If the winner of a major international competition feels it necessary to later enter another big competition, what does that say about the first competition that it wasn’t able to properly launch the career of its winner. “As this all suggests, the piano competition circuit is rather more of a lottery than most competition organisers would like the public to realise.” – Irish Times
Tag: 09.27.00
BAN REVOKED
Ireland’s censor has just revoked a ban on a 1967 movie version of Joyce’s “Ulysses.” “The production, which contains all the sexually explicit language that made the novel notorious, is expected to be released to cinemas here for the first time. Film censor Sheamus Smith said it was ‘innocent stuff now’, and has granted a certificate for showing to audiences aged 15 and older.” – Nando Times (AP) 09/27/00
STEPPING INTO THE VOID
Government funding for the arts in Canada has declined precipitously in recent years – down by $41 million a year in Toronto alone. But Canada doesn’t have a tradition of individual giving to the arts. “Canadians donated $4.44-billion to charitable and non-profit organizations between 1996 and 1997, but only 3 per cent went to arts and culture.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada) 09/27/00
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST?
The international arts world has witnessed countless casualties these last few months, with orchestras and dance companies closing shop and widespread budget cuts near certain. Arts lovers bemoan the losses, but one critic sees the futility in trying to save the foundering organizations. “My heart goes out to stranded artists, as it does to shipbuilders and steelworkers whose jobs have vanished. But propping up arts companies that have lost their popularity and purpose is futile. Better, surely, to rally resources around the fittest ensembles, whose success may breed regeneration.” – The Telegraph (UK) 09/27/00
FROM THE STADIUM TO THE SYMPHONY
Australian arts companies feared the Olympics would draw audiences away from their performances, but the opposite has proved true. Sydney’s arts audiences are booming. – Sydney Morning Herald 09/27/00
HOW ARE WE GOING TO MAKE MONEY?
Electronic book conference begins in Washington. “Publishers at the show were looking for ways to make e-books simple to download but difficult to copy. Librarians, hoping to stretch their small budgets and offer a greater variety of e-books to their patrons, expressed alarm that the e-book technology of today may be obsolete tomorrow.” – Washington Post
EXPANDING ART SALES
Worldwide art auction sales increased 16 percent in the 1999-2000 season. “The US sold $922 million worth of art and the UK sold £578 million; closest behind them were France with £93 million ($130.8 million) and Germany at £46 million ($64.7 million). Italy came fifth with £26 million ($36.6 million).” – The Art Newspaper
QUESTION OF CONTROL
Canada’s Ontario government decides to turn control of the disputed McMichael Gallery back to the gallery’s founders. The decision could have a wide impact. “The spectre of government intrusion into the direction of a gallery robs curators of other galleries of the ability to assure potential donors that their artworks will be held securely in the future, said Richard Darroch of the Canadian Museums Association.” – The Globe and Mail (Canada)
TOO POPULIST?
New book charges that Canadian museums have become too populist in trying to compensate for cutbacks in government funding in the 1990s. – CBC
FIRE SALE
The Barnes Collection, deep in financial trouble, considers selling some objects. “Envisaged for the block are not the Matisses and Cezannes that the now disgraced former Barnes director Richard Glanton wanted to sell for $200 million, but pottery and other personal property which remain in the offices and other locations that belong to the foundation.” – The Art Newspaper