AJ Four Ways: Text Only (by date) | headlines only
DANCE
IDEAS
- Good Morning
The Metropolitan Opera announced its 2026–27 season — 17 productions, the fewest since the company moved to Lincoln Center in 1966, with more than a third of all performances drawn from just three warhorses (AP). Coincidentally(?), general manager Peter Gelb — widely praised early, increasingly criticized as the Met’s finances deteriorated — announced he’ll retire in 2030 (OperaWire). Smaller season, lame-duck leader: the timing was not subtle.
Also under scrutiny: Trump’s planned White House East Wing ballroom, which sailed through a federal review commission without a single architect voting on it — the one architect on the panel had recused himself. (and Trump packed the panel with his acolytes) (CNN).
A Philadelphia slavery exhibition removed last month by executive order has been restored after a federal judge set a Friday deadline — the city sued, and won (AP). Melbourne’s arts community is sounding alarms as Creative Victoria’s grant pool has dropped more than 25% since 2022, with one leader warning the city risks becoming “the least funded” in Australia (The Guardian). And in Afghanistan, a clandestine women’s book club reads Orwell and Hemingway in defiance of Taliban education bans — which, given that the Taliban also burned hundreds of musical instruments this week, tracks (The Guardian).
Isaiah Zagar, the self-taught mosaicist who covered South Philadelphia walls with broken glass, tile, and mirror for decades, has died at 86. His Magic Gardens on South Street drew 150,000 visitors a year (The Philadelphia Inquirer). A loss for a city that just had to go to court to keep its history on the wall.
All of our stories below.
- A New Spirit Of Choreographic Artistry In Olympic Figure Skating
“It seems we’re in a particularly fruitful era of artistic innovation in skating. What’s driving the current wave — and how might it shape the future of the sport? – Dance Magazine
- The World Shunned The Taliban. So Why Do They Seem To Be Thriving?
In January, the Taliban announced a new criminal code that, among other provisions, allows domestic violence and the corporal punishment of children and appears to legitimize slavery through the use of the word “slave.” – The Walrus
- Robert Nichols’s Indelible Railroad Poems Back in Print
<a href="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2026/02/robert-nicholss-indelible-railroad-poems-back-in-print.html" title="Robert Nichols’s Indelible Railroad Poems Back in Print” rel=”nofollow”>
Just received a masterly bilingual edition in English and German of “Slow Newsreel of Man Riding Train” by Robert Nichols. It is the latest in Stadtlichter Presse’s bilingual Heartbeats series devoted to American poets of the Beat generation. - Reading “Animal Farm” In Afghanistan: A Women’s Book Circle Becomes A Form Of Resistance
With the Taliban having outlawed the education of girls and severely restricted women’s other rights, a clandestine group of women gather weekly to read books ranging from Orwell and Hemingway to contemporary Iranian fiction. – The Guardian
ISSUES
- How Trump Gamed Approval For His Ballroom
“It’s sad that a majority of the commissioners lack expertise in art and architecture,” the person told CNN. “There is only one architect, yet he recused himself from reviewing the ballroom. This means that not a single architect will be reviewing the White House project.” – CNN
- Commercialization Of Frida Kahlo Has Gone Way Too Far, Says Her Grandniece
There is by now an untold variety of Frida merch, from watches to candles to tequila to home décor to a branded Miami condo building to (yes) sanitary pads. One reason is that Kahlo’s family members have lost control of the corporation which controls rights to her likeness and work. – The Times (UK)
- Architectural Drawings Of Trump’s Planned White House East Wing Released
“The drawings picture the East Wing volume extending well into the White House lawn. At roughly 90,000 square feet, its footprint is more than twice the size of the previous East Wing building, which is now fully demolished. … The documentation includes site plans, building plans, elevations, landscape drawings and renders.” – Dezeen
- Why Does Bernini’s Beloved Elephant Sculpture In Rome Keep Losing The Tip Of Its Tusk?
Because people keep knocking it off — most recently, this past weekend, when police found the four-inch marble fragment from the left tusk on the pavement nearby. – AP
- V&A Museum Acquires First-Ever YouTube Video
“The V&A has acquired a reconstructed early webpage and the first video ever uploaded to the platform by co-founder Jawed Karim,” a V&A spokesperson said. – CNN
MEDIA
- The World Shunned The Taliban. So Why Do They Seem To Be Thriving?
In January, the Taliban announced a new criminal code that, among other provisions, allows domestic violence and the corporal punishment of children and appears to legitimize slavery through the use of the word “slave.” – The Walrus
- Melbourne’s Arts Community Alarmed As State Government Funding Keeps Falling
From 2022 to 2026, the grant pool distributed by state arts agency Creative Victoria has fallen by over 25%, from $81.2 million to $59.4 million (Aus), with little hope of any change. Said one arts leader, “(Melbourne) is going to go from the cultural capital to the least funded city in Australia.” – The Guardian
- Trump Administration Restores Philadelphia Slavery Exhibition After Court Order
The stories and images that had been on display for two decades were abruptly removed last month following an executive order by President Donald Trump. The city subsequently sued for the exhibit to be rehung and a federal judge set a Friday deadline for its full restoration. – AP
- Why A Small Artist Group Decided Not To Canel Its Kennedy Center Dates
There were the contractors it had hired to build an ice rink on the center’s plaza, and the work visas that took a year to secure for skaters from seven other countries. And although there were internal debates and external demands to cancel, did a small troupe from Montreal really want to wade into American politics? – The New York Times
- Internal Kennedy Center Email Reveals Details Of Planned Renovation Work
“The renovations are more modest in scale and scope than what President Trump has publicly outlined for the revamped arts center, and it is unclear whether or not these plans are the extent of the intended renovations.” – NPR
MUSIC
- Reading “Animal Farm” In Afghanistan: A Women’s Book Circle Becomes A Form Of Resistance
With the Taliban having outlawed the education of girls and severely restricted women’s other rights, a clandestine group of women gather weekly to read books ranging from Orwell and Hemingway to contemporary Iranian fiction. – The Guardian
- A Major Project To Revive Indigenous Languages
Chicago’s Newberry Library has received $4 million from the Mellon Foundation that will help widen access to Indigenous languages, some of which have been on the brink of disappearance. – WBEZ
- Outsourcing Publishing Decisions To Influencers
Bindery Books, a startup founded by publishing veterans, uses social media book influencers as acquiring editors to champion underrepresented authors and build engaged reader communities. – Los Angeles Times
- Children’s Vocabularies Are Shrinking In Shift From Reading To Screens
“So many children are now falling behind,” Dent said. “The vocabulary gap is getting bigger and there is a real perception that vocabulary development is suffering and that impacts on learning.” – The Guardian
- A New York Times Obituary Writer Contemplates The Ancient Egyptian Book Of The Dead
“To begin with, a Book of the Dead is a misnomer, applied by 19th-century Western scholars. A more accurate translation of the title would be ‘Spells of Coming Forth by Day.’ Unlike obituaries, they aren’t biographies. They aren’t even books. And, they’re not of the dead. They’re for the dead.” – The New York Times
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
The Metropolitan Opera announced its 2026–27 season — 17 productions, the fewest since the company moved to Lincoln Center in 1966, with more than a third of all performances drawn from just three warhorses (AP). Coincidentally(?), general manager Peter Gelb — widely praised early, increasingly criticized as the Met’s finances deteriorated — announced he’ll retire in 2030 (OperaWire). Smaller season, lame-duck leader: the timing was not subtle.
Also under scrutiny: Trump’s planned White House East Wing ballroom, which sailed through a federal review commission without a single architect voting on it — the one architect on the panel had recused himself. (and Trump packed the panel with his acolytes) (CNN).
A Philadelphia slavery exhibition removed last month by executive order has been restored after a federal judge set a Friday deadline — the city sued, and won (AP). Melbourne’s arts community is sounding alarms as Creative Victoria’s grant pool has dropped more than 25% since 2022, with one leader warning the city risks becoming “the least funded” in Australia (The Guardian). And in Afghanistan, a clandestine women’s book club reads Orwell and Hemingway in defiance of Taliban education bans — which, given that the Taliban also burned hundreds of musical instruments this week, tracks (The Guardian).
Isaiah Zagar, the self-taught mosaicist who covered South Philadelphia walls with broken glass, tile, and mirror for decades, has died at 86. His Magic Gardens on South Street drew 150,000 visitors a year (The Philadelphia Inquirer). A loss for a city that just had to go to court to keep its history on the wall.
All of our stories below.
- A New Spirit Of Choreographic Artistry In Olympic Figure Skating
“It seems we’re in a particularly fruitful era of artistic innovation in skating. What’s driving the current wave — and how might it shape the future of the sport? – Dance Magazine
- The World Shunned The Taliban. So Why Do They Seem To Be Thriving?
In January, the Taliban announced a new criminal code that, among other provisions, allows domestic violence and the corporal punishment of children and appears to legitimize slavery through the use of the word “slave.” – The Walrus
- Robert Nichols’s Indelible Railroad Poems Back in Print<a href="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2026/02/robert-nicholss-indelible-railroad-poems-back-in-print.html" title="Robert Nichols’s Indelible Railroad Poems Back in Print” rel=”nofollow”>Just received a masterly bilingual edition in English and German of “Slow Newsreel of Man Riding Train” by Robert Nichols. It is the latest in Stadtlichter Presse’s bilingual Heartbeats series devoted to American poets of the Beat generation.
- Reading “Animal Farm” In Afghanistan: A Women’s Book Circle Becomes A Form Of Resistance
With the Taliban having outlawed the education of girls and severely restricted women’s other rights, a clandestine group of women gather weekly to read books ranging from Orwell and Hemingway to contemporary Iranian fiction. – The Guardian
PEOPLE
- Good Morning
The Metropolitan Opera announced its 2026–27 season — 17 productions, the fewest since the company moved to Lincoln Center in 1966, with more than a third of all performances drawn from just three warhorses (AP). Coincidentally(?), general manager Peter Gelb — widely praised early, increasingly criticized as the Met’s finances deteriorated — announced he’ll retire in 2030 (OperaWire). Smaller season, lame-duck leader: the timing was not subtle.
Also under scrutiny: Trump’s planned White House East Wing ballroom, which sailed through a federal review commission without a single architect voting on it — the one architect on the panel had recused himself. (and Trump packed the panel with his acolytes) (CNN).
A Philadelphia slavery exhibition removed last month by executive order has been restored after a federal judge set a Friday deadline — the city sued, and won (AP). Melbourne’s arts community is sounding alarms as Creative Victoria’s grant pool has dropped more than 25% since 2022, with one leader warning the city risks becoming “the least funded” in Australia (The Guardian). And in Afghanistan, a clandestine women’s book club reads Orwell and Hemingway in defiance of Taliban education bans — which, given that the Taliban also burned hundreds of musical instruments this week, tracks (The Guardian).
Isaiah Zagar, the self-taught mosaicist who covered South Philadelphia walls with broken glass, tile, and mirror for decades, has died at 86. His Magic Gardens on South Street drew 150,000 visitors a year (The Philadelphia Inquirer). A loss for a city that just had to go to court to keep its history on the wall.
All of our stories below.
- A New Spirit Of Choreographic Artistry In Olympic Figure Skating
“It seems we’re in a particularly fruitful era of artistic innovation in skating. What’s driving the current wave — and how might it shape the future of the sport? – Dance Magazine
- The World Shunned The Taliban. So Why Do They Seem To Be Thriving?
In January, the Taliban announced a new criminal code that, among other provisions, allows domestic violence and the corporal punishment of children and appears to legitimize slavery through the use of the word “slave.” – The Walrus
- Robert Nichols’s Indelible Railroad Poems Back in Print<a href="https://www.artsjournal.com/herman/2026/02/robert-nicholss-indelible-railroad-poems-back-in-print.html" title="Robert Nichols’s Indelible Railroad Poems Back in Print” rel=”nofollow”>Just received a masterly bilingual edition in English and German of “Slow Newsreel of Man Riding Train” by Robert Nichols. It is the latest in Stadtlichter Presse’s bilingual Heartbeats series devoted to American poets of the Beat generation.
- Reading “Animal Farm” In Afghanistan: A Women’s Book Circle Becomes A Form Of Resistance
With the Taliban having outlawed the education of girls and severely restricted women’s other rights, a clandestine group of women gather weekly to read books ranging from Orwell and Hemingway to contemporary Iranian fiction. – The Guardian
THEATRE
VISUAL
- Should Our Museums Be Responsible For Healing Us?
Like many other words that have been “problematised” using post-structural approaches in the humanities, “care” is no longer simply a benign building block of a sentence, but is now part of a broader academic nexus that underpins its public expression. – The Critic
- Are We Falling Out Of Love With Our AI Confidants?
There are good reasons why people, at least at first, feel positive about their relationship with an AI companion. But new research is showing that these feelings change over time. Artificial empathy, it turns out, comes at a cost. – Psyche
- Attention Spans Are A Design Problem
The same teenager who supposedly lacks attention span can maintain game focus for hours while parsing a complex narrative across multiple storylines, coordinating with teammates, adapting strategy in real time. That’s not inferior cognition. It’s different cognition. And the difference isn’t the screen. It’s the environment. – Aeon
- An Evolving Notion Of Literacy That Explains Everything
Literacy literally restructured our consciousness, and the demise of literate culture—the decline of reading and the rise of social media—is again transforming what it feels like to be a thinking, living person. – Derek Thompson
- The Anatomy Of (Enduring) Class Struggle
Despite years of Eat-the-Rich–type discourse, we seem to struggle with how money and power operate without falling into either conspiratorial exaggeration (the fantasy of Satan-worshipping elites ritualistically drinking baby blood is centuries old) or fawning admiration for the taste and sophistication of the rich and famous. – The American Scholar
