National Endowment for the Arts chairman Bill Ivey and four of his predecessors gather on a stage in Boston to talk about the agency’s past and future. Is it a matter of high and low art? – Washington Post
- NPR report (Real Audio required to listen)
Tag: 02.19.00
AUSTRIAN APARTHEID?
“For perhaps the first time since the liberal revolutions of 1848, a political opposition is growing out of Austria’s intellectual salons. Can a man like Herr Haider be toppled by the roar of literary lions? Common sense dictates otherwise, but the vocabulary of Austria’s rebel artists is strikingly similar to that used by white South Africans who opposed apartheid or the dissidents of Eastern Europe.” – The Times (UK)
ENGLAND’S ARCHITECTURE
Nostalgic? You bet we are. “We’re more than fond of our architectural heritage, and will do almost anything to preserve the least-deserving Victorian pile. Or streamlined ’30s factory, ’50s school, ’70s office block.” – The Guardian
THE FACE OF GOD
It’s difficult to love someone without a face. We all have an image of what Jesus looked like, even though there is no physical description in the Bible. Just how did the notion of what Christ looked like evolve? – The Telegraph (UK)
A TALE OF TWO NETWORKS
While Canada’s CBC is reeling from cutbacks and layoffs, America’s National Public Radio, by contrast, is thriving. As it marks its 30th anniversary this month, NPR is flush with cash. Its audience has tripled in the past six years, reaching 15 per cent of Americans, and its network of stations is expanding. Are there lessons for Canada in NPR? – The Globe and Mail (Canada) 02/19/00
PASS THE RAVIOLI
Sergio Leone created the “spaghetti western” and launched the career of Clint Eastwood. But popular success wasn’t his ambition. A new biography reveals the Italian director’s ill-fated plans for an epic picture that ought to have constituted his final masterpiece. – The Telegraph (UK) 02/19/00