Sophistication, one begins to think, is a thing won against the grain of privilege—a substitute for it, a social sleight of hand. A “classy” entertainer is almost never someone from the upper classes; sophisticated people are mostly smart people passing as rich people. - The New Yorker
What this administration cannot capture directly of the country's culture, it destroys with chaos, making life intolerable for people who persevere in the audacious belief that things like "the increase and diffusion of knowledge" actually matter. - Washington Post (Yahoo)
“The Eiffel Tower closed Monday due to strikes over outrage that female workers were allegedly ordered to leave and stay out of sight to comply with a special request from a traditional Hindu delegation that visited the monument over the weekend.” - ARTnews
A healthy cultural ecosystem needs not just the creation and presentation of art. It needs education, access, discovery, interpretation and criticism, documentation, advocacy, funding, participation, connection, preservation and audience development. - Culture OC
“Bunch's resignation comes at one of the most politically fraught moments in the Smithsonian's 180-year history. ... Trump has sought to purge what he calls ‘improper ideology’ from its museums, while his administration has threatened the institution's federal funding, tried to fire a museum director and challenged its authority over personnel and exhibitions.” - The Washington Post (Yahoo!)
In August, the Commission confirmed grants to all but two of the nearly 180 applicants its selection panel had approved. Those two are the Greenville Gay Men's Chorus and Spartanburg’s Proud Mary Theatre Company, which have been told to provide additional demonstration of their artistic merit beyond what was in their applications. - The Post and Courier (Charleston)
A Kennedy Center Spokesperson called the partial ceiling collapse Friday “another example of the urgent need to close for renovation and revitalization, as our Chairman President Trump has championed.” - AP
In Britain, “the head of the Society of Garden and Landscape Designers said many people working in his industry were nervous about AI. He said design companies were more likely to use AI as ‘the intern in the office’ than as a replacement for skilled staff.” - The Guardian (UK)
“He laid out five broad areas of concern: jobs, biotechnology, cyberattacks, psychosocial harms and whether humans will be able to maintain control over the systems they are building.” - Los Angeles Times (MSN)
Susan Sarandon certainly thinks so. “Sarandon said resistance to hiring outspoken critics of Israel remained particularly strong among major studios.” - The Guardian (UK)
Venice only has two films directed by women this year - and one of those directors says that “the enduring cult of male genius is keeping down female film-makers.” - The Guardian (UK)
Dubbing is important in Québec; “The characters spoke in regional Quebec accents, including joual, the colloquial dialect associated with working-class Montreal, while U.S. people and places were swapped out for local references.” - CBC
“If it were not so tragic for Mexican art, the story would make an excellent detective novel. All the characters and ingredients are there.” - Le Monde English
“It’s no longer strange to think that AI might be everywhere, edging out all forms of human interaction: bots talking to bots, all the way down.” This is … not great. - The Atlantic
The games, reflecting the political goals of the president, resemble gaming classics. Tetris is unhappy with "Build the Wall," a little too close to Tetris itself. Then there’s one like Snake, where gamers “patrol the Rio Grande and capture figures representing migrants.” - Salon
