The indelible museum scene in Black Panther might come to mind, except in this case, the British Museum is going to “work with Nigerian teams on the creation of a new Edo Museum of West African Art (EMOWAA) and accompanying archaeology project.” But will Britain give back more than 950 Benin bronzes? Hm. – BBC
Tag: 11.13.20
Google Arts And Culture As An Agent Of Ethnic Cleansing
In early November, Azerbaijan declared victory over Armenia in the area of Nagorno Karabakh, known as Artsakh to Armenians. “There are thousands of unprotected and inadequately documented ancient Armenian monuments in the recently conquered territory. … These include khachkars, monasteries, and churches that have been in use longer than almost any religious buildings in the world.” They’re at risk of being destroyed. And Google Arts & Culture’s info about the area appears to have been written by Azerbaijan. – Hyperallergic
Thinking About Indie Bookstores
One bookstore near the High Line in New York: “The last day we were open, I asked customers where they were from. Turned out that they were all British flying back home. The last sale was to an Englishman, who bought Albert Camus’ The Plague. We wished each other luck.” – The New York Times
Is Mask-Wearing An Impingement On Our Freedom?
Western political thinkers ranging from Herodotus to Algernon Sidney did not think that a free society is a society without rules, but that those rules should be decided collectively. In their view, freedom was a public good rather than a purely individual condition. A free people, Sidney wrote for instance, was a people living “under laws of their own making”. – The Conversation
The 1800’s Version Of Live Theatre Streaming
From 1893 to 1925 the London Electrophone Company streamed the sound of live theatre into the home using a telephone device known as an Electrophone. – The Conversation
1647 – The Year They Canceled Christmas (It Didn’t Work Very Well)
Back in 1647, Christmas was banned in the kingdoms of England (which at the time included Wales), Scotland and Ireland and it didn’t work out very well. Following a total ban on everything festive, from decorations to gatherings, rebellions broke out across the country. While some activity took the form of hanging holly in defiance, other action was far more radical and went on to have historical consequences. – The Conversation