For 4 1/2 years, not a week, perhaps even a day, has gone by without mention of Sept. 11. Our newspapers and magazines have been filled with stories, often illustrated by graphic photographs of the tragedy. Stacks of books have been written. The war on terrorism has been a central focus of our political lives. So many documentaries and TV movies have been made about 9/11 that reviewers now contrast the new offerings the way film critics compare vintage versus latter-day Scorsese films.” But it’s taken this long for a movie to weigh in…
Tag: 04.18.06
Getty Off Probation
The Council on Foundations has taken the Getty Trust off probation, citing “significant reforms” in the organization’s operations. “Controversy flared last year over the spending habits of President Barry Munitz. Munitz, who had traveled often, widely and in first class at Getty expense, stepped down in February from the $9-billion nonprofit, which operates the Getty Museum in Brentwood and the Getty Villa near Malibu.”
De Montebello: Why Only The Americans?
Metropolitan Museum of Art director Phillipe De Montebello wonders why American museums and collectors have been targeted for return of looted artifacts, but not those in other countries. “I must say I am puzzled at one thing, which is the absence of claims against collectors and museums in Germany, Spain, the U.K., Switzerland, Denmark and Japan, among others. They were buying from dealers at least as much as the dealers now under indictment in the United States. I think we should reflect on why only the U.S. is being the target of claims.”
Chicago Art Institute To Start Charging Admission
For years, admission to the Chicago Art Institute has been by “suggested donation.” “Patrons had to pay something, though one could pay as little as $1. Most visitors paid the full, posted price.” No more. “Museum officials are now asking the Chicago Park District Board for permission to make the listed admission fee mandatory.”
Mozart Tops UK Favorite Composer Poll
Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto has topped Classic FM’s poll of Britain’s most popular composer. “It is the first time the Austrian-born composer has come first in the radio station’s annual Hall of Fame survey. Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto had previously topped the survey for five years in a row. Mozart has 24 entries in the Top 300, three more than his nearest rival Beethoven – three of whose works feature in the Top 10.”
“Graduate” Author To Be Evicted
The author of the book of used for “The Graduate” is about to be evicted from his home. “Novelist Charles Webb, 66, and his partner have only days to pay two months’ overdue rent, totalling nearly £1,600, on their flat in Hove. Mr Webb wrote the book on which the 1967 movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft was based. The Californian author accepted a one-off payment of £14,000 for the novel, while the film made £60m.”
Filmmakers Protest Smithsonian TV Deal
Last month the network Showtime and the Smithsonian “announced the creation of Smithsonian Networks, a joint venture for original television programming on scientific, cultural and historical subjects whose first service would be an on-demand cable channel beginning this December. As part of the deal, Smithsonian Networks was to get the right of first refusal on commercial documentaries that relied significantly on the museum’s archives, curators or scientists.” Now, “more than 215 filmmakers, television executives and academics have signed a letter demanding that the Smithsonian, a publicly financed museum, not only reveal financial details of the joint venture but also abandon it.”
Southeast Asia’s First “Ring”
“Thailand’s decision to be the first Southeast Asian nation to present the work has surprised even the most ardent Wagnerians. The production, by the Bangkok Opera, has the official blessing of the composer’s great-grandson Wolfgang, who inaugurated Bangkok’s Wagner Society last year. But it is a huge undertaking for a country that has been producing Western opera for only five years. Will Wagner be raising a quizzical eye from beyond the grave?”
Ancient City Pays The Price Of War
“Babylon, the mud-brick city with the million-dollar name, has paid the price of war. It has been ransacked, looted, torn up, paved over, neglected and roughly occupied. Archaeologists said American soldiers even used soil thick with priceless artifacts to stuff sandbags. But Iraqi leaders and United Nations officials are not giving up on it.”