How Do You Save UK Churches? An annual survey of churches in the UK shows that many are being shut and abandoned. "One survey estimates that the rate of newly redundant churches will double to 60 a year, as a result of dwindling attendance and changing centres of population." So what can be done with the buildings? "Centuries ago the naves of many churches were used as meeting halls, as places where local business took place, or simply where people went on a daily basis to gossip and exchange views. 'I see no reason why the naves of many churches cannot function in the same way today - almost as a parish hall. Let us let the people back in'." The Guardian (UK) 12/31/04
Posted: 12/31/2004 6:42 am
Experts Warn Of Fake Bible-Era Objects After important Bible-era fakes were proven so in an Israeli museum, experts have sent out a call to other museums to be on the lookout for more. "Scholars said the forgers were exploiting the deep emotional need of Jews and Christians to find physical evidence to reinforce their faith. 'This does not discredit the profession. It discredits unscrupulous dealers and collectors'." CNN (AP) 12/30/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 6:03 pm
- Art Of The Fake How do you make fake ancient religious objects good enough to fool experts? It's not really so difficult... Slate 12/30/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 6:02 pm
Why Ruskin Might Have Faked Turner Bonfire Why would famed art critic John Ruskin claim to have made a bonfire of JMW Turner drawings if he didn't? "In an essay in the British Art Journal Ian Warrell argued that there are many reasons why Ruskin might have claimed the destruction: his undoubted utter shock at the discovery that his hero had feet and other working body parts of clay; his dismay at the scandalous allegations in a biography of Turner he had backed; and, crucially, the introduction of the first Obscene Publications Act of 1857, which provoked paranoia about art images and anxiety that curators could be prosecuted for works in gallery collections." The Guardian (UK) 12/31/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 5:54 pm
- Previously: Claim: Ruskin's Turner Bonfire Never Happened John Ruskin famously said he had made a bonfire of a pile of JMW Turner's paintings. But a researchers now says it never happened. "It looks as if the notoriously prudish Ruskin, who worshipped Turner to the point of idolatry, could not bring himself to destroy his work. Instead he buried them in paper, interring them in a tortuous numbering system he devised himself, or in the case of some detailed anatomical details of women's genitals, folding over the page to conceal them, undoubtedly with a shudder of revulsion." The Guardian (UK) 12/29/04
Victoria And Albert Museum Hit By Robbers (It's The Third Time) For the third time in three months, the Victoria & Albert Museum has been hit by robbers. "The museum authorities disclosed yesterday that a series of Italian Renaissance bronze plaquettes, worth about £500,000, were stolen on Wednesday. The theft is the largest of the three robberies and a big embarrassment for the V&A, which, The Times revealed last month, has been severely criticised for its lax security." The Times (UK) 12/31/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 5:51 pm
Click here for more Visual Arts stories...
Lebrecht: The Year Recording Didn't Die (But I Don't Apologize) Last year Norman Lebrecht brashly predicted that 2004 would be the end of the classical recording business. But a funny thing happened in the form of numerous interesting new releases. "With such exuberance on offer and more promised in the year ahead, what then of my rock-solid prediction 12 months ago that 2004 would see the end of the classical recording industry? Must I now eat humble pie, not mince? The evidence suggests otherwise. For effervescent as the new crop may seem, no-one is making any money." La Scena Musicale 12/30/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 5:45 pm
Vienna Philharmonic Donates For Disaster Relief The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra says it will donate $136,000 to the World Health Organization to help provide drinking water to survivors of the tsunami disaster. "We wish to express our solidarity with all those who have lost everything." The orchestra typically donates $68,000 to humanitarian causes every New Year's day from the poroceeds of its worldwide New Year's broadcast. Miami Herald (AP) 12/30/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 4:04 pm
Click here for more Music stories...
Ireland May End Artists' Tax-Free Status Ireland is going to review its tax policy that allows artists to not pay any taxes. The review is in response to widespread public anger that "millionaires in the music business and other fields have been using relief schemes that allow them, legitimately, to avoid paying any tax on their earnings. The tax free scheme for writers, artists and musicians was introduced more than 30 years ago by former Taoiseach Charles Haughey, an arts patron who was then finance minister. The scheme, unique to Ireland, was intended to show how the country valued artistic and creative talent, as well as being of practical help to struggling artists." The Stage (UK) 12/31/04
Posted: 12/31/2004 6:27 am
Click here for more Arts Issues stories...
Artie Shaw, 94 Big band leader Artie Shaw quit the music business 50 years ago. But before he did: "A clarinetist and bandleader, Mr. Shaw's music sold more than 100 million records with a stunning series of hit-making songs, including Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" and Hoagy Carmichael's "Stardust." His music so defined its period that Time magazine wrote that on the verge of World War II, the United States meant to the Germans 'skyscrapers, Clark Gable and Artie Shaw'." Washington Post 12/30/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 6:31 pm
- Terry Teachout Remembers Artie Shaw "In the first half of his long, spectacularly eventful life, he played jazz with Bix Beiderbecke and Mozart with Leonard Bernstein; married Lana Turner and Ava Gardner; made a movie with Fred Astaire; and was interrogated about his left-wing ties by Joe McCarthy. Then, at the age of 44, he stopped playing music and started writing fiction, eventually producing a monstrously long autobiographical novel called 'The Education of Albie Snow'." About Last Night (AJBlogs) 10/07/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 6:24 pm
Click here for more People stories...
Quebec Raises Tax Credits For Foreign Films As the rising Canadian dollar has killed much of the American film business shooting in Canada, Canadian provinces are increasing their tax breaks for films. The latest is Quebec, which raises its tax credit for film and television shows to 20 per cent from 11 per cent to help attract foreign productions. Toronto Star 12/31/04
Posted: 12/31/2004 7:13 am
Oscar's Documentary Problem "In a year that was widely hailed (as was 2003) as the Year of the Documentary, with nonfiction films playing in record numbers of theaters and to record attendance, the Academy’s recently published list of the 12 semifinalists for 2004’s best-documentary statuette suggests that all is still not well in the house of Oscar." LAWeekly 12/30/04
Posted: 12/31/2004 7:00 am
Plan: Create Iowa Public Radio System A report endorsed by Iowa's three public radio licensees recommends that the state's three major stations combine into a statewide system. "The study found that lack of cooperation and overlapping broadcast areas cause the university stations to lag behind pubradio’s national performance in audience and fundraising. 'Each has probably reached its full potential as a totally independent university station. Public radio in Iowa has not reached its full potential, however'.” Current 12/13/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 7:02 pm
Shoulda Been An (Oscar) Contenda Two-hundred-and-sixty-seven movies have qualified for this year's Oscar race. "The number is within the average range of films that have been in contention during the past half-decade. Last year, 254 films were considered, down from 279 in 2002. The numbers were lower in 2001 and 2000, when 248 and 242 pics, respectively, were eligible. The recent numbers are down significantly from the highs of the 1940s and '50s, when films considered annually numbered in the 400s." Backstage 12/30/04
Posted: 12/30/2004 6:37 pm
Click here for more Media stories...
