Germany’s smaller opera houses allow up-and-coming artists to hone their craft, giving onstage experience to generations of performers. Smaller houses also allow audiences to get to know a much larger repertoire than what’s usually programmed at leading institutions. - The New York Times
Before the fire, the museum contained over 20 million items, including unpublished documents from Empress Maria Leopoldina, ethnographic objects from Indigenous Brazilians, significant specimens of the country’s biodiversity, fossils and rare minerals. The blaze destroyed about 85 percent of the museum’s collection. - The New York Times
In creative fields such as design, writing and content, teams that paired AI with human input consistently outperformed those using either alone. "When the task requires creativity and the generation of novel ideas, human-AI collaboration tends to deliver the best outcomes," the study concludes. - Entrepreneur
“On Monday, the Italian government announced it will cut the country’s VAT on art sales from 22% — the highest in the European Union — to just 5% percent … now the lowest.” A recent study estimated that the reduction could see galleries, antique dealers, and auction houses in Italy generate €1.5 billion in three years. - ARTnews
More than 50% of exhibition executives polled in a new survey believe that the “traditional cinema experience” has less than 20 years remaining as a viable business model. - Variety
The brain continues to develop and mature into one’s mid-20s, but like a muscle it needs to be exercised, stimulated and challenged to grow stronger. Technology and especially AI can stunt this development by doing the mental work that builds the brain’s version of a computer cloud. - The Wall Street Journal
A court has determined that it was legal for Anthropic to train its AI tools on copyrighted works, arguing that the behavior is shielded by the “fair use” doctrine, which allows for unauthorized use of copyrighted materials under certain conditions. - Wired
They are memes generated by artificial intelligence and adored by Gen Alpha and the youngest of Gen Z — and if you’re older than that, they almost certainly baffle you. But that’s okay: Chimpanzini Bananini, Ballerina Cappuccina, Cappuccino Assassino (her boyfriend), and Shrimp Jesus were never intended to make sense. - The Guardian
The statues, from the city’s cathedral, became the city’s property in 1948 and were subsequently moved to Franco’s summer palace at his wife’s request. The dictator’s family held onto them after he died and claimed ownership, a claim the court has now voided. - ARTnews
“Jennifer Bielstein is leaving her role after seven years on the job, opening one of the top leadership positions in Bay Area theater as the industry continues to absorb pandemic aftershocks. … In Houston, she'll be managing director to another Bay Area expat — Artistic Director Rob Melrose.” - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)
“When Stephen Sondheim visited the Library of Congress in 1993, he saw something that stopped him in his tracks. Mark Horowitz, a senior music specialist, had prepared a selection of historical scores from its collection — including works by Brahms and Rachmaninoff — to show the acclaimed composer and lyricist.” - The Washington Post (MSN)
A military hero turned civilian leader, a rigid strongman, weaselly senators, demagoguery, class dynamics (not to mention an interfering mother) — these things are perennial issues in the news (and advice columns). So why don’t theatre companies present it as often as even Julius Caesar, let alone Macbeth or Hamlet? - The Guardian
The broadcaster has just launched the website BBC News Polska, for which a team of four native Polish speakers is curating material on global news from the English-language service, using AI machine translation to render that content into Polish, and reviewing the accuracy of the translation before posting. - Press Gazette (UK)
“Of the 48 titles selected to receive filming subsidies, only five are feature films, announced the California Film Commission on Monday. They account for roughly an even split of the $96 million in tax credits that the state is allocating this round.” - The Hollywood Reporter
Dutch National Baller director Ted Brandsen: “Just as you don’t (simply) replace a Rembrandt with a new painting, you don’t let such wonderful ballet heritage go to waste. The only way to preserve it is to keep performing it ... in a different context, away from the orientalist gaze of the nineteenth century.” - Gramilano (Milan)
