Saturating The Market? A long-planned project to build a museum focusing on African-American heritage in the nation's capitol has been getting plenty of press lately. But some observers in Baltimore are concerned that the D.C.-based museum could steal the thunder of Baltimore's own fledgling African-American history museum. (Baltimore is less than 60 miles from the District of Columbia.) Still, Baltimore museum officials say they aren't worried, and that the two museums can coexist. Baltimore Sun 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 5:57 am
Finally, An Art Award For Kids "Art collector Charles Saatchi has launched a £10,000 award which he says is aimed at encouraging more children to become interested in modern art. Schoolchildren will be invited to compete for The Saatchi Gallery Award by sending an essay or project about their visit to the London gallery. The winner will get £7,500 for their school's art department plus a computer worth £2,500 to keep for themselves." BBC 12/18/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 5:20 am
Ex-French Foreign Minister Tried For Art Fraud "France's former foreign minister, Roland Dumas, and the country's leading auctioneer, Jacques Tajan, are to be tried after accusations of an alleged fraud involving artworks left by the Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti." The Guardian (UK) 12/19/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 9:53 pm
O'Keeffe Painting Stolen From Santa Fe Museum An early Georgia O'Keeffe painting has been stolen out of the O'Keeffe Museum in Santa Fe. "The missing painting is worth a significant amount of money - half a million (dollars) plus. And it's not marketable because it's so well documented. It's kind of a crazy theft. Let's hope they just want ransom, or something stupid." San Francisco Chronicle (AP) 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 6:50 pm
One Million To See Weather At Tate Modern Olafur Eliasson's foggy sundest installation at Tate Modern has recorded its one millionth visitor in just two months. "Eliasson's work, based on the British obsession with the weather, involves 300 mirrors on the ceiling and more than 200 lamps behind a semi-circular screen." BBC 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 6:35 pm
Over Budget, And Maybe Out Of Luck A concert hall already under construction in suburban Washington, D.C., and intended as the second home of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, is in danger of having the plug pulled on its funding if the local county council does not approve an additional expenditure for cost overruns on the project. The council is reportedly "galled by the request for more money, given that the council agreed to approve its $44.6 million share of the cost only after explicitly writing into the funding bill that the council would not pay a penny more." Washington Post 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 5:43 am
Downloading At The Big Blue Box WalMart is rolling out its own online music download service, with what it says are "hundreds of thousands" of songs available in Windows Media format. In typical WalMart style, the big draw is expected to be low prices: where many other download services are charging 99 cents a song, WalMart is charging 88 cents. Wired 12/18/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 5:29 am
Recordings In The UK: Prices Fall, Sales Rise Unlike in the US, sales of recorded music have been growing in the UK. Why? Maybe it's price cuts. "Average prices have continued to fall and reached a new low of £10.40 for the year ending in September, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said. It said prices of new albums had fallen by 7.6% since it began providing detailed records at the start of 2000." BBC 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 6:39 pm
Everybody Congo! "In smart discos, sweat-box bars and market-places across Africa, Congolese music is rampant. Local musicians can rarely compete. Even in Lagos, the proud home of high-life jazz, clubs echo with Congo's trademark throbbing bass, tinging guitars and racing falsettos. And in Europe Congolese music has become almost synonymous with African music. Europeans call it soukous, after secousse, the French for “jolt” or “shake”. In Paris and Brussels, Congolese stars draw crowds of 20,000." At home, though... The Economist 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 6:07 pm
Game Boy Symphony Some avid players of Game Boys, are using the little electronic game consoles to compose and play music. The music is "surprisingly complex." "The gizmos serve as musical notepads, the modern-day equivalents of Beethoven's pen on paper. The group then sets up in smoky bars and other modest local concert venues to treat — or subject — their audiences to beeps, buzzes, clicks, recorded-speech snippets and other computer-age sounds, all strung together into assaults on the senses." St. Paul Pioneer-Press 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 5:55 pm
London Music, 2003: The Bland Leading The Blander? "If most years are dispiriting for full-time opera companies because of the parlous state of their finances, against which they generally manage on stage to achieve minor miracles, this one was different; there was less talk of monetary problems (with certain exceptions) and far more of artistic disappointment, especially where the two London-based companies were concerned. It's hard to think of more than a couple of productions at either the Royal Opera House or at the Coliseum (before ENO temporarily decamped to the Barbican to allow its home to be renovated) that lodge in the memory or could remotely merit a revival." The Guardian (UK) 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 5:11 pm
State Department To WSJ: You Want Access? You Got Access The US State Department wonders why the reporter from the Wall Street Journal who tried to get access to the Iraq National Symphony during its trip to Washington DC earlier this month, had so much trouble. "We arranged for Mr. Rahim to meet members of the orchestra at a restricted briefing on Monday afternoon. We arranged for his attendance at the open dress rehearsal. We invited him to join the reception for the orchestra held after the concert. He had the opportunity to talk directly with members of the orchestra and to develop these contacts as any reporter might. We offered him access to the organizers of the concert and the trip..." Wall Street Journal 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 5:06 pm
- Previously: Clamping A Lid On Iraqi Orchestra Musicians The Wall Street Journal sends a reporter to meet with members of the Iraqi National Symphony during their visit to Washington DC. A small, but significant problem, though: how to get through the layers of officials to actually meet with any musicians? After a month of futile trying, Ayad Rahim finally gets a few minutes with three musicians, but nothing substantive. So much for "cultural exchange." OpinionJournal 12/10/03
An Ethnic Furor In Oakland "An exhibit at the Oakland Museum examining how the war transformed California is scheduled to open in August. But instead of putting the finishing touches on the exhibit, the museum is working to repair its relationship with the Vietnamese American community. The damage control comes after the museum's Oct. 24 dismissal of researcher Mimi Nguyen days after she submitted a memo complaining that the exhibit was not sufficiently inclusive of ethnic minorities." The controversy has been widely reported in California's Vietnamese press, and a groundswell of popular support for Nguyen is causing headaches for the museum. San Francisco Chronicle 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:50 am
UK Arts Biz, 03 So what kind of year was it for the arts in the UK? "The Arts Council itself can always be relied upon to provide a little black comedy. The esteemed organisation paid consultants over £70,000 to remove the words "the" and "of" from its name, so it was transformed from The Arts Council of England to the stunningly different Arts Council England. A triumph for branding professionals everywhere." The Guardian (UK) 12/19/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 10:09 pm
Why Does Everyone Hate Martin Amis? Martin Amis on the acid reception his latest book has attracted: "Questions I don't mind. Then there's commentary. I seem to attract this heat. I, the book, took a weird corrosive jolt this time. It just got established you could say whatever the hell you liked. In England, I couldn't avoid reviews. I'd be walking down the street and on the newsstand it would say, up by the publication title, MARTIN AMIS IS S--T. It's like watching your child being ragged in the schoolyard. What's truly galling is when you wake up and it is in your head, when what should be in your head is what you're writing next. But if you answer back, you're accused of whining. You can't win." Newsweek 12/04/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 6:29 pm
BBC Arts Reporter Quits After New Writing Restrictions The BBC is placing restrictions on its reporters from writing for newspaper. So ace arts correspondent Rosie Millard has quit to go write for the Sunday Times. "Millard, who is 38, married to a TV producer and the mother of three children, was already an established feature writer when she joined the BBC, and has always maintained a parallel print career: she also writes for the New Statesman. She is understood to have been upset at the prospect of having her writing curtailed or restricted." The Guardian (UK) 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 5:16 pm
Charlotte Repertory - Bumps On The Way To Greatness In 2001, Charlotte Repertory Theatre's board embarked on a five-year plan to become one of the best regional theatres in America. "Two years later, the Rep's trustees have driven away two artistic directors, two managing directors, two literary managers, and the first full-time development director in the company's 27-year history. In the wake of artistic director Michael Bush's sudden resignation last month, there is no permanent artistic leadership at Charlotte Rep, and the company is further from realizing its ambition than it was" Backstage 12/18/03
Posted: 12/18/2003 6:33 pm
Dean Joins The Big Media Backlash Presidential contender Howard Dean apparently sees some political hay to be made in the recent backlash against the FCC's attempt to further deregulate the American media industry. Dean "is making the message of the media reform movement part of his campaign--not just calling for overturning the FCC rules but also calling for breaking up existing media conglomerates." Whether a president would actually have the ability to implement such a sweeping anti-corporate agenda is an open question, of course, but at the momentm Dean is the only candidate even talking about the issue. Editor's Cut (The Nation) 12/18/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:59 am
The No-Pee Conspiracy Movies are getting longer every day, and it seems like every time you set foot in the multiplex, they've added another gallon or so to your "cup" of pop. And no, there are still no intermissions at your favorite Hollywood blockbuster. You see where we're going with this. When, exactly, are America's movie lovers supposed to take a bathroom break? San Francisco Chronicle 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:46 am
Does Canadian Drama Need Protection? When a Nova Scotia-based TV production company was shut down by its corporate parent last week, it sparked renewed fears that Canadian drama is in severe trouble, and unable to compete with the influx of American programming. Now, a coalition of union activists are calling for new federal regulations designed to protect and encourage Canadian programming. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:28 am
Someone Get That Critic A Bodyguard Hey, look! It's a movie critic who doesn't like the Lord of the Rings movies! Why, the nerve of that guy! Everyone loves LoTR! Where does he get off? What did he just say? It's too long?! "Every time you think the final credits are about to roll, another scene lurches in, adding another chance to look at your watch in awe and wonderment at how much sheer footage the film has." Grrrrrr... The Christian Science Monitor 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:17 am
Dean Joins The Big Media Backlash Presidential contender Howard Dean apparently sees some political hay to be made in the recent backlash against the FCC's attempt to further deregulate the American media industry. Dean "is making the message of the media reform movement part of his campaign--not just calling for overturning the FCC rules but also calling for breaking up existing media conglomerates." Whether a president would actually have the ability to implement such a sweeping anti-corporate agenda is an open question, of course, but at the momentm Dean is the only candidate even talking about the issue. Editor's Cut (The Nation) 12/18/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:59 am
The No-Pee Conspiracy Movies are getting longer every day, and it seems like every time you set foot in the multiplex, they've added another gallon or so to your "cup" of pop. And no, there are still no intermissions at your favorite Hollywood blockbuster. You see where we're going with this. When, exactly, are America's movie lovers supposed to take a bathroom break? San Francisco Chronicle 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:46 am
Does Canadian Drama Need Protection? When a Nova Scotia-based TV production company was shut down by its corporate parent last week, it sparked renewed fears that Canadian drama is in severe trouble, and unable to compete with the influx of American programming. Now, a coalition of union activists are calling for new federal regulations designed to protect and encourage Canadian programming. The Globe & Mail (Canada) 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:28 am
Someone Get That Critic A Bodyguard Hey, look! It's a movie critic who doesn't like the Lord of the Rings movies! Why, the nerve of that guy! Everyone loves LoTR! Where does he get off? What did he just say? It's too long?! "Every time you think the final credits are about to roll, another scene lurches in, adding another chance to look at your watch in awe and wonderment at how much sheer footage the film has." Grrrrrr... The Christian Science Monitor 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:17 am
Balanchine, Through The Eyes Of His Dancers George Balanchine would have been 100 next month, and naturally, dance companies worldwide are planning to mark the occasion. New York City Ballet will be producing more than 50 of Balanchine's ballets, and the NYCB dancers who knew the choreographer say that while his shadow still looms large over the world of classical dance, it was the little things that made him a true legend. "He put everything back to its real value, the right size, the right time, the music in time and space. He simplified, explaining and showing the logic.... He was frankly an educator, for all of us, for the public, for the critics." The Christian Science Monitor 12/19/03
Posted: 12/19/2003 6:12 am
