Known informally as the Art Alliance building, the mansion on Rittenhouse Square was one of the University of the Arts properties auctioned off last year following the school’s bankruptcy; Curtis finalized its purchase in January. A pre-dawn fire blazed throughout the three-story building, the extent of damage is still unclear. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
The enormous cloth, which depicts the Norman Conquest of England, has spent almost all of its existence in France. Next year it will be the centerpiece of a blockbuster exhibition at the British Museum in London. In exchange, the UK will lend to France Anglo-Saxon treasures from the Sutton Hoo ship burial. - AP
The founder, director, and low bass of the much-admired vocal sextet is already principal guest conductor of the BBC Singers, Britain’s only full-time professional choir. He succeeds current chief conductor Sofi Jeannin, whose term ends next summer. - BBC Music Magazine
The Wall of Shame is a 50ft-long, 10ft-tall outdoor mural featuring the pardoned Trump supporters, colour-coded to distinguish their actions: violent rioters appear in red, those who damaged property are shown in blue, and the remaining individuals are depicted in white. The combined effect resembles a Star and Stripes that has imploded. - The Guardian
“Some 14,000 state-run schools in Kerala have been asked to organise daily Zumba sessions as part of an anti-drug campaign launched by the government last month. The decision has been bitterly opposed by some Hindu and Muslim organisations in the state, who say the dance is a form of ‘cultural invasion’.” - BBC
“According to Netflix, more than 50% of its members — amounting to over 150 million households, or an estimated 300 million viewers — now watch anime. The company says anime viewership on the platform has tripled over the past five years, with 2024 marking a record-breaking year.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Wagner expected his works to be translated into French when they were performed in France. Yet for purists, the idea of singing a famous Italian aria in what many considered the ugly (for singing) English language was an anathema. - Nightingale Sonata
What seems rather dangerous about Hollywood’s interest in generative AI isn’t the “death” of the larger studio system, but rather this technology’s potential to make it easier for studios to work with fewer actual people. That’s literally one of Asteria’s big selling points. - The Verge
Time in school is very structured around when you can do what. It instills the idea that kids have to memorize what the teacher is saying. This is opposed to a system that could be designed around the promotion of critical thinking, around promoting debate, around a much more student-centered approach to education. - Asterisk Magazine
“Operagoers have been warned they will be banned from entering Milan’s prestigious La Scala theatre if they turn up wearing shorts, tank tops or flip-flops. Kimonos, however, are acceptable.” - The Guardian
The museum featured more than 200 works that had been censored for political, social or religious reasons. Some pieces depicted controversial figures, including dictator Francisco Franco inside a fridge, Spain’s former king Juan Carlos I in a sexual scene with a Bolivian activist, and Saddam Hussein tied up and floating in a glass tank. - Artdependence
Across the world and throughout time, structures have been deliberately erased and later resurrected as replicas – often as a nod to new (or resurgent) political and ideological undercurrents. - Aeon
For the first time since Putin ordered Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the famously pro-Putin conductor is performing in Western Europe, on July 27 at a festival near Naples. This festival is supported by regional taxpayers and the EU, so loud objections to Gergiev’s engagement are being raised. - Moto Perpetuo
Richard Thompson, who joined the playhouse in January 2023, has been a mainstay of Twin Cities theater for decades, including directing shows at the Children’s Theatre Company and Penumbra Theatre. - The Star-Tribune (MSN)
