"A string of ministers have been tainted by claims of favouritism, corruption and elitist practices when it comes to funds. … We asked some arts policy researchers to tell us who (new minister Gayton) McKenzie is and what he should do to fix the department and grow the cultural industries." - The Conversation
Reasoning that he should not be held morally responsible for deaths from a drug (OxyContin) that his company (Purdue Pharma) brought to market years after he died, the Harvard Corporation decided not to rename the Sackler Art Museum and the Arthur M. Sackler Building. - AP
The Washington Post's art critic has been thinking about John Quidor’s 1849 painting The Return of Rip Van Winkle and about a certain Rip van Winkle Motel in Virginia. So he decided to ask AI about van Winkle's 20-year hotel stay — and even to create new paintings. - The Washington Post (MSN)
Well: "Already we know that the capital’s museums have seen massive attendance declines; now there is talk of a state fund for financial assistance to cultural institution.” - Slate
“Adelaide festival management confirmed on Friday it will post a deficit, just a week after the unexpected departure of its artistic director.” The good part? They say the loss was due to free events - and the festival has enough in reserves to make it up. - The Guardian (UK)
And Paris isn’t trying to hide it. “'I haven’t seen anything quite like this,’ says Jules Boykoff, a professor and former professional soccer player who studies the impact of the Olympics on marginalized communities. ’Typically, hostile architecture is more subtle.’” - Wired
Collective action is the key: “A rural community may not necessarily receive the art it deserves, but it certainly gets the art it is collectively willing to work for. The majority of any given rural community must demonstrate a willingness to work towards arts vibrancy.” - SMU DataArts
This week, Martina Šimkovičová — who only just moved from across the border in Austria into Slovakia though she's been minister since last October — abruptly dismissed the directors of the Slovak National Theatre and Slovak National Gallery. She reportedly plans to sack others who protested these firings. - The Slovak Spectator
"Several locations across the capital, (Dhaka,) including Bangabandhu Memorial Museum and the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre, were set on fire as part of a wider uprising against prime minister Sheikh Hasina, who has been forced to resign after 15 years in power and has fled to India." - Artnet
Artists are “constantly engaging with these ideas around family, community and relationships, so I think that we look to artists, not necessarily on how to rebuild society, but to tell us what’s wrong with it. Where does it hurt?” - The Guardian (UK)
The Eisteddfod, Wales’ week-long “language cultural festival includes competitions in music, dance and literature. … No member of the Gorsedd has been expelled before due to being dishonoured,” but Huw Edwards’ admission of having child pornography did it. - BBC
"Blackbird’s new checkless exit gives me the creeps. It's just the latest in a series of changes that have gradually and steadily stripped the human touch and human voice out of restaurants. Each of these changes was small, but together they’ve made going out to eat much less personal." - The New York Times
Mariko Silver, currently head of the Henry Luce Foundation, formerly president of Bennington College, and for several years an Obama administration official, will take up her new post in September. - AP
Even though revenues have grown by 2% since last year, operating profit declined by 3% — this just a year after Disney committed $60 billion to expanding its theme parks. Executives blamed higher operating costs and an unexpected drop in consumer demand. - Business Insider
Sasha Skochilenko, released in the multi-country, multi-person prisoner swap, was serving seven years for substituting price tags in a grocery store with messages like, “The Russian Army bombed an art school in Mariupol where about 400 people were seeking shelter.” - The Atlantic (MSN)
