The British government’s Dome Minister (yes, we kid you not, there’s a Dome Minister) charges that there is an effort in the media to sabotage the success of the Millennium Dome. It is, he says, a great popular success among the everyday people. – BBC
How come when there’s a parting of the ways among leadership of a cultural organization, everyone wants to pretend nothing happened? “If you’re looking for elitism in the arts, you’ll find it in the way arts organizations want to be perceived as a vital part of our everyday lives yet want to maintain the illusion that they’re something separate from it: separate from politics, from money, from ego, from debate, from change. If they think they can do that forever, they’re kidding themselves – and us.” – Boston Herald
As World War II was coming to a close, staffers of the Library of Congress fanned out in Germany scouring Nazi book collections and picking out volumes for the Washington library – more than 1 million of them. Now – 55 years later – the US army captain in charge of the mission says that many of the books taken had been looted from Jewish homes, libraries or synagogues by the Nazis, and that these books are sitting unacknowledged on the shelves of the Library of Congress and other American libraries. – Washington Post
Is that any way to party for the new millennium? As international TV coverage of New Year’s parties from world capitals rolled on, Canada’s capital was absent. Now complaints about the New Year’s Eve show on Parliament Hill have been pouring in from people who found the spectacle “pathetic” and an “embarrassment.” “Accustomed to the usual $2-million Canada Day spectacular, they got a half-price special.” – Ottawa Citizen
“For a city of around 3.5 million souls, the sheer volume of cultural life is staggering: eight symphony orchestras, numerous choirs, chamber orchestras and three major opera houses, not to mention myriad theatres, museums, galleries and festival organizations.” All of which makes for a splendid cultural scene. But behind it all, the arts world is in chaos – it all costs money and Berlin is spectacularly broke. – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
Since the city’s cultural commissioner resigned a year ago, the local arts community has been without an advocate in government. “This is a critical time for artists,” says one critic. Major development plans for the city are being completed without input from artists. – Boston Herald
— in the digital age explained. Ease of digital copies a good excuse to revisit international laws. – Le Monde Diplomatique
There’s a backlash against everything else – why not irony too? But it’s hardly likely. “If irony isn’t literally wired into the human brain, it seems an inevitable response to the human condition.” Newsweek
Enormous storms that have swept across Europe in the past week have damaged French monuments to the tune of $90 million. CBC
London will see an unprecedented new array of lottery-funded arts buildings built in the new year. Prepare to be transformed. London Telegraph
