Where The Population Is Declining World population growth is a big problem. But "forty-three of the 193 nations around the world will register a decline in population by 2050. Russia's population is expected to decline by a staggering 31 million, from 143 million people to 112 million people. Alcohol is one of the main factors contributing to this decline, primarily among men. It is accountable for the world's largest life expectancy gap between men and women in any country. On average, Russian men can expect to live only to the age of 55." Boston Globe 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:39 am
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Chihuly Lawsuit Poses Ownership Questions A lawsuit brought by glass artist Dale Chihuly against a former employee raises "intriguing questions about what makes any artist's work unique, what qualifies as inspiration and what defines a mere knock-off." The ex-employee's dealer "expects the suit to cost him $1.6 million. He says the suit already has cost him a lot of business, including a cancelled deal with Costco stores to produce a special line of sea shapes for $550 a pop." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 12:12 pm
Group: Canadian Museums Are Endangered "Canada is in danger of losing several of its museums because of a funding freeze that has lasted 34 years, says the Canadian Museums Association." The situation has been brought about, the association says, by a funding freeze that has lasted 34 years... CBC 07/15/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:31 am
Curators Association Protests Brooklyn Museum Reorganization Plan The Association of Art Museum Curators is objecting to the Brooklyn Museum's plan to reorganize its curatorial departments. The group says that "the new structure 'undermines the traditional vocation of the curator-as-scholar whose commitment to a particular collection renders him or her uniquely qualified to make recommendations regarding its care and interpretation.' The plan, which has been criticized by some curators at other museums and within the Brooklyn Museum itself, 'raises issues that are central to the health of art museums in North America, and in fact, throughout the world'." The New York Times 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:21 am
At The Met - Pay What You Want To Enter (Really?) So the Metropolitan Museum's admission is going up to $20. But it's just a "suggested" donation, and in truth, you can pay whatever you want. But is social pressure at the ticket window to pay the full fare enough to preclude paying less? A Times reporter goes to ticket windows with a roll of quarters to find out... The New York Times 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:05 am
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Atlanta Opera Quits City, Moves To Suburbs "Beginning in fall 2007, it will make the new arts center's 2,750-seat Williams Theatre its home. The move is historic: It marks the first time a major-city opera company will leave its established location within a city and move all its performances to a suburb, according to Opera America, a service organization based in New York. And though metro Atlanta's reputation may be that of one large, sprawling landmass, for the opera, being in Cobb County could present an uncertain bundle of financial, sociological and political ramifications." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 12:08 pm
- Atlanta Opera Cuts Back Programming, Sells Headquarters The company will "sell its Midtown headquarters for $4 million and make significant cutbacks in its programming. The moves will allow the 27-year-old opera company to pay off its $2.85 million debt and trim back its annual budget by $1 million. The actions come on the heels of its historic decision last month to move its performances from Midtown's Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center to the new Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre in 2007." Atlanta Journal-Constitution 07/13/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 12:04 pm
Why Opera Languishes In Boston "Twice in the past, Boston has arrived at the top level of international opera, with a combination of adventurous repertoire, major singers, and theatrically exciting productions. This occurred early in the 20th century at the old Boston Opera House on Huntington Avenue, and later on with the late Sarah Caldwell. But this can't even be a goal nowadays for two basic reasons: There isn't the money for it because of competition for funding with older and more prestigious arts organizations such as the BSO. And there isn't a suitable venue." Boston Globe 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:35 am
Man Hears/Records Songs Of The Dead A Canadian fiddler claims he hears music written by dead people. "Holed up in his trailer in Inverness, Cape Breton, the 81-year-old master fiddler pens 10 to 15 tunes a day, often hunched over his kitchen table. By his own count — and he keeps a daily tally on small sheets of paper — he has produced 33,300 compositions, but he still balks at publishing them, saying he hasn't yet reached his personal goal of 35,000. Yet MacDougall insists he's not creating art; he's simply recording history. 'It's from the people who lived here before ... they could make [songs], but they couldn't write them'." The Globe & Mail (Canada) 07/15/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 10:59 am
Building Homes For Musicians In New Orleans Volunteers are building a housing village in New Orleans for musicians. "The housing program is run by Habitat for Humanity. Saxophone player Branford Marsalis and singer Harry Connick Jr., honorary chairmen of the charity's Gulf Coast rebuilding program, dreamed up the idea to encourage musicians to move into one area. The group bought a vacant lot formerly owned by the city school board and is using its army of volunteers — about 3,000 of them so far — to build 75 homes. It plans another 225 houses elsewhere in the neighborhood." Yahoo! (AP) 07/15/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 10:56 am
The CD Audience Gets Grayer "The neighborhood record store was once a clubhouse for teenagers, a place to escape parents, burn allowances and absorb the latest trends in fashion as well as music. But these days it is fast becoming a temple of nostalgia for shoppers old enough to remember 'Frampton Comes Alive!' In the era of iTunes and MySpace, the customer base that still thinks of recorded music as a physical commodity (that is, a CD), as opposed to a digital file to be downloaded, is shrinking and aging, further imperiling record stores already under pressure from mass-market discounters like Best Buy and Wal-Mart." New York Times 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 10:50 am
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Some Claim The Love's Out Of Berlin's Loveparade The history of Berlin's "Loveparade is the stuff of myth, as documented in countless guidebooks and Web sites. The first Loveparade, in July 1989, was actually staged as a political demonstration, and it attracted a crowd of about 150. Over time the parade grew and grew, the number of attendees skyrocketing for more than a decade. According to the Loveparade Web site (loveparade.net), the event has had more than 8.8 million visitors since its creation and has attracted some of the world’s most famous D.J.’s." But changes this year have some of the original organizers protesting. The New York Times 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:25 am
Massachusetts Overrides Governor, Approves Arts Infrastructure Aid Last week the Massachusetts legislature approved millions in funding for improving and repairing arts infrastructure. "The groups surveyed said they needed about $1.1 billion to repair, expand, or construct buildings in the next five years. Governor Romney vetoed the $13 million for the fund this summer, but this week the House and Senate decisively overrode his veto. 'This is not the Legislature saying, 'Hey, we want better ballet on stage. It's saying, 'We want these cultural resources improved as the infrastructure for tourism.' " Boston Globe 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:15 am
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Netherlands Goes Nuts For Rembrandt On His 400th Birthday "The town of Leiden hosted a festival where 17th-Century food and drink was served at restaurants and entertainers performed street theatre. In Amsterdam, some of Rembrandt's most famous masterpieces have been put on display. Saturday also saw the opening night of the quirky Rembrandt the Musical at Amsterdam's Royal Theatre Carre." BBC 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:28 am
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Thinking About It (The Real Theatre) On London Stages this summer the interior side of acting is on show. "In a season rich with A-list actors giving bright external life to the shadows of the human mind, it is often — more than anything that is actually done or even said — the thought that counts." The New York Times 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 12:33 pm
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What's A Memoir Without Some Pain And Suffering? "Contemporary memoirs tend to be either convalescent or nostalgic in mood. Suffering produces meaning. Life is what happens to you, not what you do. Victim and hero are one. Hence the preponderance of memoirs having to do with mental illness, sexual and other violence, drug and alcohol addiction, bad parents and/or mad or missing loved ones." The New York Times 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 12:31 pm
The Essence Of The Literary Magazine "Where indeed in the independent 'little' literary magazines does the pleasure lie? The exercise of judgment, the settling of scores, the advocacy or the pillorying of the new: each magazine has an area of rhetorical specialism, a politics, and advances or counters the interests of a movement or a generation. In the past three decades, which magazines have made a substantial mark, a difference, a contribution?" The Guardian (UK) 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 12:23 pm
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A&E Channel - Our Own Definition Of "A" In recent years it's been hard to find the "arts" in the A&E cable channel. Not so, says A&E's chief programmer: "I would completely refute that. I think they're absolutely about the arts and culture and pop culture. You look at this country and 50%, [a] huge chunk of the population belongs to gyms even if they don't go to them. It's a huge focus on bodies and exercise and getting fit, and I think absolutely this is representative of our culture. We're getting at it from a sort of particular angle and following, you know, personalities here, but that's absolutely about representing the arts and culture. So, yes, it's — you know, we're not focusing on the traditional arts, but I think both these series are going inside the creative process." Los Angeles Times 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 11:18 am
Boston's WBUR Kills Arts Criticism Boston public radio station WBUR is dropping its arts reviews. The station is "eliminating its online arts magazine, Arts Scene, and with it the position held by editor and arts critic Bill Marx. The station has, however, added a full-time arts reporter, Andrea Shea. Arts criticism will be phased out by the end of the summer. 'It was a good service for people who really like in-depth criticism and commentary in the arts. There's a role for that, it just isn't completely tied into what our main mission is'." Boston Globe 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 10:53 am
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Choreographers Of The World's Most-Seen Dance Rich and Tone Talauega are "two of the most sought-after choreographers for television commercials, which makes them two of the most important and influential choreographers in the world: in the course of just 30 seconds, their work will reach millions of people, far more than ever see even the most successful theatrical dance production. And for their labors they’re paid far more than a theatrical production could manage: upwards of $3,000 a day." The New York Times 07/16/06
Posted: 07/16/2006 12:26 pm
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