Report: Arts Drive Tourism In Australia

Australians took 12.3 million daytrips and 13.4 million overnight trips within Australia that included arts activities in 2018 – an increase of 14 percent and 20 percent respectively since 2014 – with increases found across visiting museums and art galleries, attending performing arts, visiting art or craft workshops or studios, attending festivals, and experiencing First Nations arts and craft. The report also flagged an increasing interest in First Nations arts tourism. – Limelight

How A Show About, Of All Things, Cambodian Surf Rock Became One Of This Season’s Most-Produced Plays

“With the Off Broadway production of Cambodian Rock Band now in performances at Signature Theater, [playwright Lauren] Yee and director Chay Yew appeared on Stagecraft, Variety‘s theater podcast, to talk confronting history, rocking out, and why they think audiences have responded so enthusiastically to a show that Yee said her husband didn’t believe she would actually write.” (includes text and audio) – Variety

Royal Philharmonic Research: How Technology Is Bringing Classical Music A Bigger Audience

‘Technology is playing a huge role in shaping the future of how people engage with orchestral music,’ says James Williams, managing director at the RPO. ‘At the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, we see it as an essential role to respond to this change, and to evolve and develop – be it through online content or programme notes that appear live on your phone. Indeed, last year we reached around 17m people worldwide through Spotify alone, and these numbers continue to grow each year.’ – Rhinegold

He Was One Of Sudan’s Most Beloved Musicians — Then He Went Silent For Decades And Was Even Thought Dead

In the 1970s and ’80s, Abu Obaida Hassan’s singing and skill on the Nubian tambour thrilled Sudanese listeners and even gained attention overseas. Then the imposition of a stern version of Sharia law and the 30-year dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir squashed the country’s music scene, and Abu Obaida withdrew from public view. In 2016, a Western record producer went looking for him and found him by sheer dumb luck, and with Bashir now ousted, fans are rediscovering Abu Obaida’s sound. – The Guardian

Indian Cinema Is Finally Starting To Get Comfortable With Same-Sex Romance

Until just a few years ago, the very few times queer characters were shown at all in Bollywood movies were as figures of mockery. Now, very occasionally, a film with a sympathetic portrayal of same-sex couples or trans characters does come out of the big Mumbai studios. And more progress can be seen in India’s “regional” (non-Hindi-language) cinema. – BBC