Turkey opens its first museum of modern art in Istanbul. “Warehouse No. 4 was turned into a museum by frantic construction work, which went on until the last moment and cost about $5 million. The building features two stories of 4,000 square meters (1-acre) each. On the upper floor, the permanent collection consisting of about 4,000 pieces — all by Turkish artists — will be exhibited on a rotational basis.”
Tag: 12.14.04
Pinter Collects Top Playwright Award
Playwright Harold Pinter gets a special Evening Standard theatre award as outstanding dramatist of the past 50 years. “Amid cheers, Pinter accepted the award, a statuette, happily – and with a barbed memory. ‘Forty six years ago my [first] play The Birthday Party was performed in London and slaughtered by the critics – particularly by the Evening Standard, by the way. But in the early new year I’m happy to say that rehearsals will start for the fourth revival in London’.”
New Barnes Key To Philly Arts Boulevard?
With the addition of the Barnes and the possibility of a new Calder Museum, Philadelphia’s Franklin Parkway might indeed become a long-envisioned grand arts boulevard. “The Parkway, of course, already has a lot going for it. The area is home to the Art Museum, the Rodin Museum, the Free Library, the Franklin Institute, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and Moore College. But there are huge gaps along the broad, tree-lined boulevard that make it hard for visitors and natives alike to think of the 1.1 miles from LOVE Park to the Art Museum as an entity.”
Phoenix Symphony’s New Music Director
The Phoenix Symphony has chosen Michael Christie, a 30-year-old American, as its new music director. Christie has been artistic director of the Queensland Orchestra in Brisbane, Australia for three years. He succeeds German-born maestro Hermann Michael, who retired last year at age 66 after seven years with the symphony.
Documenta Director Gets SF Gig
The director of Documenta 11 has a new gig – dean of academic affairs at the San Francisco Art Institute. “Most people in the art world know Enwezor, 41, as the director of Documenta 11 in Kassel, Germany, the 2002 edition of one of world’s most prestigious survey exhibitions of contemporary art. He made it an even more international event than usual by staging, in advance of the exhibition, topical conferences in Vienna, New Delhi, St. Lucia and Lagos, Nigeria.”
Deal To Digitize The Repositories Of Human Knowledge
Google and some of the world’s biggest libraries announce a deal to digitize their collections. “The goal is to expand the Web beyond its current valuable, if eclectic, body of material and create a digital card catalog and searchable library for the world’s books, scholarly papers and special collections. Within two decades, most of the world’s knowledge will be digitized and available, one hopes for free reading on the Internet, just as there is free reading in libraries today.”
Chicago Symphony – 100 Years At Home
The Chicago Symphony commemorates 100 years in its home at Orchestra Hall tonight. “In 1903, CSO trustee Daniel Burnham designed Orchestra Hall, an eight-story building of brick and limestone; the building was built for $750,000 over seven months the following year.”
California Seeks A Poet
California is looking for a new state poet laureate. The post has been empty for two years after nominated poet Quincy Troupe withdrew from consideration for the job after a resume problem. “In addition to transforming the ordinary, applicants will be asked to traverse the Golden State for little or no compensation. A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman suggested that candidates who choose to forgo pay could earn a leg up in the selection process. ‘As you know, this is a very tight fiscal year. Quite possibly, a poet laureate may step up to the plate and volunteer their time. Wouldn’t that be wonderful’?”
Human Cargo Scores At Geminis
The Gemini Awards, celebrating Canadian television, take a shine to “Human Cargo”, the three-part drama about the plight of refugees. The show won 7 of 17 nominations, winding up seemingly in a class of its own.
Is Regina The New Tinseltown?
Film production is dying in Ontario. So where is the new Hollywood North? Saskatchewan. The province offers generous tax credits and has seen production soar 2,400 percent in the past few years. “The co-operative movement is rooted here, so people know if you don’t work together you ain’t getting nowhere. If we don’t have experience in the province we can deem someone from another province or country a Saskatchewan resident. And unlike other tax programs, we can pay it out above the line, that is, on producers, key cast and directors.”