Monday, November 11, 2002

Arts Brisbane to Host Conference on the Bard

The World Congress on Shakespeare will land straight upon Brisbane River in 2006. Professor Richard Fotheringham and Lloyd Davis made the successful bid that will attract around 1000 delegates from across the Midsummer night Dream and world. Czeck out Shakespeare questions and why some of us who consider today's society too violent would doubtless cringe at the idea of spending an entertaining afternoon at a hanging or a beheading.
· At least, I hope they would! [New York Times]

A new festival of emerging and independent art and culture 20 to 24 November, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane. Straight Out of Brisbane is 5 days of free panels, interactive talk-fests, workshops, artists talks, exhibitions, showings and gigs. Featuring the creme de la creme of local independent arts talent, they're throwing as many of Brisbane's underground anti-heroes as they can find into a small room together. Watch them bite into the meaty flanks of the local arts scene!

Politics Keeping government honest is up to all of us

muck'rak'er
n. 1. a person who searches for & publicizes corruption by public officials, business executives, or other important persons 2. a person that supports sites like Open Democracy with as little as they like.

· Greg Barns [On Line Opinion]

John Lukacs: Don't forget Roosevelt

The Roosevelt/Churchill policy on Russia seemed a mistake, but won in the end, as Stalin’s Cold War led to the end of communism...

· Conrad Black [Telegraph, London]

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE ARTS

The arts are portrayed as an economic and cultural good for neighborhoods. But a new New York study that looked at the potential of arts and culture to stimulate economic growth concludes that artists moving into a neighborhood can drive up rents and force out long-term residential and commercial tenants. The paradox is that arts groups drive up the rents and then cannot afford to remain in the neighborhoods whose rejuvenation they spurred in the first place. You have this Darwinian progression: artists move into a neighborhood, prices tend to go up, and the artists have to move out.
· Clouding cultural development [The New York Times 11/11/02]

THE POLITICS OF ART

Should art and politics be tangled together? Anyone who believes that the loftiness of art is above politics, war and religious differences doesn't understand that artists live in the real world and don't hide behind their creativity. On the contrary, their high profile often makes them subject to increased scrutiny.
· Artists must not wait for politicans. [Rocky Mountain News 11/10/02]

Media Why on-line journalism matters

Searches for truth in troubled spots.
· Peter McMahon [On Line Opinion]

CELEBRATING STUPID

When did the world become so dumb? We go to concerts to hear singers who lip-sync. We watch movies with actors who can't act. We watch reality TV shows that have nothing to do with reality. We read books by people who can't write... But maybe it's ever been thus.
· Dumber and Dumber [Rocky Mountain News 11/10/02]