The story goes that in 1496, when he was a young unknown, Michelangelo (or his dealer) took his new sculpture of Cupid, buried it to age it, and sold it to a Cardinal as an antiquity. He did get caught, but …
Tag: 11.01.16
Renovation Of Berlin’s Pergamon Museum Will Be Four Years Late And At Least 100% Over Budget Because They Found Something Weird Underneath It
“The estimated cost of renovating Berlin’s Pergamon Museum has rocketed to €477m, almost double the initial estimate of €261m. The German government has warned that the full reopening of the museum will be delayed by four years until 2023. The reason for the delay is the discovery of a vast …”
Has The Global Literature Movement Homogenized Writing?
“World literature’s most outspoken critics, such as Gayatri Spivak, Emily Apter, and Aamir Mufti, have warned that any attempt to take on such an immense array of cultures and texts will always flatten and homogenize them, smoothing a rich array of particularities into a Eurocentric monoculture. This is a fair concern. But lately the strongest work in the field of world literature has done the opposite.”
Did Nicholas Serota Build A Tate Museum Only He Could Run?
“The Tate trustees are searching for Serota’s replacement. But Serota is irreplaceable. In his 28 years as the Tate’s director, he has created the world’s most successful Modern and contemporary art museum, rebuilt Tate Britain, opened and is expanding Tate St Ives, has plans for Tate Liverpool, and tours Artist Rooms to 34 partner museums. He has displayed the collection in new ways and curates superb shows. On the business side, Tate generates more non-government revenue than any other national museum in the UK. Serota is charming, decent and a witty (without a note) speaker. It is not just that he has a range of qualities rare in the world, let alone the world of museums; only he has the stature to run what he has wrought.”
Criterion Collection Launches Streaming Service To Show The Good Stuff Netflix Doesn’t
FilmStruck, a joint venture of Criterion and the cable channel Turner Classic movies, will concentrate on foreign and independent features and documentaries as well as titles from the two partners’ libraries. “It won’t be a clearing house; the keyword here is ‘curation,’ with new titles rotated in and out each week.”
Another Arts Journalism Boundary Broken? PR Firm Launches Visual Art Journal
Adam Abdalla, principal of the firm Cultural Counsel and founder of the new online publication, called Affidavit, talks about its content (critical and personal essays rather than news), potential conflicts of interest, and the editorial team.
Are College Museums Getting Too Big And Active? Are They Hogging Too Much Art?
“Public or private, rural or urban, college museums are tackling ambitious projects like never before, promoting academic curators – who were once part of a sleepier, insular art world – to be lead actors on the cultural stage. But not everyone agrees that school museums should compete with their mainstream counterparts or that students necessarily benefit more from having art of such magnitude as opposed to more modest collections.”
A Foundation Funding A Critic At A Major Paper? Here’s An Ex-Globe Editor’s Perspective
“Diligent Globe editors from the top of the masthead down have committed to find ways in which to perpetuate and preserve arts coverage in some serious, rigorous form, while also endeavoring to protect the institution’s larger mission, preserve jobs, and find novel solutions to emerging problems. This Rubin association certainly fits that last category.”
Composer Michael Torke Had Huge Success In His 20s. Now He’s In His 50s And It’s A Different World
“There was a lot of attention towards me. I’m in my 50s. I’m not quite one foot in the grave, but it does kind of feel like it’s all over. I’m glad that the royalties will pay my bills and that I have enough new work, but boy, it sure seems like a different world we’re living in.”
Fifteen Unsung Heroes Of Arts Administration
“Unsung heroes of arts administration are the individuals who keep the trains running on time, who will never be handed the microphone at the annual gala to “say a few words,” who won’t have the opportunity after a career in the cultural sector to give a curtain speech, or even make the announcement asking us to silence our cell phones. Those veterans and rookies for which we all know full well that the show would not go on without them. Those people who make our workplaces more pleasant, including those who might secretly keep watering the office fern no matter how hard we try to kill it.”