Guide for museums
A standard tool for museum managers in the United States and Europe planning to borrow artworks from other institutions is now available in Spanish to art institutions in Latin Amer-ica. The Standard Facilities Report, produced by the Amer- ican Association of Museums, provides a format for recording information about the care artworks will receive from a borrowing institution and covers issues such as a physical plant, security, and environmental controls. The manual, whose translation was financed by the IDB Cultural Center, will raise awareness of the need to update museum procedures and improve physical facilities.
Theater behind bars
"When prisoner number 33 . . . looks towards the outside and talks of liberty, one sees a painful longing that transcends mere acting," wrote a reviewer in the newspaper Panama América. This theater adaptation of the famous Panamanian novel Bamboa Road Gang was particularly poignant because it was performed by prisoners in Panama City’s El Renacer Rehabilitation Center. The work, produced by prison educator Juan Gómez with financial support from the IDB Cultural Center, touches on themes such as racial prejudice and loyalty, with the underlying message that belief in eventual justice provides the faith to go on.
Celestial sonorities
The visual and tonal elegance that belongs uniquely to the harp came to the IDB in March with the performance of 17-year-old Dutch musician Gwyneth Wentink. Playing before a full house, Wentink displayed both the harp’s virtuosic and interpretative potential, playing music ranging from the early classical period to the modern era. Among her numerous international prizes was first prize in the 1999 Young Concert Artists International Auditions, the first harpist to win a place on the yca roster.