“These artefacts belong to me, because I am African and Congolese. But also because I am a descendant of Ntumba Mvemba, one of the royal families that founded the Kingdom of Kongo in 1390. … People have to understand that if someone stole their heritage they would react as I am now. Many of my ancestors died protecting these items: they were beheaded. … Their pain is inside me.” – The Guardian
Author: Matthew Westphal
France’s Anti-Colonialist Art Thief-Activist Acquitted On Free-Speech Grounds
Mwazulu Diyabanza and three accomplices were found not guilty of attempted theft by a judge at Marseille’s High Court over a July 30 incident in which the four men took a ceremonial ivory spear from its perch in the city’s Museum of African, Oceanic, and Amerindian Arts, carried the object to the museum’s courtyard, denounced the “plunder” of African art by European colonials during the 19th and 20th centuries, and awaited the arrival of the police. – Artnet
Relax and enjoy the show
Though we would all rather have the option of being able to gather together to see performances and exhibitions, there are real benefits of the relaxed atmosphere of watching from home, the power of which should not be underestimated. Here are a few tangible ways that our current mode of arts participation makes for a satisfying arts experience. – Hannah Grannemann
An -ing Life
You needn’t be old when you’re old. Sure, don’t trip, fall, break. But your brain was wrinkled when it was born, and eyeballs water and cry just like before. This particular flesh package squirms through, or tries, tossing waiting and dreading and with cooking and writing. With loving, as well. – Jeff Weinstein
Baryshnibot: Ballerina Physicist Invents Ideal Dance Partner For Quarantine
A few weeks after the lockdown started back in March, Merritt Moore — who danced with ballet companies in Oslo, London and Boston before getting a Ph.D. in physics from Oxford — hit on the idea of using a robot as a partner for dance training while in isolation. So she ordered an industrial model and started programming it to do 15-second ballets with her for TikTok and Instagram. The pair has since racked up about 15 million views. (And yes, the machine’s name, which was crowdsourced, is Baryshnibot. The runner-up choice was Roboto Bolle.) – Pointe Magazine
Australia Gets Ready To Restart Live Performance As (Almost) Normal
“Live performance venues and events will be allowed to reach capacity of up to 75% in states that have recorded no new locally acquired coronavirus cases in 14 days. … In what has been labelled the ‘Covid normal’ of the near future, indoor events and seated outdoor events will still be ticketed only, and additional restrictions will still apply to large-scale multi-day outdoor music festivals.” – The Guardian
Character Dance Used To Be An Integral Part Of Ballet, And Just As Popular. What Happened To It?
“Most full-length classical ballets feature several character dances — troupes of dancing peasants, parades of visiting princesses. Today, those dances are often seen as ‘filler,’ interludes to give the principals a breather between classical variations. But back in the 19th century, … character dances had deep cultural significance. … (Picture a Paris opera house full of cheering crowds, demanding multiple encores after their favorite star performs a knockout mazurka.) How did something that used to be so popular, and once provided critical context, fade from prominence?” Nicole Loeffler-Gladstone gives an overview of the history. – Dance Spirit
Hallmark Has Been Broadcasting Christmas Shows Since Before Halloween — And It’s Ruling Cable TV With Them
“What’s most striking about Hallmark’s continued yuletide success is that the network hasn’t suffered the same ratings erosion as most of its cable peers. … It’s harder than ever to get holiday TV commercials in front of holiday viewers, but Hallmark is still doing so with relative ease.” – Vulture
Artist-Mathematician Anthony Hill Dead At 90
“An artist under two names, and a mathematician and writer under more than one alias, he was a member of the constructionist group of geometrical abstract artists that emerged in Britain in the mid-1950s, and was its leading theoretician.” – The Guardian
Most Musicians Earn Tiny Pittances From Streaming. China May Have A Solution
“On several streaming platforms under the umbrella of China’s Tencent Music … micropayments from fans help compensate artists where royalties fall short. This has partially allowed artists to do some smaller-scale hustling every time they release a new album. In part it’s given them a digital tip jar. But it hasn’t been all small change. … [And] there’s no reason why Tencent Music’s model can’t be applied beyond China.” – Slate