Hand-painted benjarong was a super-luxury product in the 18th and 19th centuries, and early 20th-century Buddhist temples were clad in benjarong shards. Yet the craft had died out by 1930 and would now be gone altogether, but for a group of artisans who revived it in the 1980s. - National Geographic
“You truly know exactly the kind of organization you’re funding through this model, as well as how big of an impact you actually make.” - Seattle Times
"While hardly a new genre, confessional theatre is unique in its focus on the true stories of its creators and its intimate insights into their personal lives. But why have we seen a wave of these theatre stories in recent years?" Writer Jo Pickup offers some explanations. - ArtsHub (Australia)
Emma Dunch was sacked by the orchestra's board in December, allegedly because of problems with her leadership style and relationships with funders. Court filings indicate that Dunch maintains she was terminated after initiating an investigation of sexual misconduct and bullying at the orchestra extending over two decades. - Limelight (Australia)
LACMA is telling us that movies toppled painting and sculpture to became last century’s “greatest art form”? Hollywood is no slouch in the grandiosity department, but even the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, LACMA’s new neighbor next door, knows better than to try to pull that one. - Los Angeles Times
The Ukrainian president has remained in Kiev, but for Umid Isabaev, the entertainer who looks like Zelensky (and played his body double on Servant of the People), Ukraine was not safe once the Russian military invaded. So two of Isabaev's colleagues (it's a small profession) intervened. - MSN (The Washington Post)
"Imagine if Zelensky's hit show had been not Servant of the People, but Fury Force 5 or something similarly over-the-top, and Zelensky's career had been more Arnold Schwarzenegger than Al Franken. Would his comment, 'I need ammunition, not a ride,' have had the same impact?" - Zócalo Public Square
"Intimacy work for screen and theater doesn't entirely translate to dance. In those fields, intimacy directors choreograph sexually charged scenes by setting the performers' moves in advance, but for existing dance works, the choreography mostly can't be altered, which limits their potential input." - The New York Times
The so-called Birds' Head Haggadah (ca. 1300) belonged to German parliament member Ludwig Marum, one of the earliest Jews to die in the Holocaust. His grandchildren (three of them survivors themselves) are suing the Israel Museum in Jerusalem, where the book has been since 1946, for restitution. - The Art Newspaper
The "paradox" is that Hispanics in the US tend to have less heart disease and longer lifespans than non-Hispanic whites despite having higher risk factors. One researcher suggests that particular features of the Spanish language such as the diminutive suffix are a key element of the phenomenon. - The Conversation
"Ballet dancers may be the 'athletes of God,' as Albert Einstein supposedly said. But until Dr. Hamilton came along" as New York City Ballet's resident orthopedic surgeon, "they were treated more like ethereal beings than physical bodies that could crack, tear and otherwise fall apart." - The New York Times
"The news giant was initially planning to invest around $1 billion in the service, CNN+, over the next four years. Hundreds of millions of dollars are expected to be cut from that original investment total." - Axios
The list usually includes what the LOC calls "sounds of history," and this year, those selections include the complete presidential speeches of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and WSB-Atlanta's coverage of Hank Aaron's 715th home run, vividly called by legendary sportscaster Milo Hamilton. - NPR
“It is recognition, at government level, of the important role of the arts in Irish society. It also places a value on the time spent developing a creative practice and producing art,” reads a press release for the initiative. - Hyperallergic
