“A geological engineering company said Monday it has agreed to help in an archaeological project to find the island of Ithaca, homeland of Homer’s legendary hero Odysseus. It has long been thought that the island of Ithaki in the Ionian Sea was the island Homer used as a setting for the epic poem ‘The Odyssey,’ in which the king Odysseus makes a perilous 10-year journey home from the Trojan War.”
Author: Laura Collins Hughes
Debate Trails “Rachel Corrie” To Her Home State
“Like any proud parents, Cindy and Craig Corrie eagerly anticipate the local debut of a play about their daughter. But the Corries are also bracing for backlash. … No one is shouting yet at Seattle Repertory Theatre, where the West Coast debut of ‘My Name is Rachel Corrie’ is now in previews and opens Wednesday. But quietly, offstage, the debate re-emerges with the production of the solo play based on Corrie’s e-mails and diary entries, some of which express her political concerns.”
Roof Collapses At Alberta Museum
If Monday morning had gone as planned, the Prairie Art Gallery would have been “filled with visitors, staff and a pre-school class filled with 20 children. But early in the morning, curator Robert Steven noticed one of the central roof beams had cracked and water was trickling into the south end of the building. … It was moments after city workers left the building after checking out what was going on that a third of the roof sagged and smashed to the floor.”
Capturing Dance On Camera — Slowly
“Dance photography may seem like a logical endeavor, but it represents an incompatible dichotomy: Dance is motion, photography is stillness. No matter how talented the photographer or how beautiful the dancers, the art forms are inherently at odds.” Photographer David Michalek has found a way to reconcile them.
For Philanthropist’s Centennial, A Global Celebration
The late philanthropist Paul Mellon gave $218 million and 900 pictures to the National Gallery of Art. “‘We thought of bringing them all together, but we couldn’t,’ said director Earl A. ‘Rusty’ Powell III. ‘There’d have been nothing left in the galleries.'” The museum, which is mounting a Boudin show instead, is one of 19 institutions around the world marking Mellon’s centennial this year.
This Side Up: Getty Packs Wreath For Journey Home
“Fourteen years after the J. Paul Getty Museum purchased a 4th century BC Greek funerary wreath for $1.15 million from a Swiss art dealer, 17 months after the Greek government formally demanded its return and eight months after the museum agreed to do so, the delicate gold headpiece is about to go home.” Packing the fragile treasure for the voyage has been an adventure in itself….
In Shift, Broadway Producers Oppose Scalping Laws
“A trade association representing Broadway theaters and producers is doing an about-face and now wants state officials to dismantle the laws that limit the resale of tickets to musicals, plays, concerts and other events. … Gerald Schoenfeld, chairman of the League of American Theaters and Producers, said that ticket prices ‘would probably not skyrocket’ if the limits were lifted and that Internet sales had helped make it almost impossible to enforce the current law.”
Want To Learn Chinese? How’s Your Pitch?
“Anyone who has tried to learn Chinese can attest to how hard it is to master the tones required to speak and understand it. And anyone who has tried to learn to play the violin or other instruments can report similar challenges. Now researchers have found that people with musical training have an easier time learning Chinese” because “both skills draw on parts of the brain that help people detect changes in pitch.”
Walker Art Center Director Resigns
“Kathy Halbreich, who greatly expanded the role of the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis as a risk-taking multidisciplinary institution that is a model for contemporary art museums around the world, said yesterday that she was retiring after 16 years as director. … She will leave the post in November.”
Britain Reexamines Its Slave-Trade Past
Two centuries after it abolished slavery, Britain is putting the spotlight on its “deep engagement in the slave trade in earlier centuries and the fundamental role this played in forging the nation’s wealth and power. With the support of the government and a $20 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, national museums and community groups across Britain have begun re-examining what a new exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London calls these ‘Uncomfortable Truths.'”