“U.S. District Judge Charles B. Goodwin ruled that the Oklahoma Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act violates the U.S. Constitution because it is more restrictive than a federal law with the same purpose — protecting and promoting Indian artists. The Oklahoma law requires artists to be members of a federally recognized tribe if they are to market their art as American Indian. The federal law also allows members of tribes recognized only by a state to market art as American Indian, along with artists certified by Indian tribes.” – The Oklahoman
Tag: sj
Emmett Till, Censorship, And The Creation Of ‘The Twilight Zone’
“[Rod] Serling, riding off the success of his most well-received teleplay to date, felt compelled write a teleplay around the racism that led to Till’s murder. But the censorship that followed by advertisers and networks, fearful of blowback from white, Southern audiences, forced Serling to rethink his approach. His response, ultimately, was The Twilight Zone, the iconic anthology series that spoke truth to the era’s social ills.” – Smithsonian Magazine
Is This How Martha Graham Would Celebrate 100 Years Of Women’s Suffrage? (Probably So)
“This season, the Martha Graham Dance Company [starts] its two-year EVE Project, commemorating the 1920 ratification of the 19th Amendment that gave women the power to vote. Included are two new works: Pam Tanowitz’s Untitled (Souvenir), in which she merges Graham’s steps with her own; and Deo, a collaboration by Maxine Doyle and Bobbi Jene Smith. Inspired by the myth of Demeter and Persephone, Deo explores issues surrounding women and mortality with, aptly, an all-female cast.” – The New York Times
Canada’s National Arts Centre Indigenous Theatre Endangered After Government Turns Down Funding
Two years ago the National Arts Centre decided to add a company devoted to indigenous theatre to its french and english theatres. But the Canadian government has turned down a $3.5 million funding request and the plan is now in jeopardy. – Toronto Star
New Design Thinking: Accessibility Is A Design Issue
Traditionally, what people get through mass production is something designed for an abstraction of an ideal male body. Customarily, those whose bodies did not fit the standard, who were not spry or male, had to make do. Designers didn’t account for variations of the human body. – Aeon
Art Institute Of Chicago Postpones Major Native American Show After Realizing It Didn’t Get Enough Native Input
“‘Worlds Within: Mimbres Pottery of the Ancient Southwest’ … was slated to open May 26 in Regenstein Gallery, the museum’s primary space for temporary exhibitions. But [director] James Rondeau … said that as the show approached it became increasingly clear that more work needed to be done to represent native voices in the project.” – Chicago Tribune
New Wave Of Young Black Playwrights Bring Jolt Of Energy To American Theater
“An extraordinary new talent convergence is riveting the contemporary American stage. … All in their early 20s to mid-30s, [these playwrights] are newly asserting their ownership of an ongoing American conversation about racial identity, one that has taken on urgency in the race-baiting age of Trumpism.” – The Washington Post
This Playwright’s Subjects Are So Explosive That His Plays Are Regularly Banned And He Fends Off Death Threats With Ice Cream
Abhishek Majumdar has written a trilogy of dramas about the decades-long cycle of violence in Kashmir, another about Hindu nationalism, and one about the 2008 riots in Tibet’s capital. That last is the one that got him the death threat, and London’s Royal Court Theatre cancelled a production of it last year under apparent pressure from the Chinese government. (The Royal Court was shamed into reversing that decision, and the play is about to open there.) – The Guardian
Rise Of The Women Choreographers?
By some estimates, about 90 percent of choreographers at major companies are male. Even though ballerinas have been the focal point of dance. Now though, there seems to be a new generation of women choreographers getting attention. – BBC
Are There Really Any Reasons Left Not To Repatriate Plundered Cultural Artifacts?
“The British Museum is currently facing repatriation demands from Italy, Greece, Egypt and the Easter Island; the idea that it is a better host to the Parthenon Marbles than Athens’ state-of-the-art Acropolis Museum is preposterous, as is the idea that the Rapa Nui don’t know how to look after Hoa Hakananai’a, the Easter Island stone statue they believe is the living incarnation of a prominent ancestor.” – Prospect