“Arts and business, once parallel worlds in Europe, are merging as never before. More companies than ever back the visual arts: Patronage has more than doubled in the past 15 years in the U.K. and more than tripled in France. The difference is that, where once companies funded the arts selflessly and on a whim — the chairman’s, or his wife’s — they now seek bang for their buck: their name in the show’s title, free museum access for staff and client parties, the right to advertise their sponsorship, and the right to run spinoff educational and social programs. And when all is said and done, they conduct studies to make sure it was worth it.”
Tag: 03.04.05
A Better Plan For London?
“Despite all the hyperbole accompanying its Olympic bid, London remains dirty, inefficient and congested. It is aesthetically and architecturally incoherent, and, unlike Manhattan, Barcelona or Paris, essentially suburban. It is also, however, hugely successful and consistently fashionable. So why has London got such useless public space – and will it, indeed should it, ever change?”
A New Year-Round Home For Toronto Film Fest?
The Ontario government will give $25 million to help build a new theatre complex for the Toronto International Film Festival. “The centre will include four screening rooms and a large exhibition space, as well as office space for festival staff and housing the festival’s reference library. This will allow the festival to be more of a year-round operation — the goal of making Toronto an international film capital 365 days a year instead of just 10 days. Plans for the development were announced in 2003 with great fanfare, but the original 2006 completion date proved unrealistic. Donors were not lining up to pour money in the project and it has taken two years for the project to gather momentum.”
Amazon’s Best-Selling Books Worldwide
What were the top-selling books in the world last year? Well, at Amazon, at least, Harry Postter tops the list in the UK, Franca and Japan. Dan Brown takes the top spot in Germany and Canada, while in the US it was Jon Stewart. Here’s a list of the top ten lists for each country…
“Gates” Generate $250 Million For NYC
New York City offisicals say the Central Park “Gates” added $250 million of revenue into the city’s economy in the two weeks the project was up. “Hotel occupancy around the park jumped to 87 per cent during the two weeks, compared to 73 per cent the same time last February, and many stores, restaurants and other services in the area compared the crowds to those that gather during the holiday season.”
Rise And Fall Of The Dutch Artist State
“The Netherlands is an intriguing case study in the debate over how much public funding should go to the arts. Though the infusion of government spending on the arts in the 1970s and ’80s created an arts mecca hailed around the world, it also attracted hangers-on and yielded warehouses full of artworks of dubious merit and zero value on the commercial art market. Ultimately, the Netherlands found there can, in fact, be too much of a good thing. The government-backed support structure for artists created a talent glut, and it collapsed under its own weight.”
Cross-wiring The Brain
Why do some people have a reaction in one sense when another is stimulated? “Neuroscientists think the condition occurs because certain regions of the brain “cross-activate” at the same time. So the tone perception center, for example, may be linked with the taste perception center. And studying synesthetes is giving clues to the working of the brain, one of the most complex structures in the universe.”
Bolshoi Slammed For “Pornographic” Opera
An opera scheduled to produced by the Bolshoi Theatre has caught the ire of “pro-Kremlin MPs”, who have branded the piece “vulgar and pornographic”. Scandal to follow. The opera is Rosenthal’s Children, which “features a godlike figure who creates clones of famous composers, and was to open later this month. The libretto was written by Vladimir Sorokin, a controversial postmodernist author.”
Queuing For Valkyries…
That line over there? Yes that one. What are they waiting for in the cold. At 6 AM? Hundreds of them? Tickets for Wagner. Think you’d see this in a US city? “I was there at 6am. The box office opened at 10. There were people queueing before me. I had no thermals, but cut a dash with pyjama bottoms under my jeans and a borrowed Cossack hat. I am no wimp, and have been called brave by dentists, but it really was stark-bollock freezing.”
Schools: Reading For Tests? Or For Pleasure?
Have UK schools forgotten to teach the joy of reading in their zeal to improve test scores? “Reading has always been seen as a source of considerable pleasure for many. This is important, but perhaps has been forgotten by some schools in their pursuit of higher tests results that will improve their position in the league tables. You will find no pleasure in books if you cannot read, but it is equally possible to be able to read and derive little pleasure.”