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HELSINKI.- The Promotion Centre for Audiovisual Culture has given the AVEK award to artist-curator Juha Huuskonen. The award for media art and currently worth EUR 15,000, was given at the season opening of AVEK in Media Centre Lume. The AVEK award was presented for the sixth time. Helsinki-based Juha Huuskonen (1974) is not only a media artist, but also a producer and curator of media art events. He is a founding member and the first chair of the katastro.fi organzation founded in 1998. In 2000, Huuskonen was one of the founders of Avanto, a festival for experimental music and film, and between 2002 and 2003 he developed Nordic media art residence opportunities together with NIFCA. In 2002, he and Petri Lievonen founded the Pixelache electronic art festival, which Huuskonen has also curated. In addition, Huuskonen curated the Master of Arts Festival (MoA) for the University of Art and Design Helsinki in 2009. The most recent examples of Huuskonen’s own media artworks are “Mouse

AMSTERDAM.- The internationally oriented visuals arts exhibition “Niet Normaal * Difference on Display” will kick off in December 2009 at the Beurs van Berlage in Amsterdam. “Niet Normaal �� Difference on Display” is aimed at the general public. The central question posed by this original and ambitious campaign is: what is normal and who decides? The urgency of this social theme, as well as confidence in the renewed vision of the project, is reflected in the fact that the financing of the project is nearly complete. “Niet Normaal” has a broad base of support, including from the major culture subsidies, charity funds, the business sector, opinion leaders, social institutions and, of course, the internationally renowned artists who have unconditionally agreed to participate, often with their latest work. Such support says something about contemporary society��s need for vision and engagement. What is normal and who decides? “Niet Normaal” questions norm

LONDON.- East Central will present an exhibition curated by Nour Wali of collaborative works by Iranian artists Shoja Azari and Shahram Karimi, showcasing for the first time in a London gallery their revolutionary artistic approach, which intertwines the media of painting and video. Five artworks from the so-called “Oil Series” will surround viewers, re-creating a cinematic experience through the canvases’ glow of mesmerising colours. Referring to the first Gulf War, and presented in the darkened subterranean floor of East Central, the “Oil Series” depicts scenes of deserts aflame, with fires scorching the skies, smoke bellowing in the wind, a soldier disappearing into misty horizons and tanks reining over ashen land. The works sample images from Werner Herzog’s film “Lessons of Darkness”, with scenes slowed, edited and reframed by Azari, projected as brief looping videos onto

LOS ANGELES, CA.- United States Artists (USA), the national grant-making and advocacy organization, announced the recipients of 50 USA Fellowships for 2009, totaling $2.5 million, at a celebration at The Broad Stage in Santa Monica. This event marks the fourth consecutive year of the USA Fellows program, which annually awards fifty unrestricted grants of $50,000 to artists of all disciplines from across the country. The USA Fellows for 2009 hail from 18 states and range in age from 28 to 82. Chosen for the caliber and impact of their work, they include contemporary experimenters and traditional practitioners—Pueblo potters, feminist performance pioneers, cutting-edge fashion designers, independent radio artists, and folk musicians, among others. The evening also paid tribute to Eli and Edythe Broad for their leadership in and generosity to the arts in Los Angeles and nationwide. When USA launched in 2006, the Br

LONDON.- A clock dating to around 1670 has sold for £400,000 at Bonhams New Bond Street sale of Fine Clocks and Barometers on 15th December. The final total for the sale reached almost £2,000,000. James Stratton, Head of Bonhams Clock Department says: “This is a fantastic result. This clock was made while the ashes from the great fire of London were still cooling. Impeccable provenance, rarity and immaculate construction all make this a collector’s piece and a fantastic investment. The best of the best will continue to demand a premium price – which has proven to be the story of this recession. “The estimate of £100,000 – £150,000 paid tribute to the lot’s historical value but even we were surprised by the level of interest. Without doubt, had this clock been known to the great horological historians of the past, it would have featured in many of the standard reference works and exhibitions as a wonderful, la

LONDON.- The Michael Hoppen gallery announced an exhibition of work by one of America’s foremost fashion photographers Fernand Fonssagrives. Once the highest paid photographers in the world, he was ambivalent about the acclaim he received in his chosen field, preferring to remain anonymous. Little was written about him, even at the peak of his success. He was linked to the early ‘Design Laboratory’ classes of Alexey Brodovitch, and was a key member of the close knit group of photographers now celebrated as ‘The New York School. His most memorable work traces the unique partnership he had with his first wife, legendary model Lisa Fonssagrives,

ATLANTA, GA.- The Savannah College of Art and Design presents “NO LAB on Tour” by renowned multimedia artist Cao Fei and Map Office co-founders Laurent Gutierrez and Valerie Portefaix. The exhibition will be on display at the ACA Gallery of SCAD, Woodruff Arts Center, 1280 Peachtree St., Dec. 14-Feb. 7. In “NO LAB,” Chinese artist Cao Fei teams up with Hong-Kong-based Map Office to create a virtual experience of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in the online virtual world community, Second Life. Fei depicts the storm surge and the devastating aftermath through a stark, politically charged multimedia presentation. In the ACA Gallery, visitors can experience “NO LAB on Tour” and participate in the ongoing discussion of urban space, society and the trauma/drama of change via a variety of visual materials including line drawings, photographs, light boxes, a video and computer stations where they can ac

DALLAS, TX.- Today the Dallas Museum of Art announced the 2010 season of Arts & Letters Live, the Museum’s literary and performing arts series that this year is celebrating its 19th season. With approximately 30 scheduled events featuring 50 authors, 20 actors, 7 musicians, and 2 dancers, some of this season’s highlights will include appearances by Mrs. Laura W. Bush, David Sedaris and Ira Glass. Widely acknowledged as a major contribution to Dallas’s cultural life, Arts & Letters Live has sold out most of its events since its inception in 1992. Audiences estimated at over 172,000 have attended more than 330 series programs, offered locally or on tour. To date, Arts & Letters Live has showcased more than 350 regional, national and international writers, often in combination with performing or visual arts. “We’re thrilled about the diversity and caliber of this year’s lineup, which showcas

ROME (AP).- Authorities say a magnitude 4.2 earthquake has shaken the Italian region of Umbria but caused no injuries. Towns in the province of Perugia reported buildings lightly damaged by the temblor, monitored by Italy’s national institute of geophysics. Italy’s agriculture minister said Tuesday 600 people were evacuated until their homes can be inspected. Mayors of several hamlets ordered schools closed Wednesday for inspections. Video of the city of Perugia showed bricks in the street and some damage to walls. The American student Amanda Knox, convicted this month of murdering her British roommate, is in Capanne prison outside Perugia. In April, a quake hit the Abruzzo region in central Italy, killing about 300 and leaving tens of thousands of homeless.

PARIS (AP).- A section of the Eiffel Tower’s original staircase has sold for euro105,400 ($154,380) in an auction of Paris memorabilia. The 40 painted iron steps had been estimated at a much lower price, euro50,000-euro60,000. Organizers of the Paris auction say Gustave Eiffel himself climbed the stairs during the 1889 inauguration of the monument to plant the French flag atop the tower. The famed French auction house Drouot says a pair of benches from the Paris Metro dating to the late 19th or early 20th century fetched euro22,320. A hexagonal wooden newspaper kiosk sold for euro14,260. Monday’s auction, dubbed “Paris Mon Amour,” brought in a total of