Category: issues

Despite public outcry, shoddy attendance, and the dissenting opinions of 64 MPs, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has defended the UK government’s decision to pump £29m into the Millennium Dome. – BBC

Israel’s architecture exhibit at the upcoming Venice Biennale attempts to answer the beguiling question: What, exactly, is a city? “In curator Hillel Schocken’s view, modern urban planning has been an utter failure; not one successful city was created in the 20th century. He proposes a new definition of the city, one that fulfills the idea of intimate anonymity.” – Haaretz (Israel)

• “What has hurt Latino and black efforts to pressure the industry is that these minority organizations have lost credibility. We hear about [television viewer] boycotts, and these boycotts aren’t even conducted during [ratings] sweeps week. Or we hear about a press conference where Latinos are going to boycott a show, and the Nielsen ratings don’t reflect a drop in viewership.” – Los Angeles Times

UK Arts Minster Alan Howarth has selected a panel of experts to examine ways to crack down on Britain’s growing black market for smuggled art and antiquities. An estimated £500 million is laundered every year through the sale of looted artifacts from the Middle East and Africa, all of which can then be legally bought and sold in the UK. – Ananova

London’s Millennium Dome has been at the center of controversy since the day it was built. The latest stir: the Dome was given an extra £29 million from the National Lottery this week on condition that its chairman resign. He did, and then MPs protested the government’s earlier promise that no further public funds would be advanced to the Dome. – The Telegraph (UK)

As Boston contemplates an enormous new waterfront development, artists wonder why there has been so little discussion of how the arts might fit in to it. “We have heard very little about the arts in this process. We have not been able to sustain a dialogue about the arts in this community.” – Boston Herald

A new study of movie violence published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that a “G” rating doesn’t guarantee no violence. “G”-rated movies “averaged 9.5 minutes of violence, with the 1998 King Arthur tale ‘Quest for Camelot’ topping the list with 24 minutes of violence, or almost 30% of the movie.” – Los Angeles Times

“The amount of cinematic violence–ranging from body blows to swordplay to gunshots–so alarmed researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health that they recommended that the Motion Picture Association of America consider changing its age-based rating system to one that provides specific warnings about a movie’s content.” – Washington Post

A former journalist has gone on a crusade to “give philosophy back to the people.” He says for too long philosophy as an art has been locked behind the walls of academia. – Feed 

Even though South Carolina will take down the Confederate flag above its statehouse June 1, a boycott of Charleston’s Spoleto Festival is being felt. Ticket sales are down and some artists won’t be attending.   “The arts generally are another way of addressing social questions, and ultimately a more effective way than politics,” said festival general director Nigel Redden. “Not hearing artists is an immense loss, and one I personally feel is extremely painful.” – The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) (AP)