Black Theatre Comes Of Age In London

There are signs that Black theatre has come of age in Britain. “No longer tucked away in fringe venues, or in companies that specialise in black work, it is striding confidently across the stages of major London theatres. ‘The talent has been there for a very long time,” he says. “The dominant culture has been slow to open itself up to the new voices that are blossoming in our midst. I think we’ve not been good enough at that.’ That may well be true. But the delay means that these new voices have arrived fully formed…”

French Arts Strike Cancels Festivals

“Despite a last-ditch plea from the culture minister, French actors and backstage workers walked out as promised yesterday, forcing the country’s most renowned drama festival to abandon its opening night and threatening the Rolling Stones’ 40th anniversary Paris mega-gig. ‘It’s the future of French arts that’s at stake’.”

Art, Instead Of Taxes

Rather than selling their artwork abroad to raise money for tax bills, last year Britons donated art treasures valued at £40 million to British museums rather than paying inheritance tax. “Titian’s masterpiece Venus Anadyomene, watercolours by Edward Lear and a Barbara Hepworth sculpture were among works handed over. The scheme has settled tax bills worth more than £6.5m during the past year.”

Iraq Museum Looting Count: Now 13,000 Objects?

The director of Iraq’s National Museum says that one-in-ten of the museum’s artifacts is missing since the looting of the museum two months ago. “Dr Nawalaal Mutawalli told a press conference at the British Museum in London that some 13,000 objects had gone missing from the Baghdad institution’s storage room in the days following the fall of Saddam Hussein.”

Art Of The Turnaround: Two Tokyo Museums Are Hoping

Two expensive Tokyo museums – so-called “bubble babies” – operated by the Tokyo metropolitan government – the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo and the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Photography – are heavily in debt. “Faced with huge losses, the directors are doing everything they can to educate staff members to the concept of profit and loss, nudging them to be more customer friendly and cost efficient. While working with their employees, the directors have also been busy trying to create more compelling exhibits to attract a larger clientele.”

Archaeologist: Kill Iraqi Looters

An American archaeologist said in London this week that the “systematic looting of major archaeological sites and the destruction of artefacts” in Iraq “may prove a greater disaster than the well publicised looting and destruction at the national museum in Baghdad, and the museum in Mosul.” She urged that looters be killed if caught. “I would like to see some helicopters flying over these sites, and some bullets fired at the looters. I think you have got to kill some people to stop this.”

Classic Promoter

Maria Vandamme is on a crusade to promote Australian classical music. “Founder and artistic director of the embryonic and critically acclaimed – locally and internationally – music label, Melba Recordings, Vandamme has also established the philanthropic Melba Foundation. Her motivation behind the record label is the fact that Australian music is not particularly well known overseas. Vandamme believes our image internationally is skewed, at once bizarre and unbalanced. ‘We are a sporting nation, we have lovely beaches, a few famous movie stars and directors – end of subject. This means that our music isn’t recognised and that needs to be corrected’.”