The review into the traditional music scene in Wales found traditional music sectors in England, Scotland and Ireland benefited from a "wide range of music industry support structures" that were "largely absent in Wales". - BBC
“Legislators have approved spending roughly $39 million for performances, exhibitions, operations and some building and expansion projects through multiple budget categories, but the money will be divided among far fewer organizations than in years past – if the money isn't vetoed by Gov. Ron DeSantis.” - Tallahassee Democrat
There are currently 129 full-time staff, and 29 of the 90 unionized staff will be affected. The cuts come after the VAG’s annual general meeting June 17, when it reported it had lost $2.85 million in operating revenue during the 2023-24 fiscal year, and was on pace to lose money in 2024-25. - Vancouver Sun
Design works best when it knows what it can achieve and what it can’t; the history of design is full of utopian projects that failed to make a difference. - The Atlantic
"There are a couple of parishes in Louisiana that have nothing, not even any kind of newspapers. They're empty completely. And it's just like a food desert in an urban area where people can't get fresh fruit — with us, they can't get the news." - CBS News
“The cutbacks to Create NSW were announced to staff on Monday, … (signaling) the end to a decade-long government-led building boom of new museums, galleries and theatres in NSW and … (a promise) to reinvest million-dollar savings into new frontline programs to fill auditoriums and halls already built.” - The Sydney Morning Herald
Why did humans spend 50,000 years (or more) in seemingly uneventful prehistory — with hunter-gatherers living the exact same way across thousands of generations — before starting on the trajectory that took us from cave paintings to (almost) self-driving cars in the comparative blink of an eye? - Big Think
“There is a kind of performative sheen or a performative element that is not about just the fact of quashing opposition wherever it might be found … but also demonstrating the facts of that quashing through the overt and open humiliation … of the persons involved.” - Hyperallergic
The ongoing health of this ecosystem depends on working artists’ ability to create art. When musicians can afford to pay rent, put food on the table, make music, and play shows, everyone benefits. When they can’t, the entire economy suffers. Venues close, artists abandon their craft, and Canada’s cultural fabric tears. - The Walrus
“In Kakuma in northern Kenya, where more than 300,000 refugees’ livelihoods have been affected by funding cuts that have halved monthly food rations, the children use the Acholi traditional dance as a distraction from hunger and have perfected a survival skill to skip lunches as they stretch their monthly food rations.” - AP
A.I. is a technology of averages: large language models are trained to spot patterns across vast tracts of data; the answers they produce tend toward consensus, both in the quality of the writing, which is often riddled with clichés and banalities, and in the calibre of the ideas. - The New Yorker
"There was a group of writers who were part of something called the New York Theatre Strategy; Sam Shepard and Lanford Wilson and Terrence McNally and Julia Bovasso and Irene Fornes, and they were all upset because no one would do their work Off-Broadway. So they said, “Will you co-produce with us?" - American Theatre
Chinese graphic artists are rapidly experiencing the impact of image generators on their day-to-day work: the technology enables copycats and profoundly shifts clients’ perception of their work, specifically in terms of how much that work costs and how much time it takes to produce. - The Verge
“In a landmark event for film lovers, the fully restored, uncut version of Ramesh Sippy's 1975 magnum opus Sholay will have its world premiere at Il Cinema Ritrovato Festival in Bologna, Italy, on Friday. This version includes the film's original ending — changed due to objection from the censors — and deleted scenes.” - BBC
“The Johannesburg City Library ... had been closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The city government claimed the building was undergoing urgent repairs, but ... many sensed a bigger problem. For nearly a decade, Johannesburg had been ruled by an unstable coalition of bickering political parties.” - The Christian Science Monitor
