Of course, there have been examples of such cultural globalisation going back as far as recorded civilisation. But the 21st-century generic cafes were remarkable in the specificity of their matching details, as well as the sense that each had emerged organically from its location. - The Guardian
On a scale of 1 to 100, all fell between 37 and 43, and most in a bulge between 39 and 42 (see chart 1). The highest-rated? Despite the supposed allure (at least among Anglophones) of French and Italian, it was Tok Pisin, an English creole spoken in Papua New Guinea. The lowest? Chechen. - The Economist
"When we talk about exclamation points, people often think we’re talking about tone. But what goes unsaid is that tone is the performance of niceness or seriousness. It is the work of matching sentence structure to gender norms, industry norms, workplace norms, and generational norms." - Culture Study
The majority of the country has now signed up to a standardized and rigid curriculum that treats overworked teachers as untrustworthy slackers who need to be disciplined by measuring their output through standard lessons and evaluations. - Medium
Both, evidently. Some longtime standups are saying it's worse than it used to be; others say it's happened for the entire history of the profession. What consequences can be suffered for getting caught joke-thieving when jokes can't usually be copyrighted? - The Hollywood Reporter
The decision raises questions about the financial health and sustainability of small to medium arts organisations, the assessment models for federal funding and the long-term effect on the ecology of Queensland arts. - ArtsHub
In Brett Fukuda's Muse Paradox, there is no Apollo. "I have three men, but their role is abstract. I wanted to analyze my experience as a woman in ballet through the lens of the muse. On one hand you’re glorified, and on the other, there are all these constraints." - Pointe Magazine
The perils associated with AI are not abstract doom scenarios but are very real. They are intricately entwined with issues that impact all areas of life, including racial capitalism, labor exploitation, the automation debate, and data theft. - Hyperallergic
"Rather than emphasizing trophies and celebrity faculty," Joe Lanteri and his New York City Dance Alliance have "prioritized longer-term investments in young dancers, preparing them for and often connecting them to professional opportunities." Some participants remain with him and his organization for years afterward. - The New York Times
It’s not all doom and gloom. Many of our larger arts festivals are achieving record turnouts and box office highs, as ArtsHub discovered while surveying recent sales figures of a few prominent players. - ArtsHub
Supporters of the Law and Justice party, which lost the recent elections and had thoroughly politicized state media while in power, have stormed and occupied TV Poland's news building, forcing the news staff to squeeze into space (including bathrooms) in the network's entertainment building and go under police protection. - BBC
"The director and producer of a banned Malaysian film that explores the afterlife were charged Wednesday with offending the religious feelings of others in a rare criminal prosecution of filmmakers, slammed by critics as an attack on freedom of expression." - AP
"Members of the Musicians’ Union and Equity will walk out on February 1. … Members of both unions have voted in favour of strikes after they accused the ENO management of planning to make chorus, orchestra and music staff redundant and re-employ them for only six months a year." - The Independent (UK)
Picasso's Tête (Head) and Chagall's L’homme en prière (Man at Prayer), whose estimated worth totals $900,000, were stolen from a Tel Aviv collector in 2010. They were discovered in Antwerp after police were tipped off that someone in Belgium was offering them for sale. - CNN
The 75-year-old co-owner of the gallery Sikkema Jenkins & Co., which represents Kara Walker, Vik Muniz, and Jeffrey Gibson, among others, Sikkema was found dead in an apartment he owned in Rio de Janeiro with multiple stab wounds to his body. - Artnet
