“While the Americana Music Festival and Conference, which wrapped on Sunday in Nashville, primarily focused on artists from the States, a good number were from Britain, where the genre is becoming better known and where artists are feeling more enabled to play music that appeals to their sensibilities for string-based music that harkens back to traditional country icons, from Hank Williams to Dolly Parton.”
Tag: 09.27.16
Women Dominate This Year’s Giller Prize Shortlist
Of the six finalists, five are women with Gary Barwin, author of Yiddish for Pirates, the sole male finalist for the prestigious prize.
The Best Foreign-Language Oscar Race: Here’s Some Early Handicapping
“Frequent competitors – such as France, Spain, Iran, South Korea and Chile – have opted to bank on festival favorites from directors with significant art-house clout. As tried-and-tested as this method of attack sounds, it’s in fact not a given occurrence.”
Iraq’s Newest Museum Opens – In Saddam’s Former Palace In The City He Tried To Strangle
“The Basrah Museum has been planned for eight years and will join the National Museum in Baghdad as one of the most important institutions in Iraq. For the first time in a generation, the people of southern Iraq will have their own museum – a great achievement under extremely difficult circumstances.”
Top Posts From AJBlogs 09.27.16
Arts Congressional Report Card: Why The Arts Have No Political Clout
Americans for the Arts Action Fund PAC has released its 2016 Congressional Arts Report Card rating members of Congress on their support for the arts. Many lobby groups do such rankings as a way of … read more
AJBlog: diacritical | Douglas McLennan Published 2016-09-27
Met Layoffs Today: About Three Dozen People Let Go
Today, the Metropolitan Museum of Art shed more staff – in the form of involuntary layoffs. As we’ve known for a while, the Met’s financial position has deteriorated: … read more
AJBlog: Real Clear Arts Published 2016-09-27
Library Lessons
The transition from books to information as the core mission was something libraries had to address over the last generation. Today, the relevance transformation expands to provision of services and resources. … read more
AJBlog: Engaging Matters Published 2016-09-27
Witnessing
When you think about it, the majority of my practice as an orchestral musician is witnessed. … Lately I’ve been focusing on the thinking part of my practice. It’s the part that wrestles with aesthetic, organizational and social frameworks. … read more
AJBlog: SongWorking Published 2016-09-27
Abstract Expressionism Hits the Bull’s Eye
This is the Tate website glossary’s definition: “Abstract expressionism is the term applied to new forms of abstract art developed by American painters such as Jackson Pollock, … read more
AJBlog: Plain English Published 2016-09-27
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Brent Assink To Leave San Francisco Symphony
Assink has been executive director for 17 years. “Running an organization presenting more than 220 concerts a year, with an operating budget close to $70 million (and including the crisis years of the Great Recession), Assink guided the orchestra through many challenges, saved it from going deeper into debt, even during the unusually expensive season celebrating the Symphony’s centennial in 2011, and allowed it to maintain high standards.”
Maastricht Art Fair Makes A Move Into Manhattan
“The American debut of the European Fine Art Fair … is more than just another event on the cultural calendar. It’s an attempt by the fair, whose 270 exhibitors face a shrinking audience in Europe, to secure and revitalize its future.”
Simon Keenlyside Back In Action After Almost Two Years Of Throat Trouble
First he felt a “tick” in his vocal cords during a live simulcast of Rigoletto from Vienna (he had to bow out mid-opera), then his doctors told him he needed thyroid surgery. “Luckily it was a false alarm, but they had to take some out, and they did a bad job. That stopped me dead in my tracks. I couldn’t sing a note for five, six, seven months. Nothing.”
Pierre Huyghe Wins Second-Ever $100K Nasher Sculpture Prize
“Huyghe, 54, succeeds last year’s inaugural winner, Colombian artist Doris Salcedo, who received, as Huyghe will, the $100,000 grand prize, along with a special award created by Italian architect Renzo Piano, who designed the Nasher.”