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Groninger Museum received record amount of 256.000 visitors
Updated: January 9 2009, 15:10 CET
GRONINGEN: The Groninger Museum in the north of The Netherlands just announced that the amount of visitors in 2008 exceeded the 2007 numbers of 195.000 visitors. Thanks to some major blockbusters like ‘Go China!’ the Groninger Museum received 256.000 visitors in 2008, and again she recently opened her doors to a major exhibition: J.W. Waterhouse (1849-1917), the modern Pre-Raphaelite.
This large retrospective of the work of the English Pre-Raphaelite painter John William Waterhouse (1849-1917), features 92 paintings, drawings, and sketchbooks. The works on show illustrate his entire career, demonstrating his engagement with contemporary trends ranging from antiquarianism to mystical spirituality. Among the highlights are his paintings ‘Circe’, ‘Miranda’, ‘The Lady of Shalott’, ‘Cleopatra’, ‘Lamia’, ‘Mariamne’, ‘Hylas and the Nymphs’, and ‘The Magic Circle’ (after Groningen the exhibition will travel to the Royal Academy of Arts, London and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal.
The new Groninger Museum opened in 1994 and soon became a highlight in the world of art, designed by the architects Philippe Starck, Alessandro Mendini and Coop Himmelb(l)au.
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Vienna to attract visitors with Haydn in 2009
Updated: January 6 2009, 11:31 CET
VIENNA: In 2009, the music world around the globe will commemorate the 200th anniversary of the death of Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). One of the main cities celebrating is the Austrian capital Vienna where Haydn started his career as a member of the Vienna Boys’ Choir. He also returned to Vienna after working for the Princes Esterházy in today’s Burgenland and Hungary.
Haydn’s domicile in Vienna for 12 years. Haydn bought the ground-level Vienna suburban house in Kleine Steingasse 73 (today Haydngasse 19, very close to the lively shopping mile Mariahilfer Strasse) in 1793 and had it renovated, adding another floor. Here, the bulk of his late work was composed, among them the great oratorios “The Creation” and “The Seasons.” It is likely that Haydn’s apartment was the upper floor while the ground floor was reserved for his valet and copyist Johann Elssler, father of the celebrated dancer Fanny Elssler.
January 29 the redesigned Haydn exhibition at the Haydn House will open. A celebration which lasts three days will take place around Haydn's 200th anniversary of his death on May 31, 2009. The garden of the Haydn House will be presented in the state of Haydn's lifetime and Haydn's works will be performed in many concerts.
A selection of other events in Vienna commemorating the 200th anniversary of Haydn’s death:
Musikverein, Vienna
March 20 – June 20, 2009:
Exhibition: "Joseph Haydn in London"
October 29 – December 19, 2009:
Exhibition: "Joseph Haydn: Princes, Sponsors, und Patrons"
Akademie der Wissenschaften
"The Creation": Anniversary Performances on Haydn's Day of Death
May 29, 30 and 31, 2009
In 1761 Haydn was offered a job as Vice Kapellmeister to the Esterházy family, one of the wealthiest and most important in the Austrian Empire. When the old Kapellmeister, Gregor Werner, died in 1766, Haydn was elevated to full Kapellmeister. As a "house officer" in the Esterházy establishment, Haydn followed the family as they moved among their various palaces, most importantly the family's ancestral seat Schloss Esterházy in Eisenstadt and later on Eszterháza, a grand new palace built in rural Hungary in the 1760s. Haydn had a huge range of responsibilities, including composition, running the orchestra, playing chamber music for and with his patrons, and eventually the mounting of operatic productions.
For Haydn Celebrations in Eisenstadt see:
www.haydn2009.at
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Lithuania kicks off millennium and cultural capital celebrations
Updated: January 2 2009, 11:16 CET
VILNIUS: At New Years Eve Lithuania's capital Vilnius celebrated the kickoff of Vilnius - European Capital of Culture 2009: CULTURE Live, a title which Lithuania was striving to achieve for more than five years. Starting in 2009, the culture capitals will have to double up to accommodate candidate cities from the new EU members, therefore Linz has to share the throne with Vilnius. And Vilnius could get most of the attention because Lithuania celebrates its millennium in 2009. Lithuania was first mentioned on 9 March 1009 in Quedlinburg’s annals -- other sources say first mention was Feb 14. The Annals were the account of the journey of St. Bruno (Boniface) of Querfurt, which terminated in Lithuania.
The kickoff of the celebrations was on New Year's Eve, with a Winter Feast and laser and light show in Vilnius by light artist Gert Hof are planned. The event was broadcasted live on television. According to the promotion, "light effects radically changed the familiar face of the city, Vilnius became an ice palace or an island lit up by fiery flames."
The theme of CULTURE live is ‘Authentic creation of the New’: relationships between people, ties between organisations, countries and cities, the liberation of inner power, the bringing of ideas down to earth.
The aim of the national programme Vilnius – European Capital of Culture 2009 is to promote dialogue and tolerance in Europe and other parts of the world, as well as to elevate culture as a virtue in modern society and as the driving force in city development, which will distinguish Vilnius as one of the most modern and dynamic cities in Central and Eastern Europe, known in the world as a contemporary cultural centre of attraction, and one with a unique and apparent identity that is open to new ideas and investments.
Culture Live is both the goal of the programme and its name. It is a creative programme which has been kindled by Fluxus movement ideas. This word originates from the Latin language and means "to flow". The movement which coined this name declares that art is in constant flux, a continuous flow which draws everyone in.
The European City of Culture was designed to bring European peoples closer. It was launched by the Council of Ministers on 13 Jun 1985 on the initiative of the Greek singer and actress Melina Mercouri, who migrated into politics from the entertainment world and was Greek Minister of Culture for most of the years from 1981 until she died in 1994. The title was renamed "European Capital of Culture" from 2005.
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Cultural Capital Linz opens with world premiere Rocket Symphony
Updated: December 30 2008, 10:28 CET
LINZ: Starting in 2009, the culture capitals will have to double up to accommodate candidate cities from the new EU members. Consequently, Linz has to share with Lithuania's capital Vilnius. The Capital of Culture year will officially kick off on New Year’s Eve from December 31, 2008 until January 1, 2009. The absolute highlight of Opening Linz09 will be the world premiere of the Rocket Symphony, a work for a chorus of several hundred singers and 16 soloists arrayed along the banks of the Danube between the Ars Electronica Center, the Nibelungen Bridge, the Lentos Museum of Modern Art and the Brucknerhaus. Their acoustic and visual accompaniment will be a fireworks extravaganza.
New Year’s Day features the vernissage of Best of Austria, an exhibition that brings together the most superb works of art from about 30 Austrian collections and museums. This don’t-miss show will run in the Lentos Museum of Modern Art until May 10, 2009. The highpoint of Day 2 of the Capital of Culture year will be the opening of the architecturally spectacular addition to the Ars Electronica Center that will be providing the Museum of the Future with 4,000 m² of additional space.
The schedule for Linz09 cultural events includes high-brow entertainment, such as opera and orchestral concerts, art shows and a film festival, plus a host of less expected events such as circus performances that run from May to September and Ars Electronica, an exhibition focusing on the digital world in September. With its lineup of projects, Linz09 is giving a highly diversified narrative account of this city: Linz Welcome, Linz Capital, Linz Power, Linz Travel, Linz World, Linz Memory, Linz Knowledge, Linz Pleasure, Linz Holiday and Linz Dream. Past, present and future are reflected by the diverse facets of this ensemble. Europe and The World are two additional programmatic focal points meant to enable people to really feel the openness of this city.
The European City of Culture was designed to bring European peoples closer. It was launched by the Council of Ministers on 13 Jun 1985 on the initiative of the Greek singer and actress Melina Mercouri, who migrated into politics from the entertainment world and was Greek Minister of Culture for most of the years from 1981 until she died in 1994. The title was renamed "European Capital of Culture" from 2005.
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Britten’s 325-year-old visitor attraction closed for one year
Updated: December 24 2008, 19:22 CET
OXFORD: Today UK's oldest public museum - Oxford University's Ashmolean will close its doors for nearly a year, so culture-seekers have just one day left to visit the 325-year-old visitor attraction. The museum will be shut to the public for a £61m revamp. Meanwhile, portraits from a photography campaign, "My Ashmolean, My Museum", will be launched on two buses. The portraits of author Philip Pullman and historian and TV presenter Bettany Hughes will be depicted on the backs of the London Espress coaches, alongside an oil painting and an ancient Greek vase from the Ashmolean's collections.
Construction work began in 2006 and is funded with support of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Linbury Trust. It has had a minimal impact on visitor access to the collections on display, but in 2009, builders will need to undertake the major work of constructing a new front entrance. From 23 December, there will be no access to the museum or its cafe, only the shop will remain open. Once refurbished, in November 2009 the museum will have 39 new galleries, a new education centre and Oxford's first rooftop cafe. The new building is designed by award-winning architect Rick Mather. Rick Mather Architects were appointed to formulate a development strategy for the large scale complex. In collaboration with the staff a full appraisal of exhibits and facilities has been carried out and a strategy created to maximise the potential of the building and optimise the display of the collections.
The Ashmolean Museum (in full the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology) on Beaumont Street, Oxford, England, is the world's first university museum. Its first building is sometimes attributed to Sir Christopher Wren, though there is no good evidence for this claim, and was built in 1678–1683 to house the collection or cabinet of curiosities Elias Ashmole gave Oxford University in 1677 — the ones he had collected himself as well as those he had acquired from the gardeners, travellers and collectors John Tradescant the elder and his son of the same name. The collection included antique coins, books, engravings, geological specimens, and zoological specimens — one of which was the stuffed body of the last Dodo ever seen in Europe, but by 1755 it was so moth-eaten it was destroyed, except for its head and one claw. The museum opened on 6 June 1683, with naturalist Robert Plot as the first keeper featuring collections covering a wide range of cultures from early Egyptian to Italian Renaissance and 20th Century European art.
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