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Is Lithuania The New Capital Of Performance Art?

“We have a history of performance art going back to the 1970s. These were often illegal actions in public spaces only seen by maybe ten friends, but they documented them.” Once the Soviet yoke was lifted, an explosion of creativity followed, giving rise to a dynamic and experimental art scene. - The Art Newspaper

The Trailblazer: 17 Female TV Journalists On Barbara Walters

Jane Pauley: "From the beginning, and every decade thereafter, we were following her. No one ever caught up. She had contenders, but she never really surrendered the title of the No. 1 among us." Connie Chung: "She earned the right to be a diva." - New York Magazine

Your Backstory Might Be Wrong. That’s A Problem

The evolutionary history of our species negates and overturns all previous cosmologies. Ever since Darwin, it seems most fiction writers have pretended not to notice and continue to cater to false backstories. - 3 Quarks Daily

Andy Warhol Gets A Lot Of Blame For Today’s Celebrity Culture. Does He Deserve It?

"Warhol, the original narcissist; Warhol, the genius; Warhol, the void. He is responsible for the TikTok dancers, the Instagram models hogging the infinity pools, the needy comedians, the intense desire for recognition we are confronted with daily. It's an awful lot for one notoriously frail man to carry." - The Guardian

Wheelchair Dance Company Hits The Road

“A lot of the time when I’m working, I come up against a lot of imposed judgements of ‘you’re a wheelchair-user so you can only do this’. And I think having a cast that is all wheelchair users is going to be a big statement.” - The Guardian

Those People In Times Square Passing Out Flyers For Shows? They’re A Key Part Of Broadway Marketing

"For the general public, street teams are often the first touchpoint to a theater production. ... They serve as extensions of a show's brand, contribute to the general Broadway education for potential theatergoers and provide feedback to producers and marketers about what they're hearing on the ground from target audiences." - Broadway News

After The Success Of This HBO Series, Transmedia Will Never Be The Same

 There are currently upwards of 60 game-based productions in development, from a new Super Mario Bros. movie to a God of War adaptation for Amazon, and analyst firms like Newzoo are already reporting that game IP is climbing in value “as transmedia becomes more relevant.” - Wired

Phyllida Barlow, Who Subverted Sculpture’s Monumentality And Durability, Is Dead At 78

"For more than 50 years, Barlow created 'nonmonumental' sculptures that prioritized absurdity over grandeur. Functional materials like cardboard, nuts and bolts, fabric, and plywood were stacked, stitched, and stretched into imposing forms and painted in vibrant colors. … Sometimes, they tipped dangerously to the side." - ARTnews

AI Voices Are Starting To Take Over Reading Audiobooks

Tech companies including Apple and Google have been working on AI audiobook narration for a while now. In 2022, Google rolled out its services to publishers in six countries, including the US and Canada. Google's AI narrators have names like Archie, who sounds British, and Santiago, who speaks Spanish. - CNET

There’s No One Left At The BBC With Enough Power To Fight For Classical Music

Paul Hughes, former director of the BBCSO and the BBC Singers: "The BBC's timing is as calculated as its strategy is callous: ensembles struggling to recover from the pandemic, exhausted from keeping the show on the road throughout, three of the ensembles without a director and all contractually gagged." - The Guardian

It’s About Time To Remember Bronislava Nijinska As More Than Vaslav Nijinsky’s Little Sister

'His mythic status as a dancer and revolutionary choreographer has overshadowed her much longer, more productive career. Nijinsky, whose artistic life was cut short by mental illness at 29, composed four ballets. … Nijinska made over 60. But only three of hers survive in full." - The New York Times

Why The Mysterious Book Manuscript Thief Did It

In court papers, former Simon & Schuster staffer Filippo Bernardini is quoted as saying, "I never leaked these manuscripts. I wanted to keep them closely to my chest and be one of the fewest to cherish them before anyone else, before they ended up in bookshops." - The Bookseller (UK)

Nobel-Winning Author Kenzaburo Oe Is Dead At 88

"Despite the outpouring of national pride over Oe's win, his principal literary themes evoke deep unease (in Japan). A boy of 10 when World War II ended, Oe came of age during the American occupation. - AP

How The FBI’s Art Crime Team Works

"Recently, two of the team's investigators … agreed to answer questions from The New York Times. They declined to comment on the Basquiat case, citing the ongoing investigation. But they discussed the origin and purpose of the Art Crime Team, and the public's increased interest in it. - The New York Times

Britain’s National Theatre To “Reduce Activity” For The Next Four Years

"The National Theatre is cutting productions due to money troubles. … Accounts show the theatre's income for the year to March 2022 was £80.8 million, down from £100m pre-COVID. Audience levels were down by 20%, while the theatre only staged 464 performances, around half as many as normal." - London Evening Standard

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