AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Is Broadway Paying the price of Disneyfication?
Good Morning,
Major institutions are now partnering to buy works jointly and share them, swapping trophy acquisition for pooled expertise and a split invoice (Artnet). Pittsburgh is running the same play one level up, where the CLO and the Public Theater are merging instead of chasing the same subscribers and donors (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
The Alex Theatre in Glendale hadn’t screened a first-run movie in 35 years and is now the top-grossing venue in the country for Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” (The Hollywood Reporter). London’s West End is out-drawing Broadway in part because mounting a show in New York costs three to five times what it does there (The Wall Street Journal) — roughly what John Caird means when he calls Broadway Disneyfied (The Stage).
The day’s oddest story: someone has been buying used books in enormous quantities from shops around the world, and the likeliest culprits are AI companies short on training data (The Atlantic).
And young Ivorians have invented biama, a competitive dance form fusing acrobatics with deliberate goofiness, built entirely out of TikTok challenges (The Guardian). No partnership agreement required.
Doug
- A Kinetic, Slightly Goofy New Form Of Competitive Dance Develops In Côte d’Ivoire
“There is some debate over exactly when biama emerged, but it exploded in popularity after the coronavirus pandemic as young people turned to TikTok to post and respond to dance challenges that fused acrobatics with goofiness that pushed bodies to their limits.” – The Guardian
- Why Are Theatres Still Ignoring (Mostly) The Deaf Audience?
Most films are distributed with caption tracks, but cinemas, on average, caption only 1% of all showings. This is despite statistics showing that in the UK, one in seven people – approximately 14% of the population – are deaf or have hearing loss. – The Conversation
- The Mystic Poet-Saints Of Kashmir, One Hindu And one Muslim
The 14th-century Hindu poetess Lal Ded and the 15th-century Sufi Muslim poet Nund Rishi wrote not in the elegant, aristocratic court language, Persian, but with simple words and phrases in Kashmiri, the everyday language of ordinary people These mystics are seen by many Kashmiris as spiritual grandmother and grandfather, even today. – The Conversation
- Rise Of The Neo-Luddites
The label of “neo-Luddism” or “digital Luddite” is also being reclaimed by people concerned about labour conditions, society and democracy in an era of AI expansion twinned with personal profit. – The Conversation
ISSUES
- Company Turns AI On Art Fraud
In practical terms, that means a knowledge graph representing thousands of artworks, with billions of nodes detailing the complex relationships its algorithms have identified between them. – Didginomica
- The Big Estate Sales That Are Reshaping The Art Market
The list of collectors whose art has arrived at auction over the past two years reads like the society pages of decades past. Some died; others have merely reached an age when keeping several hundred million dollars’ worth of paintings around no longer seems quite as important as it once did. – ARTnews
- Major Museums Are Forming Partnerships To Buy And Share Artworks
“Pooling resources now reflects a broader shift away from the competitive collection building of the 19th and 20th centuries. Increasing financial pressure plays an undeniable role, but so does a growing appetite for deeper institutional ties and shared expertise.” – Artnet
- Contemporary Art Museum Of Raleigh Is Selling Its Building
The museum paused its exhibitions and other activities last year due to financial troubles. The board and management have not announced any permanent closure; their statements indicate that they hope to keep operating without a permanent home. – The News and Observer (Raleigh, NC)
- Fra Angelico’s First Major Altarpiece Restored After Five Centuries Of Disrepair
The Fiesole Altarpiece, painted in the 1420s, suffered its first damage during an updating in 1501; it was subsequently broken up, had some of its parts looted or sold off, and was gnawed by wood-boring insects. The work has now been restored to roughly its 1501 condition with an ingenious spring-fitted wood frame. – Artnet
MEDIA
- Do The People Of This Slovakian Village Really Want To Lose UNESCO World Heritage Status?
That’s what all the headlines said, but the people of the well-preserved medieval village of Vlkolínec say it’s not that simple. They want to protect their small, still-living community from the pressures of overtourism, which could easily overwhelm it. – Deutsche Welle
- Dallas’s Perot Museum Of Nature And Science Seems To Be Planning A Big Expansion It Hasn’t Announced
The news comes from a filing the museum made last week with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation; management has also filed with the city of Dallas for a construction permit. Work is expected to start early next year. – The Dallas Morning News (MSN)
- The Problem With Super-Flexible High-Tech Performance Venues
Justin Davidson on New York’s Perelman Arts Center and The Shed: “Now the boldest experimenters can take advantage of walls that move at the touch of a button, precision lifts, rooms that shrink and expand, projected images (on) moving surfaces. … Yet the revolution, now that it’s here, feels anticlimactic and overpriced.” – Curbed (MSN)
- Sure, Attack The Smithsonian. But Americans Really Love It
Even now, as the museum complex continues to face a pressure campaign from the White House, public fondness for the Smithsonian—for its free entry and eclectic collections—is hard to break among those otherwise receptive to President Trump’s anti-institutionalism. – The Atlantic
- San Diego To Launch An Arts Pass Program
The San Diego Arts Pass — inspired by New York City’s Culture Pass, Britain’s National Art Pass, and the like — will offer purchasers reduced-price or free admission to over 40 organizations, including the Old Globe, San Diego Symphony, and La Jolla Playhouse, in San Diego County and metro Tijuana. – The San Diego Union-Tribune (MSN)
MUSIC
- The Mystic Poet-Saints Of Kashmir, One Hindu And one Muslim
The 14th-century Hindu poetess Lal Ded and the 15th-century Sufi Muslim poet Nund Rishi wrote not in the elegant, aristocratic court language, Persian, but with simple words and phrases in Kashmiri, the everyday language of ordinary people These mystics are seen by many Kashmiris as spiritual grandmother and grandfather, even today. – The Conversation
- Who Is Buying Massive Quantities Of Books?
We know that something mysterious is afoot. Someone—if not more than one group or company—has been snapping up massive volumes of books from shops around the world. – The Atlantic
- Author Denies He Used AI To Write Book That He Sold For Millions
The author accused of using artificial intelligence to craft the debut novel that landed him a multimillion-dollar book deal said he was innocent and that the claims against him were racially motivated. – The Wall Street Journal
- Russian Airstrikes Have Destroyed Almost Three-Quarters Of Ukraine’s Book Output This Year
Just since May 1, Russian drones and bombs have damaged or burned at least 9.65 million books. That equals 74% of the Ukrainian publishing industry’s output so far in 2026 and nearly 29% of books printed throughout the country in all of 2025. – United24 Media (Ukraine)
- Torn To Shreds: The Writers Workshop
Joyce Carol Oates is known for her strict style. One of her students once described her crossing through the first several pages of a story and asking: “What’s the point?” I commiserated with him, but he looked at me and said: “No, that’s what I want. To be ripped to shreds.” – The Guardian
PEOPLE
- Is Broadway Paying the price of Disneyfication?
Good Morning,
Major institutions are now partnering to buy works jointly and share them, swapping trophy acquisition for pooled expertise and a split invoice (Artnet). Pittsburgh is running the same play one level up, where the CLO and the Public Theater are merging instead of chasing the same subscribers and donors (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
The Alex Theatre in Glendale hadn’t screened a first-run movie in 35 years and is now the top-grossing venue in the country for Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” (The Hollywood Reporter). London’s West End is out-drawing Broadway in part because mounting a show in New York costs three to five times what it does there (The Wall Street Journal) — roughly what John Caird means when he calls Broadway Disneyfied (The Stage).
The day’s oddest story: someone has been buying used books in enormous quantities from shops around the world, and the likeliest culprits are AI companies short on training data (The Atlantic).
And young Ivorians have invented biama, a competitive dance form fusing acrobatics with deliberate goofiness, built entirely out of TikTok challenges (The Guardian). No partnership agreement required.
Doug
- A Kinetic, Slightly Goofy New Form Of Competitive Dance Develops In Côte d’Ivoire
“There is some debate over exactly when biama emerged, but it exploded in popularity after the coronavirus pandemic as young people turned to TikTok to post and respond to dance challenges that fused acrobatics with goofiness that pushed bodies to their limits.” – The Guardian
- Why Are Theatres Still Ignoring (Mostly) The Deaf Audience?
Most films are distributed with caption tracks, but cinemas, on average, caption only 1% of all showings. This is despite statistics showing that in the UK, one in seven people – approximately 14% of the population – are deaf or have hearing loss. – The Conversation
- The Mystic Poet-Saints Of Kashmir, One Hindu And one Muslim
The 14th-century Hindu poetess Lal Ded and the 15th-century Sufi Muslim poet Nund Rishi wrote not in the elegant, aristocratic court language, Persian, but with simple words and phrases in Kashmiri, the everyday language of ordinary people These mystics are seen by many Kashmiris as spiritual grandmother and grandfather, even today. – The Conversation
- Rise Of The Neo-Luddites
The label of “neo-Luddism” or “digital Luddite” is also being reclaimed by people concerned about labour conditions, society and democracy in an era of AI expansion twinned with personal profit. – The Conversation
PEOPLE
- Is Broadway Paying the price of Disneyfication?
Good Morning,
Major institutions are now partnering to buy works jointly and share them, swapping trophy acquisition for pooled expertise and a split invoice (Artnet). Pittsburgh is running the same play one level up, where the CLO and the Public Theater are merging instead of chasing the same subscribers and donors (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).
The Alex Theatre in Glendale hadn’t screened a first-run movie in 35 years and is now the top-grossing venue in the country for Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” (The Hollywood Reporter). London’s West End is out-drawing Broadway in part because mounting a show in New York costs three to five times what it does there (The Wall Street Journal) — roughly what John Caird means when he calls Broadway Disneyfied (The Stage).
The day’s oddest story: someone has been buying used books in enormous quantities from shops around the world, and the likeliest culprits are AI companies short on training data (The Atlantic).
And young Ivorians have invented biama, a competitive dance form fusing acrobatics with deliberate goofiness, built entirely out of TikTok challenges (The Guardian). No partnership agreement required.
Doug
- A Kinetic, Slightly Goofy New Form Of Competitive Dance Develops In Côte d’Ivoire
“There is some debate over exactly when biama emerged, but it exploded in popularity after the coronavirus pandemic as young people turned to TikTok to post and respond to dance challenges that fused acrobatics with goofiness that pushed bodies to their limits.” – The Guardian
- Why Are Theatres Still Ignoring (Mostly) The Deaf Audience?
Most films are distributed with caption tracks, but cinemas, on average, caption only 1% of all showings. This is despite statistics showing that in the UK, one in seven people – approximately 14% of the population – are deaf or have hearing loss. – The Conversation
- The Mystic Poet-Saints Of Kashmir, One Hindu And one Muslim
The 14th-century Hindu poetess Lal Ded and the 15th-century Sufi Muslim poet Nund Rishi wrote not in the elegant, aristocratic court language, Persian, but with simple words and phrases in Kashmiri, the everyday language of ordinary people These mystics are seen by many Kashmiris as spiritual grandmother and grandfather, even today. – The Conversation
- Rise Of The Neo-Luddites
The label of “neo-Luddism” or “digital Luddite” is also being reclaimed by people concerned about labour conditions, society and democracy in an era of AI expansion twinned with personal profit. – The Conversation
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Rise Of The Neo-Luddites
The label of “neo-Luddism” or “digital Luddite” is also being reclaimed by people concerned about labour conditions, society and democracy in an era of AI expansion twinned with personal profit. – The Conversation
- The Edinburgh Fringe Is Huge. But Is Success Just Getting Bigger?
Edinburgh has wrestled with for years: what is tourism actually for? If the answer is simply “more visitors, more spending”, the city will keep winning by numbers while residents feel they are losing by experience. – The Conversation
- The Difficulties Of An AI For Africa
- Our Complicated Relationship With Boredom
Boredom isn’t merely the result of a boring external environment, as a schoolchild might think, or inadequate mental resources, as my mother suggested. It is either a mysterious nexus of dysfunction or a healthy adaptive function (it’s complicated) that afflicts both individuals and societies at large. – Portico Quarterly
- Guardrails For AI Didn’t Work. So Bring In The Philosophers
“Efforts [to stop the generation of harmful content] were initially focused around putting in simple black-and-white guardrails, such as forbidding a model from talking about bombs entirely. But these proved clumsy and easy to circumvent. Now, companies are pursuing methods that lean heavily on a philosophical understanding of right and wrong.” – The AI Humanist