and despite the efforts of some powerful Philadelphia interests to silence him, a Lower Merion official may find a sympathetic ear in the judge hearing the case. The new proposal: to construct a 700-foot access road to allow the Barnes to sidestep local ordinances limiting the number of visitors to its current location.
Downloading Music Without Context
Is digital music distribution threatening the complex history of jazz? That might be overstating it a bit, but it is a fact that the new generation of digital downloads, portable MP3 players, and track-by-track purchasing habits is creating a musical universe nearly devoid of context, which could be seen as antithetical to complex forms such as jazz and classical music. “Millions of young listeners are buying music that is sold without liner notes, correct recording dates and session information. Even the musicians’ names are often removed from their performances… The information that has been removed from jazz albums can still be replaced. But consumers probably will have to demand it first.”
Come For The Buzz, But Stay For The Quality
San Jose’s beautiful new California Theatre has been generating plenty of excitement in Silicon Valley and beyond. But a full house is dependant on much more than buzz, and for the California to be a success in the long run, it will be necessary for it to mount consistently high-quality presentations. That’s asking a lot of a city which recently saw its symphony replaced with a decidedly part-time ensemble, and which features an opera company which is still just beginning to come into its own.
By Writers, For Writers
Literary journals, long a staple of university presses, seem to be enjoying a renaissance in Pittsburgh, courtesy of online publishing innovations and an influx of new writers willing to take risks. The city currently has no fewer than five new journals attempting to build a sizable readership, despite the fact that such publications traditionally bleed money. “The world of publishing is becoming so competitively commercial that there’s no room for the serious writer. And the reason journals and small literary presses are beginning to survive is that there are more and more writers.”