Tag: 01.08.20

Can An Artist-In-Residence Really Transform A Big-City DA’s Office? This One Means To Try

Muralist James “Yaya” Hough, 44, was released last year after 27 years in prison, and within a few months he was hired for the new artist-in-residence position in the office of reformist Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner. “Hough told Hyperallergic that he was looking to program workshops that will foster conversations between the DA’s 600 or so employees, survivors of crimes, and those currently serving time in the criminal justice system.” – Hyperallergic

Adversarial Argument Might Not Serve Philosophical Debate

The lack of progress in adversarial philosophical exchange might rest on a simple but problematic division of labour: in professional settings such as talks, seminars and papers, we standardly criticise others’, rather than our own, views. At the same time, we clearly risk our reputation much more when proposing an idea rather than criticising it. This systematically disadvantages proponents of (new) ideas. – Aeon

Pakistani Authorities Paid No Mind To This Satirical Novel When It Was In English. Now That It’s In Urdu, They’re Confiscating It

“First published, in English, in 2008, [Mohammed Hanif’s] A Case of Exploding Mangoes is a dark satire about the possible reasons for the death of [dictator] General Zia [ul-Haq] in a plane crash in 1988. Featuring bumbling generals and homosexual romance, it was shortlisted for the Guardian first book award, longlisted for the Booker and won the Commonwealth prize for best first novel.” The Urdu translation of the novel has just been released, and men claiming to be from the Pakistani military spy agency ISI raided the Karachi offices of the book’s publisher, seized all the copies, and demanded a list of booksellers who had ordered it. – The Guardian

A Conservative Director Takes Over A Leading Polish Contemporary Art Museum And Aims To Change Its Politics

Artists are expected to make work about fighting climate change and fascism, or promoting gay rights, Piotr Bernatowicz says. “Artists who do not adopt this ideology are marginalized,” he said. Bernatowicz wants to change that and promote artists who have other views: conservative, patriotic, pro-family. His plans are transforming the museum into the latest battleground in Poland’s culture wars, which pit liberals against the governing populist Law and Justice Party, as well as other conservative groups. – The New York Times

‘One Of The Cleverest And Most Successful White-Collar Criminals In The History Of This State’: Broadway Producer Adela Holzer Dead At 90-Something

She had two hits onstage (Murray Schisgal’s All About Town and Terrence McNally’s The Ritz) and numerous flops, adoring profiles in The New York Times and People magazine, three criminal trials, a total of 14 years in prison, Roy Cohn for a lawyer and Jean Harris for a cellmate, and a mountain of Ponzi schemes, fraudulent businesses, and lies (not least her age). – The New York Times

First Glimpse Of Treasures In 15th-Century Emperor’s Tomb

“The sepulchre of Frederick (Friedrich) III, emperor from 1452 until his death in 1493, the greatest monument in Vienna’s cathedral of St Stephen’s, in the city’s historic centre, has been shown to contain his enamelled gilded crown and imperial regalia.” And this has been revealed without opening the tomb, whose cover weights eight tons. – The Art Newspaper

Smithsonian To Release Series Of Comic Books On American History

“One series will include books for middle-school readers inspired by Time Trials, a set of videos from the National Museum of American History that introduces figures from the past, like the traitor Benedict Arnold and the abolitionist John Brown, and encourages the audience to discuss their actions. Other series will draw upon the cultural and scientific knowledge of the Smithsonian.” The project is a partnership with IDW Publishing, which has already produced graphic memoirs by Congressman John Lewis (about the civil rights movement) and George Takei (about his family’s time in a World War II internment camp). – The New York Times