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- The Odyssey wins the week
This Week’s Highlights:
The most valuable cultural property of the week was the one nobody owns. Homer’s Odyssey — free, public domain, 2,800 years old — became the highest-grossing R-rated film in history (Washington Post), drew Emily Wilson back for a from-scratch retranslation of a version most people already considered definitive (AP), and turned up on a Kyiv stage performed by professional actors alongside active-duty soldiers, working out what homecoming means while the war is still on (AP).
Britain barred a £71 million Rembrandt from leaving the country (The Art Newspaper). The State Department pulled a Kehinde Wiley portrait off its wall as ideologically unacceptable (The New York Times). Thieves carried 66 pieces of Bronze Age gold out of a Spanish museum in four minutes (The Guardian).
Underneath it, audiences keep turning up — three-quarters of Australians went to a live event last year (ArtsHub) — while the fight inside institutions is over who decides. Boston Symphony musicians called off the first strike threat in the orchestra’s 145 years in exchange for an enhanced hand in picking the next music director (WBUR); V&A staff voted 95% to walk out (BBC).
All this week’s stories below, organized by topic.
- Neil Barclay talks about preparing the next generation of C-Suite leaders in the arts
Neil Barclay, President & CEO of the Wright Museum, talks about the critical process of preparing the next generation of leaders for C-Suite roles.
- Homer Is Free. The Rembrandt Isn’t.
Good Morning,
Nobody owns the Odyssey, which is why it keeps working. Emily Wilson is retranslating it from scratch (AP), having decided her celebrated version has flaws worth fixing. In Kyiv, professional actors and active-duty soldiers are staging Homer as Odysseus, Maeotis, using the myth to ask what return means while the war is still on (AP).
The UK has blocked a $97 million Rembrandt from leaving the country (The Art Newspaper). Mexico appears to be forfeiting a long argument over who gets access to Frida Kahlo (The New York Times). And the State Department pulled a Kehinde Wiley painting off the wall because a White House official found it “aesthetically terrifying” (The New York Times) — Yup. The bureaucrats are flexing their muscles.
Authorship is getting the same treatment. The defense of an AI-assisted op-ed in the Wall Street Journal was essentially that speechwriters have done this for years (The Atlantic), while non-star actors say they’re being talked into training their own synthetic voice replacements (Los Angeles Times).
Two European museum heists in two days: Bronze Age gold in Villena, Spain, gone in four minutes (The Guardian). And the Vienna crew who took a 673-diamond necklace at least bought tickets first (AFP).
All of our stories below.
- “Aura Farming” Has Become Young Latin Americans’ New Favorite Dance Sport
“The contests appear to be designed for virality, with young competitors often demonstrating exaggerated versions of popular TikTok dance moves for the audience. Outrageousness seems to be the point of these battles, which have no apparent criteria, judges, or rules. Instead, contestants compete for crowd reaction and are rewarded with attention.” – CNN (MSN)
- The Very Definition Of Kitsch
In one moment, you see children playing on the grass, and you are genuinely moved. In the second moment, you see the children playing, and you think how nice it would be to be moved. The latter is the substance of kitsch. – 3 Quarks Daily
- A Ukrainian “Odyssey” — Kyiv Theater Reimagines Homer Amid Today’s War
The play, titled Odysseus, Maeotis (an ancient name for the Sea of Azov), is performed by a mix of professional actors and active-duty soldiers. Says serviceman Daniil Mireshkin, who plays Odysseus. “This combination of myth and modernity allows us to … understand just how critical the question of return is.” – AP
- Group Chats: Our Own Little Neighborhoods
In one chat that I share with literary friends, we sometimes joke that after we’re all dead, if historians try to unearth our correspondence, they will find only this sprawling, years-long museum of absurdities. – The New Yorker
- Worries Over The Unrealities Of Social Media Echo Ancient Greek Fears Over Theatre
As research, including my own, into this breadth of ancient media production has developed over time, one theme has emerged again and again: as theatrical performance grew into a cultural staple, it was accompanied by the fear that just as art imitates life, so art could overcome reality itself. – The Conversation
- Lessons From The Edinburgh Fringe: How To Manage Controversy
At a time when mainstream media coverage of festivals such as Edinburgh has shrunk significantly, her debut inevitably pulled headlines towards the infamy of one performer and risked becoming the token fringe story – the celebrity whom everybody outside the festival bubble recognises. – The Stage
- “Terrifying Sleepwalking, Memory Loss” — “Reading Rainbow” Host Mychal Threets Really Wasn’t Okay
The beloved librarian and host of the kids’ TV show reboot, Threets made news earlier this week when he said on social media “I am not okay” and checked into a psychiatric hospital. Now he has revealed some details of how he’s been suffering and what his diagnoses are. – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- Hollywood Battles Over AI Voice Clones
Big, established names are using it to make more money. Non-stars say the number of jobs has plummeted and that they are being tricked into training their replacements. – Los Angeles Times (MSN)
- “Aesthetically Terrifying”? What US State Department’s Removal Of A Painting Is Really About
“It was very woke,” Dan Scavino explained. “It was by the gentleman who did Obama’s portrait. And it was aesthetically terrifying.” Strong words for a group portrait of four fully dressed, largely expressionless sitters in front of a background adorned with flowers. – The New York Times
- A Fight Over Frida Kahlo And Access
The fight about these priceless works — where they should remain and who can have access to them — is really a battle over cultural patrimony and national sovereignty, and it’s one the Mexican government seems to have forfeited. – The New York Times
- Soprano Anny Schlemm, Who Went From Operetta And Mozart To Wagner And Strauss, Has Died At 97
“One of the most distinctive features of Schlemm’s career” — which ran from the 1940s to the 1990s — “was the evolution of her voice and repertoire. Having begun with lyric soprano roles, she gradually moved into dramatic soprano and mezzo-soprano territory, while becoming particularly admired for her abilities as a singing actress.” – Moto Perpetuo
- Heist Of Spanish Museum’s Bronze Age Gold Took Four Minutes
The raid on Thursday morning of the 66 mostly gold objects in the Spanish town of Villena lasted just minutes, officials said. – The Guardian
- A Turning Point In The Battles Over AI Writing
“Many contributors, especially prominent politicians or CEOs, employ speechwriters or hire a Beltway writing shop,” he wrote. “How different is that from using AI to streamline an essay?” – The Atlantic
- Why Andy Warhol Couldn’t Get Dolly Right
Parton’s astuteness may have extended to art, if it’s true she was disappointed by her Warhol portrait. – The New York Times
- After All This, Emily Wilson Is Retranslating The Odyssey From Scratch
“She says her translation methods have become more sophisticated and that enough time has passed for her to see some flaws in her work. … The new edition will be longer, she says, and will better reflect the differing social worlds of Homer’s poem.” – AP
- Today In European Museum Robberies: 200-Carat Diamond Necklace Stolen In Vienna
The platinum necklace with 673 diamonds, originally made for Egypt’s royal family and reportedly worth more than $4 million, was taken in a smash-and-grab at Vienna’s Museum of Applied Arts. But at least the thieves paid for their tickets. – AFP (Yahoo!)
- CEO Of Sydney’s Huge New Museum Resigns Just Ten Weeks Before Opening Day
“In what came as a bolt from the blue to many, Powerhouse Parramatta staff were told on Thursday afternoon that chief executive Lisa Havilah would stand aside while an investigation (by the New South Wales state government) into governance and procurement practices at the museum is completed.” – Limelight (Australia)
- Political Issues Got Messy At The Cannes And Berlin Film Festivals. Will The Same Thing Happen At Venice?
Well, the foundation running the film festival is the same one that runs the art Biennale, and look what happened there … – Variety
- San Francisco Opera Orchestra Threatens To Strike On Opening Night
“We are writing to let you know,” said AFM Local 6 in a statement, “that the musicians of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra will not be able to perform on Opening Night, September 12, unless management has reached a fair contract with us before then.” – San Francisco Chronicle (Yahoo!)
- $97 Million Rembrandt Temporarily Blocked From Leaving UK
“Portrait of Catrina Hooghsaet (1657) is ‘one of the artist’s most exceptional later works’ says the government. The painting, which (is valued at £71 million and) has been in the UK since the mid-18th century, was sold at Christie’s in a private sale last year.” – The Art Newspaper
- Judge To Kennedy Center Board: Why Did You Vote To Put Trump’s Name On The Building Right After I Ordered You Not To?
“A judge on Thursday expressed skepticism about the Kennedy Center’s intention to return President Donald Trump’s name to the historic performing arts venue by early next month, challenging the board’s insistence on moving forward even in the face of a court ruling that blocked and reversed a previous effort.” – AP
- The Rise And Fall Of Columbia House And Its Odd Business Model (Eight Records For A Penny!)
“It was an innovation with a carrot and a stick for the artists who benefited from the extra exposure. … But the offering also came with a carrot for consumers … and the corresponding stick was particularly ugly.” – Tedium
- Study: To Get Employees to Use a Benefit, Make Signing Up a Little Harder
In some cases, you need to make it (ever-so-slightly) harder for people to sign up for the program to help them feel like it’s worth the effort, suggests research forthcoming in Management Science. – Harvard Business Review
- Where’s The Evidence That Colleges Are Committed To Teaching Writing?
AI has both clarified what we should be doing when we teach writing and made it much harder to teach writing than in the days prior to the technology’s existence. – InsideHigherEd
- Dudamel Says Goodbye With Four-Night Hollywood Bowl Extravaganza
In many ways, YOLA was the glory of the “¡Bienvenido Gustavo!” Bowl program 17 years ago, and it proved even more so for the goodbye Gustavo, or more accurately “hasta pronto,” see you soon. – Los Angeles Times
- What It’s Like To Go Through One Of Burning Man’s Dust Storms
“The next big gust tore the tarp from our shade structure. I scrambled to secure the flapping tent walls, using water jugs and costume bags as weight. Above the screaming wind, I heard poles clanging as neighboring camps were blown to smithereens. Then, in a lull, I heard a faint voice. ‘Help!’” – The Guardian
- Raygun, The World’s Most Infamous Breakdancer, Is Ready To Talk (After Plenty Of Therapy)
Rachael Gunn, the middle-aged Australian breaker who went viral worldwide after coming dead last in the 2024 Olympics: “It’s part of society now, if you end up online, people are going to rubbish you, but maybe we need to reframe it as a badge of honor that you’ve actually done something interesting.” – CNN (MSN)
- Artistic Excellence Is No Guarantee Of Stable Orchestras
Cultural significance and institutional stability are not the same. Even the most renowned orchestras depend on funding, infrastructure, audiences and collective bargaining agreements. When they lose elements of this institutional backbone, it can imperil even the strongest orchestra. – Washington Post (MSN)
- Numbers: The Percentage Of Australians Who Engage In Culture
The figures are growing. Live performance attendance has increased by 1.2 million since 2022, to the highest figures ever. Around three quarters of those surveyed had attended a live performance or festival in 2025. – ArtsHub
- State Department’s Removal Of Painting Is Another Attack On Artists
By choosing Kehinde Wiley as the opening act in what may be a systematic effort to deaccession art from official government collections, the administration has chosen an artist whose work has become formulaic and clichéd, who has made comments that can easily be parodied as reverse racism. – Washington Post (MSN)
- Invoking Dolly Parton, Federal Judge Overturns Texas Law Banning Drag Shows
The law, Texas Senate Bill 12, would fine business owners up to $10,000 for hosting “sexually oriented performances”; performers would face up to a year in prison. The judge reaffirmed his ruling from three years ago that the law was an overly vague infringement on free speech. – The Texas Tribune
- “Odyssey” Earns Highest Box Office Of Any R-Rated Movie Ever
“The Odyssey,” an adaptation of Homer’s epic poem from Christopher Nolan, has surpassed “Deadpool & Wolverine” to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. – Washington Post