Photographs From The Heather And Tony Podesta Collection At The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.

"Left Behind: Selected Gifts from the Heather and Tony Podesta Collection features photographs of unpopulated architectural spaces as metaphors for social conditions and psychological states. This 90th anniversary installation celebrates the couple’s patronage and support of the Phillips and the museum’s growing collection of modern and contemporary photography.

Left Behind brings together works by emerging and established international artists who share an interest in the investigation of place: private (Darren Almond); urban (Frank Thiel, Massimo Vitali, and Catherine Yass); and social (Thomas Demand, Vesna Pavlović, Nicola Pellegrini, and Jane and Louise Wilson)....

While certain images are disquieting, revealing uninhabited places such as deserted casinos, abandoned institutions, or empty hotels, others present cityscapes, construction sites, and architecture in transition or staged environments that poignantly recall political events....

The Heather and Tony Podesta Collection stands today as one of the most important collections of contemporary art in the United States. Left Behind reflects the remarkable spirit, vision, taste, and unique perspective of the couple, who take curiosity, audacity, and risk as the guiding principles in their collecting practice."


Photo credits: Frank Thiel, Palast der Republik, Berlin, Germany, 2000 and 2006. Courtesy of Galerie Helga de Alvear and the Sean Kelly Gallery. © Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn.

Animal Perestroika

... "New managers appointed in October [2010] said that nearly half of the [Kyiv] zoo's animals either died or mysteriously disappeared over two years under their predecessors, and a government audit found that thousands of dollars were misspent as animals were illegally sold and funds earmarked for their food and care disappeared.

Ukrainian prosecutors have also opened an investigation.

But despite the management change, the zoo's animals are still dying. Some activists suspect a secret real estate deal is in the works — that the zoo is being deliberately decimated so it can be closed down and the prime land that it sits on in the centre of Kiev can be sold.

Once the jewel of the Ukrainian capital and a favorite weekend spot for families, the zoo began to deteriorate after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union and the years of poverty that followed. Animals were kept in cramped, poorly lit and poorly heated enclosures, fed improperly and left unattended, according to watchdogs.

The Kiev Zoo gained international notoriety in 2007 when it was expelled from the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria after the death of a female bear.

Officials have had a hard time determining exactly how many animals died or disappeared under the previous management. The zoo now has 2,600 animals from 328 species."

Source: Associated Press "Kiev zoo a 'concentration camp for animals'" March 23, 2011 via the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Photo credit: Ukrainian animal rights activists by the entrance to the Kyiv Zoo on Dec. 20, 2009. The protesters demanded an improvement in animal-keeping conditions at the zoo.

(c) UNIAN 2009. Copyright controlled.

At 8 PM Tonight, President Obama To Begin Drawdown Of 3,572 Day War

Photo credit: (c) Cincinnati.com 2011. Copyright controlled.

Summer of 1941: Bus Window Into A Pre-Iron Curtain, Divided Europe

Minsk, Belarus, summer 1941.

Source: Photo by Franz Krieger via New York Times. New York Times update.

In Memoriam, Elena Bonner -- A Woman Shrugged

Has It Only Been 10 Years Since UNESCO Named 'Kunqu' A Masterpiece Of The Oral And Intangible Heritage Of Humanity?

Shanghai Kunju Troupe
Saturday, June 18, 2 pm
Sunday, June 19, 1 pm
FREER Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
FREE, but Tickets required. (Click above for details)

UNESCO List of Oral And Intangible Heritage Of Humanity

Born In The USA: National Symphony And Washington National Opera Must Learn From Leading U.S. Companies To Appreciate American Ingenuity And Craft

Who programmed this concert? Where's the American classical music?






















FREE Event--Kennedy Center National Symphony Orchestra

Jun 29, 2011 at 8:00 PM

Conducted by NSO Assistant Conductor Ankush Kumar Bahl

A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Mr. Bahl is based in New York City where he regularly works with the conservatories, regional orchestras and professional orchestras in the area in addition to his guest appearances abroad.

Performance Timing: 65 minutes, with no intermission

Free ticket required! An in-person ticket giveaway (2 tickets per person) will be held on the day of the performance, beginning at 6 p.m. in the Hall of Nations.

Program:

BERLIOZ - Overture, The Roman Carnival, Op. 9
MUSSORGSKY - "Ballet of Little Chicks in their Shells" from Pictures at an Exhibition orch. Maurice Ravel
HAYDN - Allegro spiritoso from Symphony No. 83 in G minor, "La Poule"
BEETHOVEN - Scherzo from Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, "Pastoral"
BEETHOVEN - Storm from Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, "Pastoral"
TCHAIKOVSKY - Finale: Andante maestoso - Allegro vivace from Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64
BARTÓK - Romanian Folk Dances
DVORÁK - Larghetto from Serenade in E major for String Orchestra, Op. 22
STRAUSS (THE YOUNGER) - Thunder and Lightning Polka, Op. 324
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV - "Flight of the Bumblebee" from The Tale of Tsar Saltan
STRAVINSKY - Selections from The Firebird

Photo credits: (c) Copyright controlled.

The Dutch begged the Balinese to surrender

Briefly Noted: This Weekend In Maryland, Young Aspiring Classical Orchestral Musicians Allowed To Perform Six Minutes Of Music Of Their Own Millennium

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 1 in C major
Matthias Pintscher: towards Osiris (Conducted by composer)
Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1, "Titan"

Richard Wagner: Overture to Rienzi
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551 ("Jupiter")
Bela Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin, Op.19
Richard Strauss: Salome's Dance from Salome, Op.54

Johannes Brahms: Symphony No. 2 in D major
Igor Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring

Source

After Yet Another Fall Of The Gods In California ... A True American Ring

In Transition Post: Has It Already Been 25 Years Since I Attended The Premiere Of Peter Zinovieff and Sir Harrison Birtwistle's The Mask Of Orpheus?

The Mask of Orpheus

Bali

Image credits: (c) Peter Zinovieff and the Asian Arts Museum of San Francisco.

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Gamelan Jegog with Gamelan Sekar Jaya

Sunday, June 5, 12:30 pm and 2:00 pm
FREE with museum admission, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco

Internationally acclaimed Bay Area ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya presents a performance with jegogs, dramatic bamboo marimbas with tubes up to eight feet long. Noted for its rhythmic energy, unusual four-tone scale and powerful sound, the jegog originated in western Bali. Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s jegog ensemble is the only one of its kind in the Western hemisphere. Director I Dewa Putu Berata is a renowned composer and the director of Bali’s famed Çudamani ensemble.