“The elderly man was traveling from Kassel to Düsseldorf on February 15 when he switched trains at the city of Hamm and forgot to bring his precious cargo with him.” The ten-inch-tall jug, part of Picasso’s Hibou (Owl) series, is worth more than €10,000. – Deutsche Welle
Tag: 02.26.19
This African Country Has A Stultifying Theatre Culture. Here’s How To Change That
“Attend three and you will start feeling the monotony in all of it; it is like each performance, each story, is the same,” writes Malawian theatre artist Isaac Mafuel. The problem, he says, is that theatre there has been used primarily as a tool for teaching schoolkids English as a second language, not as entertainment (let alone serious art), and Mafuel offers some ideas for changing that. – HowlRound
Theatre Made By Ex-Inmates To Show Outsiders That Prison Is Not Like ‘Orange Is The New Black’
Matt Trueman meets the women of the company Clean Break and playwright Luke Barnes, who talk about their scripts and the work they produce both inside and outside prisons. – The Guardian
Why Readers And Viewers Love Stories About Real-Life Scams
People seem to devour articles, books, and documentaries about the likes of the Fyre Festival and Theranos; Bernie Madoff and Enron are household names. “Reminding ourselves that sometimes liars do get caught and sometimes thieves are punished makes it easier to believe it could happen again. What we like about stories about scammers, I think, is born of the place where envy meets outrage: It’s incredibly unfair, and definitely evil, but also, why didn’t I think of that?” – The Cut
Why Doesn’t Dance Have Preview Runs The Way Theatre Does?
“Money is a factor. But even a few extra zeroes wouldn’t necessarily change the creative process for concert work, where priorities tend to revolve around giving an idea its fullest expression, not how it will be received by an audience.” – Dance Magazine
Perry Wolff, Producer Of Groundbreaking TV Documentaries, Dead At 97
Among his most famous and historic programs were the 1962 Tour of the White House with Jackie Kennedy; Hunger in America (1968), which shocked the public and led to changes in federal policy; The Selling of the Pentagon (1971), which infuriated the Nixon Administration and helped establish important First Amendment protections; the seven-part Of Black America (1968); and You and the Commercial, about television advertising. – The New York Times
College Gallery Shows Art Incorporating Confederate Imagery. Students Get Angry. Artists Are Stunned. Show Is Removed.
“One installation in the show [at Mary Baldwin University] included a bathroom sink with air fresheners — shaped like the silhouettes of statues of Confederate leaders — hanging from it. A medicine cabinet was mounted above the sink, and, inside, pill bottles containing watermelon seeds were labeled ‘make as directed.'” (A colleague had warned one of the artists, “The minute they know you’re white, and they see those watermelons, it’s all over.”) – The Washington Post
Sarasota Orchestra Asks To Put New Concert Hall In City Park
“The Sarasota Orchestra, which has kept its supporters guessing for years about the possible location of a new concert hall, made a pitch to Sarasota city commissioners Tuesday night to build a new performance, administrative and education facility in the city-owned Payne Park. The orchestra … began discussing a move from its longtime home near the Sarasota Bayfront more than 20 years ago.” – Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Seattle Symphony Opens New High Tech Space To Explore Future Of Music
The Constellation system relies on 62 overhead loudspeakers; 10 compact subwoofers; four floor box speakers; two PA speakers; 28 miniature overhead microphones; four handheld microphones; and four headset microphones. “While taking and creating a space that is very much trying to leverage this technology to open new possibilities, the room needed to feel like it could hold its own architectural character, in a way that wasn’t about just coming in and seeing all the gadgets on the ceiling,” – GeekWire
The Market (And There Is One) For Hitler’s Paintings
It’s a niche market, to be sure, and one that major auction houses and dealers stay far away from. But there’s enough demand to make it worthwhile for a few to sell Hitler’s handiwork — or to forge it. And, according to one auctioneer, that demand doesn’t come from right-wing extremists. – The Art Newspaper