In the wake of the scandals and chaos at the Swedish Academy that led to the postponement of this year’s prize, “Lars Heikensten, director of the Nobel Foundation, … told the national broadcaster Sveriges Radio that the prize ‘will be awarded when the Swedish Academy has won back the public’s trust — and that means there is no deadline for 2019.’ Without naming names, he also urged the 10 remaining active members in the academy to consider leaving their seats.”
Archives for May 2018
After Giving Birth To Her Fourth Child, Conductor Joana Carneiro Resigns From Berkeley Symphony
Not only does the Portuguese conductor have a new baby, but her triplets are still toddlers. She leaves the Bay Area orchestra, where she succeeded Kent Nagano as music director, after nine seasons.
‘Venice Is A Perfect Example Of A City Living Off The Very Thing That Is Killing It’
“This recent quote by the philosopher Giorgio Agamben, who lives an intentionally secluded life in Venice, underlines the city’s daily contradictions. It is increasingly a city of art, ‘invaded’, at an ever-growing rate, by tourists. And this invasion is consuming and weakening it as a city.”
Oops – Pay For Canadian Arts Workers Did Not Actually Decline Over The Past Decade (Never Mind That Report)
“On April 19, the Cultural Human Resources Council (CHRC) released a report outlining changes to the not-for-profit arts sector in Canada. The study asserted that from 2008 to 2017, real wages had decreased for those working in the field. This proved to be erroneous, and with some independent calculations of our own, we discovered a significant error in the calculations’ methodology.”
Arkansas Symphony Music Director To Step Down
“Philip Mann, who joined the symphony in 2010 as its maestro, will finish out the 2018-19 season and then pursue international conducting opportunities. … During Mann’s tenure, the orchestra has expanded its statewide presence, taken more shows on the road and added artistic programming, namely the Intimate Neighborhood Concert series that takes place in churches. Mann also led the Composer of the Year initiative that drew several world-renowned composers to the state.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 05.28.18
‘Meeting Jim’ (Who’s Having the Time of His Life)
I’ve never met Jim. We’ve only corresponded by email about the strange case of Orwell’s typewriter. But I know that Jim Haynes is a man for all reasons — pleasure, food, sex, mind, books, theater, life … read more
AJBlog: Straight|Up Published 2018-05-28
This Bold – Or Perhaps Foolish – Art Café Has Run Afoul Of MoMA
Hmmmmm. Why would MoMA sue over the name of MoMaCha? Well: “in April, the MoMaCha cafe opened on the Bowery, serving matcha tea and exhibiting artworks. The cafe’s logo, in its font and graphic presentation, was similar to the one used by the museum, at least as far as MoMA officials were concerned.” (Seriously – check the font in the images.)
Ballet San Antonio’s Artistic Director Leaves Suddenly After Accusations Of Abuse
The announcement about AD Willy Shives, a former dancer at the Joffrey and community engagement coordinator there, comes in the wake of accusations from former company members of verbal and mental abuse.
The Tricks (Some Dirty) Sceenwriters Play To Get Us To Part 2 Of A Movie Like ‘Avengers’
In the case of the Marvel movie that has chewed up the box office for the past few weeks, the screenwriters have their own ideas as well as keeping true to the arc of a multi-movie narrative. “The screenwriters know some fans are unhappy — Mr. McFeely said, ‘I read a tweet this morning that said, ‘Good morning to everyone, except Markus and McFeely’’ — but that’s O.K.”
As The Philadelphia Orchestra Tours Europe, It Prepares For A Lot More Anti-Israel Protests
The BDS movement calls for divestment from Israel, including in the arts – and the Philly Orchestra is headed to play in Israel after this trip. Protesters do not appreciate this move from the orchestra. “Security on the tour is being increased at every turn, whether in hotels or at the concert halls.”
Richard Peck, Who Wrote Spellbinding Realistic Fiction For Teens, Has Died At 84
Peck’s books, including Are You in the House Alone?, were popular, and he was a showman who always promoted his books. But “Peck’s final novel, “The Best Man” (2016), echoed his personal life more than most of his books. A coming-of age story about a young boy, it, deals in part with the same-sex marriage of his uncle and his teacher. Around the time of its publication, the intensely private Mr. Peck publicly came out as gay.”
One Of The Most Popular Movies At Cannes Is (Partly) About Korea, Trump, Men, And Anger
The film stars a famous actor from The Walking Dead and is based on a short story by Haruki Murakami – and it got a very high rating at Cannes. But the director left the festival without an award.
The Berkshire Museum Is Hit By Professional Sanctions For Selling Off Some Of Its Art
The Association of Art Museum Directors said in a statement that “the sanctions would be effective immediately, and they would include a request that each of the association’s 243 members refrain from lending works to the Berkshire Museum or collaborating with it on exhibitions.”
When A Controversial 1950s Erotic Novella Was Illustrated In 2018, People Flipped Out Like It Was Still The Fifties
Natalie Frank, the artist who illustrated “The Story of O,” saw her work get disinvited from at least one gallery because of its content. “O became wildly popular and wildly controversial. In the 1970s and 1980s, some anti-porn feminists railed against it, deeming its explicit content pornographic, dehumanizing and ultimately detrimental to women’s fight for equal rights. In a twist of fate, Frank’s visual interpretations of Aury’s literary smut faced similar allegations in 2018.”
Britain’s Queens Of Pattern Influenced The Country’s Look For Decades
These women were part of”a succession of great women designers and illustrators who still shape the world we look at and who are finally being given their due recognition as cultural figures. They survived in an era when female printmakers were rarely trusted with the bank loans or investments that might have allowed them to set up their own design houses. Instead they worked anonymously as freelancers.”
The Famous Russian Painting ‘Ivan The Terrible Killing His Son’ Is Damaged In A Vodka-Fueled Attack
On Friday night, a man “managed to get past a group of gallery employees, the gallery said, picked up one of the metal security poles used to keep the public back from the painting, and struck its protective glass covering several times.” He smashed the glass and stabbed the canvas three times before he was subdued.
Books About Middle-Aged Women Sell Brilliantly – Especially To Women – But You’ll Never Find One On A Book Cover
Even though international bestsellers like Elena Ferranti’s Neapolitan quartet and Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge star middle-aged (or older) women, you’ll never see them on the covers of the books. Ugh: “As Hilary Mantel says, women over 50 are the invisible generation.”
Are People Star Wars’d Out, Or Is ‘Solo’ Just A Weak Offering In The Franchise?
Sure, Solo collected almost $84 million in the U.S., which would be big – for a film that wasn’t in the Star Wars franchise. Is it franchise fatigue, or is it the fact that at least three other big franchise movies are in theatres right now? On the other hand, for the movie business anyway, Memorial Day weekend sales are up big over last year.
Does The Art Auction World Have A Gender Imbalance Problem?
You bet it does. “Of the top 100 artists whose works fetched the highest amounts at auction in 2017, just 13 were women, an analysis of sales data shows.” And 89-year-old artist Yayoi Kusama is the only living woman among all of those sales, at that.
How To Select Photos That Surprise And Fascinate, But Don’t Put News Readers Off Their Breakfasts
In the British offices of The Guardian, “around 30,000 images arrive at the picture desk in any 24-hour period. Every one of them is viewed to see if they should make the cut for our daily edit. It can seem a daunting task.”
Author Louise Penny Calls Herself ‘A Killing Machine – But A Happy One’
Penny’s Instructor Gamache “has become to Canada what Hercule Poirot is to Belgium, and garnered Ms. Penny legions of messianic fans. At last count, she has sold 6.3 million books worldwide. Seldom has murder induced such hunger pangs, with characters who crack cases while indulging in maple-cured rashers of back bacon and wild blueberry jam.”
‘Fearless’ French Filmmaker Claire Denis Has Inspired Young American Directors
Barry Jenkins, director of the Best Picture Oscar-winning Moonlight, is a fan. And her actors appreciate that she deeply understands her medium. “Alex Descas, one of the actors with whom Denis has worked longest, and who credits her with writing complicated, realistic roles for black actors at a time when few others did, described her artistic mode succinctly: ‘Film is not theatre,’ he told me.”
College Admissions Are In An Existential Crisis
Two numbers colleges used to rely on – SAT scores and GPAs – just aren’t that reliable anymore, admissions people say. So how to judge student applications? The answer is not good: “Admissions officers at about half of the institutions surveyed said an applicant’s ‘ability to pay’ was of at least ‘some importance’ in application decisions.”
The New York Times Has A Poetry Editor, And It’s Pulitzer Prize-Winning Rita Dove
The position of poetry editor was created in 2014, and each poet who gets it has a one-year tenure in the position. But why pair poetry with journalism? Dove: “I always thought this was essentially the way in which poets worked. We were the modern-day griots. You tell the story, but you tell the story that’s under the story. You bring to light human reactions to grander events, in the hope that people will recognize themselves in it.”
The Composer Of The ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Opera Doesn’t Want To Be Just Another Token
Charles Wuorinen is working hard on commissions, and the opera has its U.S. premiere in New York at the end of the month. But he’s not happy with how the United States is dealing with high culture in general. When he was young, he says, “it was considered essential for a civilized person to have some connection with literature or music. Now that’s completely gone.”