St. Mark’s In Venice Has New Glass Barriers To Protect It From Flooding

The big floodgates out in the lagoon aren't enough: the Piazza San Marco is the lowest point in the city.  What's more, the heavy...

When Did Being “Clever” Become A Bad Thing?

Is there really something wrong with being clever? Even if it can get on our nerves sometimes, its associations remain overwhelmingly positive: Cleverness is...

Alexa Now Helps Kids Create Stories

To create a new story, your child would begin by speaking, “Alexa, make a story,” and then following several prompts. The AI then generates...

A Prescription For Our Age: Long Poems?

Long poems really had been popular, with wide and diverse readerships, at various times in literary history. Is this a kind of reading that...

Berlin’s Massive New Museum Of The 20th Century Under Attack As “Climate Killer”

There has been growing criticism of its main construction material, concrete – one of the highest contributors to carbon dioxide emissions – and of...

Artwork Rescued Before The Bombing Of Kyiv Goes On Show In Spain

Titled “In the Eye of the Storm: Modernism in Ukraine, 1900–1930s,” the show is branded as the most comprehensive survey of Ukraine’s avant-garde movement. -...

Plans For Makeover Of London’s National Gallery Assailed As “Clownish”

The architect of the controversial Sainsbury Wing of the National Gallery in London has publicly hit back at plans to completely rebuild it, accusing the...

The Rockettes Get Their Own Hallmark Christmas Movie

Julie Branam, who directs and choreographs the beloved Radio City Music Hall dance troupe, talks about the dance in the film, titled (what else?)...

Public Libraries Are Setting Up Their Own Music Streaming Services

Introduction to local artists is common among local libraries using streaming services. “It turns out that people who think they know their city’s music...

India Wouldn’t Nominate This Year’s Biggest Blockbuster For The International Film Oscar — So...

After seeing the raucously rapturous reactions that audiences, even in L.A., are having to RRR, producer-director S.S. Rajamouli and US distributor Dylan Marchetti (Drive...

Qatar Announces New Round Of Big New Museums

In the run-up to the tournament, the country’s authority for cultural institutions and heritage sites has announced a wave of future construction projects—and revealed...

How Do We Reconcile The Journey Anthony Bourdain Took Us On With The Sad...

"The tragic irony of Bourdain's life and death is that the same interior darkness he succumbed to enabled the alchemy that he performed, again...

Disney Superfans: Bob Chapek Didn’t Understand Disney’s Magic

We also pushed to have Mr. Chapek fired because he didn’t believe in Disney magic. Disney is so much more than just another big...

English National Opera Was Doomed: Norman Lebrecht

"The cause of death, in this coroner's verdict, is a prolonged failure to address reality. ... The decline and fall of England's national opera...

AMC Networks To Cut Staff By 20 Percent (Including CEO)

Today’s staff memo from AMC Networks chairman James Dolan, whose family is the company’s controlling shareholder, was particularly grim, noting that “the mechanisms for...

After Five Centuries, The Holy Roman Emperor’s Secret Code Has Been Deciphered

"Sent by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V to his ambassador at the French royal court — a man called Jean de Saint-Mauris —...

The Real Secret Of The L.A. Comedy Scene’s Success? Gigs In People’s Backyards

"No matter how cobbled together the entire operation might be, some of the very best comedy shows in L.A., for more than two decades,...

“You Can’t Eat Prestige”: Culture Workers Have Started Organizing and Striking For A Living...

"Professors of art, workers at museums, and assistants at a publishing house have all gone on strike or staged public protests during contract negotiations....

The Academy Agrees To Put All Oscar Categories Back In The TV Broadcast This...

"The news comes after eight different Oscar categories — original score, makeup and hairstyling, documentary short, film editing, production design, animated short, live action...

The Rijksmuseum Declares Three More Vermeers Authentic.  But Is That A Self-Interested Decision?

Amsterdam's flagship museum is, after all, about to present the largest Vermeer exhibition in history, so increasing the artist's slim corpus could very much...

Athens Now Faces The Dangers Of Amsterdam-Barcelona-Venice-Style Overtourism

Leisure travel has roared back since the pandemic, with the Greek capital a destination rather than a transit point to the islands; the Acropolis...

BBC Philharmonic Gives Its Chief Guest Conductor The Big Job

John StorgÄrds, a Finnish violinist-turned conductor who is also artistic director of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra, was named the BBC Phil's Principal Guest Conductor...

This Year’s Venice Biennale Sets Attendance Record

It must, however, be noted that the 2022 exhibition ran longer than usual, stretching over 197 days instead of 173 days in 2019. According...

2,500 Strip On Australian Beach For Spencer Tunick Piece On Skin Cancer

The installation is American photographer Spencer Tunick's latest project, aimed at encouraging Australians to get regular skin checks. Legislation was changed to allow public...

UK Museum Returns Trove Of Bronzes To Benin

The Horniman Museum in south-east London is returning 72 items, including so-called Benin Bronzes, to Nigerian ownership - making it the first in the...