Tag: 04.15.03

Mobs Burn Down Iraq’s Libraries

Having destroyed Iraq’s art treasures in the museums, mobs moved on to Iraq’s libraries, destroying the country’s written history. “The National Library and Archives ­ a priceless treasure of Ottoman historical documents, including the old royal archives of Iraq ­ were turned to ashes in 3,000 degrees of heat. Then the library of Korans at the Ministry of Religious Endowment was set ablaze.”

Saddam Liked Fantasy Raunch In His Art

An American artist named Rowena was surprised to discover that two of her oil paintings hung in Saddam Husein’s personal quarters. The paintings are fantasy raunch, and “Rowena, 58, said she did the oil paintings that hung in the dictator’s den about 15 years ago as covers for bodice-ripper paperbacks with titles such as ‘King Dragon’ and ‘Shadows Out of Hell’.” Oh, and she’d like them back…

British Art Experts To Iraq

Britain is sending a team of art experts to Iraq to try to help pick up the pieces after the smashing and looting of the National Museum of Antiquities. “Officials from Unesco, the UN cultural agency, will meet staff from the British Museum on Thursday to discuss tactics for Iraq. ‘There will be a large conservation task to be done, extending over many years and requiring the widest possible international co-operation’.”

Saatchi’s Gallery Opening Party

More than 1000 guests turned up for the opening of Charles Saatchi’s new gallery in London. The crowd was full of artists and celebrities and “they were treated to a nude happening by Spencer Tunick. Following the 35-year-old artist’s directions, 160 naked volunteers, some giggling with embarrassment, posed in several positions – to the delight of tourists on the adjacent London Eye.”

Tracking Down Iraq’s Treasures

Archaeologists are trying to track down items plundered from Iraq’s National Museum of Antiquities. “They can’t put the sculptures, statues, and coins back on the shelves from which they were wrested. But they can put together a database of what was lost in the looting that followed the fall of Baghdad. By gathering as much detailed information as possible, they hope to render unsellable the thousands of artifacts stolen from Iraq’s largest museum, one of the region’s most important. The more that is known about the lost pieces, the less likely they will be able to pass into private hands on the black market, scholars and curators say.”

Canadian TV Cuts

Cuts in funding to the Canadian Television Fund, the Canadian government’s mechanism for funding Canadian television will mean several longstanding shows will go off the air. “In all, 129 productions – 64% of all applicants – were denied funding from the CTF’s Licence Fee Program, which contributes 20% of a show’s budget. Seventy-three productions combined to receive a total of $75-million in funding, including Trailer Park Boys, Da Vinci’s Inquest and Blue Murder.”

What Will It Take To Revitalize The Royal Shakespeare?

Has Michael Boyd just taken on the worst job in theatre? He says running the Royal Shakespeare Company is “tricky,” not bad. “Recently, it’s been very difficult to resist the feeling of the RSC being the largest machine in an entrepreneurial theatrical world, but what we’ve actually got to be is the alternative to the entrepreneurial world. We’ve got to be a bit of a bastion of idealism, a bastion of research and development. We need room to experiment with our work, not always feeling the need to programme conservatively. We do Shakespeare for goodness’ sake. That’s commercial enough in its own right.’ He wants to return the RSC to the cutting edge of British theatre.”

Whitney Puts Off Expansion

New York’s Whitney Museum has decided to cancel plans for a $200 million expansion designed by Rem Koolhaas, a signal that there may be further belt-tightening for the institution. “We’re feeling the pinch. A project like this would be a big challenge, and we’re not in a position to proceed with it.”