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Chicago Tops the World’s Best Museum List – Guess Who Else Made the Cut?

“Chicago Tops the World’s Best Museum List – Guess Who Else Made the Cut?”

by Greg Keraghosian via “Yahoo News“

The Art Institute of Chicago was founded in 1879, but it still must be winning visitors over, because for the second straight year it was named the most-liked museum in the U.S. in TripAdvisor’s Travelers’ Choice awards. This year, it was also named the world’s favorite.

The Getty Center of Los Angeles also drew high marks as the second-favorite museum in the U.S. and fourth favorite in the world.

TripAdvisor bases the awards on millions of reviews and opinions from their members, spread out over 12 months. The site says it uses an algorithm that measures the quantity and quality of reviews to determine the winners

The Art Institute rose from No. 3 in the world last year to No. 1 this year. It has 300,000 pieces of art from the likes of Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Claude Monet, Rembrant, and many other famous artists. Among the most famous works is “American Gothic,” that famous 1930 farmer/pitchfork painting by Grant Wood. . . . .

Chinese Assess Culture and Heritage

by Maria Galinovic via “The Leader“

AS ANY student of history knows, the Chinese have been in Australia for a long time.

They were part of the gold rush of the 1850s and have been arriving ever since — in small numbers, and in waves.

But should they retain their Chinese culture and heritage in Australia?

Some say yes and some say no — and there will be an attempt to settle the question in The Great Gap Debate on Thursday when people from St George will join teams of people from all over Sydney to fight for the affirmative and the negative.

Organisers Mikall Chong from Bexley and Daphne Lowe Kelley from Drummoyne are reworking a similar debate held earlier this year in Mandarin.

Both believe that this sort of debate has to be run in English to attract a wider range of people. . . . . .

“Archaeologists Train “Monuments Men” to Save Syria’s Past”

by Andrew Curry via “National Geographic“

Amid the devastation and danger of civil war, Syrian archaeologists and activists are risking their lives in the battle against looting. . . .

The ancient city of Dura-Europos sits on a bluff above the Tigris River a few miles from Syria’s border with Iraq, its mud-brick walls facing a bleak expanse of desert. Just a year ago the city’s precise grid of streets—laid down by Greek and Roman residents 2,000 years ago—was largely intact. Temples, houses, and a substantial Roman outpost were preserved for centuries by the desert sands.

“It stood out for its remarkable preservation,” saysSimon James, an archaeologist at the U.K.’s University of Leicester who spent years studying the site’s Roman garrison. “Until now.” (See before and after pictures of archaeological site looting.)

Satellite images of the site released by the U.S. State Department in June show a shocking picture of devastation. In the past year, as fighting continued to rage between the government of President Bashar al Assad’s troops and rebels—including the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria—the site has been ravaged by industrial-scale looting.

Photo of the Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo in 2009.

Aleppo’s Umayyad Mosque is seen here in 2009, before being damaged in the civil unrest.

PHOTOGRAPH BY BRYAN DENTON, CORBIS

“It’s a lunar landscape of spoil heaps,” says James. “Obviously, the looters were bankrolled to a massive extent to do something like this.”

It may be too late to save Dura-Europos, but archaeologists and activists are scrambling to preserve what’s left of Syria’s rich history, which stretches back more than 10,000 years. The efforts are focused on training locals to save ancient monuments and museum collections in the midst of a war zone.

Organizations including the University of Pennsylvania’s Cultural Heritage Center, the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), and Heritage for Peace, a network of volunteers and activists based in Spain, have been holding workshops to train Syrian archaeologists, curators, and activists in “first aid for objects and sites,” says Emma Cunliffe, a consultant specializing in heritage protection during conflicts. . . .”

“Gaga for Gangnam: $20 Million Bet on Bringing Korean Pop Culture to China”

by Lilian Lin via “The Independent“

Korean pop with Chinese characteristics? As the Korean pop culture craze in China continues to grow, some companies are betting heavily on the Middle Kingdom’s appetite for more Gangnam Style-style entertainment.

Hong Kong’s Media Asia and Taiwan’s Fubon Group recently teamed up with South Korea’s SM Entertainment, the country’s music and artist management giant, to set up an investment fund with $20 million in seed money to support various film &TV projects, focusing on China and global Chinese-language audiences.

SM, which manages a slate of top-tier Korean artists, including Girls’ Generation — a popular Korean girl band that won big at the YouTube Music Awards last year – says China is its most important market. According to the agreement, MediaAsia will also begin representing three artists currently backed by S.M Entertainment, including the Korean boy band EXO – a currently 11-member group that has three Chinese members and battled Justin Bieber and One Direction for Worldwide Act at MTV European Music Award last year.

The deal comes after Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit earlier this year to Seoul, when the two countries signed a string of deals to accelerate cultural exchanges, including an agreement to allow China-Korea co-production films to be seen as domestic films, allowing them to bypass strict imported film quotas in China’s theaters.

“Korean and Chinese government are looking forward to accelerating culture exchanges,” said Han Se-min, CEO of S.M Culture & Contents. “It definitely facilitates our cooperation.”

China’s obsession with all things Korean spans, of course, Psy’s smash hit Gangnam style, which remains beloved by China’s middle-age women who love to dance in public parks, as well as toddlers encouraged to dance in kindergarten classrooms.

This year’s K-pop craze in China, though, has been given further fuel by the rom-com Korean TV series “My Love From the Star.”

The smash hit TV series not only sparked a new fondness in China for fried chicken and beer – a dish often eaten by characters on the show – it also turned Kim Soo-hyun, a fresh-faced Korean heartthrob best known for playing the show’s ageless alien character, into a most-wanted star for China’s advertisers. Ads featuring his image touting everything from mineral water to shoes to moon cakes are ubiquitous in China. The show has been watched more than 14.5 billion times since last December’s debut. . . . .

Cubans Petition UN to Make Rumba Part of World’s Cultural Heritage

“Cubans Petition UN to Make Rumba Part of World’s Cultural Heritage”

by Michael Voss via CCTV

“People in Havana are working to preserve the older style of the Latin classic dance Rumba as a part of the world’s cultural heritage.

At this year’s week-long annual Timbalaye Rumba Festival in Havana, the organizers are petitioning the United Nations to have the music and dance form recognized as part of the world’s cultural heritage.

The festival also includes music classes and dance workshops. The roots of Rumba go back to the era of slavery, remain an integral part of Santeria, the Afro religion which is still widely practiced on the island.

Music and dance are an integral part of life in Cuba, and the Rumba is a core part of that. . . .”