Category: issues

Seven years after it was proposed, a bill designed to protect the basic rights of artists awaits approval by the Australian Senate this month. “The bill contains three basic rights: the right to attribution, the right against false attribution, and – the most contentious – the right to integrity. This would allow artists to protest against ‘derogatory’ treatment of their work – a book published with a chapter removed, for example, or a painting hung in the wrong position.” Sounds great, but film and television groups have already expressed concern that the bill might discourage industry investment, and writers fear they’ll lose the modest bargaining power they already possess. – The Age (Melbourne) 11/13/00

“There simply is no clear evidence of any dumbing down except by the most crude and irrelevant criteria. The accusation is the final gasp of an upper-class male elite and their co-optees. They took it on themselves to define the distinction between high and popular culture and then police its boundaries. They were the high priests guarding the purity of the canon of cultural tradition. Even the language – high, low, low brow – demonstrates the snobbish elitism used to buttress their position of power. They’ve lost that, and now they’ve lost the debate.” – The Guardian 11/13/00

Shanghai’s artists are vying to recapture the city’s pre-Communist reputation as a thriving international art center – the “Paris of the East,” as it was internationally known before the Cultural Revolution. One problem: government authorities would rather showcase high-budget imports like the recent 3000-cast member “Aida” rather than allow exhibits of the controversial art of China’s politically conscious youth. – The Age (Melbourne) (AFP) 11/13/00

Last month the director of London’s Barbican criticized his fellow arts institutions for the manner in which they were run. Now another arts leader has turned on his colleagues. “It used to be unknown for subsidised institutions to condemn each other.” But now, “with the attacks now coming from within, the pressure will be on the notoriously non-interventionist Culture Secretary Chris Smith to take a closer interest in the performance of national institutions.” – The Independent (UK) 11/12/00

“Sleep is the least desired effect of orchestras, ballet companies, theatre troupes and opera ensembles; nevertheless, it is a common phenomenon in concert halls and theatres everywhere. Many of showbiz’s most influential powerbrokers are well-known shut-eye artists. Afterward, when they go backstage to congratulate the cast, they can truthfully say, ‘Your performance tonight was invigorating’.” – National Post (Canada) 11/11/00

In Winnipeg, Canada “children are breaking open their piggy banks, seniors are dropping off $20 bills and well-heeled Winnipeggers are brandishing their chequebooks so the city can buy the large oval-shaped painting of A. A. Milne’s famous bear, honey pot in paw, at Sotheby’s auction house in London next week.” Winnie was inspired by a black bear bought in Ontario in 1914 and named after the buyer’s hometown of Winnipeg.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada) 11/11/00

A new show tries to trace the beginnings of America’s art critics. “The stirring story of this development — at least, the New York part of it — is told by the academy in an entertaining hodgepodge of a show, ‘Rave Reviews: American Art and Its Critics, 1826- 1925,’ described as the “first comprehensive historical examination of American art criticism.” – New York Times 11/10/00

Who are these movie critics who always have hyperbolic quotes to fling at even the trashiest sorry lot of a movie? “What I need to know is this: what do the critics get out of this? Is it just about getting one’s name in the paper? Can it be that simple and stupid? I suspect it can…” – The Guardian 11/10/00

“More than 95 percent of European men today descended from just 10 possible male ancestors, a new genetic study shows. Each of these father figures took part in one of three separate migrations that eventually populated the European continent.” – Discovery 11/10/00

“A new British poll on film censorship suggests four out of five viewers would rather censor their own viewing, rather than watch poorly cut films. The study, Making Sense of Censorship, found that three quarters of those surveyed thought cuts in movies shown on television were the least appropriate methods of controlling content.” – BBC 11/09/00