The line between “real” and “fake” news seems to blur more with each passing year as traditional media outlets turn increasingly to theatrics while programs like The Daily Show, beyond making us laugh, provide valuable, accurate information while also drawing our attention to the questionable quality of the news we consume from the “real” sources like Fox and CNN.
A new "reality opera" by JacobTV called The News inspired reflections on the state of the news media today.
Read MoreThe most recent, 59th, session of the Commission on the Status of Women drew representatives of more than 1,100 nongovernmental groups who participated in over 600 events across the city, according to U.N. officials, making it the largest ever feminist gathering at the U.N., nearly double the annual average participation.
Read MoreOn the day before escalating tensions with Hamas saw the Israeli Defense Forces to launch a ground invasion of Gaza, an exhibition opened at the New Museum in New York, which presents that region’s thorny history through documentary-driven works by 45 artists and artist collectives from 15 countries with various degrees of connection to the Arab world. It invites reflection on the process of recording, interpreting, editing and presenting historical narratives, both personal and collective.
Read MoreA spritely figure dressed all in white, 77 year old Joan Jonas recently bounded around the stage at Roulette, interacting with small objects, drawing materials, video projections and music performed by the jazz pianist and composer Jason Moran. In their collaborative performance Reanimation, they respond to one another’s work in a live improvisation.
Read MoreThough held in the sauna, the imagined setting is a New York City subway car on a sultry day. The performance is artist Rashid Johnson’s revival of Amiri Baraka’s 1963 Obie-winning play, Dutchman.
Read MoreAMMAN, Jordan — Believing in the inherent value of art and its potential to enrich daily life, the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in Amman is working hard to make art accessible.
Read MoreEmilia and Ilya Kabakov’s Ship of Tolerance is a 66-foot wooden vessel with colorful sails stitched together from paintings on 30” x 30” silk squares by New York City public elementary school students. The paintings express notions of peace and tolerance and hope for a brighter future.
Read MoreAMMAN, JORDAN -- A review of 70 Years of Contemporary Art in Jordan, which opened at the Jordan National Gallery of Fine Arts in Amman, and which presents local art in the hopes of engaging audiences in stimulating dialogue.
Read MoreFor 26-year-old Maryam Jum'a, the story she found in the files of Jordan's National Commission for Women was too compelling to ignore. She hopes it will help humanize an issue that many in the conservative society still treat as off-limits.
Read MoreDOHA -- With the iconic limestone and stucco bust of Nefertiti created by Thutmose in 1345 B.C. as their starting point, Till Fellrath and Sam Bardaouil have put together an exhibition that examines artworks spanning thousands of years and various continents through three lenses: that of the artist, the museum, and the public.
Read MoreNEW YORK - The neighborhood surrounding the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) buzzed last Tuesday as moderate-sized crowds mingled on Fulton Street in front of three newly unveiled public art installations. It was precisely the intended effect of BAMart:Public, an initiative to enliven underutilized public spaces with visual art (a fourth project is on view inside BAM’s Peter J. Sharp building). David Harper, the program’s curator, walked me through the installations and explained the project’s genesis along the way.
Read MoreNEW YORK -- With its commanding presence and message of peace and unity, Ilya and Emilia Kabakov‘s Ship of Tolerance stands out amidst the other artworks at the eleventh annual Havana Biennial, which opened last month.
Read MoreDUBAI — This year, for the first time among the nearly 300 galleries fine-tuning their last-minute preparations for Art Basel, there are two galleries from the Gulf region: Green Art Gallery and Gallery Isabelle van den Eynde. The inclusion of the galleries, both from Dubai, has signaled for many a sign of the maturation of the Middle Eastern art scene and its increasing global presence. “The fact that you have two galleries from the U.A.E. points to the growth of the region in terms of its artists, galleries, institutions and private collectors,” said Marc Spiegler, co-director of Art Basel, which opens Thursday and runs through June 17.
Read MoreNEW YORK - Lorraine O’Grady is engaging audiences across the spectrum of Manhattan cultural institutions these days, sharing her insights as a conceptual artist and cultural critic. Today, O’Grady’s ideas about race and feminism no longer seem radical, yet they still contribute powerfully to the public discourse in a society that has yet to fully come to terms with its messy past.
Read MoreNEW YORK - This year Pulse Art Fair switched from its usual early March slot during the Armory Fair to try out New York’s new art week during the Frieze Art Fair. View highlights from the fair below and get an inside perspective from director Cornell DeWitt.
Read MoreUNITED NATIONS - “What is jazz?” asked legendary trumpeter Quincy Jones at Monday night’s all-star concert in the General Assembly Hall of the UN. The occasion marked the first annual International Jazz Day designated by UNESCO, and conceived by it its newest Goodwill Ambassador, Herbie Hancock, in collaboration with the Thelonius Monk Institute of Jazz.
Read MoreUNITED NATIONS - In advance of World Malaria Day today, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Malaria, Ray Chambers, hosted a working lunch on Monday to discuss the status of international efforts to reach “near-zero” malaria-related deaths.
Read MoreUNITED NATIONS - At a high-level meeting of sub-national government leaders and representatives from the World Bank and other institutions with a stake in Rio+20, delegates unanimously clamored for a more prominent role in sustainability and climate change talks.
Read MoreThe United Nations Alliance for Civilizations (UNAOC) has confidence in the media’s ability to favorably shape global public opinion and policy. Plural+ encourages short videos (5 minutes or less) focusing on migration, diversity, and social inclusion that appeal to a sense of shared human experience. As one teen in the 2011 video entitled “I believe” put it, “It’s not enough to be tolerant, we must appreciate and celebrate our diversity.”
Read MoreDUBAI - Through the nonprofit START, the commercial fair Art Dubai channels a great deal of the wealth and enthusiasm for art that descends upon the United Arab Emirates (UAE) during the fair each March to benefit disadvantaged children.
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