A report issued by the UK’s federal Arts Council says that publishers and booksellers are neglecting minority groups, citing research that says “only 50 of the top 5,000 best-selling books in 2006 so far are by black and minority ethnic writers.”
Tag: 05.09.06
Alsop, DiDonato Take Home Royal Phils
The UK’s Royal Philharmonic Society has handed out its annual classical music awards, and conductor Marin Alsop took home the prize as BBC Radio listeners’ favorite person in the business. “American soprano Joyce DiDonato was named best singer for her performance of Rosina in the Barber of Seville,” and a Welsh National Opera production of Wozzeck took top honors for musical and dramatic excellence.
Smithsonian Defends Its TV Deal
“Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence M. Small defended the Smithsonian’s television development deal with CBS/Showtime Networks yesterday, saying the agreement was not reached in secret and that restrictions in the contract would affect only a very small number of filmmakers. The Smithsonian will not release the contract; it will not even say how long it runs. Filmmakers have raised questions about the new policy, which can bar independent commercial documentary makers from more than incidental use of Smithsonian materials.”
NEA To Promote Book Clubs
“Uncle Sam wants you to join a book club. The National Endowment for the Arts has created ‘The Big Read,’ a program that will sponsor community reading groups throughout the country. Like the NEA’s ‘Poetry Out Loud,’ a national competition that was formed last year, the new initiative is a response to the organization’s 2004 study, “Reading at Risk,” which reported a dramatic rise in nonreading.”
Why The Art Market Won’t Crash Again (Maybe)
There’s no doubt about it: modern art is in a bull market, with major works being sold for huge sums seemingly every week. “At the moment, there is no evidence that the art market is about to repeat the crash of the early 1990s, which still scars the collective consciousness of everybody involved in it… One reason for optimism is that there is a much wider spread of buyers than there was in 1990.”
Canada Sends Venice A Giant Sweater
“SweaterLodge, Canada’s official entry for the architecture portion of this year’s Venice Biennale, is an enormous tent in the shape of a pullover made from 350 square metres of bright orange polar fleece. The multimedia exhibit is a big, bold, warm and witty commentary on urban culture. The biannual event, which will be celebrating its 10th anniversary this fall, is one of the most prestigious in the world of architecture. So why is our Canadian team receiving such a chilly reception from government funding agencies and potential corporate sponsors?”
Among Musicians, This Is Known As A Demotion
Most conductors are musicians first, of course, but it is fairly rare for a great conductor to begin his career as a great orchestral musician. (This may have something to do with orchestral musicians’ well-known hatred of most conductors.) But when the Chamber Orchestra of Europe celebrates its 25th anniversary next week, the man on the podium will be Scotsman Douglas Boyd, who rose to prominence as the COE’s star oboist, and who has since crafted an unlikely second career as a highly regarded stick-waver.
Acting Healthy
Could acting lessons help the elderly to keep their minds sharp and stave off cognitive decline? A husband-wife teaching team at Elmhurst College in Chicago thinks so, and they’ve begun offering such lessons. “The National Institutes of Health has awarded the Noices two grants to fund research on improving brain function in older adults. With the first grant, they trained seniors who lived independently. With their most recent grant, they are teaching acting techniques to seniors who live in government-funded retirement homes.”
Taking The Comics To A New Level
Chris Ware may well be the most depressing “comic artist” in history, but that hasn’t stopped the engaging creator of Jimmy Corrigan: Smartest Kid On Earth from enjoying great success and securing a regular spot in the Sunday New York Times Magazine. Now, a new exhibition of Ware’s work is being mounted in Chicago. “The extreme self-absorption of his characters can be maddening and yet their angst is so real and so respectfully drawn — unlike many comic artists, Ware never makes fun of his subjects’ bodies or dilemmas — that the viewer-reader simply can’t look away.The very tenderness with which Ware treats his subjects draws us in.”
Defending Genocide May Be Hazardous To Your Career
A prominent French theatre company has cancelled a production of a play by Peter Handke after learning that the playwright, who has long been known for his support of the Serbian government, attended the funeral of former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, known as The Butcher of the Balkans. The company is being accused of censorship by some, but its chief executive equates Handke’s support of Milosevic, who led a brutal campaign against Bosnia in the 1990s, to support for Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden.