This Week’s AJ Highlights

Good morning: An eventful week. ‘Nuff said. Here are this week’s AJ highlights:

1. Cal Shakes Veterans Mourn, And Remember Former artists of the California Shakespeare Theater reflect on its unique, progressive audience and the cultural shifts that have impacted the company, questioning how the theater community can retain relevance in changing times. – San Francisco Chronicle​
2. Building The Great Native American Songbook Composer Tim Long’s initiative to compile an Indigenous songbook emphasizes the importance of preserving and expanding Indigenous music, with contributions from composers across North America, aiming to fill a cultural gap in the classical canon. – The New York Times​
3. The Peter Principle in Arts Leadership An incisive critique examines how entrenched leadership and resistance to change can derail nonprofit arts organizations, suggesting that the industry’s focus on legacy over community needs contributes to recurring financial crises and closures. – ArtsJournal Scene Change​
4. Threat To Our Future? An Empathy Gap Exploring the empathy gap between current and future generations, this piece discusses how our inability to empathize with abstract groups could hinder long-term arts funding and policies focused on sustainability and community impact. – Psyche​
5. Fair Trade: The Idea Behind Nepal’s Museum Of Stolen Art
   Nepali conservationist Rabindra Puri’s innovative plan to replace stolen sacred art with replicas offers a new model of cultural restitution, addressing colonial-era looting while preserving Nepal’s heritage in a unique, forward-thinking way. – BBC​

As usual, skip down to see all the stories we collected this week, organized by artform. See you next week.

Doug

MOST RECENT AJBLOGS

Jérémy Jolley talks about the importance of access to performance spaces

- Aaron Dworkin

David Erdos: ‘The United Hates of America’

- Jan Herman

Why Does Transforming a Country of DōnWänüs Takes Just as Much Effort Than Transforming a Nonprofit Arts Industry of DōnWänüs?

- Alan Harrison

How Should we Measure Art?

- Douglas McLennan

Sally Blandón talks about a Music For All approach to engaging young people

- Aaron Dworkin


 

DANCE

Even After 30 Years, People Talk About (And Buy Tickets For) Matthew Bourne’s Gender-Switched “Swan Lake”

- Bachtrack

Can Audio Description For The Visually Impaired Work For Dance As It Does For Theatre?

- The Guardian

Raygun, The Notorious Olympic Breakdancer, Retires From Competition And Public Performance

- AP

How Choreographers Create Dance Movement For Straight Plays

- Dance Magazine

Major Neurological Study Looks At How Our Brains Respond To Live Dance

- The Guardian

Dallas Black Dance Theatre Is Working To Settle Labor Complaint And May Rehire Its Fired Dancers

- KERA (Dallas)

Dallas Black Dance Theatre’s Conflict With Its Dancers: A Timeline

- KERA (Dallas)

IDEAS

Has Our Technology Collapsed Our Ability To Experience Awe?

- Aeon

The Need To Be Right (It’s Seductive)

- The Walrus

Studies Touting The Benefits Of Universal Basic Income Pile Up. But The Case For It Isn’t Being Made Right

- Vox

Threat To Our Future? An Empathy Gap

- Psyche

We Have Become An Algorithmically-Driven Culture. And We’re Unhappier Than Ever

- The New Yorker

Why Humans Innately Distrust Other Forms Of Intelligence

- Noema

The Downside Of Making Our Lives Convenient

- The Guardian

How Switching Languages Changes Our Personalities

- Psyche

Rousseau Got His Ideas On Equality From A Woman

- Aoen



 

ISSUES

Popular Glastonbury Tries A New Scheme For Online Ticket Sales After An Increasingly Chaotic Process

- The Guardian

New Science Is Revising Stories Of The People Of Ancient Pompeii

- Washington Post

The US Archivist Is Accused Of Whitewashing American History

- The Wall Street Journal

Voters In El Paso Veto Funding For Downtown Arena/Performance Venue

- El Paso Matters

Ticket Scams Are Plaguing The Performing Arts

- CultureOC

The Prime Philadelphia Real Estate Belonging To UArts Has Now Hit The Market

- Artnet

How WH Auden Used Culture To Reconsider His Place In The World

- Anonymous

Indian Government Puts Heavy Pressure On Wikipedia, Alleging Bias

- TechCrunch

A New Golden Age For City Parks

- The New York Times

Is A Four-Day Workweek Workable In The Arts?

- ArtysHub

City Of Miami Beach Steps Up To Replace Arts Funding Canceled By Gov. DeSantis

- Artnet

The Trauma Of Being A Librarian On The Front Lines In The United States

- The New York Times

The New York Times Digital Staff Go On Strike The Day Before The US Election

- Variety

Dueling Literary Letters Make Opposing Pledges About Israeli Cultural Institutions

- The New York Times



 

MEDIA

China’s Movie Box Office Is Collapsing

- The Hollywood Reporter

A Time Of Reckoning For Media In A New Trump Era?

- The Hollywood Reporter

Meet The Maestros Of Evil Doll Movies

- The Hollywood Reporter

Film Festival In Istanbul Cancelled After Daniel Craig Film “Queer” Is Banned

- Deadline

When Johnny Carson Animated American Late Night

- The New Yorker

Canada Orders Dissolution Of TikTok’s Operations There

- AP

How AI De-Aged Tom Hanks In His New Movie

- Wired

Popularity Of True-Crime Podcasts And Series Can Have Real-Life Consequences, Good And Bad

- AP

Election Movies Released During Presidential Election Years — Do They Make Any Difference?

- The Guardian

On Being A Woman Of A Certain Age In The Marvel, And Hollywood, Universe

- NPR



 

MUSIC

The Beatles’ Final Song Was Finished Using AI

- The Verge

MacArthur “Genius” Violinist Johnny Gandelsman Has Commissioned A Multi-Composer Portrait Of America

- The New York Times

Shepard Fairey On How Art Can Connect Us To Our Better Selves

- Forbes

Howard Sherman: Struggling With How To Appreciate Opera

- The Stage

Sandra Cisneros Is Turning “The House On Mango Street” Into An Opera

- Chicago Tribune

When Classical Music Forgeries Pass As The Real Thing, What Does That Say About Us?

- The Guardian

Building The Great Native American Songbook

- The New York Times

San Francisco Opera Orchestra Extends Contract For Seven Months

- San Francisco Classical Voice

Charles Ives At 150 — For Those Who Care

- The New Yorker

Orchestras’ Unseen Heroes: The Librarians

- Boston Globe

New York Philharmonic Fires (Again) Two Players Accused of Sexual Assault

- AP

Milwaukee Symphony Music Director To Step Down

- The Violin Channel

Brexit Is Killing Britain’s Classical Music Industry

- The Independent

A Surprising Number Of Conductors’ Children Are Becoming Maestros Themselves

- The Critic



 

PEOPLE

King Tut’s Iconic Funerary Mask Was Probably First Made For Someone Else, Say Researchers

- Artnet

How Quincy Jones Became The Ultimate Artistic Collaborator

- The New Yorker

Joseph Rykwert, Architectural Historian Who Fought Bland Functionalism And Pushed For Good Urban Design, Is Dead At 93

- The Guardian

How Quincy Jones Helped Redefine Pop Music In The 80s

- The New York Times

Can Kehinde Wiley’s Career Survive Abuse Allegations?

- New York Magazine

Sarah Cunningham, Fast-Rising Artist Who Went Missing In London, Is Found Dead At 31

- ARTnews

Dissident Filmmaker From Belarus Released From Prison In Serbia

- AP

Quincy Jones, 91

- The New York Times



 

THEATRE

The Importance Of “The Importance Of Being Earnest”

- The Guardian

A Pulitzer Prize Winner Is Adapting “Fahrenheit 451” For The Stage

- The Hollywood Reporter

Well-Known UK TV Actor Comes Up With Scheme To Save Small Theatre

- BBC

This Play Is Part Puzzle, Part Real-Life Video Game, Part Grief Ritual

- Los Angeles Times (MSN)

How The “Theater Kid” Type In Pop Culture Went From Deeply Uncool To Fabulous

- The New York Times

How Choreographers Create Dance Movement For Straight Plays

- Dance Magazine

Broadway League Will No Longer Announce Dimming Of Marquee Lights For Deceased Stars

- Gothamist

Actors Share Their Memories Of Now-Shuttered Cal Shakes

- San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

Cal Shakes Veterans Mourn, And Remember

- San Francisco Chronicle

Breaking Cultural Ground With An Iranian American Play

- Colorado Public Radio



 

VISUAL

If Britain Wants Cool New Social Housing, It Should Look To The Continent

- The Observer (UK)

Sotheby’s Sells AI-Created Artwork For $1M

- ARTnews

There’s No Water In The Fountain Of Trevi in Rome, And Tourists Are Bummed

- Artnet

Why Is “American Gothic” Such An Enduring Image?

- Artnet

Warhol Prints Damaged In Amateurish Attempted Heist

- Artnet

Why Abu Dhabi Is Shoveling Cash At Sotheby’s And Art Basel

- ARTnews

Fair Trade: The Idea Behind Nepal’s Museum Of Stolen Art

- BBC

How Gen-Z Marketing-Speak Has Infiltrated Museums

- Artnet

Should We Be Worried About Who’s Remaking The Whitney Museum’s Old Building?

- New York Magazine (MSN)

Co-Creator Of “UndeadApes” NFTs Convicted Of Fraud

- ARTnews

Three Charged With Hate Crimes For Vandalizing Homes Of Brooklyn Museum Director

- Brooklyn Eagle

Dallas Art Museum Director To Step Down

- ARTnews

Herzog & de Meuron Will Remake Breuer Building For Sotheby’s

- The New York Times

Roman Ruins At Baalbek In Lebanon Have Survived Israeli Airstrikes

- ARTnews

LA’s Vibrant Gallery Scene Seems To Be Collapsing. Why?

- ARtnet

David Salle Amplifies His Work With AI

- The New York Times

This Artist Lost 1000 Paintings In A House Fire

- The Guardian (UK)



 

WORDS

What’s It Like To Write A New John Le Carre Novel?

- The New York Times

It’s Only Been Three Days, And “The Handmaid’s Tale” Is Back On The Bestseller List

- AP

India Lifts Ban On Import Of Rushdie’s “Satanic Verses” — For A Surprising Reason

- The Guardian

Rachel Cusk’s Novel “Parade” Wins Goldsmiths Prize

- The Guardian

The History Behind The English Language’s Most Famous Swear Word

- LitHub

Major European Publisher Will Start Using AI To Translate Some Novels Into English

- The Guardian

Arguments Over Corporate Sponsorship And Gaza War Plague Canada’s Giller Prize

- Toronto Star

That Idea Chimps Could Randomly Type Shakespeare? Naaah!

- BBC

Dear Writers, Please Remember To Take Care Of Your Readers

- LitHub

It Turns Out Free Pizza Was A Great Bribe For Reading

- The New York Times

The New Color Kindle May Be Having A Weird Glitch

- The Verge

The Life Of A Writer Is Often Quite Choppy, Says Author Deborah Levy

- The Guardian (UK)

Love Is Blind, But Make It Books

- The New York Times