A row has broken out between the Arts Council of England and the Assembly Government of Wales over what the English see as an attempt to impose political controls on the Welsh Arts Council. The Welsh Assembly wants to begin funding the largest arts groups in Wales directly, rather than allowing the Arts Council to divide up grants, and assembly members recently forced out the chairman of the Arts Council, who was speaking out against the plan. The Assembly would reportedly like to abolish the Arts Council altogether, but lacks the legal authority to do so. Instead, the planned funding transition would effectively strip the council of nearly all of its functions, while leaving it technically intact.
Tag: 01.07.06
Mozart’s Vienna
Mozart’s 250th birthday is being celebrated worldwide, but predictably, no city is going quite as far as Mozart’s adopted hometown of Vienna. Born in Salzburg, the composer spent the bulk of his adult life in Austria’s capital city, and beginning later this month, there will be literally thousands of events dedicated to celebrating his legacy. Vienna has appointed an artistic director to coordinate events across the city, and some 80 new works have been commissioned in tribute to the master. More than 600 public concerts will be held in an effort to popularize the celebration, and the famous Albertina museum will unveil an exhaustive Mozart exhibit in March.
Mozart’s Screenwriter
Mozart’s operas are among the most celebrated in the repertoire. But as spectacular as the music they contain may be, half the secret to the success of works like The Marriage of Figaro and Don Giovanni may be the engaging characters and artfully woven storylines created by Mozart’s librettist, Lorenzo da Ponte. “A poet, priest and womaniser, who ended his days as a grocer, he also wrote the words to some of the greatest operas.”
Washington Ballet Rejects Mediation Offer
The current contract negotiations between Washington Ballet and its dancers could best be described as an extended meltdown, with both sides dug in and spouting vitriol at their opponent through the press. So it should have been a positive development last week when Michael Kaiser, president of Washington, D.C.’s Kennedy Center, offered to mediate the talks. Kaiser is widely respected in the arts world by both managers and performers, and he has stepped into the middle of more than one labor dispute with good results. But Washington Ballet’s management team wants nothing to do with mediation, saying that “we’re just not there yet.” A representative of the dancers, who have been out of work since mid-December, called the ballet’s rejection of Kaiser “asinine.”
Quick Lit, Direct To The Consumer
Every type of entertainment seems to be available on-demand these days, so why not literature? (Yes, yes, we know, books are technically an on-demand content delivery device, but just humor us.) One well-known Canadian author has launched an online subscription service for his work, e-mailing three stories per month directly to readers in exchange for an $8 annual fee. “The benefits to the author are obvious. In addition to the enforced deadlines and the built-in revenue stream (he makes about $275 a month, in addition to direct-marketed book sales and speaking engagements related to his subscription list), Rogers has found a way to overcome one of the most vexing problems faced by writers: launching their words into a void.”
Pittsburgh Museum Employee Claims Discrimination
“A former employee of the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum is suing the museum and its executive director, claiming she was harassed and faced racial and disability discrimination before being unlawfully dismissed. Yvonne Wilson, 56, was the executive assistant to museum head Jane Werner… Ms. Wilson claims she was fired Jan. 18, after her superior said she was insubordinate and hostile in the workplace.”
Fountain Freak-Out: Art or Vandalism?
“The Dada movement made its name in the early 20th century by trying to destroy the conventional notion of art. Taking literal inspiration from their exploits this week, a latter-day neo-Dadaist took a small hammer to Marcel Duchamp’s ‘Fountain,’ the factory-made urinal that is considered the cornerstone of Conceptual Art. The assailant, a French performance artist named Pierre Pinoncelli, was immediately arrested after his act of vandalism… The porcelain urinal was slightly chipped in the attack and was withdrawn to be restored… Mr. Pinoncelli, 77, who urinated into the same urinal and struck it with a hammer in a show in Nîmes in 1993, has a long record of organizing bizarre happenings. Police officials said he again called his action a work of art, a tribute to Duchamp and other Dada artists.”
Maybe They Can Watch Touched By An Angel Reruns Instead
When NBC television created its new Friday drama, The Book of Daniel, it was hoping to tap into the new mainstreaming of religion as entertainment that has done such great business for Disney (The Chronicles of Narnia) and Mel Gibson (The Passion of the Christ). Instead, NBC affiliates in markets heavy with evangelical Christians are refusing to air the show after receiving protest calls from religious right activists who do not appreciate the title character’s portrayal as a pill-popping Episcopal minister who believes that Jesus speaks directly to him. To date, four stations have pulled the show, with the largest affected market being Little Rock, Arkansas.
Aging Like A Fine Wine
Let’s face facts. Elaine Stritch is not exactly in her prime these days – her voice cracks, her intonation is off, and she sounds like every bit of her 80 years. But Stritch did not become a Broadway legend by vocal talent alone, and her magnificent stage presence and bravado is 100% intact. Furthermore, the aspects of her singing that always made her unique – her use of silence and her special way of delivering lyrics – could be used as a primer for aspiring theatrical singers.
Art Borne Of Sickness
Moscow’s 1200-bed Children’s Clinical Hospital has quietly become an international pioneer in the field of art therapy, simply by encouraging its young patients to engage their creativity, even as they struggle through batteries of tests and exhausting medical treatments. Now, a Russian foundation is displaying the art created by the young patients in a space normally reserved for “serious” art. “The artworks, which include elaborate beadwork, went on display at the Russian Abroad Foundation, a gleaming new library and research and cultural center that is the creation of Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn and was built with the backing of Moscow’s mayor.”