At its peak, Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts shops catalog generated $3.5 million a year. “In this age of the museum mall, cultural institutions have come to increasingly rely on income from exhibit-related products. The MFA’s gift magazine is designed to compete with the Pottery Barn, L. L. Bean, and Sundance catalogs. MFA officials say the museum’s stores continue to do well, but the catalog has struggled.” In 2001 the museum’s retail enterprises were spun off into a private company…and lost $2.9 million in its first year. So the museum is canceling this spring’s catalog.
Tag: 03.20.03
Alagna And Gheorghiu Leave Met Opera Because Of War
The husband-and-wife team of soprano Angela Gheorghiu and tenor Roberto Alagna have canceled their remaining performances of “Faust” at the Metropolitan Opera because of the war in Iraq. “They had war concerns and terrorism concerns.”
English National Opera Settles With Chorus
The chorus of the English National Opera has called off a threatened strike after making a deal with the company for layoffs. “Around one-sixth of the choristers have agreed to take voluntary redundancy, leaving a permanent chorus of 50.”
Short Wonders – Short Films Come Into Their Own
Where are the great British films? They’re shorts, and these are some of the most interesting films being made today. “Short films are traditionally dismissed in industry circles as mere calling cards for young directors hoping to make full-length features. But there is a growing appreciation of shorts as an art form in their own right.”
Sydney Opera House Clean Again
Cleaners have removed most of the paint on the Sydney Opera house. On Tuesday, anti-war protesters painted “No War” in large red letters on the side of the top peak of the opera house. “The cleaners, from graffiti removal company Techni-Clean, initially used five to six litres of a special white wax to cover the paint, stopping it from drying. Yesterday they blasted off the wax – and the pavement paint underneath – with high-pressure hot water hoses.”
Dumping On The Dixie Chicks
When one of the Dixie Chicks said last week she was ashamed of George Bush, the blowback was immediate. “Country stations nationwide, responding to listeners, banned the group from their airwaves. One, in Portland, Ore., was encouraging listeners to burn Dixie Chicks concert tickets in public. By early this week, airplay for the group’s latest hit (ironically named “Travelin’ Soldier”) was travelin’ speedily downward. What to make of all this? The press is suggesting that the general public is finally ‘fed up’ with the nattering nabobs of negativism known as artists. In fact, this is a story that could only have happened in the country music world. That’s because country music is the embodiment of patriotism.”
Albertina Museum Gets A Redo
Vienna’s Albertina Museum has just reopened after a $100 million facelift to rave reviews. “Although this tradition-bound Viennese institution houses one of the world’s premier collections of graphic art, spanning artists from Michelangelo to Egon Schiele, it has never generated much public interest.”
Aussie Police Recover Thousands Of Stolen Artifacts In Raid
In a series of raids, Australian police have recovered thousands of items stolen from the Australian Museum. “The items include precious skulls, bones, rare species in jars of formaldehyde and even a stuffed gorilla.” A former museum worker is being questioned, and thousands of items have been returned to the museum. They were stolen from the museum between 1996 and 1998.
The One-Hour “Carmen”
The Welsh National Opera is producing a radical version of “Carmen.” It’s short – clocking in at about an hour long. “Its short span is not the only unusual thing about this production, which is currently on tour. It is also radically cheap – tickets cost £5 and £10 – and played at unfamiliar times. Performances are at 2.30pm and 6.15pm: the afternoon show is designed to allow visiting parties of kids to be back at the school gates by home-time, and the early-evening performance is aimed at an after-work crowd.” Will this really tempt people to get the opera habit?
The Decline And Fall Of Wim Wenders
Has director Wim Wenders hit bottom? Last week he was fired by his own production company. And “looking back over the past decade and then some, the director’s exile from his own business operation seems less an aberration and more the latest bad news in what – the ‘Buena Vista’ movie aside – has been a relentless decline as a cinematic force.”