Fleeing A Country To Find Privacy – And Artistic Freedom

Writer Xiaolu Gua: “I think of my parents as slaves of industrialisation – the state had its ambitions, and it completely shaped family life. There was no private or personal space. My mother worked from six in the morning until midnight. I had a connection with my father, but neither of my parents had much emotion to give to their family.”

Top AJBlogs For The Weekend Of 01.15.17

 

This Week in Audience: The Arts As A Lens On The World

This Week: A philanthropic might make more sense for your audience… Should you feel guilty watching big-screen movies on your phone?… Seeing your art as a lens on the world… Does putting opera on … read more
AJBlog: AJ Arts AudiencePublished 2017-01-15

Art Errors: Steve Cohen Evades Not Only the Feds, But Also the New Yorker’s Fact-Checkers
When I read the art-related passages in the New Yorker‘s Total Return: When the feds went after a hedge-fund legend (aka Steve Cohen, the mega-collector ), all I could think of was: Where are the … read more

AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2017-01-13
Almanac: Jon Hassler on the harmony and chaos of live theater
“You know what’s so fascinating about plays, Chris? It’s making harmony out of chaos. You start with a bunch of mismatched actors and an empty stage and an auditorium with five hundred empty seats … read more
AJBlog: About Last NightPublished 2017-01-13
‘American Porn’ for Inauguration Day

Thin Man Press, 2017On the day Twitter Fingers is sworn in asel presidente of the tin-pot United States of Trumpistan, enabling him to run the country as part of his family-held business, Thin Man Pressread more
AJBlog: Straight|UpPublished 2017-01-12
Good News for the New Year: Reinstallation of the Getty Villa

If you’re down in the dumps about Trump, or just coping with some post-holiday blues, I’m making an effort this month to perk you up with something atypical of the hypercritical CultureGrrl—good news. I’ll start … read more
AJBlog: CultureGrrlPublished 2017-01-12

Are Hateful Trump Tweets Powering Book And Other Sales For Those Attacked?

Yep. Rep. John Lewis, an icon of the Civil Rights Movement, said he wouldn’t go to the Inauguration – which earned him, and his town, Atlanta, harsh tweets from the president-elect. Amazon rapidly sold out of his memoir, and his graphic novels suddenly topped the bestseller lists on the data-hungry behemoth’s site. And Lewis isn’t alone – this has happened to magazines, books, even news hosts.