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Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 Celebrates Its Official Reopening HALIFAX, NS — The Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 celebrated its official reopening on June 25, 2015 with the unveiling of
Canadian Immigration Hall, a new exhibition showcasing the vast contributions
of newcomers to Canada's culture, economy and way of life, from past to present
day. The opening of Canadian Immigration Hall, and the recent reopening of
Rudolph P. Bratty Hall, marks the completion of the Museum's $30 million
expansion. The reimagined Rudolph P. Bratty Hall explores Pier 21's rich
history as an immigration facility from 1928 to 1971, while Canadian
Immigration Hall expands beyond the Pier 21 years to explore the broader story
of immigration to Canada. Both new spaces engage visitors using
state-of-the-art digital technology, experiential immersives and participatory
activities. The official reopening ceremony followed the central themes,
Journey, Arrival, Belonging and Impact, as represented in the Museum. Author
Lawrence Hill shared personal stories of Canadian immigration reflecting each
theme. The ceremony also included remarks from Marie Chapman, CEO, Canadian
Museum of Immigration at Pier 21, the Honourable Julian Fantino, Associate
Minister of National Defence, Troy Myers, Vice-Chairperson, Board of Trustees,
Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 and the Honourable Peter MacKay,
Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada. Lord Cultural Resources was selected to assist the Museum with the expansion project. Our firm led the interpretive planning process, managed the design and fabrication of the new permanent exhibition and led the content development process for 20,000 square feet of new exhibitions. We provided the architects with the systems and standards required to ensure that all display spaces met the museum standards for environmental controls. Magna Carta at the Canadian Museum of History for its 800th anniversary GATINEAU, QC — This summer, Canadians will enjoy a rare opportunity to view one of the most important historical documents in the
world. Magna Carta – Law, Liberty and Legacy will be presented at the Canadian Museum of History from June 12 to July 26. This is the exhibition's first stop
on an exclusive six-month Canadian tour marking the 800th anniversary of the Magna
Carta. The Magna Carta and its companion document, the Charter of the Forest,
laid the foundation for fundamental principles of modern democratic life. In
Canada, they helped shape the British North America Act of 1867 and the 1982
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. "We are proud to be the first institution
to present these foundational documents to Canadians on this national
tour," says Mark O'Neill, President and CEO of the Canadian Museum of
History. "Visitors will gain insights into the forces that shaped the
Charters, their impact in Britain and around the world, and their enduring power today as symbols of justice and democracy." Lord Cultural Resources has been engaged by Magna Carta Canada to develop, design, oversee fabrication and act as tour manager for the Magna Carta travelling exhibition. Commencing in Summer 2015 the tour will visit some of the most well-known, iconic, heritage institutions across Canada: The Canadian Museum of History, Ottawa: June 11 – July 27, 2015; The Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg: August 15 – September 18, 2015; Fort York National Historic Site, Toronto: October 4 – November 7, 2015; and The Legislative Assembly of Alberta, Edmonton: November 23 – December 29, 2015.
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Our Clients and Lord Cultural Resources in the News
Outgoing AGO head Teitelbaum reflects on museums' role in the 21st century TORONTO, ON — Friday is Matthew David Teitelbaum’s last day at the Art Gallery of Ontario, where for the past 22 years he’s spent most of his waking hours, working first as the Toronto gallery’s chief curator, then, from July, 1998 onward, as director and CEO. Effective Aug. 3, he’s the new director of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. A Toronto native and graduate of London’s Courtauld Institute of Art, Teitelbaum, 59, has never been less than an engaged and engaging presence. Under his auspices, the AGO got bigger in almost every way – in clout, ambition, audience reach, in the size of its collections and importance of its exhibitions and, of course, in physical size. The Globe and Mail recently met Teitelbaum in his office where he was cleaning house and eagerly anticipating a fishing trip with his son, Max, to Ontario’s Baptiste Lake, former stomping grounds of a Teitelbaum art hero, David Milne. In 2004, Lord Cultural Resources worked closely with AGO staff to develop key planning objectives, assumptions and opportunities in response to the AGO’s vision for the new Learning Centre. We developed preliminary conceptual space blocking and programming as the project developed. Our work included a recommended space program and preliminary concept plan for the existing space. In 2010, we joined the team of Hariri Pontarini Architects for the redevelopment of the Weston Family Learning Centre (WFLC). The project goal was to expand on the AGO’s vision of providing substantial educational spaces for art students, residency for artists, and to improve visibility for the Learning Centre. Lord Cultural Resources provided initial input to the design process with specific expertise in education resource planning, program and content planning, and recommendations on the integration between the WFLC and the galleries. Louvre Abu Dhabi set to open at the end of 2016 ABU DHABI, UAE — The Louvre Abu Dhabi will open at the end of 2016,
according to museum’s president. Speaking in Paris this week, Jean-Luc Martinez
told a press briefing on the $1 billion project on Saadiyat Island that the
opening of the museum will be delayed until the end of next year, according to
a report in the Art Newspaper. While construction is expected to be completed
by the end of this year, according to local media reports, the building is not
expected to be delivered until spring 2016, after which the installation of the
collection will take place, which is expected to take up to three months,
according to the curator Jean-François Charnier. The Art Newspaper says the
official opening could take place on December 2, National Day in the UAE. Lord Cultural Resources has worked with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Development and Investment Company (TDIC) to develop many of the exciting new cultural institutions on Saadiyat Island, where Louvre Abu Dhabi is located. We produced a Concept Plan for the Louvre Abu Dhabi and worked with leading French architect Jean Nouvel who designed that museum. We did a Master Plan for the Abu Dhabi Maritime Museum, working with the great Japanese architect Tadao Ando. For the Zayed National Museum, Lord Cultural Resources developed the Master Plan and then used it as the Brief to create and manage the international architectural competition which was won by the leading British architect Sir Norman Foster. We were subsequently asked to help develop a Governance Structure for these museums. "Ist Analog das neue Bio?"Neue Trends im Kurzvortrag HAMBURG, GERMANY — Es fängt schon mit einer Zumutung an. Kaum ist der
kleine Saal der Laeiszhalle restlos gefüllt, fragt Moderator Stephan Balzer,
wer denn ein Smartphone dabei habe. Es melden sich: alle. Bis auf einen (dem
seins vermutlich morgens in die Toilette gefallen ist).
Statt aber, wie nun erwartet, einen Hashtag, also ein Erkennungswort, bekannt
zu geben, mit dem die Gäste während dieser TEDx-Konferenz in Hamburg ihre
Eindrücke in die digitale Welt twittern sollen, verlangt Balzer etwas ganz
anderes: "Macht Eure Geräte aus, hört einfach den Rednern zu und genießt
diese analoge Erfahrung." Erstauntes Gemurmel. Das ist
neu - zumindest in dieser Zielgruppe. Gelten doch die TED-Konferenzen als modern, technikfreundlich und kommunikativ. Das aus den
USA stammenden Format "TED: Ideas worth spreading" steht für die
mittlerweile weltweit (auf Englisch) abgehaltenen Konferenzen, bei denen
Fachleute aus den Bereichen Technologie, Entertainment und Design (TED)
Kurzvorträge über neue Ideen halten, die es "wert sind, verbreitet zu
werden". Die TEDx-Konferenzen, wie die am Montag in Hamburg sind die kleineren Ableger dieser Reihe. Der erstaunliche
Auftakt passte dabei vielleicht ganz gut zu dem Motto der Hamburger Konferenz:
"Exploring new territories": Neue Gegenden erkunden. Dazu gehörte in der Laeiszhalle offenbar auch das Land Analogien. Ngaire Blankenberg, Director, Europe, Lord Cultural Resources, presented at TEDxHamburg conference in Hamburg, Germany, on June 22, 2015. Her focus was on "Cities Museums and Soft Power" in the context of the TEDx theme on Exploring New Territories. The book "Cities, Museums and Soft Power" by Gail Lord and Ngaire Blankenberg demonstrates why and how museums and cities are using their soft power to address some of the most important issues of our time. The book includes essays written by 14 cultural experts, drawing on museums in cities in Italy, Spain, the UK, China, Egypt, India, Canada, the USA and others. Soft power is the exercise of influence through attraction, persuasion and agenda-setting rather than military or economic coercion. "Cities, Museums and Soft Power" can be ordered online. EPIC is ON at Ontario's Celebration Zone this Summer! All the Best of Ontario. All in One Place. TORONTO, ON — In less than one month, Ontario's Celebration Zone will welcome visitors to experience the 'Best of Ontario', all in one place, for 38 fun-filled days during the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. Taking place on the waterfront at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre, visitors can experience an EPIC celebration daily from July 10 to August 16, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. An amazing part of Ontario's Celebration Zone will be the daily FREE entertainment. Some of Ontario's most exciting live music artists will take to the stage for a series of nightly outdoor concerts. The lineup will showcase Ontario as a global live music destination, featuring both up-and-coming artists and homegrown superstars including: Ain't No Love, Big Sugar, Bruce Cockburn, Cowboy Junkies, Digging Roots, Divine Brown, Down With Webster, Elliott Brood, Fefe Dobson, Grand Analog, Great Lake Swimmers, Hannah Georgas, Hollerado, Jarvis Church, Jesse Cook, JJ and The Pillars, k-os, Le Groupe Swing, Lindi Ortega, Rebel Coast, Ron Sexsmith, The Glorious Sons, The Strumbellas, Tim Hicks and so many more! In addition to nightly concerts, Ontario's Celebration Zone will offer entertainment throughout the day, including additional live music, theatre, dance, Aboriginal, Francophone and ethno-cultural community showcases, book readings, art installations and comedy performances to entertain audiences of all ages and interests. Ontario’s Celebration Zone, situated on Toronto’s waterfront at Harbourfront Centre, will run from July 10 - August 16 during the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games. It will celebrate the Best of Ontario! Lord Cultural Resources in association with EllisDon, Hariri-Pontarini Architects, Infinite Stage Design, Parleview, and Astound Group was awarded a contract to plan and deliver daily programming, concerts, exhibits, and other activities in Ontario's Celebration Zone throughout the 38 days of the the 2015 Pan American and Parapan American Games.
Museums
Blurring the Museum-Gallery Divide UNITED STATES — Ever since Mark Rosenthal left his job as head of 20th-century art at the National Gallery in Washington to become an independent curator, museums around the country have sought his talents. Now art galleries are trying to hire him, too — but not just for his scholarship. “There was a big expectation,” Mr. Rosenthal said, “that I could deliver works for sale.” Recently one gallery approached him to organize a show of a major artist he had worked with before. Mr. Rosenthal said he felt pressured to talk collectors into selling prized work so the gallery could broker the deal — something nonprofit museums do not do. Preferring to choose pieces for an exhibition purely by quality, he declined the gallery’s overture. “There’s a belief that museum curators or directors have more entree to certain collectors than the dealer does, because of past associations,” Mr. Rosenthal said. What were hard and fast boundaries between commercial galleries and museums a decade ago no longer exist. First-ever US Nakba Museum opens in Washington DC WASHINGTON, D.C. — When Bshara Nassar arrived in Washington, DC, he strolled along the National Mall and passed myriad museums dedicated to exposing the painful history of oppressed peoples: the National Museum of the American Indian, the Holocaust Museum, Laogai Museum, the list goes on. He quickly recognized there was no “place for the Palestinian story to be told,” which inspired him to launch the first-ever Nakba Museum Project of Memory and Hope. As Nassar worked on a master’s degree in conflict transformation, the thought of a space dedicated to Palestinian voices became a working reality. He was particularly interested in telling the little-known story of the “Nakba,” which means “catastrophe” in Arabic. The term is used to refer to the displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1948 when the State of Israel was created. Today, nearly 5 million people, nearly all of them descendants of the original group, are registered as Palestinian refugees with the United Nations. A non-partisan team of Palestinian and Jewish-American artists formed to support Nassar’s dream. AMOCA, the first Arab Museum of Contemporary Art, Sakhnin ISRAEL — The Arab Museum of Contemporary Art in Sakhnin, will open on 17th of June 2015. The museum holds a collection of 200 contemporary international works of art. The museum is a cooperative initiative of Belu-Simion Fainaru and Avital Bar-Shay, initiators and directors of the museum as well as initiators and curators of the Mediterranean Biennale in Sakhnin together with the Municipality of Sakhnin, thereby creating a new reality of cooperation between Jews and Arabs. AMOCA, the Arab Museum of Contemporary Art, Sakhnin, is the first museum of its kind to be established in an Arab city in Israel. For the first time in Israel an Arab museum of contemporary art will open and present exhibitions of leading artists from Israel and the world. The goal of the museum is to exhibit local and international contemporary art in order to promote peace and dialogue by means of art activities, mutual confidence building between neighbors and a strengthening of values of equality and mutuality leading toward the creation of an infrastructure for human dialogue and coexistence between communities and cultures in conflict. The New Shanghai Natural History Museum is Ancient, Modern and Uniquely Chinese CHINA — The new Shanghai Natural History Museum is not your grandparents’ museum. Gone are the blocky, musty, function-over-form buildings of yore; in are nautilus-shaped, bioclimatic buildings that serve as their own exhibits. Located in the middle of China’s largest city and within Jing'an Sculpture Park, the natural history museum holds 10,000 artifacts from all seven continents, but its most noteworthy object may be the building itself. Replacing the old Shanghai Natural History Museum (which opened in the 1950s), the new museum takes its shape from the nautilus shell—“one of the purest geometric forms found in nature,” notes Chicago-based architecture firm Perkins+Will. “[This museum] is really a microcosm of the symbolism of the harmony between man and nature,” says Ralph Johnson, the designer of the new museum and global design director for Perkins+Will. It took nine years of development, design and construction, but the facility was finally brought to life when it opened to the public on April 19. Frick Museum Abandons Contested Renovation Plan NEW YORK, USA — The Frick Collection has yielded. Facing a groundswell of opposition to a proposed renovation that would have eliminated a gated garden to make way for a six-story addition, the museum — long admired for its intimate scale — has decided to abandon those plans and start over from scratch. “It just became clear to us that it wasn’t going to work,” said a museum official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the board had not yet made the decision final with a vote. “It won’t be the best plan, but we will go back and prioritize,” the official added. “There was just a number of voices out there and we heard them.” With the proposed renovation, designed by Davis Brody Bond, the Frick, on East 70th Street in Manhattan, had sought to increase its exhibition space, open private upstairs rooms to the public and offer views of Central Park from a new roof garden. As a generation of directors reaches retirement, fresh faces prepare to take over US museums UNITED STATES — A new generation is preparing to lead US art museums and they will face different challenges than their predecessors. Potential candidates may be promoted sooner than they had imagined: around 20 institutions are searching for new directors, including the Detroit Institute of Arts, the High Museum in Atlanta, the Baltimore Museum of Art in Maryland and the San Francisco Fine Art Museums. Other major institutions, including the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, are expected to join them over the next five years as their directors reach retirement age. More than one-third of directors are aged 60 or over, according to a survey of 150 US museums published by the Economist last month. “We knew there was a generational shift coming,” says Laurie Nash, an executive recruiter who has worked with New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio. “I’m just not sure that any of us expected all of these people to retire at the same time. It’s a lot for the field to absorb.” In 2009, the Association of Art Museum Directors reported that 60 directors were expected to retire by 2019. The number of vacancies “has created a lot of anxiety”, says Sarah James, an executive recruiter who has worked with the Guggenheim. Art museums find going free comes with a cost UNITED STATES — Museums find they’re scrambling to adapt their business models — with mixed results. When The Broad contemporary art museum opens its doors this fall in Los Angeles, it will join the ranks of America’s big free museums, reviving a frequent refrain: Why aren’t they all free? In the case of The Broad, it’s almost entirely philanthropy supporting the bottom line. It’s a “gift to the people of Los Angeles,” said Eli Broad, who along with his wife, Edythe, provided more than $200 million for the museum. “They felt strongly that free admission was the best way to make great works of contemporary art accessible to all,” said a spokesman for the couple, who own works by Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Cindy Sherman. The Broads are also longtime supporters of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, which is one of three museums that received a $450,000 federal grant to explore a new business model that has already allowed the Dallas Museum of Art to go mostly free. It’s one way museums are adapting to the popular perception that art should be free, despite the fact that public financing has been declining while museum attendance is climbing. Eli and Edythe Broad Build a Museum for Their Art Collection LOS ANGELES, CA — From High in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles’s newest landmark looks like a milky white cube that’s landed amid the spiky
jumble of buildings that make up the city’s downtown. Viewed from closer
quarters, the expanse of its honeycomb facade comes into focus, punctuated by a
giant concave oculus. This is The Broad, L. A.’s latest museum, and although it
doesn’t open to the public until the fall, its far-out architecture—and the
millions of dollars of contemporary art it promises to unveil—is already
attracting attention. Passersby often stop in front of The Broad to pose for
selfies, playfully mimicking the building’s giant dimple by pressing their
index fingers into their cheeks. Click. Art invariably serves as a societal
self-portrait, and personal art collections are equally telling. Whenever
hard-won treasures are put up for public display, they inadvertently reveal
their owners’ private obsessions. Few collectors shy away from such a
reckoning—in recent years, dozens have opened their own museums, influenced by a combination of ego and altruism.
Architecture
Moreau Kusunoki Architectes wins Guggenheim Helsinki
competition HELSINKI, FINLAND — French firm Moreau Kusunoki Architectes has been named as the winner of the Guggenheim Helsinki competition (+ slideshow). Moreau Kusunoki Architectes' winning design was selected from a shortlist of six, which were whittled down from over 1,751 entries in the anonymous international design competition. The Parisian studio saw off competition from finalists London studio Asif Khan, Zurich firm AGPS Architecture, Brooklyn practice Fake Industries Architectural Agonism, Haas Cook Zemmrich STUDIO2050 from Stuttgart and Australian studio SMAR Architecture. A new museum in China seems to defy gravity CHINA — In Qujing, China, a dramatic new concrete structure appears to be balanced precariously on its foundation. The main bulk of the building, which has walls that jut up and out from the base, appears to hover weightlessly above the ground. The 202,361-square-foot space, home to the Museum of Qujing Cultural Center, is the work of Chinese firms Hordor Design Group and Atelier Alter, who were inspired by the gravitas of the museum’s collection. A repository of Yunnan province history, the museum houses important relics such as the centuries-old Longyan Tablet—a major accomplishment of Chinese calligraphy—and a 40-million-year-old fish fossil. shigeru ban's latticed oita prefectural art museum opens in japan JAPAN — Described as a museum of the five senses and encounters, shigeru ban architect’s ‘oita prefectural art museum‘ has officially opened it doors to the public. combining double height spaces and large glass screens, the 80m long, cubic structure has been wrapped with a woven timber façade, referencing the area’s traditional bamboo crafts. acting as a cultural heart of the city, the scheme encourages social and public activity where the expansive foyer acts as a gallery in itself, as well as a café space. Housing a complex program for a diverse array of spatial configurations: from galleries to on-site studios, there are 4,800 pieces displayed on the third floor alone. Traditional culture comes alive through architecture CHINA — The Hakka Cultural Performance Centre, designed by Synthesis Design + Architecture, is a 2000 seat performance hall, with a 90 room boutique hotel with shops and entertainment. The unique design is inspired by the radial geometries of the Fujian region’s traditional ‘Tulou’ rammed earth structures, and its terraced landscapes. The building has an elliptical plan with an elevated 360 degree circular stage area which provides an interactive and immersive performance experience. Set on a hilltop overlooking the Yongdong River, the Hakka Cultural Performance Centre integrates with the contours of the surrounding landscape. Its dramatic looping roof peels away from the terraced hilltop to create a continuous form which serves as a plaza, façade, and roof. First Look at US Olympic Museum COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — New York architect Diller Scofidio + Renfro (DS&R) has unveiled a concept for the US Olympic Museum. To be located in Colorado Springs, near the Olympic training center, the 60,000 sq ft building will house exhibit space, a state of the art theatre, gift shop, café, and broadcast studio. The goal of project is to put visitors in the shoes of the athletes as they prepare to go for gold. “Inspired by the movement of athletes, the US Olympic Museum spirals downward to a central atrium, drawing the public in at its base and propelling them up through galleries. Bjarke Ingels, Renzo Piano and other top architects take part
in Lego art project at New York’s High Line NEW YORK, USA — New York has seen ten ambitious new buildings from a range of top architecture firms spring up at the same time – with the public given free reign to add to, amend or otherwise improve on them. But there is a good reason for such apparent madness, as the buildings are made with Lego and are part of an art installation at the High Line in Manhattan, a public park built on an elevated section of disused railway. Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson commissioned ten architects involved in current or ongoing projects in the surrounding neighbourhood to create a “visionary structure or construction” for the opening of The collectivity project, an installation of more than two tons (1,814kg) of white Lego bricks that features an imaginary cityscape conceived and designed by the public.
Technology
Benin smartphone app brings museums into homes BENIN, WEST AFRICA — Admiring paintings or photographs by Africa's greatest contemporary artists is a luxury in Benin, where museums are scarce and most people lack money to travel farther afield. But a new application developed by a foundation based in Cotonou, the largest city in this West African state, is seeking to bring art to the masses by allowing anyone with access to a printer and smartphone or tablet to turn their place into a museum. "For 10 years, the Zinsou Foundation has been striving to bring contemporary art to people who don't have access to it because we think culture is a right, not a luxury," said Marie-Cecile Zinsou, the Franco-Beninese head of the foundation that created the "Wakpon" app. Digital romance blooms between art and technology WORLD — Technology is changing the way artists work—and the kind of art they make—at an unprecedented pace. At Art Basel, galleries are presenting scores of works that would have been impossible to realise just 15 years ago. “Technology is catching up with artists’ imaginations,” says Patrick Armstrong of Tanya Leighton (M16), which sold The Hunter and his Dog (2015), a 3D printed sculpture by Oliver Laric, to a European collector during the fair’s VIP preview. Artists are swapping paints for polyurethane and calipers for computers. “Lots of artists are like engineers today,” says Virginie Thomas of mfc-michèle didier (E6). The gallery is showing Masaki Fujihata’s Voices of Aliveness (2015), an iPad programmed to reveal a three-dimensional, augmented reality tunnel (€1,150 for one of eight editions). Singapore museums go high-tech SINGAPORE — Walk into the newly opened Singapore Pinacotheque de Paris private museum housed atop Fort Canning Hill, and the first thing you will see is not a Rembrandt or Monet painting, but a host of sleek panels that flash and light up with information and digital images. Down a pristine, marbled corridor, schoolchildren eagerly tap and swipe away on an 8m-long interactive wall that calls up audio clips, pictures and factoids about the artists on display. Claude Monet, father of Impressionist painting, for example, lived in abject poverty almost all his life. "The aim is to present facts in bite-sized chunks. The wall is the first touchpoint for our visitors, so we don't want to overload them. It's an invitation to them to continue the journey through the museum," says Pinacotheque's chief executive Suguna Madhavan, who worked with a team of designers for 18 months to develop its Museum Of The Future concept. Museums embrace 'iconic selfie moments' to drive younger visitors UNITED STATES — In one photo, a tourist in a baseball cap stands heroically, face scrunched with effort, raising a 340-ton boulder above his head. In another, a spindly yogi, flat on her back and legs in the air, balances the rock on her feet. "The Boulder Holder" pose, a selfie that museum-goers take with artist Michael Heizer's "Levitated Mass" sculpture at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, is so popular that by one estimate, Instagram photos of the artwork using the #lacma hashtag potentially reach 175,000 people a week. The museum selfie is having a moment. Institutions around the globe — even some that once frowned on photography or that have banned the selfie stick — are creating even more selfie opportunities, sans stick, as a way to attract visitors, especially millennials. Some museums are even designing architecture that encourages the phenomenon.
Art and Culture
Four Public Artworks Set To Make Waves Across
America UNITED STATES — Powerful works of public art can change the way we see, the way we live. Those in and around New York City in 2005 likely remember a certain 16 days in February, when a string of 7,503 gates sprung up throughout 23 miles of pathways in Central Park, with fluid panels of saffron fabric flowing between the trees like liquid gold. The surreal vision was the work of artist duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose work was hosted by then Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. It actually took the artists 26 years to persuade New York officials to let their elaborate public artwork, titled "The Gates," come into being. The artwork officially launched on February 5 at 8:30 a.m., when Mayor Bloomberg dropped the first piece of fabric. Over the course of the following 16 days, the glittering fates generated $254 million for the city of New York and drew four million visitors, according to Kate Levin, who oversees the arts program at Bloomberg Philanthropies. The arts, creativity and finance: how will funding evolve? WORLD —It would be misleading to say that Ingenious finances the arts, although we are major contributors of philanthropic money, time and expertise to arts and education bodies. Primarily we are commercial investors, business builders and business operators, but we do collaborate with arts organisations in many different ways, both financial and non-financial. What we most contribute, apart from money, is leadership thinking and commercial skills. Very few countries are allocating more public money to the funding of arts and culture unless they are very small and very rich (such as Norway and Qatar). We can (and should) argue about the direction of cultural policy and public funding in the UK, but the general trend is clear and is unlikely to be reversed in the foreseeable future. The future of the arts and culture sector, in the UK as elsewhere in Europe, will increasingly be about finding new ways of using public money to draw in private money in a variety of configurations, using a variety of instruments. This is one of the most important functions of subsidy: helping organisations to diversify their sources of revenue and thus become more resilient. Arts philanthropy booming, cultural giving rises 9.2%, new study says UNITED STATES — Americans’ donations to arts and culture rose 9.2% in 2014, the highest increase in nine categories tracked by Giving USA, an annual report on charitable contributions. Overall, however, arts and culture commanded a modest share of the philanthropic pie. Estimated gifts to arts and culture totaled $17.2 billion, according to the report compiled by Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Although that was a record high, it represented only 4.8% of the $358.4-billion total. Giving to all charitable sectors rose 5.5% in a year when investment markets remained generally favorable -- a key factor for many affluent donors. The report attributed much of the overall growth to large gifts between $200 million and nearly $2 billion. “The majority of these mega-gifts were given by relatively young tech entrepreneurs,” said a summary of the report issued Monday. Roundup: Chinese Culture House in Argentina opens to boost bilateral exchange ARGENTINA — Argentina's first Chinese Culture House opened Thursday in the capital Buenos Aires, with a photographic exhibition called "The Charm of Beijing." China's ambassador to Argentina, Yang Wanming, who presided over the opening ceremony, said he was "very pleased to have the opportunity to share this encounter at the culture house." The house, situated at 100 Callao Avenue, two blocks from Argentina's Congress, forms part of the University of Congress. It is a natural extension of the "excellent" comprehensive strategic partnership between Argentina and China, Yang said. "Our two presidents have exchanged state visits, and political ties have been enhanced" with a cultural dimension, said Yang. "The cultural exchange is a very important part of the relationship between Argentina and China. We have to make a greater effort so the two countries can learn more about each other," said Yang. Numaish Karachi: can art installations change this violent megacity's image? PAKISTAN — Karachi, a city known for intractable political conflict and as a shelter for militants from the Afghan wars, has difficulty escaping its reputation as the world’s most violent megacity. It has suffered some 13,500 killings in the past five years – a level of violence that has significantly degraded public safety and access to public spaces, and has instead encouraged the creation of sectarian, ethnic and political enclaves. But as a city of 20 million, Karachi also has a diversity, vitality and complexity that is infrequently explored in mass-media accounts of its character. It is Pakistan’s urban dynamo: a hub of business, shipping and manufacturing as well as culture and education. In April this year, a group of Karachi residents decided to show fellow residents that they could express a positive and playful vision of their city. “Numaish” (Urdu for exhibition) was an open-air event of creative installations intended to open minds to another way of seeing the city. Five more divisive years for museums and art galleries ENGLAND, UK — Following the general election, what are the prospects for England’s museums and galleries? The Conservative Party’s manifesto gives little away. There’s a single paragraph on “Our world-leading museums, galleries and heritage”. This has a bizarre preoccupation with Manchester, perhaps because of the city’s proximity to Chancellor George Osborne’s Tatton constituency. Alongside re-announcing several shiny new projects for this “northern powerhouse”, we’re also reminded about the previously announced Stonehenge road tunnel and a new London concert hall. The latter is intended to please Simon Rattle when he moves to the London Symphony Orchestra from the Berlin Philharmonic in 2017. The price tag is £300m and counting and the favoured site is currently occupied by the Museum of London, which will have to move to Smithfield Market before construction can begin. The capital’s latest grand project may not see a note played before Rattle retires. The manifesto also reminds us of a “brand new heritage charity” called English Heritage. Yes, that name is familiar. Until very recently, English Heritage was a government-funded agency; now it has to raise its own resources to care for its 400-plus buildings and monuments. This puts it into fundraising competition with the National Trust. Competition for cash will intensify as every museum, gallery and historic site is now expected to seek out the local rich and apply to a static number of foundations.
Creative Economies, Creative Cities, Innovation and Urban Planning, Cultural Tourism
The U.S. Cities Where Creative Jobs Are Thriving UNITED STATES — The finance guys on Wall Street might throw a lot of money around in New York's restaurants, bars, and housing markets, but the finance sector doesn’t have the level of influence on New York City’s local economic health that you might think. Instead, it’s the growing numbers of striving actors, writers, designers, and artists that give the city its edge. That’s according to a new report from the Center for an Urban Future, a think tank based in New York. It concludes that not only has New York City overtaken Los Angeles as the city with the most creative workers over the last decade, but also that it has had among the fastest-growing creative economies. Only Austin’s and Portland’s creative sectors grew more in size, while Los Angeles’s declined. New York City is also home to the greatest portion of creative jobs in the nation—8.6% in 2013, up from 7% a decade prior. No other industry in New York matches that nationwide heft, even finance and insurance. Berlin Spending Billions on Arts and Culture to Draw Tourists BERLIN, GERMANY — Berlin is spending billions of euros to renovate old museums, build new ones and snatch celebrity talent in a bid to upgrade the city’s cultural lineup and satisfy visitors flooding the German capital. “Berlin lives from tourism, and tourists come here largely for culture,” said Hermann Parzinger, president of the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation, which manages most of the city’s museums. “Today, London is more dynamic but Berlin has more potential.” Projects under way include a complete renovation of one of the city’s three opera houses and a new museum of modern art. The former royal palace is being rebuilt and will house exhibits run by Neil MacGregor, the current British Museum director and media host lured away by the city this year. Scotland praised for Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme SCOTLAND — The Glasgow 2014 Cultural Programme, which took place alongside the XX Commonwealth Games, has been praised for creating a new model for future Games and for other major cultural programmes tied to non-cultural ‘mega events’ in the UK. From 2022, the Commonwealth Games Federation is making cultural activity part of the formal criteria on which it judges bids to host the Games. CEO of the Organising Committee, David Grevember, said: “The Cultural Programme has gone from ‘good’ to ‘great’.” The XX Commonwealth Games marked the first time that all non-sport elements of the Games were brought together into one division and delegated to local partners, making use of existing staff, resources and infrastructure to manage the cultural programme and maintain artistic quality. It was also the first time the Cultural Programme started a year before the Games and was delivered collaboratively by the host nation and city. More than 2.1 million people benefited from 12,000 cultural events that took place throughout Scotland, commissioned by Creative Scotland and Glasgow Life. An evaluation of the programme has concluded that it was “a bold and innovative initiative, producing some work of real artistic excellence, while offering a mix of cultural experiences that felt fresh and exciting to peers and audiences alike”. France's top tourist attractions launch Chinese social media accounts to boost visitor numbers FRANCE — Some of France’s most famous attractions are trying to attract internet-savvy tourists from mainland China, with the Louvre, the Palace of Versailles, and the national monuments centre all announcing the launch of Chinese-language accounts on WeChat and Weibo. The Louvre – the Paris museum that houses the Mona Lisa – announced on Thursday that it had launched a WeChat account in Chinese. Internet users can find the account by searching for either the Louvre’s Chinese name, or by its account name in English, “louvremuseum”. The WeChat account provides a map of the museum, a visitors' guide, and information on its history and latest exhibitions in Chinese. WeChat has more than 400 million users in mainland China. “Please follow us on WeChat to find out more secrets about the Louvre,” the museum said in a post on its Weibo account, which it launched in May. The museum’s Weibo account already has more than 1,700 followers and has posted 25 messages. The Palace of Versailles, a national landmark on the western outskirts of Paris, launched a Chinese WeChat account on Tuesday. The account was aimed at having “better communications with Chinese tourists”, it said on its website. | |||||
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