ISSUES

Is Australia’s Funding For The Arts Being Dismantled?

‘Unfortunately the funding precarity is having very real impacts on employment of artists and arts workers. The stress and uncertainty are impacting the health and wellbeing of people in the sector.' - Artshub

Ai WeiWei: The Threat Of Censorship In An AI-Dominated World

As we enter the AI era, human collective thought patterns, ideological structures, and the very essence of individual existence and dignity are undeniably under threat. - ARTnews

Vandals Attack Outdoor Skating Rink At The Kennedy Center

An unidentified person poured a substance, likely some combination of motor oil and antifreeze, on a temporary ice rink built outside the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, damaging the surface and forcing a Friday performance by the Montreal-based Le Patin Libre to be canceled. - Washington Post

Has Hyper-specialization Harmed The Humanities?

Hyperspecialization has dominated the academy over the past decades. More and more, professors and outside observers note that academics silo research into increasingly minute areas. The consequences of this practice are deleterious. - Harvard Crimson

Disney Told The Creator Of A Fairly Anti-Fascist Series Not To Use The Word Fascism While Promoting The Show

“You get out your Fascism for Dummies book for the 15 things you do, and we tried to include as many of them as we could in the most artful way possible.” Then things in real life started to reflect, eerily, many things that happened on Andor. - Hollywood Reporter

At The BAFTAs, A Person In The Audience Yelled The N-Word At Michael B. Jordan And Delroy Lindo

“A spokesperson for the BBC attributed the language outbursts to an attendee with Tourette syndrome,” but the BBC apologized to viewers. Social media outrage is strong. - NBC

Trump Demands That Netflix Fire A Board Member After Her Warning That Corporations Shouldn’t Bow Down To Trump

Susan Rice, former United Nations Ambassador, said on a podcast this week that “corporations, media companies, law firms and universities that ‘take a knee’ to Trump should not expect Democrats to ‘forgive and forget.’” The current president did not appreciate that. - The Hill

Why Discord’s Age Verification Idea Isn’t Going According To Plan

Hackers discovered the Peter Thiel-backed verification software, Persona, "bundled in an interface that pairs facial recognition with financial reporting – and a parallel implementation that appears designed to serve federal agencies.” Discord swiftly decided to kick Persona to the curb. - The Rage

The Berlinale Has Been A Complex Mess Of Politics. Why?

“The Berlinale has gained a reputation as the most overtly political of the major festivals, not only for its programming choices, but for its history of engaging with global crises. ... Critics say that despite being vocal on other issues, the Berlinale has not spoken out about Gaza.” - NPR

AMC Started Playing An AI-Generated ‘Film’ Before Movies, But Had To Stop Almost Immediately

“Some called for boycotts. Some found it insulting that if pre-show screen time were being given to short films, AMC would feature AI-generated content rather than human-made movies. Almost all seemed to agree that the move was, as one disgruntled user put it, ‘hot garbage.’” - Fast Company

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...

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

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss