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Study: Year Into Pandemic, Audience Values Arts More

65% of respondents said they preferred in-person to online cultural activities. Only 9% favored online experiences, while a more significant 26% is defined as “digitally agnostic,” either preferring the two about equally or opting to make decisions based on content. - Hyperallergic

When Newspapers Die, What Happens To Their Archives?

There's no established procedure, alas, so the fate of the archives depends on the particular location and owner. (We're looking at you, News Corp.) But there are some defunct newspapers whose archives have been saved, an excellent example being Denver's Rocky Mountain News. - Tedium

The First NFTs Of Ballet (You Knew This Was Coming)

Natalia Osipova of London's Royal Ballet is selling specially-filmed of three duets with fiancé Jason Kittelberger, who says they hope to fund a new dance company with the proceeds of the sales. - The Guardian

Yannick Nézet-Séguin To Take Four Weeks Off From Conducting

His sabbatical will run from Dec. 19 to Jan. 10; he has withdrawn from the Met's January revival of The Marriage of Figaro and the Philadelphia Orchestra's New Year's concerts. - The New York Times

Mosque Dating To Earliest Decades Of Islam Uncovered In Iraq

The mud structure in the southern province of Dhi Qar is small, roughly 26 feet by 16 feet and has been dated to 679 CE, less than 50 years after the prophet Muhammad's death. - Al Jazeera

Merriam-Webster’s Word Of The Year For 2021 Is Something People Have Been Fighting About

"Vaccine" was the choice because of repeated spikes in traffic: searches of the word this year are up 601% from 2020 and 1,048% over 2019. Also, because of the new mRNA vaccines, the word's definition was expanded. (The runner-up Word of the Year was "insurrection.") - CNN

Ticket Sales For England’s Christmas Pantos Are Lagging, And Theatres Are Getting Nervous

Sales are down by a third from 2019, and research indicates that many audience members remain wary of attending while COVID case numbers are high. As with Nutcracker for American ballet companies, English theatres depend on panto income to help finance the rest of their seasons. - BBC

Germany’s New Government Appoints A High-Profile Culture Minister

Claudia Roth, one of the Green Party's top leaders and vice president of the federal parliament, started her career as a theater worker and later managed a German rock band. The left-leaning three-party coalition now in charge plans to make culture a high priority. - Deutsche Welle

Art Basel Miami Returns – But Will Collectors?

As Art Basel returns to the Miami Beach Convention Center from Thursday through Saturday with 253 galleries from 36 countries and territories, it meets a pent-up demand — you could say that the supply chain for a certain kind of prestige fair has been unclogged. - The New York Times

Toronto’s 127-Year-Old Massey Hall Gets A Massive Update

The goal of restoring a building, preserving its character while also updating it to suit today's needs, was a monumental task done under the scrutiny of heritage departments and building inspectors, and many of Canada's top musicians and music historians. - CBC

Crowdfunders Raised $50 Million In Crypto To Buy A Copy Of The Constitution. Now, A Problem…

Returning that much money has been a tricky process, though. Backers have to manually request refunds, so even a week later, tens of millions of dollars are still sitting in ConstitutionDAO’s pockets. - The Verge

When Each Of Us Is Turning Into An Investment Opportunity

Parallel shifts in culture and technology are forging a new paradigm. The rules around how we create and capture economic value are being rewritten, opening up new roads to the kind of wealth creation previously limited to a select few. - The Atlantic

France Inducts Josephine Baker Into Its Pantheon

On Tuesday, a coffin carrying soils from the U.S., France and Monaco — places where Baker made her mark — will be deposited inside the domed Pantheon monument overlooking the Left Bank of Paris. Her body will stay in Monaco, at the request of her family. - Baltimore Sun

Ode To The Intimate Pleasures Of The Harpsichord

The piano is the instrument of expressive individualism; the harpsichord is the instrument of a vibrant, discursive life of the mind. It is the glorious vestige of an era when music was free from the impossible burdens that Romantics placed upon it. - First Things

Grappling With The Enormity Of Losing Sondheim

Sondheim deserves a spot on playwriting’s Mt. Rushmore, for his contribution to the theater is as significant from a literary as it is from a musical standpoint. - Los Angeles Times

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