A major concert scheduled for Toronto and billed as a SARS benefit is drawing critical fire after it was discovered that no portion of the proceeds from the show will be earmarked for SARS relief. The concert will feature some of Canada’s highest-profile music stars, including Avril Lavigne and Barenaked Ladies, and the performers will be paid handsomely out of a $5 million fund provided by the Ontario government, but none of the provincial money will be put towards a solution to the outbreak, either. Organizers say that the concert was never intended as a traditional benefit, but as a way to get large numbers of people to come to downtown Toronto, which has been badly hurt by the perception that SARS is rampant.
Tag: 06.12.03
Norway’s Biggest Art Heist Since “The Scream”
Norwegian authorities are calling the bold theft of a classic landscape painting from industrial concern Norsk Hydro “one of the biggest art heists in Norway since Edvard Munch’s ‘Scream’ was stolen in 1994. The thieves disabled security cameras and alarms to steal JC Dahl’s ‘Rjukanfoss’ landscape from 1830.”
Salam Pax: Blogger, Columnist, Enigma
Peter Maass knows the secret identity of Iraqi blogger Salam Pax, whose writings from his home in Baghdad have captivated thousands of readers and led to a regular column in London’s Guardian newspaper. Pax was apparently Maass’s translator while the New York Times journalist was reporting from Iraq, although Maass didn’t make the connection until he returned home. “Maass is still in touch with Pax via e-mail, and lately he has been forwarding inquiries from book publishers and magazine editors to his former employee. He has no doubt whatsoever that Pax is the real thing – just a middle-class Iraqi blogger without a specific agenda, not the tool of any political party or intelligence agency.”
ChiTrib’s Top 50 Magazines
With 17,500 magazines published in the U.S. across countless genres and directed at dozens of different demographics, is it even possible to select a list of the top examples? The Chicago Tribune thinks so, and is out with a ranking of the top 50 magazines. #1 might surprise you, #2 probably won’t, and #3 will probably appreciate the thought, since its editor is currently a bit distracted by some pesky legal problems.
Two Roads Diverge In a Windowed Wood…
Microsoft has constructed two model homes packed full of computers, sensors, digital media player/recorders, and scanners, all designed to showcase the technology of the near future. But “these two homes represent two futures. The first is what consumers want: digital media their way, in whatever form suits. The second is what Hollywood wants: media lockdown, with every use subject to permission and often then only for a fee. In the middle stands Microsoft, determined to navigate these extremes.”
Look But Don’t Touch. Or Breathe.
William Morris, a 19th-century artist specializing in rich tapestries and wall coverings, is well-known even today for his designs, which often featured leafy green patterns and twisting vines. But according to a new scientific investigation, Morris used arsenic to derive the green pigments he needed for his work, and the deadly chemical sickened some of his clients, depite Morris’s protestations that arsenic was not toxic. In truth, the artist knew better: he was on the board of an arsenic mining company, where he had been told all about the dangers of exposure.
£1 Million Boost For UK Cinema
A new fund has been set up in the UK to help filmmakers promote and market their work without risking insolvency in the process. The fund, which will be administered by the Film Council, will make £1 million per year available for distribution, with no one film eligible to receive more than £300,000. The amount a film receives will be in inverse proportion to how well it does at the box office, making the fund less an incentive to succeed than a hedged bet against failure.
U.S. Arts Cuts To Top $100 Million
Budget cutting, petty politics, and a flat economy are combining to force many U.S. states out of the business of funding art, and the cuts may total $100 million or more. “In the last 12 months, 42 states have cut their funding to the arts, wiping 13% off the total amount of funds available. But organisations are bracing themselves for an even more difficult 12 months ahead.” According to ArtsJournal editor Douglas McLennan, while the cuts are devastating for arts agencies, even more frightening is the message: “What the government is saying right now is that culture is not important for us to fund.”
Massachusetts Cuts Spread The Pain
Grant checks were sent out in Massachusetts this week to the 31 artists selected for funding by the state’s Cultural Council. But the 62% cut in the council’s funding means that the grants are less than half of what they were last year. Still, the council decided that it would be better to fund as many artists as possible than to keep the grants high and cut more individuals out of the process.
Broadway Boheme To Close Early
Baz Luhrmann’s flashy La Boheme is closing after 228 performances. “The production, which cost about $8.5 million to mount at the Broadway Theater, recouped only about a quarter of that investment. Jeffrey Seller, one of the producers, said that although the production had found an audience, it was not necessarily the audience that a show needed to survive on Broadway.”