American Censorship And An Insidious Chill US Representative Bernie Sanders writes that the recently passed Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 is a threat to free expression and Americans’ First Amendment rights. "I am increasingly alarmed by the culture of censorship that is developing in this country. This censorship is being conducted by the corporations that own our increasingly consolidated, less diverse media. And it is being done by the government. The result is an insidious chill on free expression on our airwaves." In These Times 03/08/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:15 pm
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Smithsonian Plucks New Curator From Its Own Past "The Smithsonian Institution reached into its own history yesterday and selected Lonnie G. Bunch, a former Smithsonian curator, to be the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Bunch, 52, is president of the Chicago Historical Society, where in the past four years he has led the museum through a reorganization and capital campaign." Washington Post 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 6:17 am
Who's Screaming, Exactly? "Edvard Munch's masterpiece The Scream has become a world icon of human anxiety, appearing on everything from T-shirts to blow-up dolls and causing endless debate among art experts. But what exactly is the surreal figure doing in the painting, with hands pressed to its head and open mouth: Screaming, or hearing a scream?" Munch himself described the moment that inspired the painting as a "scream from nature," and the figure in the painting appears to be covering his ears, as if to block out a scream, but most people believe that the figure is the one doing the screaming. Toronto Star 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 6:13 am
The Holocaust In Human Terms Israel's new Holocaust Museum takes a decidedly personal approach to one of the 20th century's great human tragedies. "Rather than relying on dry histories and photographs, the new museum uses more modern techniques of film and recreation of reality through artifacts, concentrating on the stories of individuals caught up in the horror of a previously unimaginable world." The New York Times 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 5:33 am
Whitney May Face An Uphill Battle For Expansion "Members of [New York's] Landmarks Preservation Commission suggested at a public hearing yesterday that the Whitney Museum of American Art had so far failed to persuade them of the need to demolish two Madison Avenue brownstones to make way for a museum expansion designed by the architect Renzo Piano." The commission wants the Whitney to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that doesn't require any demolition; the architect is apoplectic. The New York Times 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 5:25 am
LA County Museum To Expand The Los Angeles County Museum of Art has announced a $156 million expansion. "About $130 million will be spent for the first phase of the project, designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, to expand, upgrade and unify the sprawling facility." Long Beach Press-Telegram 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:31 pm
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Being Right Isn't As Good As Being Popular Riccardo Muti, who walked out on the La Scala orchestra this week, saying that he could not work with the current management team any longer, may be right that the world's most famous opera house is being run into the ground by arrogant men. But being right may not be enough to win this battle. "If there's one thing that doesn't bode well for Muti, it's that perception is defying facts. Whether or not Muti knows what's good for La Scala, a vocal sector of the public doesn't want to believe him... [T]he issue behind this gulf between perception and fact is that Muti's brand of operatic integrity is good for the art, but probably not what a large public wants. " Philadelphia Inquirer 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 5:05 am
Ultimatum In Salt Lake A former board Utah Symphony & Opera board chair has pulled his annual donation and canceled a major bequest to the struggling organization, offering to reinstate the pledges only if embattled CEO Anne Ewers and music director Keith Lockhart are ousted. The already-tense situation at US&O is growing more volatile by the day, with "supporters [wanting] to know why news of US&O's falling attendance, negative cash flow and declining annual donations since the merger was not made public. They want accountability from the volunteer board that governs US&O." Salt Lake Tribune 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 4:56 am
Funding Guarantee For Welsh Chamber Orchestra Pulled The Welsh Chamber Orchestra is accusing the Arts Council for Wales of reneging on a pledge to extend the ensemble's support funding through 2006. Instead of the WCO receiving its £52,500 with no questions asked, the group will now have to compete with six other ensembles for the money, potentially putting its 2005-06 season in jeopardy. For its part, the government says that no guarantees were ever given about the '05 funding, even though the Culture Minister called a press conference last year to announce that the WCO funding would continue through 2006. BBC 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 4:48 am
Montreal Orchestra Tensions Rise "The management of L'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal saw red over the weekend, saying that unless the players stop wearing red union T-shirts on stage, cancellation of four concerts with music director-designate Kent Nagano later this month "may be inevitable." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:27 pm
Opera And The Newbies A group of people goes to the opera for the first time. And what do they think? A few don't make it past the intermission at Covent Garden. But one: "You can put this in your piece: I was moved to tears and I've just signed up to become a member. That should tell you how much I enjoyed it. It was the best thing I ever did." The Guardian (UK) 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:26 pm
Mozart, The Bolshoi, And The Protests A new opera at the Bolshoi has roiled passions. "The demonstrations prompted a political debate over freedom of expression and censorship - historically hypersensitive subjects in Russia. The Kremlin distanced itself from the events, criticising the criminal investigation. Sales of Sorokin's books soared, and the Bolshoi's project received promotion nobody could have dreamed about." The Guardian (UK) 03/16/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:25 pm
French Police Arresting Conductors French police are arresting conductors and breaking up tours of orchestras employing Eastern European musicians. "Of all the unsavory aspects of French police going around the country busting orchestras and locking up their conductors or managers, it is the notion that it's being done to protect these innocent violin-playing lambs from Sofia that drips heaviest with irony. In common with price-fixing cartels the world 'round, France and Germany's high-priced musicians have only one interest in this affair, and that is keeping low-priced competition off the market. That this means smallish French towns get no opera, or get it only when heavy public subsidies are made available for it, concerns them not at all." OpinionJournal.com 03/16/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:10 pm
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Aussie Arts Leaders Blame The Government If Australia's museums, galleries, and theatre groups are thinking that the crisis currently threatening to envelop the nation's symphony orchestras could never happen to them, they'd better think again, according to some arts leaders. The orchestral crisis came about because of "a lack of urgent government action in updating the way major arts companies are funded," an issue which could potentially affect the entire arts industry. Sydney Morning Herald 03/17/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 4:41 am
Wanted: A Better Case For the Arts England's arts advocates need to do a better job of selling themselves to the government. "Politicians seem embarrassed to be associated with the arts. The 'arm's-length' separating grants from government control has become very short indeed - 'almost Venus de Milo length', according to the new chairman of Arts Council England, Sir Christopher Frayling." Sydney Morning Herald 03/16/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:23 pm
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The Dark Side of Dr. Seuss You know of the sneeches and grinches and cats in the hat. But his long, long career was much wider than that. For the good Dr. Seuss may have been quite a wag, but he had a grown-up side that could make you gag. There's bare breasts and butts, propaganda galore, in the little-known films you can't buy in the store. San Francisco Chronicle 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 6:05 am
The Elusive Mind Of Sartre Jean-Paul Sartre would have turned 100 this year, and the anniversary is sparking renewed debate - both in France and the U.S. - concerning the philosopher's body of work, and whether or not he can still be considered relevant in a world which has passed by many of the ideas he embraced. "There is no underestimating Sartre's influence over French intellectual and political life for three decades after World War II. Indeed, many who grew up in his shadow, as supporters or opponents, are now among the politicians, intellectuals and journalists who shape public opinion here. And in that sense, traces of Sartrism still flow through the country's veins... What Sartrism actually means, though, is hard to pin down." The New York Times 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 5:29 am
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Seattle's Theatre Scene Wilting While Seattle's ACT Theatre has had well-publicized financial problems, "Intiman, Seattle’s other midsize theater, has been fighting for its life in private. It has an accumulated deficit of $800,000 and expects to add $150,000 to that this year. This midlevel crunch is the most dire sign of contraction in a theater scene once hailed among the nation’s most promising. The bedrock formed decades ago is showing serious cracks beneath the top layer. 'We’re not seeing this as a mecca of theater anymore. We’re losing our ability to keep master artists in the community. I see very few actors coming'." Tacoma News-Tribune 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 10:32 am
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Making the Mideast Safe For Literature The Middle East is not the easiest place to become a groundbreaking writer, with various forms of religious and government censorship always getting in the way of creative expression. But a new generation of Arab writers are challenging old modes of thinking, and taking on some long-standing taboos. Washington Post 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 6:19 am
Church Speaks Out Against Da Vinci Code The Catholic Church in Italy has spoken out against The Da Vinci Code. Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Archbishop of Genoa and a possible successor to the Pope, plans a series of debates on issues raised by the novel. "It astonishes and worries me that so many people believe these lies. The book is everywhere. There is a very real risk that many people who read it will believe that the fables it contains are true." CBC 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:32 pm
What Would Make People Buy More Books? A new research report offers some suggestions. "More than half of non-buyers say they would buy books if they became cheaper, and if they became more accessible. The research clearly shows that discounting expands the market, with cost the most quoted reason why non-buyers are rejecting books: 21% say new books are too expensive. The high-priced fiction hardback comes in for particular abuse from non, light and medium buyers. Supermarkets emerge with credit: more than half of all adults say they would buy more books if supermarkets stocked larger ranges." Bookseller 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:20 pm
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2004 A Banner Year For Family Flicks For the first time in two decades, "family-friendly" movies grossed more at the box office in 2004 than R-rated films. Whether this is an indication that Americans are moving away from more violent and sexually explicit content is up for debate, though, since 2004 happened to be an unusually strong year for animated films, not to mention that Harry Potter kid... St. Louis Post-Dispatch(AP) 03/16/05
Posted: 03/16/2005 6:00 am
Bollywood Actor Caught In Sex-For-Career Sting "Indian film makers called on Tuesday for a ban on actor Shakti Kapoor after he was filmed offering a woman help with her acting career in exchange for sex and later implying the practice was common." Back Stage 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:29 pm
State Of The Movie Biz Movie industry officials say the US movie industry is healthy. "2004's U.S. and Canadian ticket sales reached $9.54 billion, marking the third straight year they topped $9 billion. Admissions in the United States and Canada, or the number of people purchasing tickets, dipped slightly to 1.54 billion, but 2004 was the third consecutive year admissions topped 1.5 billion -- a number unseen since 1959. 'The bottom line is the industry is healthy. It's not radical growth, but the trends are positive'." Yahoo! (Reuters) 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:29 pm
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Sydney Dance Company On the Edge The Sydney Dance Company is on the verge of insolvency, and the company is fighting to save the jobs of half its dancers. The current deficit is more than $600,000 on an annual budget of only $1.56 million. "Unless new funding arrangements are secured in the next two weeks, its board will have to decide whether the company can continue." Sydney Morning Herald 03/15/05
Posted: 03/15/2005 9:22 pm
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