French artists, aggrieved over a strike last summer, are increasingly making public protests. “They’ve driven a popular reality show from the air for two hours, taken a news show hostage for a minute of free advertising, and on Wednesday stormed a televised Parliamentary session. The new tactic is Act II of an uprising that started this summer when part-time show business workers shut down music and theater festivals across France.”
Tag: 11.14.03
Cargo Handlers Arrested For Stealing Freud
Two cargo handlers at JFK airport have been charged with stealing a Lucien Freud painting from a cargo warehouse. “The pair allegedly broke into a carton at the United Airlines cargo building on Tuesday and removed the artwork. Police identified the two men after viewing airport security video with officials from United Airlines.”
Hughes Extortionists Jailed
“Two men who tried to extort $30,000 from expatriate art critic Robert Hughes in return for favourable evidence at his dangerous-driving trial have been jailed for two years.”
The World’s Top Directors
Who are the best movie directors in the world? The Guardian makes a list of the top 40. Let’s see… there’s David Lynch, and…
2000-Year-Old Play Sees Light Again
“A Greek play is to be staged for the first time in more than 2,050 years after fragments of the text were found in Egyptian mummy cases.”
Cultural Divide – Movie Critics Go To Battle Over Screeners
The Motion Picture Academy’s decision not to send DVD copies of movies to critics juding awards has provoked movie critics like no other issue in recent years. “Movie critics are flooding colleagues’ computers with e-mails carrying subject lines like “United we stand” and “On strikes and self-immolation,” not to mention “Shame!” Some critics’ associations have canceled their year-end awards in protest. I know these people, and I assure you they’re nice, civilized folks. But we critics can sting when we feel wronged, and passions are running high.”
Philanthropy – A Crisis In Confidence?
Some high-profile disputes about how recipients of philanthropy have spent money given to them have been in the news recently. “Not surprisingly, such public disagreements are starting to erode confidence in the nonprofit sector. A recent survey commissioned by Charles Schwab & Company, showed just 10 percent of affluent Americans age 45 and older are now planning to leave all or part of their estates to charities, universities, and other nonprofits. More than five times that number – 56 percent – said they plan to leave nothing to such organizations. Of those, 21 percent said they don’t think the money would be well spent if given to charity.”
How To “Save” Art With £25 Million
Should the UK be spending vast sums to try to keep precious artworks in the country? Tate head Nicholas Serota thinks so. So what would be a good use for the £25 million that some are proposing to spend to keep a Raphael from being sold and taken to the US? Critics and artworld folk offer some suggestions.
Classical Music As Racist Institution
Charlotte Higgins is unequivocal: Classical music is institutionally racist. The extent to which it is dominated by white faces – audiences, performers, administrators and critics alike – is overwhelming. Black taxpayers may be paying their share of the bill for an important tranche of Britain’s cultural life, but few are either participating in it or enjoying it. British theatre may be witnessing a flowering of extraordinary black acting and writing talent, but classical music remains determinedly white.
This lack of participation, however, does not reflect lack of appetite.”
Bye-Bye CD’s?
“The future of the album – both in its physical form and as a grouping of related songs – is being pondered by everyone from bands who refuse to provide their music to online services to technology analysts, who predict that the CD will become passé within the next five years. It’s a pressing concern, given the decline of record sales since 2000 and the popularity of downloading singles by a public tired of paying $15 for an album with one hit and lots of padding.”