ABU DHABI (AFP) ― The oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi announced on Tuesday that it had given the green light for the completion of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums after construction delays.The executive council of Abu Dhabi, which functions like a government for the emirate, said it had “approved the budgets and deadlines for the inauguration of projects on the island of Saadiyat, particularly the Louvre, Guggenheim, and Sheikh Zayed” museums.The statement gave no specific timeline for completio

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― The 14 rooms of the National Gallery of Art in Washington dedicated to French Impressionism and Post-Impressionism are due to reopen Saturday after a two-year renovation.The paintings from artists like Corot, Picasso, Monet, Cezanne and Renoir are displayed in a new thematic arrangement designed to make them have a “conversation” with each other, Mary Morton, director of the museum’s department of French paintings, told AFP. Previously, the paintings were arranged chronologica

MILAN (AP) ― La Scala’s general manager said Tuesday that he hopes Premier Mario Monti’s government will avoid cutting spending for culture, noting that music and theater can help unite people.Stephane Lissner told foreign reporters that La Scala will have a difficult time balancing the famed opera house’s budget in 2012 due to expected drops in public and private contributions, even as the Milan opera house increases attendance and the number of performances.“We are facing a very difficult move

BEVERLY HILLS, California (AP) ― American master Martin Scorsese journeyed to France, putting Hollywood’s newest technology to work for his dazzling 3-D re-creation of 1930s Paris in “Hugo.’’ French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius came to America, reviving old-time Hollywood with his charming resurrection of early cinema in the silent film “The Artist.’’The two films now head a 21st century Academy Awards show whose top nominees offer loving looks back to the infancy of moviemaking, when flicks re

LONDON (AP) ― Legitimate music downloads still aren’t growing quickly enough.A report published Monday by the recording industry’s main lobby group showed that digital revenue has grown 8 percent over the past year to about $5.2 billion ― a solid figure for some industries, but not one where overall receipts have fallen by nearly two-thirds amid a shift toward online ― and in many cases illegal ― music downloads.“The 8 percent figure should be much higher,’’ said Frances Moore, the chief executi

NEW YORK (AP) ― Since its beginnings in the 1970s, rap music has transformed from an underground, street-based sound to a definitive part of pop culture, transcending race and becoming one of the strongest ― and most prolific ― voices of today’s generation. But at the Grammy Awards, rap has had a long-lasting losing streak in the top categories.The hip-hop sound ― first recognized at the 1989 Grammys ― has seen numerous prestigious nominations over the years, and rap acts have either led or tied