When The Watched Become The Watchers (Kafka’s Warning)
What’s the point of watching workers? Maybe, as Franz Kafka suggested in a short parable, the point is not simply to alter a person’s...
A Poetry Slam That Draws Stadium-Size Crowds — And The Poetry’s In Urdu, No...
This month saw the inauguration of Jashn-e-Rekhta, an annual three-day festival devoted to Urdu verse, old and new. Attendance was over 300,000 —notwithstanding the...
Guardian Critics’ Best Architecure And Visual Art Of 2022
The newspaper's critics weigh in on the best they saw this year. - The Guardian
In Search Of The Ingredients Of A Hit Christmas Tune
"The Guardian took every Christmas song that had charted in the UK Top 100 since 1952, and selected the 100 most popular of those...
Norman Foster’s Plan To Rebuild Kharkiv
Working pro bono with engineering studio Arup, the Norman Foster Foundation and Kharkiv Group of Architects, Foster + Partners founder Foster has developed a masterplan for the rejuvenation of...
New Zealand’s Arts Funding Agency, Mired In Controversy, To Review Its Entire Operation
"(Creative New Zealand) has, over the last several months, found itself (in) multiple controversial decisions, including declining funding applications for ... the Shakespeare Globe...
The “Dark Academia” Microtrend
According to Google’s Year in Search, an annual retrospective of trending searches compiled by the tech company, dark academia was among ten trending interior styles...
A Brief History Of Nativity Scenes And Crèches
The Gospels don't really tell much about the birth of Jesus: the shepherds are only in Luke, the Wise Men only in Matthew. So...
The Dance Data Project Looks At The Gender Balance In Leadership Changes In 2022
"(This report) details changes among artistic directors, executive directors, associate artistic directors, and resident choreographers at dance venues, ballet companies, contemporary/modern companies, and prominent...
It’s The Centennial Of “Carol Of The Bells,” Ukraine’s World-Famous Christmas Tune
"That complicated history of 'Carol of the Bells' has embodied a grim motif since its inception. ... Then as now, Ukraine was under threat...
A Battle In Sarasota Over Whether To Build A New Performing Arts Center Or...
"Members of the Van Wezel Foundation have been working with Sarasota officials on plans for a new performance space, arguing that the 54-year-old Van...
Atlanta Ballet Eliminates Its Low-Paying Apprentice Program And Will Expand Its Corps Instead
"Going forward, entry-level dancers who pass the main company audition will start as full company members, earning entry-level pay based on a collective-bargaining-agreement scale....
Nielsen, The Ratings Company, Is Splitting Itself In Three
The private equity group which purchased Nielsen last March is reorganizing into three divisions: Nielsen Audience Measurement, Nielsen Analytics and Gracenote. The company, once...
Stanley Drucker, Revered Clarinetist Of New York Philharmonic, Is Dead At 93
"(He) was known as the dean of American orchestral clarinetists during a 60-year career with the New York Philharmonic, ... presenting a style and...
Royal Shakespeare Company’s Income Rebounds (Big Time)
In 2020/21, when activities were restricted due to lockdowns, the RSC’s box office income was £94,000. This rose to £12.5 million for 2021/22, and...
The Value Of Thoughts Expressed As Writing
When someone talks about a “good writer,” the phrase suggests a way with words, an ear for rhythm, maybe even a structural vision. But...
How Podcasts Captured The Radical Mind This Year
Part of why I think podcasts recounting historical instances of extremism have been so prolific this year is because they offer a hungry but...
Pittsburgh Arts Audiences – How They’ve Changed Since Before COVID
For some arts organizations subscriptions have slipped, but single-ticket demand has offset the drop. - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Iceland’s Prime Minister Is Writing Crime Novels
She made her mark on the global cultural map this year when she published her first thriller novel, entitled 'Reykjavík', which she co-wrote with...
Defining The Idea Of Beauty
Beauty is what we find, create, and propagate, either through imitation – creating a copy, another iteration – or through distribution of the thing...
The Art And Skill Of A Master Audiobook Narrator
"(Robin Miles) has been the voice of the Antiguan American novelist Jamaica Kincaid, the Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, the Russian journalist Yelena Khanga,...
The Golden Age Of Streaming Is Sputtering
The never-ending supply of new programming that helped define the streaming era — spawning shows at a breakneck pace but also overwhelming viewers with...
The “Berlin Snout”: The Dialect, And Attitude, That Make Berliners The Philadelphians Of Germany
"On paper, Berliner Schnauze is simply a dialect of German spoken in and around Berlin. In reality, it's a visceral dialect merged with working-class...
Why Artists Are Upset About AI-Generated Images
The fact that art styles and techniques are now transferable in this way is immensely disruptive and extremely upsetting for artists. As technologies like...
Going Totally Retro: An English Teenager Sets Up A Celluloid-Only Movie Theatre
"While studying for his A-levels (in 2019), Joe Cornick undertook a project close to his heart. He wanted to recreate a retro cinema utilising...
