Da Rocha was one of Brazil's most well-known architects, despite being blacklisted by a brutal military regime for 20 years. "'Concrete acrobatics' is how many architecture writers described his work. He called concrete, his material of choice, 'liquid stone.'" - The New York Times
Ali Smith won for her Summer, the concluding novel in her seasonal quartet - and one that encompasses Brexit, Australian wildfires, COVID-19, and the murder of George Floyd. She cited Orwell’s combination of political writing and art as an inspiration. "The place where these two things meet can’t not be a place of humane – and inhumane – revelation."...
Arles is famous for Van Gogh and for its Roman ruins. Now there's a new show in town: Luma. "The center doesn’t fit neatly into given ideas about museums, art collections or cultural hubs. ... Luma doesn’t have a predictable program of exhibitions, artist residencies or performance pieces." But it does have a Frank Gehry building, and a lot...
And the virus killed two of the three "marimba healers" of Los Angeles, men who restored the old, cracked, broken marimbas of the area's Guatemalan community. And "in addition to taking a devastating toll on the Central American community, the pandemic shut down indoor dining at Guatemalan restaurants where marimbistas would ply their trade." Now, with vaccines, things are starting to...
At least, the Black choreographers and dancers do - following the lead of dancer Erick Lewis, who posted a massively viral video saying, "This app would be nothing without Black people." And yes, the loosely organized "strike" is having a pretty big impact on TikTok's numbers. - Washington Post
Of course they didn't, even if some of them believed their work deserved that rating. "It’s easy to forget that for most of them at the time, their work was a risk – to create art in the way they felt was right, they needed to make personal and financial sacrifices." - The Guardian (UK)
Director Quentin Lee: "Creating queer Asian content is hard because you're really hitting on two major issues of America that are challenging." But he and director Fawzia Mirza are two of many trying to change the (truly terrible) numbers. - NBC News
The world of brick-and-mortar stores would look very different without Altuna, who "designed the prototypes for a certain kind of store, one that infused shoppers with a sense of — there's no other way to put this — bourgeoise well-being." - NPR
Great, 58,000 people and only 28 positives - but at the time of the test events, "virus levels were low and testing before and after events was also low, making conclusions difficult." - BBC
Wines was an actress and director who was enrolled as a child in acting lessons to help her overcome shyness. She "brought consummate artistry to dozens of productions at the Arena Stage and Olney Theatre Center." - Washington Post
In Canada, she brought Baroque music played on period instruments into the modern era. "Under her guidance — and with her often leading from the first-violin chair — the group developed an international reputation, performing all over the world in major concert halls, at universities, in churches, even in pubs" — not to mention the recordings. - The New...
Rome was hardly white, whether in architecture or demographics. But historically, Europeans and white Americans - and especially Mussolini and his followers - have thought, and represented in art, otherwise. Why it matters today: "Cultural practitioners have an unprecedented chance to help the wider public engage with an idea of Rome that’s more diverse, realistic and interesting than the...
