The director of Blanchett’s Manifesto (an art installation … or a movie?): “The political landscape has shifted towards populism and against ‘elitism.’ … ‘Every populist wants to cut down cultural budgets and educational budgets for a good reason: because they need stupid minds to be manipulated and to become sheep of consumerism.'”
Tag: 11.17.17
Jamestown Slashes Its Library’s Funding, Library Sells Its Valuable Collection Of Art, Protests Ensue
There are protests, of course, but the library in New York says there’s no other way to keep going: “The nine works to be sold Tuesday are an assortment of 19th-century creations by artists like Giovanni Boldini and Emilio Sánchez Perrier that the auction house has estimated could bring in a total of as much as $1.2 million. A sale in October by Sotheby’s, of another six paintings from the library, brought the institution more than $300,000. More are scheduled to be sold in 2018, Sotheby’s said.”
Girish Bhargava, The Editor Of ‘Dirty Dancing’ And So, So Many Dance Shows, Has Died At 76
We would know so little of dance without him: “Bhargava edited films that captured the work of Balanchine, Peter Martins, Bob Fosse, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham and many other prominent choreographers, in the process creating an archival record of a genre that had historically been difficult to preserve. And through Dance in America and other television work, he spread the art form to people who might not have been able to get to a theater.”
Torch Song Trilogy, The Herald Of A New Era, Turns 35
Stuart Emmerich: “My only experiences of gay theater had been plays like The Boys in the Band, Fortune and Men’s Eyes, Tea and Sympathy and Streamers — plays where the gay character was either closeted or bitter or suicidal, and usually all three. It was a shock to see Mr. Fierstein, as Arnold, strutting around his apartment in his floppy rabbit slippers, cracking jokes, sharing affection with both his lover and his foster son, and going ferociously head-to-head with his disapproving mother, played by Estelle Getty, then unknown.”
Dance Has Always Been Political, But This Year … Wow
One choreographer: “We don’t have time to play around anymore.”
Stabilization? Met Museum Cuts Its Projected Deficit, Adds To Endowment
“Where a shortfall of $15 million had been projected for the fiscal year 2017, which ended in June, that figure was contained to $10.1 million, according to the report, and the Met said it is on track to eliminate its deficit by 2020. In addition, the museum’s endowments increased by almost $300 million, to a total of $2.9 billion; and the Met said it raised $232 million in philanthropic gifts, membership dues and government support.”
How France Is Branding Its Culture Across The Globe
“The opening of the Louvre Abu Dhabi over the weekend is the latest example of how traditional French cultural diplomacy is being supplanted by brand politics: Abu Dhabi bought the rights to use the Paris museum’s famous name at a price tag of over $500 million over three decades. This example of “soft power” goes beyond museum names such as the future Shanghai Pompidou Center — and can be seen in the exporting of Sorbonne’s academic reputation, the proliferation of Christian Dior boutiques in Asia, the increasingly popular fizz of Moet & Chandon champagne, the cuisine of master chef Alain Ducasse and Louis Vuitton’s status handbags.”
Do Civilizations Actually “Collapse”?
“The stories are often presented as cautionary tales to frighten us into correcting the error of our ways – lest we bring about the end of our own global civilisation. They promote an ethic of environmental responsibility that we ignore at our peril. It is no coincidence that they focus on climate change, human-caused environmental impacts and overpopulation because these three factors are the major global concerns of our times.”
Athens – ‘Whatever You Do, Don’t Call Us The New Berlin’
“Artists, collectives, new bars, farm-to-table restaurants, startups, and alternative music venues are amassing in Athens. Abandoned buildings, the scars from what Greeks simply call ‘the Crisis’, are turning into cultural spaces and homes for startups. Political statements are now emblazoned as street art. Artists from Mexico, Bali, New York and Western Europe are making Athens a new base. Is Athens the New Berlin? No, it is Athens. But, something is happening.”
Toxic Culture? No, Everything’s Lovely Here, Say Queensland Symphony Chairman And Musicians
In response to a news report saying that staff turnover has been high and morale low at the Brisbane, Australia-based orchestra – with sources blaming music director Alondra de la Parra and CEO David Pratt – the QSO section principals released a statement supporting the two, and the board chairman said, “I know that morale is strong under David’s and Alondra’s leadership; we promote a culture of speaking up, of respect and achievement.”