In the 17th and 18th centuries, there was a black population in Spain, mostly brought over from the Latin American colonies, and they did take part in the development of flamenco. “[But] as the 19th century progressed, the black population in Spain diminished, and in turn so did any documentation of the influence they had.” – The Dance Journal (Philadelphia)
Why Anti-Money-Laundering Legislation Has Art Dealers Worried
No, it’s not because they want to launder money. “While these requirements could have significant benefits in terms of helping to curtail money laundering by bringing greater oversight to an often opaque art market, the law could also burden dealers and auction houses with onerous administrative and reporting duties that will be especially challenging for smaller and mid-size galleries.” – Artsy
The Widow Of China’s Most Famous Dissident, Now In Exile, Rebuilds Her Art And Career
Liu Xiaobo was in prison when he won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, and ever since then, his wife, Liu Xia, had been under house arrest. After he died, still in custody, in 2017, she was suicidal. A friend in Berlin publicized her plight, and last year, she was released (not to say expelled) and sent to the German capital, where she’s now back at work in both literature and visual art. Nick Frisch went to meet her. – The New Yorker
The Afterlife Of ‘Jeopardy!’ Champions
“For some contestants, winning might usher in 15 minutes of fame and a small, unexpected windfall.” And then there’s Ken Jennings, who launched a couple of new careers as a result. Reporter Niraj Chokshi talked to Jennings and three other former winners about how the show (and not just the prize money) changed their lives. – The New York Times
Condé Nast Makes Bid To Become The Next Streaming Video Powerhouse
“Condé Nast wants Madison Avenue to believe that its video programming represents a ‘new primetime’ for reaching coveted audiences that are abandoning TV. … All told, [the media company] said it has 50 returning digital video series and more than 175 pilots in production slated to hit over 2019-20.” – Variety
U.S. Judge Rules Madrid’s Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Can Keep Pissarro Looted By Nazis
“The government-owned Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid acquired hundreds of artworks, including the Pissarro, from the [eponymous] baron in 1993 for $350 million. The U.S. court ruling comes almost 14 years after Claude Cassirer sued to recover the painting” — Rue Saint-Honoré, après-midi, effet de pluie — “his grandmother was forced to sell for a pittance to avoid being sent to an extermination camp.” – Bloomberg
Can This Woman Turn Around The Market For Hindi Pulp Fiction?
The once-enormous market for popular crime novels in India’s most widely spoken language began falling off a cliff in the 1990s. Then Minakshi Thakur, an executive at HarperCollins India took on the challenge of bringing it back. – Verve (India)
Conditionally Loving Lili Boulanger – Time To Take Out The “Conditionally”
Justin Davidson: “The 24-year-old Lili Boulanger had died of Crohn’s disease, after years of physical pain and artistic glory. During her brief career and in the century since, she regularly received high, though conditional praise, which almost always boiled down to this: She was surprisingly accomplished for someone so young, ill, and female. It’s time to stop hedging.” –New York Magazine
Rebuild Notre Dame? Yes – And There’s A Roadmap On How To Go About It
“First and foremost, Notre Dame’s World Heritage status calls for international principles of restoration to be integrated into the discussions on how to restore it. Decisions will have to be taken on how to consolidate its structural parts, restore the damaged surfaces, reconstruct the roof, the spire and the stained-glass windows. All these choices need to be made in accordance with the conservation principles promoted by the World Heritage Convention.” – The Art Newspaper
Study: Rejection Causes Physical Pain
“Those who felt the most emotional distress also showed the most pain-related brain activity. In other words, being socially rejected triggered the same neural circuits that process physical injury, and translate it into the experience we call pain.” – Aeon
Conservative Pundit: Guggenheim Bilbao Is Home To Anti-American Propaganda
Mark Thiessen attacks a show of Jenny Holzer’s work: “It’s no surprise that the art world is left wing. But the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao — an institution owned by an American foundation, in the heart of Spain — has turned itself into something worse: an instrument of anti-American propaganda.” – Washington Post
Try As You Might, There’s A Reason It’s Tough To Learn A New Language As An Adult
You can learn basic grammar and vocabulary at any age. That explains my “good enough” French. But there’s also an enormous amount of low-frequency words and syntax that even native speakers might encounter only once a year. Knowing any one of these “occasional” words or phrasings isn’t essential. But in every context — a book, an article or conversation — there will probably be several. They’re part of what gives native speech its richness. – The New York Times
So Is Woodstock 50 Canceled Or Not?
The festival, planned for the site of the original, was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the iconic music festival. But Monday, the financial backer pulled out. “I don’t know whether it’s money, insurance, water, safety. I think it would be a great bill if it could have happened. But if it can’t happen, it can’t happen.” – Washington Post
Owner Of Summer College Prep Program For Theatre Students Stiffs **Everyone** Involved
Last summer, Broadway Break Thru, a theatre education outfit in Chicago, held its first College Break Thru, designed to prepare high school students for the process of auditioning for competitive university theatre programs. But most of the students never got the aid they were promised, the teachers never got paid, the owner’s roommate never got paid rent … Even the financial firm the owner hired to sort things out over the winter got stiffed. Allison Considine reports. – American Theatre
This Year’s Tony Nominations Sent A Message
Charles McNulty: “They sent a message of support to artists with fresh and forward-leaning sensibilities, no matter if these endorsements occasionally came at the expense of recognizing worthier work.” – Los Angeles Times
Study: Rise In Teen Suicides After Netflix Series On Suicides Was Released
“We estimate that the series’ release was associated with approximately 195 additional suicide deaths,” concludes a research team led by Jeffrey Bridge of Nationwide Children’s Hospital. – Pacific Standard
At Age 93, This Dance Teacher Is The Last Direct Link To Katherine Dunham
“[Othella] Dallas is one of the few founding members of the Katherine Dunham Dance Company still alive — and the only one still teaching, primarily through a dance school she opened in Basel in 1975 … [It is] the only known institution in Europe that teaches pure Dunham technique.” – The New York Times
Mavis Pusey, Who Turned Demolished Buildings Into Abstract Art, Dead At 90
“Ms. Pusey was … a painter and printmaker who drew on inspirations as varied as sunsets and scenes of urban demolition to create striking abstract works full of geometric forms.” – The New York Times
Barack And Michelle Obama Reveal Their First Netflix Projects
“The former first couple signed a deal with the streaming platform in 2018 to produce a string of shows and films under their production company Higher Ground. … The [initial] seven projects range from acquisitions to new material, fiction to non-fiction and content aimed at adults and at children.” – The Guardian
NYC’s Culture Pass Brought Library Users To Museums. Now The Museums Are Bringing Themselves To The Libraries
The municipal program, launched last summer, allows anyone in the five boroughs with a library card to reserve a limited number of free passes to various museums (including the biggies) in the city. Now, a second phase of the program will see those museums offering public programs at city branch libraries. – The Art Newspaper
Who’ll Play The Polonium? New Opera Coming About Death Of Alexander Litvinenko
The Life & Death of Alexander Litvinenko, a work about the poisoning of the former FSB agent and dissident Russian émigré in London in 2008, with music by Anthony Bolton and text by Kit Hesketh-Harvey, will premiere in summer 2020 at England’s Grange Park Opera. – The Times (UK)
Venice Is Trying New Ways To Manage The Tourist Tsunami
“A new generation of concerned citizens and entrepreneurs is taking … combining grassroots activism with socially sensitive, sustainable initiatives to save their island home” — from managing the trash and reducing use of plastic to creating a new, more locally oriented alternative to Airbnb. – The Guardian
How The Next Wave Of Wearable Tech Will Amplify Our Intelligence
“The need for an intelligence-amplifying device that is less obtrusive than a smartphone and more discreet than a voice interface is clear. Many technologists and entrepreneurs are working to create the next revolutionary intelligence-amplifying device that will solve the problems of its predecessors while giving users seamless access to advanced AI systems.” – Harvard Business Review
Neuroscience Tries To Figure Out Why Music Gets Hold Of Us
“We’re starting to comprehend how melodies affect our feelings, why certain music makes us want to get up and dance and why some harmonies trigger fear. Some studies have already had direct applications in the field of music therapy, which uses music to treat neurological, emotional and physical disorders.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
UK Statistics Authority Blasts Arts Council England Over Bad Methodology
A public letter from Ed Humpherson, head of UKSA’s regulatory arm, castigates ACE for an array of statistical misdemeanours that fail to meet the official Code of Practice, and which led to a “lack of clarity” in the presentation of visitor numbers in the funder’s latest annual report. But ACE still denies that its presentation of the figures was misleading, and says it has no plans to update the report. – Arts Professional