Author: Matthew Westphal

Defendants In Trial For Theft Of African Art Turn Spotlight Back On French Colonizers

“[Mwazulu] Diyabanza, along with four associates, stood accused of attempting to steal a 19th-century African funeral pole from the Quai Branly Museum in Paris in mid-June, as part of an action to protest colonial-era cultural theft and seek reparations. But it was Wednesday’s emotionally charged trial that gave real resonance to Mr. Diyabanza’s struggle, as a symbolic defendant was called to the stand: France, and its colonial track record.” – The New York Times

How Convincing AI-Written Text Could Screw Up The Entire News Ecosystem

“With A.I.-generated writing able to fool many readers, disinformation-as-a-service will become possible, eliminating the need for human-staffed ‘troll farms.’ … [Software like GPT-3] could enable what sociologist Zeynep Tufekci calls ‘modern censorship’ — information campaigns that harass, confuse, and sow mistrust with the goal of undermining individual agency and political action.” – Slate

Six Months Into Pandemic, Performing Arts Orgs Reeling As Revenue Keeps Shrinking

Among the findings in “COVID-19 and the Performing Arts – Six Months After Closure,” the fourth report from TRG Arts on the effects of the coronavirus shutdown, are that ticket revenues are down more than 80% from last year in North America and the UK and that individual donations have fallen by a quarter in North America but by almost two-thirds in Britain. – TRG Arts

Antiquities Smuggling Is A Smaller Problem Than Many Think: Customs Report

“Despite reports from some officials that have characterized the illicit trade in antiquities as a multi-billion-dollar industry and the third largest black market after the drugs and arms trades, the new [World Customs Organization] report reveals that the scale is much more modest. In fact, cultural heritage crime is so minor compared with other risk categories globally that it barely registers on Customs’ radar.” – Artnet

Baritone Mariusz Kwiecień, 47, Retires From Singing Effective Immediately

For more than 20 years he sang the lyric baritone repertory at the world’s top opera companies, with Mozart’s Don Giovanni a specialty. But, before the lockdown, he had been canceling appearances frequently, and he continued to do so as opera production restarted in Europe this summer and fall. Now he has revealed that, due to persistent back problems, he has ended his performing career and been named artistic director at the opera house in Wrocław, Poland. – OperaWire

Sofiane Sylve Had Just Started Jobs Leading Two Ballet Companies When The Pandemic Hit

“Departing her post as a principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet, she embarked on a multifaceted, bicontinental career as ballet master and principal dancer at Dresden Semperoper Ballett, and artistic advisor and school director at Ballet San Antonio — and then COVID-19 hit, sidelining performances and administrative plans at both companies. But ballet dancers are nothing if not resilient. In her new leadership roles, Sylve is determined to help shepherd ballet through this challenging time — and transform it for the better.” – Pointe Magazine

Trust

Crazy-making. So much so that, of course, it’s hard to concentrate on issues around community engagement. Even so, occasionally something bubbles up that returns me to my CE thinking. One such instance was a New York Times article, “How to Actually Talk to Anti-Maskers.” – Doug Borwick

Event for Jasper

Happy 90th birthday, Jasper Johns! Many thanks for sharing your present with who knows how many thousands of people. It’s entirely appropriate that the “gift,” titled Event2 for Jasper Johns, began and ended with James Klosty’s 1969 photograph One Way to Dry a Leotard (Johns’s Flag painting with a leotard hooked over one of its corners). – Deborah Jowitt