For years, this kingdom’s Islamic clerics waged a war on videogames, banning popular titles such as “Pokémon” for promoting blasphemy, violence and laziness. Now, Saudi Arabia is pouring $40 billion into a bid to become a world leader in a videogame industry beloved by its booming youth population. - The Wall Street Journal
"The Summer We Crossed Europe in the Rain: Lyrics for Stacey Kent will be published on 7 March 2024 by Faber, featuring 16 sets of lyrics alongside specially commissioned illustrations by Italian artist Bianca Bagnarelli and an introduction by Ishiguro." - The Guardian
"Allegations of sexual misconduct against David Adjaye ... sent shockwaves through the profession and led clients to cancel a string of projects. Now, his practice is making redundancies while former employees allege that a toxic culture permeated what was once one of the world's most revered architecture studios." - Architects' Journal
"TikTok has been fined €345 million — about $367 million — by (Ireland's Data Protection Commission), which ruled the app violated the EU's data-privacy laws with respect to processing information on children users." - Variety
"The artworks were all previously owned by Fritz Grünbaum, a cabaret performer and songwriter who died at the Dachau concentration camp in 1941. (They were) seized Wednesday from the Art Institute of Chicago, the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh and the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio." - AP
"A lot of what drove the programming decisions was where there was that emotional hook," said artistic director Bill Rauch. "What does it mean to do X, Y or Z at the World Trade Center? You walk by that North Memorial Pool on your way in and out. It's right there." - MSN (The Washington Post)
Mena Mark Hanna, who became the festival's general director in 2021, has replaced longtime chief conductor John Kennedy with a new music director, Timothy Myers of Austin Opera. Kennedy said the decision "was no surprise," but the absence of a "caring, respectful transition plan" was disappointing. - The Post and Courier (Charleston)
That's what French authorities are investigating. The two medallions were taken from the Paris cathedral during its last renovation, in 1862, and were sold to an unnamed buyer in 2015, 153 years later. The auction house says it did nothing illegal or improper. - MSN (AFP)
For nearly a dozen years, the adult ticket has been $25. But the museum has since dramatically expanded its footprint in Midtown Manhattan, adding 47,000 square feet of gallery space in 2019 at a cost of $450 million. - The New York Times
Wemding’s citizens are assembling at a rate of one six-by-four-foot block every decade. There are 116 more to add before the “Time Pyramid” will be complete, when it will stand 24 feet tall. That won’t be until 3183 A.D. - The New York Times
“We designed the telescope to wow the scientists,” Mike Menzel agreed. Now, he said, “We’re here in an art show, watching some images that we helped produce becoming things that are almost iconic.” - The New Yorker
Historians have an increasingly strong incentive to tell dramatic stories which gain attention and make ‘impact’. But anyone in the business of reporting on reality - scholars, scientists, journalists - ought to be suspicious of narrative, even if they use it. - Ian Leslie
Every note, every rhythm, every dynamic, every timbre, every expression, every slur: you must imagine it all to perfection in your inner ear. That is the job of a composer.” - The Guardian
Queer historian Hugh Ryan describes the scene in Manhattan's then-cheap East Village, which started in the early 1980s as scrappy do-it-yourself performance art, was almost wiped out by AIDS, and was reborn in the '90s as persona-driven comedy and cabaret — all in dingy rock-n-roll dives. - Curbed
In one, the estate accused its former gallery and an insurance company of having damaged artworks, some beyond repair. In the other, the estate was sued by a production company who claimed that a tense back-and-forth with Baldessari’s descendants ultimately led to the cancelation of a Gagosian gallery show. - ARTnews
