duyukdvi

With a Golden Toilet and Miss Piggy, an Opera Takes Aim at Trump

Not only is it possible, it is now a priority for *all* arts disciplines.

"'Monster’s Paradise,' by Olga Neuwirth and Elfriede Jelinek, attempts an operatic response to current events and politics. Is that possible?"

#opera #politics #autocracy #MonstersParadise

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/a...

The world grants unequal beginnings, but the universe endows us all with the capacity to create.

If that resonates with you, I invite you to follow or subscribe (it's free): randallwhite.substack.com

#creativity #creator #artists #Imagination

Opinion | He Studied Cognitive Science at Stanford. Then He Wrote a Startling Play About A.I. Authoritarianism.

"When I saw 'Data,' a zippy Off Broadway play about the ethical crises of employees at a Palantir-like A.I. company, last month, I was struck by its prescience. It’s about a brilliant, conflicted computer programmer pulled into a secret project."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/o...

Diotima’s Rachel Scott on her runway collaboration with radical artist Wifredo Lam: ‘Absolutely this is a political collection’ The designer evoked the late Cuban artist’s work in her A/W 2026 collection for Diotima, shown at NYFW yesterday

Jamaica-born, New York-based fashion designer Rachel Scott collaborated with the estate of the late Cuban artist Wifredo Lam for her 2026 runway collection.

The ‘Trojan horse’ collection featured beautiful garments with an anti-authoritarian statement.

www.wallpaper.com/fashion-beau...

Catherine Opie’s “To Be Seen” and The Politics of Photography | Art & Object “The Smithsonian is not going to show somebody like me right now — specifically me,” Catherine Opie says in a recent Teams interview from Los Angeles, her voice matter-of-fact. “I’m not welcome right ...

"I’m not welcome right now in America."

Imagine not feeling welcomed in the USA because of your artwork?

This is where we are.

www.artandobject.com/news/catheri...

There is a Renaissance-ish era portrait of a nude as one small element of a Hyperallergic.com collage graphic.

That classical art piece triggered the ridiculous cautionary warning.

The Sticky Politics of Wall Texts I never thought I would become an art critic who complains about exhibition didactics. And yet, after a visit to the 36th Bienal de São Paulo, here I am.

I want every museum and gallery in the US to read this piece by @arunadsouza.bsky.social.

After you've read it and taken it to heart, also teach your staff how to use the return key for paragraphs.

Thank you.

hyperallergic.com/the-sticky-p...

#museum #gallery #walltext #artwork

Concerns over autocracy in the U.S. continue to grow Is America still a democracy? Scholars tell NPR that after the last year under President Trump, the country has slid closer to autocracy or may already be there.

"As the United States heads toward the midterm elections, there are growing concerns among some political scientists that the country has moved even further along the path to some form of autocracy."

Ya think?

www.npr.org/2026/02/16/n...

Every now and then I turn a good phrase.

duyukdvi.com

We celebrate this Presidents' Day in the United States by honoring this portrait by Kehinde Wiley. The arts say so much about who we are ... and who we once were.

duyukdvi.com

How Would Artists Organize Power Differently? Belonging begins wherever people learn to recognize one another

Together, we become harder to erase.

open.substack.com/pub/randallw...

We can create better.

#ArtCommunity #MusicianLife #ActorsLife #WritingCommunity #CreativeSovereignty

How Would Artists Organize Power Differently? Belonging begins wherever people learn to recognize one another

open.substack.com/pub/randallw...

Why Did Canada Change its Flag in 1965? (See How It Was Before) | TheCollector Canada adopted the current version of its flag in 1965 to remove references to its history as a British colony and promote Canadian national identity.

Cloth and design can create both culture and controversy.

The arts are powerful like that.

Happy 60th anniversary to the Canadian Maple Leaf flag!

Here's an interesting tale for those who do not know how the remarkable symbol came to be:
www.thecollector.com/why-did-cana...

I write about art, civic life, imagination, and democracy.
Essays. Cultural reflections. Patterns in public life.
If you’re a creator of any kind, join us. It’s free.
randallwhite.substack.com/p/subscribe

Children aren't just taught by the arts. The arts reshape their entire perspective. When we engage their creativity, we access their most precious gifts: wonder, curiosity, and honesty.

Look with them.
duyukdvi.com

For centuries, authority has been organized around land, ownership, exploitation and control. If performing, visual and literary artists had the opportunity, how would we organize power differently?

I think I know.

open.substack.com/pub/randallw...

#creativesovereignty #artistsorganizingpower

This is strong. Thank you.

Creative Expression And Control Artists, States and the Struggle Over Freedom of Expression

"Participants examined how algorithmic visibility, platform governance, surveillance technologies, and online censorship are quietly rewriting the rules of cultural production."
www.thereporterethiopia.com/49146/

Self-Portrait (rotated), potential sketch for The Creation of Adam, by Michelangelo, late 15th//early 16th c

‘Yellow Letters’ Director İlker Çatak on Political Repression of Artists: ‘You Have It in the U.S. Too. Look at What Happened to Jimmy Kimmel!’ 'Yellow Letters' director İlker Çatak on political repression of artists: ‘You have it in the U.S. too. Look at what happened to Jimmy Kimmel!'

"You have to ask yourself: 'Who am I going to bed with here?'"

variety.com/2026/film/gl...

Libraries are special places.

Through Mar. 20, 2026, Western Libraries (Bellingham, WA) features more than 40 historic caricature art pieces focusing on major conflicts like world wars, political divide, anti-semitism, capitalism, communism and morality.

library.wwu.edu/centuries-ca...

Arundhati Roy quits Berlin film festival over ‘stay out of politics’ comment Author says she is ‘disgusted’ by claim from jury president Wim Wenders that film-makers should remain apolitical

“'To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping. It is a way of shutting down a conversation about a crime against humanity even as it unfolds before us in real time, when artists, writers and filmmakers should be doing everything in their power to stop it.'”

"'Art is a form of self expression, and self expression ultimately goes back to core values, core beliefs, and so art and music itself will always be political because it is an outlet for our true beliefs.'"

Word.

alleghenycampus.com/26842/featur...

When the House No Longer Holds What it means to care for a nation built in another century

We can repair, replace or abandon This Old Nation.

Which will it be?

open.substack.com/pub/randallw...

Belonging takes action. Belonging takes practice. Artists and other creators can show us the way.

duyukdvi.com

Outpouring of support after Hotel Del orders Sandcastle Man to leave beach - Coronado Times A Coronado cultural icon almost 20 years in the making has been told to pack up his things and leave. Or, in this case, pack up his shovels, buckets and […]

Mark Twain?

A Mark Twain quote got this sand-sculpting artist booted from the Hotel Del Coronado because it was political??

Join me in asking this Hilton property what they're afraid of.

Here is a hotel email address:
marketingoffice@hoteldel.com

coronadotimes.com/news/2026/02...

Here, duyukdvi becomes a lens for examining art, democracy, and collective life.

We ask not just whether our institutions work efficiently, but whether they embody the alignment of word, deed, and relationship that creates genuine justice and lasting peace.

duyukdvi.com

Bullies do not like what they cannot control ... and they cannot control our imaginations.

open.substack.com/pub/randallw...