“Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in a Thai jail for insulting the monarchy. Nicolaides wrote a novel four years ago, which contained a brief passage referring to an unnamed crown prince. It sold just seven copies. He admitted the charge of insulting the royal family, but said he was unaware he was committing an offence.”
Tag: 01.19.09
Why NT Broadcasts Make Perfect Sense For The Provinces
“The main reason I don’t see more opera or theatre in London, let alone New York, is the cost. … But £10 sounds a lot more like it.” That’s the price of a play in the National Theatre’s NT Live program, which will bring theatre to regional cinemas — and isn’t likely to threaten regional theatres in the process.
Schwartz Bookshops, A Milwaukee Institution, To Close
“After 82 years in business, Milwaukee’s iconic Harry W. Schwartz Bookshops is shuttering its four bookstores, succumbing to the economic downturn and technological changes that are redrawing how people read and shop for books.”
George Steel’s First Task: Stabilize The Patient
“The City Opera has been plagued with woes: a failed search for a new home downtown, the disastrously brief tenure of the company’s last director, Gerard Mortier, and an entire season in the dark while its future home — the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center — is being renovated. Whatever else we hope for from Mr. Steel, we hope for stability first.”
Indian Artists Opens Show, Discovers Most Works In It Are Fakes
“India’s art world is reeling from one of its most embarrassing forgery cases today after S.H. Raza, one of the country’s foremost artists, inaugurated an exhibition of his paintings in Delhi – only to discover that most were fakes.”
Will Your Cell Phone Change The Way You Listen To Music?
“The next great thing in music technology will be smartphone applications that replicate the experience of listening to interactive, customized radio stations at a computer…”
Seven Ways To Support Artists
Culture is a big industry in Canada. But “we have a lot to learn about how to nurture the people who help us define ourselves, say artists and experts who have studied their economic well-being.”
Canadian Culture By The Numbers
Start with $25.1 billion, the amount Canadians spent on cultural goods and services in 2005…
What Will The Art Market Do In 2009?
On the one hand, vendors are holding back from selling, for fear of “burning” their pictures by seeing them unsold; the auction houses are struggling to bring in good material for next month’s sales. On the other hand, forced sales by cash-strapped collectors may bring desirable works onto the market.
Meryl Streep On Why Mamma Mia! Movie Is A Huge Success
“I knew it would do well because it was aimed at an audience that has been neglected in recent years in film offerings – women. They are the last group anybody ever cares about.”