In the News is published at the end of every week by Lord Cultural Resources Librarians: Brenda Taylor and Danielle Manning. Follow us on facebook and twitter for the latest digest of cultural news.
Clients and Lord Cultural Resources in the News
TIFF lineup features more than 70 Canadian works
By JAMES ADAMS, Globe and Mail Update, Published Tuesday, Aug. 09, 2011 10:00AM EDT, Last updated Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011 9:08AM EDT
“There’s more people in this room than saw Canadian films in the 1980s,” an exultant Guy Maddin proclaimed Tuesday afternoon in the swank confines of the Imperial Room at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York Hotel. It certainly felt that way as hundreds gathered to get the news on what Canadian films are coming to the Toronto International Film Festival next month. And it appears there’s going to be no shortage of CanCon as programmers have more than 70 features, short films and premieres by first-timers ready for the screening from Sept. 8-18 ….”
Art ’n’ fly: Airports have become some of the busiest venues for art
By Angela Hickman, The National Post, Aug 9, 2011 – 12:47 PM ET | Last Updated: Aug 10, 2011 2:41 PM ET
“Airports can be a drag. Typically, they involve a lot of waiting, lines and takeout. Increasingly, though, they are offering travellers art to look at. Airports across Canada and around the world are building up impressive art collections, which is helping to turn wait times into an opportunity to explore a city’s cultural community. “A lot of our guests I’m sure perhaps are not regular museum or gallery-goers. So this may be a new opportunity for them,” says Lee Petrie, curator for the Terminal 1 art program at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). Pearson has 11 large installations in its permanent collection and another six sites for changing exhibitions. But Petrie doesn’t limit herself, and she has found other spaces to showcase work throughout the terminal: She mounted a Contact Photography Festival exhibit by Josef Schulz along a moving sidewalk and, in international departures, a large Luminato exhibit by designer Bruce Mau fills the windows that face the runway. Petrie says she is also working to include performance art in the airport to tie in to Toronto festivals, and she recently organized a Caribbean cooking demonstration to correspond with Scotiabank’s Caribbean Carnival. ..”
Canadian Museum of Nature Receives International Architecture Award
Canadian Museum of Nature, 2 August 2011
OTTAWA —“The newly renovated public exhibitions site of the Canadian Museum of Nature has received a prestigious award from an international architecture competition. The museum's Victoria Memorial Museum Building is among 90 projects from 30 countries—and one of only three in Canada—to be recognized by the 2011 International Architecture Awards. This annual competition is presented by the European Center for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies and the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design. [see also Canadian architects recognized with prestigious international architecture awards, Canadian Architect, 2011-08-09]
What Chicago can learn from Toronto
International arts fest Luminato a good model to follow
By Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune, July 1, 2011, 12:07 p.m. CDT
TORONTO — “Luminato, the festival of arts, culture and ideas that just concluded in Canada's largest city, has only been held for four years. But this citywide extravaganza already attracts a collective audience in excess of 1 million and spends millions of dollars on the commissioning of expansive international creations like Tim Supple's "1001 Nights," a show that used 24 actors from across the Middle East and that was supposed to then come to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater before visa issues killed, or at least postponed, the booking. But for all the lofty artistic aims spoken at Luminato, which claims to be the largest multi-arts festival in North America, one message here rings the loudest and the clearest: This festival was created to promote its home city and build its cultural prestige around the globe. Or, as the manifesto of the co-founders puts it: "to shine Toronto's light on the world and the world's light on Toronto." You can't say it much clearer than that …”
Museums
Musée du Canada dans le monde : les travaux ont commencé
Krystel Dubé, CKOI 106.9 Mauricie, 11 August 2011
CANADA – “Ça y est la première pelletée de terre a été soulevée pour le Musée du Canada dans le monde. Les travaux ont commencé mercredi dernier dans l'ancienne aluminerie de Shawinigan. L'ouverture est prévue en juin 2012 juste à temps pour la tenue des Jeux du Québec. Le musée, évalué à trois millions de dollars, exposera les différents cadeaux reçus par l'ex-premier ministre Jean Chrétien tout au long de sa carrière politique. On ne sait pas encore quel nom prendra le musée, mais on sait d'ores et déjà que M. Chrétien n'est pas chaud à l'idée de voir son nom associé à cette partie du projet.”
Un nouvel envol pour le Musée de l’aviation à Sainte-Marie
Jean-François Fecteau, EnBeauce.com, 10 August 2011
SAINTE-MARIE – “Hier après-midi, l’équipe du Musée de l’aviation a procédé à l’inauguration officielle de son nouvel immeuble contenant une exposition renouvelée. Après 17 années d’effort et d’acharnement, le Musée a été inauguré en présence de près d’une centaine d’invités, bénévoles, partenaires, élus et autres dignitaires. Ce premier Musée de l’aviation francophone en Amérique du Nord rend notamment hommage à sept pionniers de l’air, fils de cultivateurs tous nés à Sainte-Marie. Pauline J. Vachon, présidente du conseil d’administration de la Société historique Nouvelle-Beauce (SHNB) rêvait depuis longtemps à cette journée. « Aujourd’hui, c’est un jour de fête, c’est la consécration d’un rêve qui dure depuis 1994 et qui s’est renouvelé à travers les différents conseils d’administration. Ce musée fait notre fierté », a commenté hier Mme Vachon. …”
Aspen Art Museum's ArtCrush Raises Record-Breaking $1.7 Million
Recent News, artdaily.org, 10 August 2011
ASPEN, CO – “On Friday, August 5, 2011, the Aspen Art Museum hosted its seventh annual ArtCrush summer benefit, raising an all time best of $1.7 million in support of the museum’s contemporary art programming. ArtCrush honoree and recipient of the AAM’s 2011 Aspen Award for Art Roni Horn was celebrated as guests from New York to LA and beyond witnessed the artist’s Clowd and Cloun (Gray) (2000/2001) auction for a record-breaking $420K —the highest raised by a single work of art in the 7-year history of the ArtCrush benefit. …”
LA museum to snap up Saudi contemporary art
By SHEYMA BUALI, Arab News, Published: Aug 10, 2011 20:54 Updated: Aug 10, 2011 21:24
“Edge of Arabia began with a focus on artistic exchange between Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom. Since its first exhibition in 2008, the foundation has taken its show to Berlin, Venice, Dubai, Sharjah and Istanbul. Their latest conquest is one to be proud of. Not only did they break past the United States border and enter a new continent, but work from the two artists that form part of Edge of Arabia’s co-founding team is now part of the permanent collection at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Ahmed Mater and Abdulnasser Gharem are the first Saudi Arabian contemporary artists whose work has been acquired by a major American museum …”
$500,000 grant creates Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at Toledo Museum of Art
La Prensa, 9 August 2011
“The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded a $500,000 grant to the Toledo Museum of Art for the design and implementation of a postdoctoral fellowship program that addresses one of the singular challenges facing the field today—preparing tomorrow’s museum leaders. The new program is unusual in that it blends curatorial work with the interdisciplinary nature of museum operations, according to Toledo Museum of Art Director Brian Kennedy …”
Princeton University Art Museum Receives Major Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant
Recent News, artdaily.org, 9 August 2011
PRINCETON, N.J. – “The Princeton University Art Museum has been awarded a major grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation that will support development and execution of new strategies of engagement and interpretation for all of the Museum’s collections galleries and study rooms. The $500,000 award will fund, in part, a key new Museum initiative, Activating the Collections, including the establishment of a new position, a Curatorial Fellow for Collections Engagement, who will work with curators, faculty, students, guest scholars, artists and other experts across disciplines to develop and present compelling interpretative approaches and materials. The grant also will establish the Museum Voices Colloquium, which will function as a visual arts think tank in bringing together traditional and non-traditional experts to consider new ways of understanding art of the past and present. “We are delighted to receive such an important award from the Mellon Foundation,” said Museum Director James Steward. “This grant will allow us to make more dynamic use of our extraordinary global collections and to link these collections more deeply both to our academic community and to the broader public.” …”
South Africa to Open New Museum Honoring Nelson Mandela
Recent News, artdaily.org, 8 August 2011
JOHANNESBURG (AP) – “South African officials say they will build a dedicated museum honoring Nelson Mandela's struggle against apartheid, on the site where he was arrested 49 years ago. Mandla Mandela spoke Friday on behalf of his grandfather at the launch of an exhibition at the undeveloped museum site. He said Mandela asked him to urge South Africans to remember all who were active in the struggle against apartheid, not just him. The provincial government will pay for the $1.2 million museum and memorial, which is expected to create jobs in the largely rural area. …”
MoMeh: Nouvel’s New Museum Tower Looks Very Familiar [Pics]
By Matt Chaban, The New York Observer, 8 August 2011
NEW YORK – “When Amanda Burden and the City Planning Commission cut Jean Nouvel’s Torre Verre down to size, the architectural cogniscenti were dismayed. Hines, the project’s developer, had sworn the project would be financially infeasible 200 feet shorter. At only 1,050 feet, it would no longer rival the Empire State Building on the skyline but instead share a midtown profile with the likes of the Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Center and the MetLife Building. Still, even in a downturn brought on by bombastic overbuilding, real estate has a way of persevering in New York. As The Observer revealed two weeks ago, Hines is currently pursuing a new set of plans for the oft-called MoMA Tower. And here they are …”
Funding shortfall delays Alberta dinosaur museum
CBC News, Posted: Aug 8, 2011 4:29 PM MT Last Updated: Aug 8, 2011 4:29 PM MT
“The opening of a state-of-the-art dinosaur museum near Grande Prairie, Alta., has been delayed until July 2013 because of a shortfall of funds. The effort to construct the Philip J. Currie Dinosaur Museum, named after an eminent University of Alberta paleontologist, raised nearly half a million dollars at a celebrity-studded fundraiser in July, but still doesn't have enough money to break ground on its new building …”
Waiting Hours to See the McQueen Exhibit, in a Line Not Unlike a Runway
By DIANE CARDWELL, The New York Times, 7 August 2011
NEW YORK – “Even after midnight on a rainy Saturday, they waited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art: a line of about 1,500 people snaking through the Medieval Hall, past the Japanese ceramics and Mesopotamian artifacts displayed along the Great Hall balcony, past centuries of sculptures, paintings and other objects before they finally arrived, giddy from an hours-long wait. “Yay!” one woman cried, as a guard lifted the final slim, brown rope on “Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty,” a retrospective exhibition of the work of the British designer, who killed himself last year at 40. […] The exhibition attracted more than 650,000 visitors since it opened on May 4, and 15,000 on Saturday alone. It is among the 10 most visited shows in the museum’s history, and the most popular special exhibition ever at the Costume Institute, which is housed at the museum …”
Fiscal Woe Haunting Baltimore Poe House
By KATE TAYLOR, The New York Times, 7 August 2011
BALTIMORE — “Even now, 162 years after his death here, Edgar Allan Poe still seems to be suffering from the kind of bad luck that haunted his life. For a second year city leaders have chosen not to subsidize a museum in the tiny house where the impoverished Poe lived from around 1833 to 1835, a decision that means it may have to close soon. Since the city cut off its $85,000 in annual support last year, the house has been operating on reserve funds, which are expected to run out as early as next summer. In the coming months consultants hired by the city will try to come up with a business plan to make the Edgar Allan Poe House financially self-sufficient, possibly by updating its exhibits to draw more visitors. But the museum sits amid a housing project, far off this city’s tourist beaten path, and attracts only 5,000 visitors a year ...”
Alzheimer's Patients Benefit from New Detroit Institute Arts Pilot Program "Minds on Art"
Recent News, artdaily.org, 7 August 2011
DETROIT, MI – “The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) launched a pilot program today that provides stimulating art experiences for people with Alzheimer’s disease and their caregivers. The program, called Minds on Art, is the first of its kind in Michigan, and is designed to spur mental stimulation, communication and social engagement and to lessen the isolation that comes with the disease. Minds on Art consists of a series of museum visits, each beginning with a gallery discussion followed by an art-making activity. The program is carefully facilitated to exercise cognitive processes while providing a recreational “day out” for both patient and caregiver …”
MoCADA TV’s Kalia Brooks Talks Television
By Kate Wadkins, Hyperallergic, August 5, 2011
“A few weeks ago, the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Art, known as MoCADA, debuted a new television series. I reviewed the debut of MoCADA TV but Hyperallergic’s editor and I continually had a back-and-forth about the usefulness of TV as a medium, and the fact that this pioneering move on part of the museum could open a lot of new discussions. With all of these dialogues lingering, I caught up with Kalia Brooks, director of exhibitions at MoCADA, to get a better idea of the series’ aims …” [also view MoCADA TV Episode 001 an introduction to MoCADA on vimeo.com]
National Museum of Scotland Attracts 100,000 Visitors in Six Days
Recent News, artdaily.org, 5 August 2011
EDINBURGH – “The newly redeveloped National Museum of Scotland has attracted over 100,000 visitors in the first six days since it opened to the public last Friday morning. Prior to opening, Museum staff predicted they might achieve the 100,000 mark within two weeks of opening, but that target was smashed in less than half the time expected, with the first week’s tally expected to reach around 120,000. Visitors have come from far and near, with locals and families well-represented in addition to increasing volumes of tourists arriving for the Edinburgh Festivals. Gordon Rintoul, Director, National Museums Scotland, said:
“The number of visitors we have had so far is absolutely fantastic. We were always confident that there would be a high level of interest in our transformed Museum, but to get over 100,000 people in less than a week really has surpassed all of our expectations.” The Museum reopened last Friday, 29 July, after a major three-year redevelopment. A spectacular opening ceremony on Chambers Street was followed by nearly 6,000 people passing through the doors in the first hour of opening. In all, 22,000 visitors packed the Museum on the opening day – over double the amount expected - and there has been a constant stream of visitors ever since. …”
ACE outlines new approach to Renaissance
Core museums model scrapped in favour of major grant programme
Sharon Heal, Museums Journal, 04.08.2011
“Arts Council England (ACE) has announced details about how it will deliver Renaissance in the Regions from October. The announcement will mean major changes to how Renaissance is operated and funded. Instead of Core museums, ACE has announced that it will run a programme of major grants, similar to the national portfolio programme that it already runs, and the proposed challenge fund will be replaced with a strategic support fund. […] The major grants programme will begin with an open application process, and according to a statement from ACE it will look for museums with the “appetite and capacity to play a wider leadership role in the sector”. Full details of the criteria and application process will be available in early September, with successful applicants informed by early 2012 ...“
Architecture
On the Boards: Element House by MOS
By Laura Raskin, Architectural Record, 11 August 2011
NEW MEXICO – “Construction recently began on the Element House by MOS (one of RECORD's 2008 Design Vanguard firms). Eighty miles from Santa Fe, New Mexico, the house will sit next to artist Charles Ross's earthwork sculpture and observatory Star Axis, which he began in 1976 and is likely to finish in 2013.
Made of aluminum shingles and structural insulated panels, with solar chimneys and sliding glass windows and doors, the 1,500-square-foot aggregated guest house is inspired by the Fibonacci sequence, say the architects. It also appears to have something of the counterculture spirit of all those late '60s and early '70s experimental dwellings that popped up in fields and deserts across the States […] The client is the Colorado-based Museum of Outdoor Arts, which helps support Star Axis …”
Architects to help design new museum
By Rhianne Pope, The Oxford Times, Tuesday 9th August 2011, 5:00pm
“A MUSEUM set to become one of Oxford’s leading visitor attractions now has a team of architects on board to help it take shape. The Story Museum in Pembroke House is due to be built by 2014 – the year Oxford is also bidding to become Unesco World Book Capital. More than 60 architect firms submitted bids to take on the £3.5m project, but it was this week awarded to Purcell Miller Tritton. […] Approximately £11m is needed to plan, refurbish and fully open the museum by 2014. A website has also been launched as part of Oxford’s bid to become the World Book Capital. See oxfordworldbookcapital.org”
Enter the Dragon: Glinting extension to Bendigo's Golden Dragon Museum unveiled by Woods Bagot
World Architecture News, 8 August 2011
“China has now solidified its position as the front-runner in the global architectural market, with reams of swirling towers and scores of leafy regeneration masterplans on the boards at the current moment. This week however we are focusing on ancient Chinese influences in Bendigo, a large regional city in Victoria, Australia, and the sensitive yet forward-thinking extension that Woods Bagot has planned for the local Golden Dragon Museum …”
On the Boards: Shanghai Natural History Museum by Perkins + Will
By Laura Raskin (This story first appeared in Architectural Record’s China edition), Architectural Record, 5 August 2011
“When it is completed at the end of 2012, Perkins + Will’s nautilus-shell-shaped Shanghai Natural History Museum will emerge from a proposed sculpture park and provide views of the surrounding city. Perkins + Will won the international competition in 2007 to design the museum, which will replace an existing natural history museum. The architects were inspired by the classical gardens in Suzhou with their water features, rock formations, and screened walls, which they abstracted in their design. “It’s important that the museum is in the old side of the city,” says Bryan Schabel, the senior designer on the project and an associate principal in Perkins + Will’s Chicago office. The spiraling 45,000-square-meter building rises out of the park with a ramp-like green roof that is accessible to the public and culminates in an observation deck ...”
Technology
New iPhone App Makes It Easy to Find, Explore, Discover, Share and Purchase Art
Recent News, artdaily.org, 11 August 2011
EMERYVILLE, CA – “Art.com, Inc.,the world's leading online specialty provider of wall art, today announced the introduction of artMatch™ for the iPhone, which makes it easy for art lovers to find, explore, discover, share and purchase art right from their iPhones. artMatch™ allows you to snap a photo of any work of art and instantly search for matching or similar items on Art.com. You can also preview selected artwork in your own space by simply holding up your iPhone. The application is free and can be downloaded through Apple's App Store. …”
Culture sector should use Spotify for inspiration, says report
By Natalie Woolman, Stage News, Published Thursday 11 August 2011 at 10:48
“Cultural organisations need to develop their own versions of Spotify to create new income streams, according to a report written for Arts Council England. In Supporting Growth in the Arts Economy, Tom Fleming and Andrew Erskine argue that the culture sector has to develop subscription models for online content in the same way that digital streaming service Spotify has done in the music industry. The report says: “Developing successful, revenue-generating subscription models for the digital content of arts organisations has to be explored. Just as Spotify and Last.fm are in different ways exploring subscription or ad-based models for streaming music, so a ‘cultural’ subscription model needs to be explored, providing access to multiple platforms across different devices.” …”
German Firm Junaio Demonstrates Real Augmented Reality
Overcoming the registration problem in augmented reality is easy -- as long as you're willing to cache a three dimensional map of an entire city
By Christopher Mims, Technology Review (Published by MIT), 10 August 2011
“Most "real world" augmented reality is primitive, at best. Applications like Layar and "rich storytelling" new media startup TagWhat produce software that can overlay, on your smartphone's camera view, interesting information about places and objects around you, but that's about it. Their interfaces are relatively static, relying on "tags" or pop-ups to provide information, rather than truly integrating their augmented reality with the real thing. Not so Junaio. In a video just launched to promote upcoming AR conference insideAR, Junaio is showing off a demonstration technology that overlays augmented reality on top of real reality -- with a fidelity of up to 40,000 polygons at once …”
The Mead Art Museum Receives Grant to Fund Collection Digitization Project
Recent News, artdaily.org, 8 August 2011
AMHERST, MASS – “The Mead Art Museum at Amherst College has received a $148,256 Museums for America Program Grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to digitize more than 10,000 objects in its collection, including prints, drawings, photographs, sculpture, furniture, ceramics, and silver. The Mead is one of fifteen museums in the state of Massachusetts to receive this prestigious award, and one of 160 institutions nationally, from a pool of 481 applicants. In announcing the awards, IMLS director Susan Hildreth offered her congratulations to the Museums for America grantees. Hildreth noted, "We are pleased to support museums through investments in high-priority, high value activities that benefit communities throughout the U.S. These museums, small and large, will help to educate and inspire the public for years to come." The IMLS grant will allow the Mead to meet the first goal articulated in the museum's strategic plan, to digitize its entire 16,000-object art collection, and in this way, to aid in the fulfillment of its mission, which seeks to make the collection available to the students, faculty, staff and alumni of Amherst College, and to visitors from around the world. …”
Kickstarter's online platform helps artists seek funds for their work
Detroit Free Press, 7 August 2011
“Call it the RoboCop Effect. Artists in Detroit are seizing the opportunity to see their projects funded this summer through the Web site Kickstarter -- an online community that allows those in the creative set to seek donations from friends and strangers. Artists pitch projects on the site and then set a fund-raising goal and a deadline. Backers can then donate. If a project reaches or surpasses its goal, the artist gets the money and the project moves forward. The power of the Kickstarter platform was illustrated earlier this year with the success of the effort to construct a RoboCop statue in Detroit -- a project that raised more than $67,000 from 2,700 backers …”
Who, what, where? Magnum is hoping the modern crowd will help them identify a historic archive
The photo agency has thousands of shots that lack proper captions
By Alice-Azania Jarvis, The Independent, 5 August 2011
“Given the choice between killing time in front of the TV, or playing an online game, which would you do? Judging by their next venture, the bigwigs at Magnum are hoping you opt for the latter. The co-operative picture agency is recruiting photo enthusiasts to help it "tag" – or identify – some 200,000 images from its archives. Put like that, the project doesn't sound too special. Crowd-sourcing is a well-established technique for accumulating data; think Wikipedia, with its collective, DIY ethos. But this isn't crowd-sourcing as we know it. Instead, an added element has been introduced: gaming. Using a series of incentives, from leader board-style status-enhancers to virtual rewards, Magnum hopes to make the tagging process more fun, and, as a result, more popular …”
These Transit Terminals Boast Art That’s Worth the Trip
By Tim McKeough, Wired.com, 26 July 2011 (Wired Magazine August 2011)[includes video 1:51 min]
“When you’re standing in a terminal, odds are you’re focused on your seat assignment. But you should also be thinking about art: Airports and other transit stations are perfect places for outsize eye candy to be seen by masses on the move. These high tech installations give you something to appreciate when you reach your final destination. Cloud (Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5) - A 16-foot-long peanut suspended from the ceiling uses 4,638 flip dots to create shimmering patterns above travelers’ heads. What to watch for: The two-tone dots go clickety-clack, a reminder of old-style airport departure boards. Just don’t expect an update on your connecting flight to Frankfurt. Università Station at Metronapoli (Naples, Italy) - A tutti-frutti color palate and visual stunts like wall panels plastered with lenticular images that change as you move past them.
Art and Culture
NBN to boost Australian arts and culture, says Arts Minister Simon Crean
By Joe Kelly, The Australian, August 11, 2011 3:48PM
“LABOR has linked the future of Australia's arts and cultural scene to its $36 billion National Broadband Network, saying high-speed internet will enhance artistic opportunities and profits. As the government drafts the nation's first cultural policy in 20 years, Arts Minister Simon Crean said he wanted to encourage the use of new technologies to develop and distribute fresh creative talent. He released a discussion paper today, aimed at strengthening the arts sector's contribution to the economy and national life. The paper says the NBN will expand the potential audience of Australian artists and cultural performers. “The National Broadband Network, with its high-speed broadband, will enable new opportunities for developing and delivering Australian content and applications reflecting our diverse culture and interests,” the paper says. “It will also give business and community organisations in regional areas a historic opportunity to connect with national and international audiences and markets.” …”
Chinese Dissident Artist Ai Weiwei Endured "Immense Pressure" in Detention
Recent News, artdaily.org, 11 August 2011
BEIJING (REUTERS) – “Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei, whose disappearance in April caused an international outcry, endured intense psychological pressure during 81 days in secretive detention and still faces the threat of prison for alleged subversion, a source familiar with the events told Reuters.
In the first broad account of Ai's treatment in detention since he was released in June, the source, who declined to be identified fearing retribution, said the 54-year-old artist was interrogated more than 50 times by police, while he was held in two secret locations. The questioning focussed on his purported role in the planned Arab-inspired "Jasmine Revolution" protests in China in February and his writings that could constitute subversion, said the source. That account runs counter to the Chinese government's repeated statements that Ai's detention was based on alleged economic crimes. …”
Amid Global financial Market Turbulence, More Chinese Investors May Turn to Art
Recent News, artdaily.org, 11 August 2011
BEIJING – “With global financial markets around the world reacting violently to the debt problems plaguing Europe and the U.S., gold hitting US$1,700 per ounce for the first time, inflation in China continuing to hit new highs and the real estate market remaining volatile, Chinese investors are likely to maintain their preference for stability and long-term gain. Having relatively few investment options at their disposal, this means we can expect more of these investors to join the ranks of China’s new collectors, who have increasingly driven sales at auction houses not only in mainland China but also Hong Kong, London and New York. In the last two years, as Jing Daily has previously noted, this class of collectors has aggressively sought to diversify their assets with comparatively safe investments like art, fine wine, rare watches and gold and jewelry — items seen by many in China as “portable hedges” that will hold or grow value in the face of inflation or gradual revaluation of the yuan. As Francois Curiel, Christie’s top man in Asia, recently told Economic Information, Chinese collectors played a key role in the US$482.5 million worth of revenue Christie’s Asia pulled in during the first half of 2011, noting that buyers who previously homed in solely on traditional Chinese art or antiques are now getting more involved in the Chinese contemporary art market …”
Our Magic Hour: How Much of the World Can We Know? at the Yokohama Triennale
Recent News, artdaily.org, 10 August 2011
YOKOHAMA – “This year’s fourth edition of the Triennale has been designated by the Agency for Cultural Affairs as an incubator project for International Arts Festivals in Japan. The Yokohama Triennale 2011 is therefore poised to carry on the tradition and history of this festival as a project on a national scale.
Some of the unique features of this year’s Triennale. One of the main venues for the exhibition, with its theme “OUR MAGIC HOUR–How Much of the World Can We Know?,” is the Yokohama Museum of Art. The Museum possesses rich holdings of art dating from the latter half of the 19th century, in addition to a rare and valuable photography collection that befits Yokohama’s status as the birthplace of Japanese photography. I have been wanting to make use of this prominent arts institution as a key venue for the Triennale for some time, and I am delighted to be able to say that we have succeeded in using it as a platform for the festival this year. …”
Has Sculpture Become Just Another Pretty Face?
By MICHAEL KIMMELMAN, The New York Times, 9 August 2011
BERLIN — “Sometimes on a whim I stop into the Bode Museum here to commune with a tiny clay sculpture of John the Baptist. It’s in a corner of a nearly always empty room, a bone-white bust, pretty and as androgynous as mid-1970s Berlin-addled David Bowie. The saint’s upturned eyes glow in the hard light through tall windows. Attributed to the 15th-century Luccan artist Matteo Civitali, the sculpture is all exquisite ecstasy and languor. Sometimes it’s not the saint I check on but a sculptured portrait in the same room of the banker Filippo Strozzi — stern like a Roman emperor, the face of rectitude and power — by Benedetto da Maiano, Civitali’s contemporary. Then I usually climb the stairs to admire Houdon’s bust of Gluck, the composer, and ogle a towering pair of craggy German knights, relics of Renaissance pageantry made of painted wood, each taller than the N.B.A. star Dirk Nowitzki …”
Texas Billionaire and Philanthropist Charles Wyly Killed in Colorado Car Accident
Recent News, artdaily.org, 9 August 2011
DALLAS, TX (AP) – “Texas billionaire and philanthropist Charles Wyly, whose family donated millions of dollars to Republican causes and Dallas arts projects, has died after a car accident in western Colorado, authorities said. He was 77. Wyly, who maintained a home near Aspen, Colo., was turning onto a highway near the local airport when his Porche was hit by a sport utility vehicle Sunday, the Colorado State Patrol said in a statement. Wyly died at Aspen Valley Hospital. "He is among the finest people I have ever known," William Brewer III, Wyly's attorney and long-time friend, said in a statement to The Associated Press. "His contributions in business, philanthropy and civic leadership will forever be remembered." …”
New York's Long Island Music Hall of Fame Finds a Home
Recent News, artdaily.org, 8 August 2011
PORT JEFFERSON, NY (AP) – “The Hall of Fame that honors the rich musical history of New York's Long Island is getting a home. Until now, the Long Island Music Hall of Fame has existed only as a website. Brookhaven Town officials have announced an agreement for a 15-year lease at the site of the former First National Bank in Port Jefferson, 50 miles east of New York City. A lease-signing ceremony is scheduled for next week.
The facility will feature an interactive museum with exhibits, classrooms and a performance area. …”
Hollywood Foreign Press Association Doles Out $1.5 Million to Dozens of Arts Organizations
Recent News, artdaily.org, 8 August 2011
BEVERLY HILLS, CA. (AP) – “The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is giving away more than a million dollars. The group behind the Golden Globe Awards presented $1.5 million in grants to dozens of arts organizations at a private luncheon Thursday at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Kevin Bacon, Taylor Lautner and Lea Michele helped present and accept the gifts, which were given to 46 nonprofit and educational organizations including the American Film Institute, FilmAid International, the New York Stage & Film Company and Ghetto Film School. …”
TEFAF: A Museum in which Everything is for Sale to Celebrate Its 25th Anniversary in 2012
Recent News, artdaily.org, 8 August 2011
MAASTRICHT – “The Fair is often referred to as a museum in which everything is for sale. The breadth and quality of objects are admired throughout the world. In 2011 TEFAF attracted visitors from over 181 museums from 20 countries. Principal sponsor AXA Art brought more than 2,000 collectors to TEFAF this year. At Maastricht-Aachen airport 154 private aircrafts landed during the course of the Fair. Next year TEFAF celebrates its 25th anniversary from 16-25 March 2012. The Mayor of Maastricht, Onno Hoes, said, “The City of Maastricht and TEFAF are inseparable and are of great mutual benefit. I very much look forward to celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Fair next year and the City looks forward to working with the Fair over the next quarter century.” TEFAF is widely acknowledged as the world’s most influential art Fair. The Fair closed on Sunday 27th March. The focus during the Fair is on the extraordinary works of art that leading specialists from around the world exhibit at the Fair but its impact on the local economy stretches far beyond the confines of the Fair. …”
Photo and movie archives get new, safer $17M home
Old nitrate film degrades easily and can self-combust
By Tom Spears, Ottawa Citizen, 8 August 2011
OTTAWA — “Thousands of Canada's oldest photos and movies have a new $17-million home in Shirleys Bay where they won't degrade and, just as important, won't burn down any buildings. Old negatives sometimes catch fire. Movie film can too. And they become less stable with age, as the nitrate-based film used until the 1950s degrades. With some 60,000 archived nitrate-film photos and more than 4,000 reels of film on its hands, Library and Archives Canada decided it was time to move them from an unsafe building at the former Canadian Forces Base Rockcliffe to a new and safer home …”
Concern over ancient artefacts for sale online
By Nadeem Hanif, The National (UAE), 8 August 2011
DUBAI - “A rare bronze oil lamp, an ancient dagger and a 12th-century glass bead pendant are among dozens of ancient Islamic artefacts dating back hundreds of years that are being sold through a shopping website. The owners of the e-commerce website Souq.com say Ramadan has brought increased interest for such items. "They are usually bought by a mix of individuals who have their own private collections, companies that want an unusual item for a gallery or people looking for a unique gift," a spokeswoman said. "We tend to find that during Ramadan these items sell very well." There are more than 50 such items available on the website, put on the market by sellers in the UAE and abroad. […] Some historians said steps should be taken to ensure that the artefacts are properly preserved. Aisha Deemas, curator at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilisation, said items of historic value should be maintained in a way that lets the public see them while allowing research to be done on them …”
Groups Advocating for the Arts Feel the Pinch
By ROBIN POGREBIN, The New York Times, Published: August 8, 2011
NEW YORK – “The Alliance for the Arts, which has served New York’s cultural world through research and advocacy for 35 years, is transferring its primary activities to the Municipal Art Society and to WNET, two deals in the process of being completed that illustrate how arts advocacy and service groups in New York are struggling to sustain themselves at a time of scarce resources. The advocacy groups find themselves competing for financing against the very cultural organizations they were created to support, which in turn can no longer afford the dues required by some of the groups that advocate for them …”
Heritage Canada delivers funds for cultural group
CBC News, 8 August 2011
“New Brunswick's Acadian and francophone communities received a $55,000 boost of funding to help mesh arts and culture into regional development. Moncton-Riverview Dieppe Conservative MP Robert Goguen announced funding for the Conseil provincial des sociétés culturelles on Monday morning. Goguen, who made the announcement on behalf of Heritage Minister James Moore, said the funding will help the organization to continue assisting cultural groups …”
Stamping out the illicit trade in cultural artifacts
The instability of the Arab Spring has created opportunities for smugglers of antiquities. The west has a responsibility to act
By Mark Vlasic, guardian.co.uk, Sunday 7 August 2011 14.00 BST
“The allegations could have come straight out of an Indiana Jones movie. Three art dealers and a collector have been accused of running an antiquities smuggling ring that illegally shipped Egyptian treasures, including Egyptian sarcophagi, funerary boats and limestone figures over 2,000 years old, to the United States. The relics arrived stateside in innocuous freight boxes, labeled "antiques" and "wooden panels," in order to escape scrutiny. Declared "one of the largest and most-significant cases of antiquities smuggling in recent memory" by Egypt's minister of antiquities, the case provides a reminder that the "Arab Spring" may have facilitated trade of a treasure trove of stolen assets in the world's art and antiquities markets – and that increased diligence is needed to ensure that our world's cultural heritage is protected …”
Investec Hails Benefits of Funding Opera Festival: Interview
By Warwick Thompson, Bloomberg, 7 August 2011
“In one sense, Investec Plc (INVP)’s sponsorship of Opera Holland Park in London concludes this season on a low note. At the bottom of a ravine, in fact. In another sense, it couldn’t be higher. The sixth and final opera this summer is Catalani’s Alpine barnstormer “La Wally,” in which the hero gets swallowed by an avalanche and the heroine throws herself into the abyss after him. It’s staged with a clever use of cloth and rope, and with generous financial help from Investec Wealth & Investment in London. Does the company make a return on funding operatic avalanches? I meet David Bulteel, an executive director of Investec and spokesman on the sponsorship, to find out …”
Pulitzer Foundation Appoints Menil Collection Curator Kristina Van Dyke as New Director
Recent News, artdaily.org, 6 August 2011
ST. LOUIS, MO – “The Board of Trustees of the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts today announced its unanimous decision to appoint Kristina Van Dyke as Director, following an intensive international search. Ms. Van Dyke, currently the Curator for Collections and Research at The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas, will begin working full-time at the Foundation on November 7. Joining the Pulitzer as it prepares to celebrate its tenth anniversary, she will work closely with Trustees and staff to oversee the exhibitions program, as well as other scholarly, artistic and community-related programming, including the contemporary chamber music series. Ms. Van Dyke succeeds Matthias Waschek, who served as Director of the Foundation for more than seven years …”
Asia Triennial Manchester 11 Expands Programme with More Artists and Commissions for 2011
Recent News, artdaily.org, 5 August 2011
MANCHESTER - “The UK's only Asian art triennial opens 1 October – 27 November 2011 in Manchester, with a vibrant and exciting showcase of current contemporary visual art from Asia. Asia Triennial Manchester 11 (ATM11), initiated and led by Shisha, is a festival of visual culture that features a series of exhibitions, commissions and interventions by international and UK artists exploring the theme of Time and Generation, presenting new site-specific work alongside work not seen before in the UK, and challenging stereotypical viewpoints of contemporary Asian artistic practice. The artistic vision for ATM11 looks at one of the most important stories of our time: the migration of peoples from one place to other parts of the world. This continuous movement of people has radically changed our demographics, giving rise to new politics of identity focused on place, territory, belonging, global economic changes and community …”
Online Art Network Snares Major Seed Funding
Recent News, artdaily.org, 5 August 2011
NEW YORK, N.Y. – “Silicon Alley-based startup COMPANY a social network for contemporary art collectors and online art market announces their first seed funding of $1.6 million. The capital was raised from New York angel investors including the Reen Family Office and Ten Paces Capital Partners. COMPANY also has an offline networking event series and reality cable show debuting in the fall. COMPANY is the only online art market offering collectors of contemporary and emerging art a curated secondary market to sell and exchange artworks from their own collections as well their recently unveiled website expansion offering Limited Edition Prints from the hot young artists exclusively. The business was launched only this past March and already generating a profit which made for a quick capital raise. In the coming weeks, COMPANY will debut its art rental business modeled on Netflix and AirBNB catering to commercial real estate companies and hotel operators. Then in the fall its new reality show – The Collector NYC – debuts on cable fully underwritten by sponsors. …”
New Grant Opportunity at the National Endowment for the Arts
Office of Research & Analysis to offer grants to research value and impact of the arts
NEA, August 4, 2011
“Last fall, when the NEA put forward a new strategic plan, the agency identified research as a mission-critical goal. Reflecting that new emphasis, the NEA’s Office of Research & Analysis is announcing the availability of grants to conduct research into the value and impact of the U.S. arts sector on the nation, whether on individuals or communities. The NEA is interested in novel and significant research questions that will lead to greater public understanding of the contribution of the arts.
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