"The Persian-language Twitter account 1500tasvir, which has been monitoring the state crackdown that has killed dozens, credited the red liquid in the fountains’ basins to an anonymous artist/activist, referring to it as a protest artwork whose title roughly translates to 'Tehran sinking in blood.'" - Washington Post
It all started with tours: "In the early 1800s, opera companies and their star singers traveled from Italy to perform across the country. 'It was like a parade, people would welcome them in the streets of Mexico City.'" Then radio hit. - NPR
Ilya Silchukou was the "lead soloist at the State Opera Bolshoi who represented his nation at official government functions at home and abroad and performed at opera houses across Europe." Now, after speaking out against Belorus' leader, he teaches middle-school music in Boston. - Seattle Times (AP)
Geffen Hall (previously known as Avery Fisher Hall) was an acoustic disaster from the jump. But while "the hall was no Carnegie or the Musikverein in Vienna ... the badness of the acoustics was often overstated. On a given night, a concert there could be terrific." - The New York Times
Or rather not ending, but continuation, as a U.S. company buys and intends to expand the company that hired actors and built elaborate sets for "immersive screenings" of everything from Star Wars to Stranger Things. - The Guardian (UK)
Lina Gónzalez-Granados was 5 "when she joined a 'tuna' — a musical group traditionally made up of college students who ... stand in a semi-circle wielding Spanish guitars of various sizes and shapes and singing ballads." That was her first lesson in the physical nature of music. - Los Angeles Times
For those visiting for Frieze, London offers the rewards of sculpture - even if the death of the queen scuppered a planned Sculpture Week. - The New York Times
His terrible treatment of his actors, including Amy Adams, on sets has been an open secret for quite some time. Yet he's faced no consequences, including for touching his niece's breasts - he claimed she was acting "very provocative and seductive." - Washington Post
"For some high-level players, even getting the advice of a machine for a move or two at a critical moment is all you’d need to win. Cheaters have been caught sneaking off to the bathroom to check moves on contraband smartphones." - Los Angeles Times
The issue of "Pretendians" is real in Canada (and the U.S.). Who decides? And why are so many academics, writers, and artists claiming First Nations heritage they don't actually have? - CBC
"Ariki Tepano, with the indigenous Ma'u Henua community that manages the park, said the fire had done 'irreparable' damage to the site. 'The moai are totally charred,'" he said. - NPR
"Poor on the outside and rich on the inside, and led by pioneers like Lynda Myles, Murray Grigor and many others, the Edinburgh film festival was feminist, unbridled, Nonconformist Scottish and passionately international. ... It changed film culture." - The Guardian (UK)
The range isn't the same, either for visuals or his music. "To this day, I still get letters from people going, 'There's 20 seconds of music missing in The Dark Knight,' and I'm going, 'No there is not any music missing. You're listening to it on your phone.'" - BBC
Philip Kennicott: "Authenticating work empowers scholars, and now scientists, and seems to be part of the gatekeeping apparatus that makes museums feel like zones of exclusion, or patriarchy." That's not why we love art. - Washington Post
