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Cultural News | |
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August 12 - 18, 2011 |
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Featured ArticleAn open-air museum may be constructed in Tahrir Square CAIRO - “The governor of Cairo is currently studying plans to develop Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the Egyptian revolution, including creating an open air museum in the square. Abdel Kawy Khalifa is studying various projects submitted to develop and beautify the square. A group of experts is also expected to give its opinion on the best and most practical proposals. A poll would then be conducted to get the feedback of ordinary Egyptians on the projects …” | ||
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World Cultural News, a free service of Lord Cultural Resources, is released at the end of every week by our Librarians: Brenda Taylor and Danielle Manning. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest digest of cultural news.
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Our Clients in the NewsTIFF 2011 gets a closer and 100 more films TORONTO - TIFF 2011 gets a closing night film and also a host of new star-laden attractions as the festival announces more than 100 new elements of its Sept. 8-18 lineup. We’ll likely see Toronto appearances by Robert De Niro, Catherine Deneuve, Shahid Kapoor, Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage, Clive Owen, Bill Nighy, Andy Serkis, Rachel Weisz, Gerard Butler, Ralph Fiennes, Isabelle Huppert, Saoirse Ronan and James Gandolfini, among many others. (The full list of some 500 celebrity TIFF visitors is scheduled for release Aug. 23.) David Hare’s Page Eight, the British director’s first feature in 14 years, will bring down the TIFF curtain Sept. 18 with a thriller about a veteran MI5 officer (Nighy) forced to confront 21st-century security threats. It’s one of eight new Galas, most of them world premieres, as TIFF locks in its most popular program …” Chronicling Our Past: How will Queer Histories be Represented in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights? WINNIPEG, ON – “The Canadian Human Rights Museum in Winnipeg is set to open sometime in 2013, and the inaugural suite of exhibits is being prepared now. How are decisions about how lesbian and gay people are represented in the final product being made? A 17-member Content Advisory Committee (CAC) toured the country to gather stories on human and produced a report intended to shape the direction of the museum’s content. The CAC’s mandate ended in April of 2010. “It was a good process,” says Jennifer Breakspear, committee member and executive director of Qmunity in Vancouver. “Given the restrictions of time, expense, and the sheer size of this country and the scope of human rights issues, it’s really hard to feel that you got it all. I feel that we did good work, and I feel that we put forward a good report, but we could have done that work for years, touring the country and talking to Canadians about human rights.” …”
MuseumsUpper Canada Village continues to be hub of activity Jill Hudson, EMC News, 18 August 2011 CANADA – “Upper Canada Village had a lot on last weekend - including the opening of a new discovery centre, a heritage carnival, a mistral comedy troupe and an internationally acclaimed artist. While doing all this, the village maintained its calm traditional setting. The Discovery Centre for Upper Canada Village and Crysler Heritage Park is now open. This facility is set up prior to entering either Upper Canada Village or Crysler Park and commemorates Canada's early people and the War of 1812. Displays remind visitors of the significance of the battle that secured Canada's freedom as a nation. “The Upper Canada Village Discovery Centre is the single largest investment in Upper Canada Village since it opened 50 years ago,” said Susan Le Clair, the customer service and corporate communications manager for the St. Lawrence Parks Commission. …” Museum of Civilization cuts troupe to meet budget Kristy Nease, Ottawa Citizen, 17 August 2011 OTTAWA – “Members of bilingual drama troupe that had performed in period costume for visitors at the Canadian Museum of Civilization since 1989 were among eight positions terminated on Tuesday, the museum announced. Three of the positions had been vacant, said spokeswoman Patricia Lynch on Tuesday afternoon. The other five people - who received their layoff notices on Tuesday - included four members of the troupe and a web services officer. Lynch said the cuts were necessary to get the museum back on a balanced budget. In April 2010 it faced a $4-million shortfall, partly due to an increase in fixed costs, such as maintenance, as well as last year's government funding freeze, Lynch said. …” What Moody's Thinks of MoMA: Analyzing the Top 5 Credit Ratings for Art Museums By Shane Ferro, ARTINFO, 17 August 2011 “The U.S. government was not the only entity to get downgraded by a credit rating agency last week. The credit rating agency Moody's issued a downgrade of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art's bond rating last Wednesday, citing a worry that a market collapse could cause the museum to lose a third or more on its investment portfolio, which could in turn trigger a default. Not all museums are rated by the credit ratings agencies. Only the largest institutions issue bonds to raise funds, and are then rated by Moody's …” More visitors at entry-free museums Liverpool Daily Post, 17 August 2011 “Free entry to many famous museums helped admissions to England's leading visitor attractions rise 3% in 2010, it has been announced. The biggest draw last year proved to be the British Museum in London where free admission boosted numbers to 5.84 million - nearly 5% more than in 2009, VisitEngland said. The second-biggest attraction last year was the admission-free Tate Modern in London which welcomed 5.06 million visitors - 6.6% more than in 2009 …” Jeff Bezos Donates $10 Million to Create "Center for Innovation" at New Museum in Seattle< Recent News, artdaily.org, 17 August 2011 SEATTLE, WA – “The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) today announced that it has received a generous gift of $10 million from Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive officer of Seattle-based Amazon.com. The grant will be used to establish the “Center for Innovation” at the new MOHAI opening in late fall of 2012 in the historic Naval Reserve Building (Armory) at Lake Union Park, a few blocks from the new Amazon.com campus in the South Lake Union neighborhood. Bezos’ contribution to MOHAI is the largest in the museum’s 59-year history. …” [see also Jeff Bezos gives $10 million, MOHAI's biggest gift ever, By Amy Martinez, The Seattle Times, 17 August, 2011] Since It Opened Four Weeks Ago, Museum of Liverpool has Welcomed 250,000 Visitors Recent News, artdaily.org, 17 August 2011 LIVERPOOL – “More than 250,000 people have visited the Museum of Liverpool since it opened four weeks ago, equivalent to the capacities of Anfield or Goodison Park 5 to 6 times over and more than half the population of the city as a whole. Crowds have flocked to the new Museum with an average of 8,300 people a day through the doors. The Museum which is free entry opened on 19 July and tells the story of the city and its people. Museum bosses had predicted 78,000 visitors in the first month of opening, but the response from the public has been three times that. Janet Dugdale, Director of the Museum of Liverpool said: “The visitor figures are staggering. We are thrilled with the success of the new Museum. To get a quarter of a million people through the doors in the first month is fantastic. There is a real buzz of excitement in the Museum and it’s so nice to see so many people enjoying themselves.” …” Dutch Museums May Sell Treasures to Make Ends Meet Recent News, artdaily.org, 17 August 2011 ROTTERDAM (REUTERS) – “Rotterdam's Wereldmuseum plans to sell its African and American treasures to cover funding shortfalls made more likely by the economic crisis in Europe and a planned cut in state subsidies to the arts starting in 2013. It is one of several Dutch museums under pressure to raise money from the public purse, and ideas being explored have ranged from "adopting" star exhibits to opening a hotel on the premises. “We are going to sell the entire Africa collection and the Americas collection, and will only keep the top pieces in the rest of our collection so we can focus on Asian art,” said Stanley Bremer, director at Wereldmuseum. “The money we raise we will put in the bank,” he told Reuters. “If you are alert to the situation in Europe, you can see there could be a problem in five or six years' time. So either we can sit back or we can make a plan and our plan is to raise money to be as self-sufficient as possible.” The government has said state subsidies for the arts and culture would be cut by 200 million euros to 700 million with effect from 2013, and that in future, museums must find 17.5 percent of their income from new funding sources or partners. …” Le Cannet offre un musée à son peintre Bonnard Philippe Dagen, Le Monde, | 17.08.11 | 16h07 • Mis à jour le 17.08.11 | 16h07 CANNET (ALPES-MARITIMES) Envoyé spécial – “Le peintre Pierre Bonnard (1867 -1947) découvre en 1922 la petite ville du Cannet (Alpes-Maritimes). Il connaît alors la Méditerranée depuis longtemps, ayant séjourné à Saint-Tropez dès 1904, y étant revenu souvent. En 1912, il pousse jusqu'à Cagnes, où vit Renoir, mais achète une maison dans la vallée de la Seine, près de Monet. Pendant et après la guerre, il retourne sur la Côte d'Azur. Et finit par s'éloigner des plages mondaines de Cannes pour gagner les hauteurs, alors ampagnardes, du Cannet …” 10 of the best museums in Berlin Berlin resident and travel writer Rory MacLean chooses some of the city's most impressive museums, whether you want to taste life in the former DDR or admire works by world famous artists By Rory MacLean, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 17 August 2011 11.07 BST “Käthe Kollwitz Museum: Of all Berlin's artists, no one captured the pain suffered in and exported from this place more than Käthe Kollwitz. The intense intimacy of her work revealed residents' hopes and horrors, as well as the unspoken pains of the poor, in images and forms which – 60 years after her death – still appear to burst from the artist's heart. This privately owned museum, just off the Ku'damm, includes hundreds of her finest drawings, etchings and sculptures. A passageway connects the museum to the neighbouring Literaturhaus, with one of the city's most civilised cafes. • Fasanenstrasse 24, +49 30 882 5210, kaethe-kollwitz.de, adults €6, concessions €3. Open daily 11am-6pm Neues Museum: Over the last decade the Neues Museum, a bombed-out ruin since 1945, has been repaired and rebuilt by British starchitect David Chipperfield. His recreation is a striking building which can be read like a book, telling – through its original walls, surviving textural details, all-but-lost classical frescos and soaring new spaces – the story of man's ability to create, destroy and preserve. It is the perfect museum for Berlin. …” Art museum breaks ground, land sale closes By Curtis Wackerle, Aspen Daily News, Wednesday, August 17, 2011 ASPEN, COLORADO - “Seven million dollars and the naming rights to the lot where the new building will go up. That’s what the Aspen Art Museum exchanged with local businessman Nikos Hecht to secure ownership of the 10,500-square-foot lot where the Shigeru Ban-designed building is expected to open in August 2013. The lot, currently a plot of dirt with modern art displays, has been renamed “Hecht Place,” art museum officials said Tuesday …” University art gallery reopens Jeff Bell, Victoria Times Colonist, 17 August 2011 VICTORIA, BC – “A legacy of artwork and art education reopens to the public today in downtown Victoria. The University of Victoria's Legacy Art Gallery, at the corner of Yates and Broad streets, has had extensive renovations that have added teaching and research areas to complement exhibition space for the art that UVic has amassed over the years. Changes include the removal of a café and kitchen facilities, with a special, climate controlled gallery area taking their place. …” Q&A: Mark O’Neill, new head of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corp. By Melissa Leong, National Post, Aug 17, 2011 – 3:30 PM ET “If Mark O’Neill was a museum exhibit, his placard would read as such: Mark O’Neill (1963 – ). Created in Etobicoke, Ont. Made of pragmatism, thoughtfulness and a subtle sense of humour. Here you see him rendered as the new president and CEO of the Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation, succeeding Victor Rabinovitch. He has held executive positions in the company over the past 10 years, including director general of the Canadian War Museum. The new man behind the most popular museum in the country spoke to Melissa Leong about why Canadians are more interested in our war history …” Museum field trips no more? No problem Part of county museum to be brought to students By Alex Davis, Shore News Today, Wednesday, 17 August 2011 16:17 CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE, NJ – “Fourth graders used to go on field trips to The Museum of Cape May County. Then state budget cuts shuttered those plans. Some schools no longer could afford to take students to the museum for an up-close look at the county’s history. That’s where the Cape May County Historical and Genealogical Society comes in. If students can’t come to the museum, the organization will bring some of the museum to them, said museum director Pary Woehlcke. The society will use part of a recently received $9,750 to state grant for a “traveling trunk” that will be taken into schools …” Un musée de l’histoire de l’aviation au Canada ouvre officiellement ses portes à Windsor Basile Bakumbane, Le Rempart, 17 August 2011 WINDSOR, ON – “Le mercredi 3 août, le musée de l’Association canadienne des aéronefs historiques (ACAH) a été officiellement ouvert à l’aéroport de Windsor. Aménagé dans un des hangars, ce musée présente une collection de vieux avions militaires et civils ainsi que d’autres objets de l’histoire de l’aviation canadienne. On y trouve également une petite bibliothèque militaire contenant les différentes archives de l’armée de l’air ainsi qu’une boutique de cadeaux. Plusieurs personnalités de la région, dont Jeff Watson, député du comté d’Essex, ainsi que plusieurs anciens combattants ont participé à l’ouverture officielle du musée, Prenant la parole pour la circonstance, les différents intervenants n’ont pas tari d’éloges pour l’ACAH pour son travail destiné à honorer les anciens combattants canadiens en préservant les traces de leurs exploits. …” Ripley's releases more details about Toronto Aquarium By Derek Flack, BlogTO, August 17, 2011 TORONTO - “The official groundbreaking for Toronto's new aquarium took place earlier today, which means there are finally some more details to share about the project that's already under construction at the base of the CN Tower. Expected to be finished in 2013, the $130-million attraction will receive funding from all three levels of government, including $11-million from the province of Ontario and between $8- to $12 million from the City of Toronto in the form of property tax incentives over a 12-year period. The Canada Lands company, who owns the land on which the aquarium is being built, will also kick in "more than $10 million to redevelop the John Street corridor that includes new signage and improved access which will increase and enhance the flow of pedestrian traffic from Front Street," according to a press release issued today …” Federal Player of the Week: Bringing creativity to Natural History Museum exhibits By The Partnership for Public Service, The Washington Post, Published: August 16, 2011 WASHINGTON, DC - “Through her interactive and innovative exhibits, Barbara Stauffer has been educating the millions of visitors who have come to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History for the past 21 years. From climate change in the Arctic to looking at the social behavior of ants, our colonial history as revealed in skeletons, the arts and crafts of Northwest Coast Indians and Eskimos and the importance of race, Stauffer in her role as the chief of temporary exhibitions has explored a wide-range of topics that examine the intersection of art, science and culture …” Temporary museum eyed for Ladysmith’s First Avenue Matthew Peterson, Ladysmith Chronicle, 16 August 2011 LADYSMITH, BC – “The Ladysmith Historical Society is thrilled they have been given the option to see a long-time dream come true. When the Resources Centre moved to its new location on High Street, the Ladysmith and District Credit Union offered use of the old building on First Avenue as a temporary spot for the museum. Historical Society President Maureen Martin said they are grateful for the offer and will be meeting with its members on August 16 to discuss options to make the top half of the building wheelchair accessible. …” Museum mother: There’s no place Carol Johnston would rather be as she celebrates her 80th birthday Kathy Rumleski, London Free Press, 16 August 2011 LONDON, ON – “A group of kids in the London Regional Children’s Museum day camp, talk and smile as they stride through the atrium. Once at an activity, they’re quickly absorbed in the subject. Besides one boy wearing his ball cap backwards, these children look fairly similar to the photos of kids in the archives I’ve been poring through. They’re stimulated, engrossed. The contented expression on their faces has been a constant at the museum for the past 36 years. Another constant is Carol Johnston. In 1975, she founded the children’s museum — the first in Canada — and was its first director. The museum’s biggest supporter is often on site, interacting, encouraging, helping, even though she retired in 1990. […] For her invaluable work in establishing the museum and as a volunteer, Johnston has been awarded an Order of Canada membership, YMCA Women of Excellence Award and she was London’s Citizen of the Year in 1983. …” Scott Rosts, Niagara This Week, Tuesday, August 16, 2011 NIAGARA FALLS, ON – “It was only for a few minutes, but it was back to class – and back in time – for Niagara West-Glanbrook MP Dean Allison. Allison recently visited the Jordan Historical Museum, where he stopped to visit with two students who have helped bring history to life at the Jordan Village institution this summer. Jordan resident Tia Pavan and Mallory Horrill of Grimsby came on board in May thanks to the Young Canada Works in Heritage Organizations grant, organizing kids’ programs, conducting tours, and more. “We’re very fortunate to have been able to access funding for the students,” said Sylvia Beben, assistant director at the Jordan Historical Museum. “This allowed us to be open on weekends, and organize programs like the drop-in days and fun day.” …” A New Model for Business: The Museum By Carmen Nobel, HBS Working Knowledge, 15 August 2011 “At first blush, the consumer appeal of a business like Groupon seems pretty obvious. The popular deal-of-the-day Internet start-up sells vouchers to restaurants, spas, and other local businesses at major markdowns--and who wouldn't want to score a 100-dollar sports massage for 50 bucks? But Harvard Business School's Ray Weaver says that what Groupon is up to is much more sophisticated than just offering 50 percent-off coupons. Groupon, along with companies like Apple, Facebook, and Progressive Insurance, is a leading example of firms that are thinking about customers in a new way—much like how a museum curator orchestrates the experience of patrons. Weaver, an assistant professor in the Marketing Unit at HBS, believes that part of Groupon's success is borne of the careful way the company presents wares to its customers: providing a very limited amount of choices at a time, along with a brief, engaging description of each offering. To that end, Weaver is exploring the idea that many consumer-centric web-based businesses would benefit from acting more like museum curators …” South Mountain Museum Upgrades Planned in Maryland Recent News, artdaily.org, 15 August 2011 BOONSBORO, MD. (AP) – “Maryland's Department of Natural Resources says it's upgrading museums in the South Mountain Recreation Area near Boonsboro in time for the Civil War sesquicentennial. Park Manager Dan Spedden told a news conference Monday in Hagerstown that the agency will refurbish buildings at Washington Monument State Park and Gathland State Park to add exhibits focused largely on the Sept. 14, 1862, Battle of South Mountain. At Washington Monument, exhibits will be added to an existing museum that was once the park concession stand. At Gathland, a lodge building will house exhibits about the fighting that occurred in several gaps along 12 miles of the mountain ridge. Spedden says $187,000 has been awarded for building rehabilitation. The agency is seeking bids for exhibit construction.” Children With Autism, Connecting via Transit By Christine Haughney, The New York Times, 13 August 2011 NEW YORK – “Ravi Greene can tell you how to get anywhere in New York City by transit — like the beach, on the 6 train. “The 6 goes elevated from Whitlock Avenue to Pelham Bay Park,” he explains. “And at Pelham Bay Park, you can transfer for a Bx29 or a Bx12 — the Bx12 to Orchard Beach.” Ravi has drafted elaborate proposals for expanded bus service in Brooklyn, and has memorized the exact date that the W train stopped running in 2010. And he is only 5 years old. Like many children with autism spectrum disorders, Ravi is fascinated by trains and buses, entranced by their motion and predictability. And for years, these children crowded the exhibitions of the modest New York Transit Museum, chattering about schedules and engine components and old subway maps …” Madison Museum of Contemporary Art Purchases Its Building Museum Publicity.com, 13 August 2011 “For the first time in its 110-year history, the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art owns its building. On August 5, 2011, MMoCA board president Jim Yehle signed documents making the museum the owner of all of the spaces it currently occupies, including its galleries, lobby, lecture hall, rooftop sculpture garden, education classroom, and storage and preparatory spaces, as well as the Museum Store and the restaurant space occupied by Fresco. Designed by world-renowned architect Cesar Pelli, the museum’s facility is comprised of 51,500 square feet of interior space, as well as the 7,100-square-foot rooftop sculpture garden. As part of the Overture Center complex, the facility was made possible by the extraordinary generosity of W. Jerome Frautschi, a former member of the museum’s board of trustees…” thenewsstar.com, 12 August, 2011 MONROE, LOUISIANA – “From its humble beginnings on Plum Street in a house that formerly housed a women's hat shop to a $3.2 million facility on a 25-acre site at Monroe's Chennault Park, the Northeast Louisiana Delta African American Heritage Museum is now a reality. The celebration of its opening began Thursday and will continue next Wednesday, as the museum formally opens to the public. The museum was the dream of the late Nancy Johnson, and current Executive Director Lorraine Slacks made a pact to her friend to see the museum to reality. A mere 17 years and a few tons of sweating all of the fundraising and construction details later, here it is …” Learning About the Marketplace and Entering It By KEN JOHNSON, The New York Times, Published: August 11, 2011 NEW YORK – “In a metaphorical land not far from reality, a beautiful palace rises from a desolate plain of want and envy. It is surrounded by an invisible but impregnable wall and a moat full of sharks and crocodiles. Inside, successful artists work in spacious, light-filled studios and dally in sensual pleasures. Outside the wall and the moat, thousands of haggard, hungry, unsuccessful artists have gathered to stare longingly at this unreachable Xanadu. They plead for admission. […]This may sound fanciful, but there is enough truth to it to have prompted programs granting master of fine arts degrees across the real America to institute courses in how to make it in the art business. […] There are programs for those who have finished school too, like Artist in the Marketplace — a k a AIM — which the Bronx Museum of the Arts sponsors. Every year over the past three decades, the AIM program has selected a group of hopefuls to take part in a 13-week seminar introducing them to the ins and outs of the market and the artist’s place in it ...“ |
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