Art Resources

No politics or sex: Art feels Myanmar junta's grip

Author: News

YANGON, Myanmar – Hours before the performance art show was to open to the public, the censors arrived and the grilling began. Under their watchful gaze, the nine artists performed parts of their works, aware that every movement could arouse suspicion.

It is the high-stakes ritual that every public art exhibition must undergo in military-ruled Myanmar — scrutiny by the Ministry of Information's censorship board. Any politics or criticism of the government can close a show and land an artist in jail. So can sexual content.

For Myanmar's small but vibrant arts community, the risks have never been higher. Government censorship has always been a part of life under the junta, but last year, the regime cast a wider net for its critics, jailing hundreds including comedians, writers and musicians.

Saw Wei, a poet, was jailed for two years for publishing a love poem with a hidden message calling the country's top general, Than Shwe, "power crazy." Maung Thura, a comedian who goes by the name Zarganar, is serving a 35-year term for criticizing the government's slow relief effort in last year's cyclone disaster. Zeyar Thaw, a popular hip-hop musician suspected of leading an underground student movement, was sentenced to six years.

For the show's organizer, Moe Satt, the censors' visit made for a nerve-racking morning. All the money and work he had put into coordinating the show could be undone in a single decision. In the end, he grasped the government's official permit with a sense of relief.

"There are many restrictions," he said during an interview days later. "You never know what they are thinking. But I don't confront. I find ways to dialogue with them. I find other ways to do what I want."

Dealers decamping to vacation spots to score sales

Author: Brook S. Mason

With the rich on the move, the galleries aren’t far behind

Beaches, sea breezes and deep-pocketed collectors on holiday are luring some Manhattan dealers to set up seasonal outposts in the Hamptons, on the eastern shore of Long Island.

“I’d wanted a gallery in East Hampton for years but the rents were too high and I couldn’t get the location I wanted. But now with reduced rents, opening here in May was a no brainer,” says Bernard Goldberg, a dealer of 40 years’ standing.

These days, the recession has markedly changed the landscape where Jon Bon Jovi, Steven Spielberg and Martha Stewart summer alongside artists Chuck Close, Eric Fischl and April Gornik. Mansions linger on the market, while rents for prime commercial properties have dived. Rent for the new gallery Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts is in the $100-$125 per square foot range. “A year ago, the rents were $200 a square foot,” says Mr Goldberg, whose premises are just steps away from Hermès and other luxury boutiques.

His new quarters have already scored considerable interest, with a Noguchi 1926 plaster portrait bust, an Archipenko 1948 terracotta sculpture and a Charles Burchfield work on paper on hold, with one reserved by a southern museum and prices from $85,000 to $450,000. "So far clients are wealthy collectors from New York, Palm Beach, California and elsewhere," says Mr Goldberg. "The reaction is always the same. We didn't think we would find this quality in the Hamptons. On the other hand, our New York gallery is totally quiet, with sometimes one visitor a week, whereas here I have 20 to 30 clients a day."

The mystery of MoCA China’s fleeing founder

Author: Jason Edward Kaufman

Jeffrey du Vallier d’Aragon Aranita abandoned ship for Hawaii, leaving a string of debts behind him

The founder of the short-lived Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) China in Hong Kong left the country soon after the museum opened last autumn, leaving behind massive debts, several sources confirm. Jeffrey du Vallier d’Aragon Aranita, a realist painter, registered the non-profit in 2007 and announced plans to establish a network of non-profit MoCAs throughout China that would share collections and programming. Art experts at the time were sceptical that he could secure private funding for even one museum, but on 3 October 2008 MoCA China opened in a 7,500 sq. ft second-floor space in a shopping mall in Hong Kong’s commercial Causeway Bay district. After three months and three shows, MoCA ran out of money and the space closed on 19 January 2009. Szewan Leung, a Hong Kong art consultant who served as artistic director of MoCA China, says that weeks after the inauguration Mr Aranita fled to Hawaii, ostensibly to receive medical treatment, leaving debts of more than HK$2m ($258,000) that he has refused to settle and has since broken off contact with his creditors.

Ms Leung, who says she was romantically involved with Mr Aranita until they separated in May 2008, says that as the only legal partner in the organisation she was left to deal with the creditors. The largest is MoCA’s former landlord G.O.D., the company that operates the Delay No Mall shopping centre, with whom Mr Aranita signed a lease “with his personal guarantee”, says Ms Leung. Benjamin Lau, a representative of the company, says that after a rent-free period MoCA paid no rent. “We had no choice but to terminate their lease as Jeffrey had left town without responding to our payment demands,” he says, adding that the outstanding amount is “below HK$1m [$129,000]”. “We have filed legal proceedings against MoCA China in the district court in Hong Kong and in April the court ruled a judgment in our favour,” he says, but declined to provide further details.

Broadway Bargains: Answers to Your TKTS Questions

Author: Erik Piepenburg

Last week, Victoria Bailey, the executive director of the Theater Development Fund — the nonprofit organization that operates New York City’s three discount TKTS booths — offered advice on how to navigate the TKTS system. This week she will be answering readers’ questions.

In this installment she discusses ticket availability and breaks some news about a new look for the lighted signs.
Q
Do all three booths offer the same tickets? — Posted by Linda Miller
A
For the most part, yes, all three booths have the same productions and can access the same seats to those productions. Occasionally, a production will choose to sell seats at only one booth but that is rare. If we are using “hard” tickets, that is tickets that are generated by a ticketing system other than Telecharge or Ticketmaster (which serve almost all Broadway shows and numerous Off Broadway shows) they are only sold in Times Square.
Q
Can you actually get good seats for plays from the TKTS booth? — Posted by fluff
A
Yes you actually can. As you will see from the experiences posted by others on this blog, people often get prime locations. At other times, the seats may not be as good. It all depends on what is available that day.
Q
Why in the redesign, did you not make it easier to see what shows are available? The signs are so small that you have to leave the line to see what tickets are for sale. — Posted by Rebecca
A
First, we are delighted to announce here that we will be installing new screens in the coming months which will be easier to read. Additionally, we are exploring ways to use new technologies to get the information to people more easily, perhaps by providing the information over cell phones.