“Inexperience and a lack of dialogue are exacerbated by our culture’s collective failure to bestow any overt value on the critical conversation. Where are the MFA programs for critics? Where are the review workshops, or writing groups?”
Tag: 11.20.15
Drawn In Blood: The Syrian Cartoonists Who Live And Die By Their Pens
“It is in many ways the role of a cartoonist to bring emotive weight to events as enormous as the Syrian civil war. They publish their work for a global audience, but many cannot sign their art for safety reasons.”
France Plans To Offer ‘Asylum’ To Antiquities Threatened By ISIS
“Jean-Luc Martinez, the president of the Louvre, has drawn up a 50-point plan to protect cultural treasures around the world. He was asked to do so by President François Hollande and one of his key recommendations – that France offer ‘asylum’ for artefacts under threat – is immediately being pushed through as law.”
Ballet CEO Accused Of Embezzling Resigns; He And Company Sue Each Other
In August, Joburg Ballet chief executive Dirk Badenhorst was suspended by the company’s board following allegations that he had misappropriated R890,000 ($63,000). Last week, Badenhorst resigned just as a disciplinary hearing was about to start; now he and Joburg Ballet have each announced civil suits.
Unexpected Faulkner Work Rediscovered: A Play – And A Light Comedy, No Less
“Written when the future Nobel laureate was in his early 20s, ‘Twixt Cup and Lip was discovered in the University of Virginia archives by The Strand Magazine managing editor Andrew Gulli, who over the past few years has also tracked down long-lost and obscure works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck and many others. The play appears in the Strand‘s holiday issue, which went on sale Friday.”
The Fight To Save Cultural Spaces From Developers In South London
“Last week it was reported that Southwark council had rejected plans to turn a multi-story parking garage, currently home to exhibition space Bold Tendencies and Frank’s Rooftop Bar, into 800 affordable artists’ studios. Instead the council opted for a collaboration between a Mayfair-based developer and Carl Turner Architects; the gang behind the much criticized ‘Pop: Brixton’ hellscape. Focusing on ‘multi-use event spaces, pop-up retail, and cafe/bars’ the scheme will target ‘ambitious young professionals’ and offer a mere 50 artists’ studios.”
The New And Fearless Generation Of Playwrights Is Bringing About A New Golden Age Of Theatre
“There’s nothing like a Tony Award for getting regional theaters interested in a new play. But I don’t think Broadway should be the ultimate goal of today’s best playwrights.”
New York Was Too Homogenous For This Artistic Director, So He Moved To Des Moines
“Soon some of the wrestling fans were coming to hear their favorite wrestlers read poetry—and in turn some of the poetry fans started going to wrestling matches to see their favorite poets wrestle. Conversations started happening between these groups of unlikely spectators, and a popular event was born.”
These Art Donors Are Tired Of London Getting Everything
“In America, pretty much every major city – Detroit, St Louis, Chicago, Dallas, Forth Worth, Houston, LA, San Francisco, Seattle – they all have museums which could virtually be national museums in terms of their scope and their quality. This situation just doesn’t happen in England, and there are very few museums that have got the ambition to emulate that sort of level of excellence.”
The National Book Award-Winner On Getting His Book To Print And Not Being An Expert
Ta-Nehesi Coates, who won for Between the World and Me: “The best part of writing is really to educate yourself. I don’t want to be anybody’s expert. I came in to learn.”