Category: issues

• Two new studies of the arts and culture in New Zealand promise the radical reshaping of the country’s creative industries. “There’s a culture of ignorance in the media. You can’t tell me that 88,000 people [the number of New Zealanders employed in the cultural sector] work entirely without effect.” – New Zealand Herald

Been reading those stories about how buying concert tickets online beats the traditional TicketMaster experience? Read on: “Fans are complaining they are being charged for tickets that never arrive, that they can’t track their orders online, and that it is extremely difficult to find a way to communicate their situations with the ticket-selling giant.” – Wired

Everyone, it seems, decries suburban sprawl. From the McHouse architecture to the sterile streetlife, the ‘burbs make an easy target. But “for all the scorn that’s heaped on the suburbs – and especially on subdivisions of nearly identical houses on the fringe of metropolitan areas – people like living there. And not just middle-class drones either.” – Weekly Standard

Cleveland? Yes Cleveland. – Boston Globe

In the US, philosophies about learning have polarized;on the one hand there are those who believe in the “Great Books” idea, following Western culture. On the other, there are those who believe in the multicultural approach. From a teacher working in Singapore, the conclusion that: “these two desiderata do not necessarily conflict in practice. One can be a proponent of Great Works and a multiculturalist – even a radical multiculturalist, to the point that the curriculum is determined by the scholarly traditions of all ethnic groups in the classroom.” – Dissent

Plans to erect a statue of Franklin Delano Roosevelt sitting in a wheel chair stir controversy in Washington DC. – Washington Post

Three weeks into their strike, morale among members of the Screen Actors Guild is high – and commercial producers seem to be getting their message. More than 500 interim agreements have already been signed, guaranteeing union members pay-per-play compensation during productions shot during the strike. “We’ve done picket lines all week long … Everybody’s pumped up.” – Backstage

Minnesota arts lover Governor Jesse Ventura vetoed a $3 million allocation passed by the state legislature for the Guthrie Theater’s new $75 million home in Minneapolis. An override of the veto seems unlikely. – The Star Tribune (Minneapolis)

As the £134.5 million Tate Modern opened to wild acclaim last week, other London arts venues, including the South Bank Centre and Royal Opera House, have been struggling to meet development goals. Why isn’t the funding boom felt by all arts institutions alike? “The term ‘arts community’ is a callous misnomer. The performing arts, in Britain and most other places, are shackled by a stifling self-interest that prevents collaboration, communication and common decency.” – The Telegraph (UK)

South Korean filmmakers call for an international coalition to break the domination of Hollywood internationally. They “urged governments to resist what they say is the United States’ attempts to use free trade treaties to expand the reach of American movies,” echoing sentiments expressed last week in Cannes by French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. – CBC