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Saleem Kidwai, Scholar Who Revealed India’s Queer Past To The World, Dead At 70

"By translating literature about same-sex love from 15 Indian languages composed over more than 2,000 years," the anthology he co-edited "challenged the modern homophobic idea that homosexuality was a foreign import. Homosexuality wasn't a foreign import. Homophobia was." - The Washington Post

The Happy, Sad Life Of Painter Bob Ross

The sad end of the Bob Ross story is just not as compelling as its joyful beginning and middle. - The New Republic

As It Gears Back Up, Here’s What American Theater May Have Learned During Its 18-Month Break

"The pride-in-resilience, show-must-go-on attitude has started, at last, to be paired with other questions: Whose show? Why must it go on? Last year's reckoning revealed the shoddiness of the American theater system: baked-in racism, pay scales that undershoot the cost of living, a rigid gerontocracy." - New York Magazine

Just How Paranoid Is LA MoCA? (A Lot!)

At the end of the day Wednesday, a museum email arrived in my inbox with the almost-but-not-quite-news — along with a certifiably crazy list of demands for how the story must be covered by the Los Angeles Times. - Los Angeles Times

Meet LA MoCA’s Next Director

Joanna Burton joined the Wexner in early 2019 after its longtime director, Sherri Geldin, retired. In May, she hired Kelly Kivland away from the Dia Art Foundation in New York to be the Wexner’s chief curator and director of exhibitions. - ARTnews

A New Resource We Didn’t Realize We Needed: The Black Film Archive

Maya Cade, by day the audience development strategist at The Criterion Collection, built up a full register, with synopses and links, of about 250 Black films dating from 1915 to 1979 that are available to stream — a body of work that's often forgotten today. - Vulture

Ballet Companies Try To Make This Year’s Nutcrackers COVID-Safe

"Some are imposing restrictions on performers and audience members under 12, who remain ineligible for vaccines. Others are trying to minimize contact between young artists and other dancers, by holding auditions over Zoom or equipping costumes with face masks." - The New York Times

A Gay History Exhibit Went Up At Missouri’s State Capitol. Then It Came Right Back Down.

"Making History: Kansas City and the Rise of Gay Rights" opened last weekend and was supposed to be there through Christmas. It lasted four days. The State Senate's only gay member is furious. - The Kansas City Star

As D.C. Changes Its Arts Funding Model, Things Are Getting Contentious

After last month's announcement that the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities is moving $5.3 million in grants from large, traditionally dominant institutions to smaller, often minority-focused ones, the big guys are starting to fight back. - Artnet

Oregon Shakespeare Festival Revamps Its Artistic Directorship

Three associate artistic directors, Scarlett Kim, Mei Ann Teo, and Evren Odcikin, join artistic director Nataki Garrett "to serve as a nonhierarchical team working to transcend traditional text-centric models and give priority, resources and space to theater artists across media and professions." - The Mail Tribune (Medford, Oregon)

Doctors In Brussels Are Prescribing Museum Visits To Treat Stress

A three-month trial at one of Belgium's largest hospitals involves selected mental health patients getting free visits — by prescription only! — to five of the capital's public art institutions." - Artnet

Helsinki’s Mayor Says It Should Declare Itself An English-Speaking City

Why? Because the powers-that-be want more foreign professionals and tech workers to settle there — and foreign professionals and tech workers don't want to learn the notoriously difficult Finnish language. - The Guardian

YouTube Music Surprises – Now Has 50 Million Subscribers

While global market leader Spotify still has a healthy lead — its most recent total paid subscribers was around 165 million, announced earlier this year — No. 2 Apple Music may feel YouTube nipping at its heels. - Variety

Fortnite Suspends Dance Moves In MLK Tribute Game After Racist Emotes

The March Through Time experience launched August 26, recreating the Lincoln Memorial and US National Mall where King delivered the speech, and incorporated informational exhibits and collaborative minigames for players. - Games Industry Biz

A Kids’ Battle Of The Books Program That Has Them Eager To Put Away Screens

Every year for the past six years Hepburn Penny has organized a Battle of the Books program that sees kids between the ages of eight and 18 ditch their video games and cellphones and commit to reading 10 books over the summer holidays. - CBC

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