Charlotte Higgins on culture | Culture

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} // ]]> </script> <ul id="blog-posts-excerpts"> <li class="first date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Wednesday 19 August 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/19/cultural-olympiad-arts-funding" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{How to crochet a Cultural Olympiad}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">How to crochet a Cultural Olympiad</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p>Here's a little bit from my G2 arts diary today:<br/></p><blockquote><p><br/>One of the 59 shortlisted projects for Artists Taking the Lead – a programme that will see 12 art installations created across the UK as part of the Cultural Olympiad – involves installing three giant crocheted lions in a glass case in Nottinghamshire. This notion has piqued the Diary's imagination, provoking some marvellous ideas for other Olympic-themed, wool-based craft projects. How about knitting Speedo-style costumes for the Team GB swimmers? Or crocheting coats for freshly shorn sheep (think how delightful little angora and cashmere jackets would be in pretty colours)? We long for more of this: please post your ideas at guardian.co.uk/charlottehiggins.</p></blockquote><p>It's not in fact what I had written - the point was that these funny notions were from correspondents not from me - so apologies if it looks like I've taken credit for your idea (some dodgy editing here). Anyway - the point is, more Olympic Olympic crochet and knitting ideas, please... the most ingenious to be used in next week's Diary and credited to your good selves. (If you're not all in your villas in Tuscany and no one's reading this, which is a strong possibility)... <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/19/cultural-olympiad-arts-funding">Continue reading...</a></p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/19/cultural-olympiad-arts-funding?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{How to crochet a Cultural Olympiad}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-351815738 pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">08.51 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Tuesday 18 August 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/18/edinburghfestival" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{What next for Edinburgh international book festival?}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">What next for Edinburgh international book festival?</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p>Maybe it's because it has a slightly melancholic, end-of-era feel to it, what with Catherine Lockerbie, its respected director, having stood down; maybe it's because of the happenstance that this year, there's no real stand-out event such as the Prime Minister's visit in 2008 – but I'm starting to feel that the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.edbookfest.co.uk/">Edinburgh international book festival</a>, whose 2009 programme feels a little becalmed, is definitely ready for reinvention.</p><p>There are things I've always loved about the book festival. The fact that it's confined to Edinburgh's elegant Charlotte Square gardens means that, unlike the ever-growing <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.hayfestival.com/portal/index.aspx?skinid=1&localesetting=en-GB">Guardian Hay festival</a>, it remains intimate, with audiences truly able to share the same space as the writers they have come to hear. I've always loved that it is a rallying point for the lively and bright Scottish literary scene. I've always loved that it focuses utterly and exclusively on books rather than celebrity. I've always loved that it has a rigorously non-hierarchical feel, with all writers paid the same modest fee and treated in precisely the same way. Not that I have a problem with festivals that do focus on politics or have the odd stand-up show (ie, Hay) – just that Edinburgh has always had such a clear identity, which is absolutely key to any festival.</p><p>And yet... all of that is up for grabs as the festival looks for a new director. They should be able to find someone really terrific, too – it's not as if former literary editors (the traditional occupiers of the role) are thin on the ground these days. Part of me is really looking forward to seeing what will happen next. Being (literally) fenced in in Charlotte Square seems decreasingly necessary, when every other Edinburgh festival succeeds in pervading every part of the city with ease. Part of me wants to see poets declaiming from the top of Arthur's seat; to hear Ian Rankin talking in one of Edinburgh's pubs; to get sozzled on whiskey in some basement with Iain Banks. Theatre's gone site-specific – why not literature? Classicists could be up on Calton Hill, medievalists on the Royal Mile. If you had a really big-name writer, why not put them in the Usher Hall rather than sticking to the size-restricted main tent in Charlotte Square? It's true that the base of the festival is a delightful oasis of calm, but since it has the luck to be in one of Britain's most beautiful cities, then perhaps it could get out more. <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/18/edinburghfestival">Continue reading...</a></p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/18/edinburghfestival?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{What next for Edinburgh international book festival?}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-351795861 pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">17.22 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Thursday 13 August 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/13/arts-policy-arts-funding" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Latest on the Cultural Olympiad}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Latest on the Cultural Olympiad</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <div class="blog-image-caption"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/13/arts-policy-arts-funding" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Latest on the Cultural Olympiad}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="small mask"> <img alt="A war-horse puppet at the press launch of London's 2012 Cultural Olympiad" src="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Arts/Arts_/Pictures/2009/8/14/1250243005569/A-war-horse-puppet-at-the-001.jpg" width="460" height="276" class="image-in-trail "/> </a> <p class="caption">A war horse at the press launch of London's 2012 Cultural Olympiad. Photograph: Andrew Baker</p> </div> <p>In haste from Edinburgh, <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://press.artscouncil.org.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=801&NewsAreaID=2">this press release</a> about the shortlisted projects for the Cultural Olympiad visual art programme, Artists Taking the Lead, has just dropped into my in-box, so read it with me. I'm not at all sure about the idea of crotcheted lions in Nottinghamshire, but I'm loving the thought of artists becoming beekeepers. Tempting to say it'll give 'em something useful to do.</p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/13/arts-policy-arts-funding?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Latest on the Cultural Olympiad}&lpos={trail}{3}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-351609653 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">18.13 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Monday 10 August 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/edinburghfestival-murielspark" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Edinburgh fringe: Spark on stage}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Edinburgh fringe: Spark on stage</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <div class="blog-image-caption"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/edinburghfestival-murielspark" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Edinburgh fringe: Spark on stage}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="small mask"> <img alt="The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" src="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/8/10/1249912512337/The-Prime-of-Miss-Jean-Br-001.jpg" width="460" height="276" class="image-in-trail "/> </a> <p class="caption">'Deceptively featherlight' ... Anna Francolini as the lead role in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie at the Edinburgh festival. Photograph: Murdo Macleod</p> </div> <p>I had a lot of fun seeing two adaptations of Muriel Spark – <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.assemblyfestival.com/webpages/whatson.php?date=all">The Girls of Slender Means</a> and <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.assemblyfestival.com/webpages/whatson_moreinfobooknow.php?id=3:74">The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie</a> – in contrasting productions on the Edinburgh fringe last week, which I <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/aug/09/muriel-spark-fringe">wrote briefly about for our G2 arts pages</a> today.</p><p>I felt a little bad for the teams behind the two productions, because I am a Muriel Spark bore, which is probably worse than being a Jane Austen bore. The novels of Spark are so icily perfect that I don't believe they can be improved upon, certainly not by putting them on the stage. Spark is one who rarely reveals her hand fully. Her novels are deceptively featherlight, their moral heft shown only obliquely. The theatre, for my taste, shows us too much, makes the implicit explicit. <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/edinburghfestival-murielspark">Continue reading...</a></p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/edinburghfestival-murielspark?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Edinburgh fringe: Spark on stage}&lpos={trail}{3}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-351432460 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">13.10 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Saturday 8 August 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/08/theatre-edinburghfestival" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Edinburgh fringe: a tale of three monologues}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Edinburgh fringe: a tale of three monologues</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p>At the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.traverse.co.uk/">Traverse</a> in Edinburgh yesterday I saw five shows; by the end I was shaking with a fever, but I am sure it was nothing to do with an overdose of theatre.</p><p>Aside from that, I had a good day, with three shows to heartily recommend. The first is David Greig and Gordon McIntyre's <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.traverse.co.uk/shows_midsummer.htm">Midsummer</a>. It's described as a "play with songs", and it's a joyful, fun and very silly romantic comedy. When it premiered last year, my Edinburgh friends raved about it so I was very glad to get the chance to see it. It's not going to change the world, but it is utterly charming, hugely enjoyable and, like all Greig's plays, well-made. </p><p>For something completely different... you must try <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.traverse.co.uk/shows_internal.htm">Internal</a>, from the Belgian company Ontroerend Goed, which last year staged what I reckoned the best show at Edinburgh – the heftily titled Once and for all we're going to tell you who we are so shut up and listen. But book now for Internal, because it's an intimate show for just five audience members at a time. Nor is it everyone's cup of tea. I don't want to ruin the surprises, but one is required to interact with the actors, be subjected to some unsettling experiences, and answer some extremely personal questions. It lies somewhere between a date and a group therapy session. If both those scenarios sound rather terrifying to you, then maybe give it a miss. But I had a lot of fun.</p><p>The other three shows were monologues, each written and presented by men. I hadn't been expecting to receive a masterclass in the art of the monologue but there it was. <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/08/theatre-edinburghfestival">Continue reading...</a></p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/08/theatre-edinburghfestival?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Edinburgh fringe: a tale of three monologues}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-351374173 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">09.39 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Tuesday 4 August 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/04/oxfam-second-hand-books" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Up with Oxfams second-hand book shops | Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">What's wrong with Oxfam selling secondhand books?</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <div class="blog-image-caption"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/04/oxfam-second-hand-books" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Up with Oxfams second-hand book shops | Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="small mask"> <img alt="David Taylor, manager of the Oxfam bookshop in Salisbury" src="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2009/8/4/1249391973876/David-Taylor-manager-of-t-001.jpg" width="460" height="276" class="image-in-trail "/> </a> <p class="caption">Simply better at bookselling? David Taylor, manager of the Oxfam bookshop in Salisbury. Photograph: Sam Frost</p> </div> <p>Having read <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/04/oxfam-shops-booksellers">Steven Morris's excellent piece on the subject this morning</a>, I am trying desperately hard to summon up sympathy for the secondhand booksellers complaining of unfair competition from Oxfam book shops. On the whole, I am failing. It is not clear to me why we should be invited to imagine that selling books in order to help development projects in Africa (for instance) is less worthy than selling them for individual profit, and I am extremely glad that Oxfam has, as the piece implies, simply got much better at bookselling. <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/04/oxfam-second-hand-books">Continue reading...</a></p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/04/oxfam-second-hand-books?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Up with Oxfams second-hand book shops | Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={trail}{3}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-351192763 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">14.34 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Monday 3 August 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/booker-prize" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Hilary Mantel and the Booker prize odds}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Hilary Mantel and the 'mystery' of the Booker prize odds</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <div class="blog-image-caption"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/booker-prize" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Hilary Mantel and the Booker prize odds}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="small mask"> <img alt="Hilary Mantel" src="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Observer/Pix/pictures/2009/4/25/1240668944828/Hilary-Mantel-002.jpg" width="460" height="276" class="image-in-trail "/> </a> <p class="caption">'She deserves the wider recognition': Hilary Mantel. Photograph: Karen Robinson</p> </div> <p>Only last week I was sitting down for a drink with a friend, a betting man and a senior editor at a leading literary magazine. We were idly chatting about the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jul/28/booker-prize-longlist-me-cheeta">Man Booker prize longlist</a>, which had been announced that day. "I'll put money on Hilary Mantel if the odds are any good," he said. I nodded sagely. It seemed a no-brainer. I hope he got round to doing it before they were slashed in 12-1 to 2-1 at the weekend, as recounted in a <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/02/booker-prize-odds-hilary-mantel">front-page story</a> in the Guardian today. I certainly would have done myself, had I been a free agent not employed by the Guardian.</p><p>Why? Because common sense suggests that Mantel, in a longlist of heavyweights, has a huge chance at the prize with her latest novel, Wolf Hall. While she is greatly respected in the literary establishment (as my friend said, "incapable of writing a bad sentence", and that's just the start) she is also rather underrated in the world at large. Other wonderful writers on the list (Coetzee, Byatt) have won the prize before, have had their bite of the cherry. For Mantel, however, there is a feeling that she richly deserves the wider recognition that the prize would bring. <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/booker-prize">Continue reading...</a></p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/booker-prize?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Hilary Mantel and the Booker prize odds}&lpos={trail}{3}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-351130400 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">11.30 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Thursday 30 July 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/30/arts-policy-arts-funding" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Opera gets £2.4m recession rescue from Arts Council England}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Opera gets £2.4m recession rescue from Arts Council England</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <div class="blog-image-caption"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/30/arts-policy-arts-funding" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Opera gets £2.4m recession rescue from Arts Council England}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="small mask"> <img alt="Marcelo Alvarez and Ruxandra Donose in Werther at the Royal Opera House" src="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Books/Pix/pictures/2008/05/09/wertherTK460.jpg" width="460" height="276" class="image-in-trail "/> </a> <p class="caption">Getting a handout: Marcelo Alvarez and Ruxandra Donose in Werther at the Royal Opera House</p> </div> <p>Arts Council England's <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/aboutus/project_detail.php?rid=0&sid=&browse=recent&id=1134">Sustain</a> fund, set up with £40m earlier in the year to help out arts organisations hit by the recession, has just announced its first grants. </p><p>The single most bailed-out artform is opera, with the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.roh.org.uk/">Royal Opera House</a>, <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.wno.org.uk/">Welsh National Opera</a>, <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.eno.org/">English National Opera</a> and <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.byo.org.uk/">British Youth Opera</a> between them accounting for over half the total grants announced today. Between them, they get £2.4m of the £4m allocated. </p><p>The Royal Opera has been granted £700,000 to "enable them to enter the next phase of their internationally important opera development programme, the first phase of which was enabled by time-limited grant from a philanthropic trust". This refers to the programme formerly funded by John Studzinski's Genesis Foundation, which has now come to an end after four years. The ROH has failed to find another supporter for the work.</p><p>Welsh National Opera is given the single biggest grant of £900,000 from ACE, and it also gets a further £300,000 from Arts Council, Wales, meaning a total of £1.2m to "mitigate loss from development funds, box-office income and bank interest". English National Opera gets £750,000 to recognise the "impact of the economic downturn on corporate fundraising". </p><p>Other awards, which can be seen <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://press.artscouncil.org.uk/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=791&NewsAreaID=2">in full</a> on ACE's website, include £116,000 to the Ikon Gallery in Birmingam, and £362,572 to the Nottingham Playhouse to offset a loss in income from trusts and foundations. <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/30/arts-policy-arts-funding">Continue reading...</a></p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/30/arts-policy-arts-funding?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Opera gets £2.4m recession rescue from Arts Council England}&lpos={trail}{3}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-351007145 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">17.04 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Wednesday 29 July 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/29/classicalmusicandopera-sun" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{The Royal Opera House teams up with the Sun – again}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">The Royal Opera House teams up with the Sun – again</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p><strong>Charlotte Higgins: </strong>... and this time, the readers are offered ballet, too</p> <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/29/classicalmusicandopera-sun">Continue reading...</a> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/29/classicalmusicandopera-sun?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{The Royal Opera House teams up with the Sun – again}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-350953811 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">15.51 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Tuesday 28 July 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/28/dance-mercecunningham" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Merce Cunningham, 1919-2009}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">The day I met Merce Cunningham</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <span class="inline embed embed-media"> <object width="460" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/aEvcP-vXk4M&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440oe_/http://www.youtube.com/v/aEvcP-vXk4M&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="446" height="283"></embed></object> </span><p>Three years ago, I had the great good fortune to meet Merce Cunningham, who died aged 90 at the weekend.</p><p>I had been commissioned by the Guardian Review to write a <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2006/sep/16/dance">profile</a> of him. I thus had the privilege of meeting him at his studio at 55 Bethune Street, New York, and watching his dancers rehearse <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2006/sep/25/dance">Ocean</a>, which they would bring later that year to the Roundhouse in London. Watching the dancers go through the piece was completely mesmerising (in fact I always find dancers rehearsing completely mesmerising). What got me was the way these ordinary, gossipy young people, who occasionally had to be asked to shut up as they gathered at the side of the studio, turned into uncanny creatures with quite inhuman grace and strength as soon as they ran into the circular area that represented the space in which Ocean would be performed.</p><p>Even then, of course, Cunningham was frail – a tiny creature curled up in a wheelchair but still with that sense of erectness and poise that makes dancers unmistakeable. You could still discern the lighter-than-air, puckishly agile figure of the 1940s and 50s. At the top of my transcript, which I looked up this morning, I wrote: "The long erect neck has folded in on itself a little. Eloquent hands a little clawlike, purple age spots. Bright eyes over big cushiony semicircular pouches - one drop of moisture edges down over course of interview." At one point in the interview, I asked how he felt about not being able to use his body fully. "Oh it's terrible!" he said, and laughed. "Because I would like to dance." <a class="continue-reading" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/28/dance-mercecunningham">Continue reading...</a></p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/28/dance-mercecunningham?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Merce Cunningham, 1919-2009}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-350884663 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">10.51 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Monday 27 July 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/27/radio-classicalmusicandopera" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Roger Wright, Radio 3 and the Proms}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Roger Wright, Radio 3 and the Proms</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p>I have to admit there was a bit of a sharp intake of breath as I read of Roger Wright's expenses in <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jul/27/interview-roger-wright-bbc-radio3">Ben Dowell's interview</a> over my morning coffee today. £6,152.24 on overnight hotels; £6,539.84 on hospitality and £3,539.84 on taxis. As an occasional recipient of Wright's largesse (on Wednesday night, for instance, I join him at the Proms for the Bamberger Symphoniker under Jonathan Nott) I am in no mood to be judgmental, but my, that's a lot of cabs. I suggest for Roger a nice little fold-up bike to take him between Broadcasting House, the Royal Albert Hall and the railway station whence he wends his way home of an evening. Or the tube - you know, the funny underground trains they have in London. His salary, astonishingly high by the standards of most mortals (between £190,000 and £220,000 per annum) is in fact reasonably modest by BBC standards. Which tells you that BBC executives are essentially wildly overpaid. In Wright's case, at least they've got two for the price of one - now that he has taken over running the Proms as well as Radio 3, presumably the BBC is saving on the salary of a Proms director (Nicholas Kenyon was not replaced when he left to become the managing director of the Barbican Centre).</p><p>And at least he does a pretty good job. In my view, the Proms are in safe hands under Wright, and so is <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/">Radio 3</a>, essentially – which increasingly is the home of the most intelligent spoken word programmes, dramas and essays. What I bitterly regret, though, is the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2006/nov/06/radio.musicnews">reduction in live broadcasting</a> when Performance on 3 was rescheduled. Wright has argued that it makes little difference, since many concerts are broadcast "as live" and the proportion of music broadcast from the CD, so to speak, has overall dropped. I disagree - the experience of being able to "listen in", to eavesdrop, if you like, on an amazing event that is happening right there and then, is quite different from hearing an event transmitted "as live", just as watching a great sporting event a few hours later is never going to be as exciting of watching it unfold in real time. That's why the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2009/">Proms</a> season is so brilliant - wonderful live concerts night after night.</p><p>(Which reminds me - has anyone looked at the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2009/broadcasts/maestrocam.shtml">Maestrocam</a> concerts - webcasts complete with a commentary on their conducting by Matthew Rowe? I haven't got round to it yet but it looks fascinating.)</p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/27/radio-classicalmusicandopera?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Roger Wright, Radio 3 and the Proms}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-350841696 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">11.58 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Thursday 23 July 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/23/arts-funding-arts-policy" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{The DCMSs £100m overcommitment}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">The DCMS's £100m overcommitment</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p>When I first read culture minister Barbara Follett's comments that the DCMS's capital spending budget was overcommitted, and that grants to capital projects (including the Tate Modern and British Museum's extensions) were being hastily put under review I was surprised to say the least. When I discovered the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jul/22/dcms-culture-department-funding-deficit">scale of the overcommittment</a>, as detailed in a piece for today's paper, I was astonished. On the face of it – though no one is saying how the problem has arisen – it looks like someone made a bit of a cock-up.</p><p>At the moment – I think this particularly about the BFI's plan for a brand-new film centre, and Tate Modern's extension, which is supposed to increase the museum's space by 60% in time for the Olympics – I wonder whether some of these boom-time <em>grands projets</em> aren't like those ambitious but doomed plans of the 1970s, like the airport at Maplin Sands. I honestly hope not – the DCMS may yet be able to save the situation I suppose, by delaying some projects, scaling back a bit, scrabbling around. But I fear the worst.</p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/23/arts-funding-arts-policy?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{The DCMSs £100m overcommitment}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-350705099 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">10.47 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Monday 20 July 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/20/classicalmusicandopera" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Is this the most stomach-churning opera production ever?}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Is this the most gross-out opera production ever?</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p>Browsing through <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://operachic.typepad.com/opera_chic/">Opera Chic</a>'s exemplary blog this morning, I was faced with some truly revolting <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://operachic.typepad.com/opera_chic/2009/07/bregenz-festivals-king-roger.html#more">photos</a> of David Pountney's production of <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.bregenzerfestspiele.com/de/node/882">King Roger at Bregenz</a>, conducted by Mark Elder. Which put me in the mood for a little childish summery thought: what is the most utterly stomach-churning opera production you have ever seen? A contender for ickiness might be <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.glyndebourne.com/operas/rusalka/">Glyndebourne</a>'s current, brilliant <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/jul/06/rusalka-dvorak-glyndeboure-review">Rusalka</a>, directed by Melly Still (there are still tickets left, and if you want to treat yourself this summer, then I strongly suggest you go). Very nasty things happen indeed when the witch Jezibaba creates her human-making stew. I shan't ruin the moment in case you rush off to see it, but... eough. Hansel and Gretel usually brings out some nastiness in directors - I saw a production at Leeds last year in which the witch was <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2008/dec/17/classicalmusicandopera">killed in a giant microwave</a> with a revolving turntable; then, in the Royal Opera production, also last year, there was the unpleasant vision of children hanging by the neck, like meat maturing, ready for the witch to eat...</p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/20/classicalmusicandopera?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Is this the most stomach-churning opera production ever?}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-350546472 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">10.43 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Friday 17 July 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/17/arts-policy-arts-funding" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Are the government funding pledges to the Tate and British Museum safe?}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Are the Government's funding pledges to the Tate and British Museum safe?</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p>Only this week, at the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.britishmuseum.org/">British Museum</a>, its director Neil MacGregor and chair <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2007/feb/02/unilever">Niall FitzGerald </a>were <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/jul/15/british-museum-renaissance-drawings-exhibition">talking confidently</a> about being ready to start on their proposed North-west Development – a large permanent area for exhibitions and a conservation studio – as soon as planning permission comes through from Camden Council. Over at Tate Modern, a large £215m <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/mar/31/tate-modern-extension">extension</a> by Herzog and de Meuron is planned, with hoped-for completion in 2012. Both projects have as their lynchpins hefty Government grants. For the BM, the Government has pledged £22.5m. For the Tate, £50m, which James Purnell, then secretary of state for Culture, Media and Sport, announced in December 2007. The BM is two thirds of the way through fundraising, if you include the Government pledge, which is coming through in installments. The Tate is only a third of the way there, again including the Government pledge.</p><p>But according to <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.culture.gov.uk/about_us/our_ministers/5543.aspx">Barbara Follett</a>, the culture minister, these promised funds may not, in fact, materialise. On the BM, she said: "Both the Secretary of State and I are in discussions with them. It's a great idea and we would love to support it, but it's very difficult at the moment." A spokesman for the DCMS told the Times: "Our capital budget is currently overcommitted. Ministers are examining the reasons for this and looking for solutions. It is possible that difficult decisions will be needed, but none has been taken yet." According to Follett: "There are too many schemes bidding for too little money." Bidding? But has not this money already been committed?</p><p>Of course, if the Government pulled its pledges from these proposed developments, they would almost certainly fail to go ahead. The state funds will be providing the bedrock upon which the fundraising push from private donors will be built. How important would that be? In the case of the BM, it claims it cannot continue to hold exhibitions – such as recent shows devoted to Hadrian and Shah Abbas – in the Reading Room in the Great Court after 2012, when permission to use the space for that purpose expires. If they have to stop holding exhibitions, Britain's cultural life will suffer hugely. In the case of Tate Modern, we're promised in the extension an extraordinary set of spaces that will change the way we look modern art, and much better reflect artistic practice as it is developing. It would be a great shame, when London has established itself, largely through Tate Modern, as one of the great leaders in the international artworld, if it fell behind.</p><p>It sounds to me rather as if the DCMS hasn't been handling its budget very effectively.</p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/17/arts-policy-arts-funding?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Are the government funding pledges to the Tate and British Museum safe?}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-350450364 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> <span class="timestamp">12.38 BST</span> </div> </li> <li class=" date-posted "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <p class="date"> Thursday 16 July 2009 </p> </div> </li> <li class=" "> <div class="blog-excerpt"> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <h3> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/16/arts-policy-cultural-olympiad" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{The new way forward for the Cultural Olympiad}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">The new way forward for the Cultural Olympiad</a> </h3> </div> <div class="trailtext"> <p>As Owen Gibson has <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jul/15/cultural-olympiad-lottery-money">reported</a>, it has now been confirmed that the Cultural Olympiad is having a complete overhaul. About time too – but I would say that, having written at length about the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/mar/25/cultural-olympiad">woes</a> of the Cultural Olympiad to date. </p><p>Tony Hall, chief exec of the Royal Opera House, has now been officially appointed to the Locog board in charge of culture, and has named his Cultural Olympiad board members: Jude Kelly, the artistic director of the Southbank Centre, whose previous role as chair of culture, ceremonies and education for Locog has been made defunct; Alan Davey, chief executive of Arts Council England; Vikki Heywood, executive director of the Royal Shakespeare Company; Nicholas Kenyon, the managing director of the Barbican; Munira Mirza, advisor on arts and culture to the Mayor of London; Nicholas Serota, director of Tate; and Mark Thompson, DG of the BBC. Hall will chair the board. This list of names is, on the whole, pretty exemplary and with luck and a fair wind this wholesale restructuring of the management of the Cultural Olympiad will be in time to save it from the disaster to which it had apparently been heading.</p> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/16/arts-policy-cultural-olympiad?commentpage=1" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{The new way forward for the Cultural Olympiad}&lpos={trail}{2}" class="comment-count-info pluck-init-inline comment-count-id-350400021 commenting-closed pluck-commentable"> <span class="link-comment-count"></span><span class="link-comment-count-words"></span> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="blog-byline"> <span>Posted by</span> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins" name="&lid={blogBylineContributor}{Charlotte Higgins}&lpos={blogBylineContributor}{1}">Charlotte Higgins</a> 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Yorker</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.lrb.co.uk/" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{London Review of Books}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">London Review of Books</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.therestisnoise.com/" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{The Rest is Noise}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">The Rest is Noise</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://theater.nytimes.com/pages/theater/index.html" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{New York Times}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">New York Times</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://operachic.typepad.com/" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Opera Chic}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Opera Chic</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.artsjournal.com/culturegrrl/" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Culture Grrl}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Culture Grrl</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.artsjournal.com/aboutlastnight/" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{About Last Night}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">About Last Night</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.aldaily.com/" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{Arts &amp; Letters Daily}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">Arts & Letters Daily</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://artforum.com/news/" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{artforum.com}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">artforum.com</a> </div> </div> </li> <li> <div class="trail-caption"> <div class="linktext"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.theartnewspaper.com/" name="&lid={trailItemImageAndTrailText}{The Art Newspaper}&lpos={trail}{1}" class="link-text">The Art Newspaper</a> </div> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> <div id="blogs-calendar"> <div class="capsule"> <h2>Charlotte Higgins on culture weekly archives</h2> <div id="calendar-container"> <table title="Calendar for August" summary="Calendar for August" id="calendar"> <thead> <tr> <th colspan="7" scope="col"> <strong class="month">Aug 2009</strong> <a title="Previous month" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/27/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Previous}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{1}" class="previous"> <img src="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440im_/http://static.guim.co.uk/static/77956/common/images/calendar/left_arrow.gif" alt="Previous" height="18" width="19"/> </a> </th> </tr> <tr class="month-nav"> <th scope="col" title="Monday" class="first">M</th> <th scope="col" title="Tuesday">T</th> <th scope="col" title="Wednesday">W</th> <th scope="col" title="Thursday">T</th> <th scope="col" title="Friday">F</th> <th scope="col" title="Saturday">S</th> <th scope="col" title="Sunday" class="last">S</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr class=" has-links "> <td class="not-this-month first">27</td> <td class="not-this-month ">28</td> <td class="not-this-month ">29</td> <td class="not-this-month ">30</td> <td class="not-this-month ">31</td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/27/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 1}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{2}">1</a></td> <td class="last"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/jul/27/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 2}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{3}">2</a></td> </tr> <tr class=" has-links "> <td class="first"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 3}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{4}">3</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 4}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{5}">4</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 5}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{6}">5</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 6}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{7}">6</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 7}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{8}">7</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 8}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{9}">8</a></td> <td class="last"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/03/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 9}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{10}">9</a></td> </tr> <tr class=" has-links "> <td class="first"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 10}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{11}">10</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 11}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{12}">11</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 12}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{13}">12</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 13}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{14}">13</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 14}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{15}">14</a></td> <td><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 15}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{16}">15</a></td> <td class="last"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/10/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 16}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{17}">16</a></td> </tr> <tr class=" has-links "> <td class="first"><a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/charlottehigginsblog/2009/aug/17/week" name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 17}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{18}" class="today">17</a></td> <td><a 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name="&lid={calendarNavigation}{Calendar 22}&lpos={calendarNavigation}{23}">22</a></td> <td class="last">23</td> </tr> <tr class=" "> <td class="first">24</td> <td>25</td> <td>26</td> <td>27</td> <td>28</td> <td>29</td> <td class="last">30</td> </tr> <tr class=" "> <td class="first">31</td> <td class="not-this-month ">1</td> <td class="not-this-month ">2</td> <td class="not-this-month ">3</td> <td class="not-this-month ">4</td> <td class="not-this-month ">5</td> <td class="not-this-month last">6</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </div> </div> </div> <div id="listings-search" class="capsule"> <h3>Listings search</h3> <div> <form action="http://web.archive.org/web/20090822100440/http://www.guardianlistings.press.net/results.php" method="get" id="listings-search-form"> <input type="hidden" name="reset" value="1"/> <input type="hidden" name="when" value="7days"/> <fieldset> <label for="title">Search for:</label> <input type="text" id="title" name="title"/> </fieldset> <fieldset> <label 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