“’Continued involvement in UNESCO is not in the national interest of the United States,’ State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement. (She) Bruce accused the organization of platforming ‘divisive social and cultural causes’.” The withdrawal is effective at the end of 2026. - ARTnews
The notorious banana-duct-taped-to-a-wall, titled Comedian, debuted in 2019 at Art Basel Miami Beach, where a visitor walked into the gallery and ate the fruit. That's happened three times since, most recently last week at the Pompidou-Metz. Cattelan's complaint is that the guy didn't eat the banana peel and duct tape. - France 24
The report notes that "programmes about the arts, international issues, religion and belief were not readily available, prominent or discoverable, particularly on the platforms operated by commercial public service broadcasters". - The Stage
Mikhail Fokine’s idea for a ballet on the Greek myth was summarily rejected at Russia's Imperial Ballet. Sergei Diaghilev, however, was happy to take the project at his new Ballets Russes, and he hired Leon Bakst to design sets and costumes and Maurice Ravel to compose the music. Then the problems began. - Bachtrack
“We’re in an uncertain fiscal environment for state governments overall, but it is encouraging to see that 29 states increased their funding for their arts agencies. Overall, we can say that state legislatures around the country are sustaining their investment in the arts.” - The Art Newspaper
UMG and Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square have an agreement that Pershing Square can request UMG to list in the U.S. if it sells at least $500 million in stock as part of the offering. - The Wall Street Journal
St. George’s Guildhall, located in the Norfolk town of King’s Lynn and dating from 1445, and the surrounding buildings and courtyards are to undergo a £30.5 million restoration and development. The venue’s original stage floor, on which Shakespeare is believed to have once performed, was uncovered earlier this year. - BBC (MSN)
The UK government should intervene to make public broadcaster (PSB) content easier to find on YouTube, the regulator has urged, as it gravely posits that “time is running out” to save the sector. - Deadline
Who knew that it was possible to talk in this educated but roughhouse way about Mozart, star sopranos, Herbert von Karajan? Or that the fate of the world—or at least the fate of pleasure—hangs on whether string players warm their tone with vibrato? For those to whom such things matter at all, they matter desperately. - The New Yorker
“I believe this kind of complicated financial settlement with a sitting government official has a technical name in legal circles—it’s big fat bribe,” he said. - The New Yorker
“A report by Ofcom warns that UK-focused programming made by the British public service broadcasters (PSBs) – the BBC, ITV and Channels 4 and 5 – is under threat and there is a ‘strong case’ for legislation to make sure it is easy to find on third-party platforms,” notably YouTube. - The Guardian
Our lifespans have expanded, but our health spans—the number of years we live with mental sharpness, physical independence, and emotional well-being—has not kept pace. If we don’t prepare now, the result won’t just be personal hardship. - Time
What made libraries so exciting? They were hardly novelties. Roman writers like Cicero and the two Plinies assembled rich collections of books in their city houses and country villas. - London Review of Books
Despite more advanced manufacturing and design technologies than have existed in human history, our built environment tends overwhelmingly toward the insubstantial, the flat, and the gray, punctuated here and there by the occasional childish squiggle. - n+1
