“As we seek political and philosophical bearings in this time of renewed calls for a socialist alternative to capitalism, postwar efforts to bring Marxism and existentialism together have much to teach us—not only because of the continuing importance of each mode of thought to political thinking and organizing, but also because their interaction in Sartre’s work deepens our understanding of how we exercise agency under conditions we do not control.” – Boston Review
Tag: 11.14.18
Another New Thing You Can Borrow From The Library: Cooking Utensils
Some libraries in upstate New York have begun adding cake pans, cookie cutters, and other bakeware and utensils to their circulating collections. It’s part of the spreading practice referred to as the “library of things.”
Zaha Hadid’s Business Partner Sues For Sole Control Of Her Estate
“[Patrik] Schumacher, one of four people appointed by Hadid to take responsibility for her estate, has begun court proceedings to have the other three removed as executors – leaving him in control. … However, the trio – Rana Hadid, Peter Palumbo and Brian Clarke – are fighting back. Rana Hadid, the late architect’s niece, said her aunt ‘would have been devastated to learn what Schumacher is doing’.”
The Optics Of A Music Problem
New music has done very little to change the expected optics of classical music, which is why new music’s identity problem is what it is today. Moreover, despite the recent increase in conversation about female, non-binary, transgender, and BAME/ALAANA/diverse composers, the programming of these composers has not significantly increased.
Hit Flamenco Singer Finds Herself At Front Of Cultural-Appropriation Wars
“Throughout her rise to fame, Rosalía has been mired in a debate over her supposed appropriation of an art form with gitano origins. The 25-year-old star is not gitana, nor is she from Andalusia, the birthplace of flamenco. She’s from Catalonia, the northern Spanish region now famous for its independence bid last year. She’s been accused of capitalizing on southern, gitano culture — for adopting an Andalusian accent, sprinkling Caló (the Spanish Romani language) into her songs, dressing like a gitana and using Roma imagery in her music videos.”
82-Year-Old Dance Professor Stars In Her First Head-Bangin’ Hard Rock Video
Dance anthropologist Judith Lynne Hanna, who (on top of her scholarly work) has served as an expert witness in legal proceedings against exotic dancers, “has spent her career getting us to think about dance’s relationship to society. … She hadn’t performed since college when she got a call from a music video producer, who caught a video of her dancing with her 13-year-old grandson. The rockers of Egg Drop Soup loved her energy and flew her out to Los Angeles for a day-long video shoot. We spoke to Hanna about the experience.”
Rare Ancient Image Of Jesus Discovered In Negev Desert
The painting of Jesus of Nazareth with John the Baptist — badly deteriorated but perceptible with high-tech photography and potentially restorable — is on the wall of the baptistery in a ruined 5th- or 6th-century Byzantine church. “In contrast to the Western image of Jesus as someone with flowing long hair and, sometimes, a beard, the Shivta painting shows him in the Eastern style with short curly hair, a long face and an elongated nose.”
Main Funder Of National Theatre Wales Gives Warning In Debate About Company’s Level Of Welshness
With more than 200 Welsh actors having joined 40 of its playwrights in making public complaints about how little actual theatre the company is making and how few Welsh artists are being employed to make it, the chief executive of the Arts Council of Wales — which gives NTW £1.6 million each year — has issued a statement observing pointedly that “to be ‘national’ is a privilege, not a right.”
Savannah Philharmonic’s Music Director Stepping Down
Peter Shannon has been artistic director and conductor of the orchestra for all of its ten years; he departs at the end of this season.
How Pittsburgh Symphony Musicians Are Fighting Food Waste
Musicians began volunteering with 412 in September 2016, when violinist Lorien Benet Hart reached out to the food rescue organization in search of a way for musicians to contribute to the community during a two-month musicians’ labor strike. Since then, she has coordinated with 412 to send different groups of musicians and — starting a few months back — symphony staff members on a run or two a month to help connect good food that would have gone to waste with organizations that put it to better use than filling dumpsters.