Judy Blume’s New Novel Might Be Her Final Book

“Blume’s career spans more than 40 years of writing groundbreaking YA novels that delved deep into the minds of women, tackling intimate subjects such as teenage sex, menstruation and masturbation. But with her new novel, In the Unlikely Event, Blume has tackled a new frontier – this is her first crack at historical fiction.”

Urban Planning Via LEGO

“With the sounds of real construction—jackhammers, saws, cranes—whirring steadily in the background, the toy-sized towers were being heavily edited by visitors with less in the way of architectural bona fides.”

Color Collotype Printing Preserves Japan’s Heritage [VIDEO]

“Benrido has been kept alive by the Japanese government, who use this intricate printing method to ‘replicate and preserve Japan’s heritage’ by copying important cultural documents and artworks in case of natural disaster. Yamamoto, who treasures collotype, and is saddened to see its decline over the past several decades, views it as his duty to preserve the process – and Japan’s history – for the next generation.”

One Last Havana Biennial Before Cuba Opens

“Everyone knows that major shifts are inevitable once capitalism begins to flood the socialist zone. And a sense of mingled excitement and apprehension is in the air at the 12th Havana Biennial, a diffuse, gradually unfolding, monthlong series of art exhibitions that have been injected into the tissue of this majestic heirloom of a city, adding contemporary warmth to its gorgeously crumbling bones.”

Boris Eifman: What’s Missing In Today’s Ballet

Eifman is unwavering in his belief in dance as theater and spectacle and not shy about expressing his disdain of most prevailing contemporary approaches to choreography. “There is one problem in the modern arts scene, that many younger choreographers are really creating some movements just to the music. For me, ballet theater is not just about movement and music. It’s about something more; it’s about theater.”

Venezuela Is In Trouble – And Its Two Best-Known Musicians Don’t Agree On A Solution

“This Venezuelan revolution is the music story thus far of the 21st century. But now Venezuela is in trouble. The price to save El Sistema may turn out to be high, politically and morally. The answers are not clear, and the country’s two best-known classical musicians, pianist Gabriela Montero and Dudamel, once friends, are, as is much of the country, painfully divided on what to do.”