“As the UN prepares to leave its New York headquarters for a four-year, $2bn renovation, staff are scouring the corridors to try to find valuable works of art that have gone missing.” Among the lost items are a sculpture by abstract expressionist José de Rivera, paintings and other gifts from Mexico, China, Belarus and other member nations.
Tag: 03.02.09
Heath Ledger’s Last Film Can’t Get US Distributor
The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus “is struggling to find a buyer, despite the huge amount of publicity surrounding its big-name cast, and its links to Ledger. […] The film, directed by former Monty Python star Terry Gilliam, tells the story of a travelling circus magician who makes a series of pacts with the devil.”
The Ten Habits Of Highly Effective Public Radio Pledge Drives
June Thomas: “Pledge drive is last-nerve-frayingly exasperating – but it’s also sheer genius. One recent weekend, I fast-forwarded through the actual programming and listened only to the sales patter… What I found was a band of ace pitchmen who know their audience better than we know ourselves.”
Gangsta Art: Paintings By The Kray Twins Sell For £17K
“Nine artworks painted by the Kray twins in prison have been sold for a total of £17,125 – triple their estimate. Ronnie and Reggie Kray, who ran a gang in London’s East End in the 1950s and 1960s, were both jailed for life for murder in 1969. The works were painted during the 1970s when the pair were in Parkhurst Prison on the Isle Of Wight.”
Even Slight Tweaks Of The Brain Can Make A Life Livable
“Sci-Fi author Philip K. Dick may have best anticipated neuroengineering in his most famous work, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,” in which the “main character and his wife get up in the morning and select their moods on what Dick called a Penfield mood organ. We’re a long way from building a Penfield mood organ, but we already have ways of prodding our brains.”
Tories: Museums’ Spending Has Plummeted Dangerously
“National museums and galleries’ spending on art for their collections have fallen by more than 70 per cent, the Conservatives said. Figures obtained by, Jeremy Hunt, the Shadow Culture Secretary, show that spending on art and other ‘heritage items’ by major galleries and museums has fallen by more than £11 million.”
Discussing Censorship, Cautiously, In Dubai
As a Dubai literary festival made its debut, the aborted fracas over charges of author blacklisting “led to a spotlight being turned on the prevalence of censorship in the Arab world, particularly in a state that recently jailed three journalists for defamation over offence caused by writing on the internet. … Though nobody in the censorship debate was prepared to confront the beast head on, their circumlocutions were both interesting and revealing.”
In Spain, Erasing Visual Evidence Of The Franco Regime
“The Socialist government says the assorted icons of the Franco regime still on view — fascist-style eagles, yokes and arrows — have no place in modern Spain. A year ago, it passed a law to eliminate them. But the drive — part of a broader law aimed at redressing Franco-era injustices — has raised hackles among conservatives who say Prime Minister José Luis RodrÃguez Zapatero is reopening wounds they say were healed after the dictator’s death.”
Hotel Says It Can’t Afford Purchase Of NYPL Branch
“Orient-Express Hotels Ltd. has told the New York Public Library that it is unable to complete the purchase of the Donnell branch … in Midtown for $59 million, the library said Monday.” The library, which last summer vacated the five-story building across the street from the Museum of Modern Art, was to have owned and occupied some space in the new 11-story hotel building.
Sometimes The Law Says No To Endowment Spending
“It’s a frustrating quandary for universities, orchestras and other nonprofit organizations in two dozen states. They have the money they need to save jobs, offer scholarships and put on a solid schedule of programs, but face state laws that keep them from using any of it.”