Los Angeles Times - 07.08.2019

CALENDAR

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019::L ATIMES.COM/CALENDAR

E

A SoCal musical

destination

Alisa Weilerstein and

others played at La

Jolla’s Summerfest. E3

Critters’ prison

or protection?

“The Zoo: San Diego”

continues a series on

animal captivity. E8

Comics...................E6-7

What’s on TV..........E8

Gina FerazziL.A. Times

For as long as I can remember, the publication of a new Toni Morrison book was like a visit by a

dignitary, but a figure who also was family. Room was made, time was cleared to sit with her.

She always arrived with the stories we needed to hear, when we most required them. These were accounts that weren’t full

of sun or easy resolutions. Nothing about them was “escapist,” though they were often full of deep love and magic. She offered

up difficult predicaments, examined lives that didn’t have sure or clear arcs and African American characters who made busy

life quilts out of the castoff pieces they had gathered. Her stories often investigated heartbreak — the transformative kind —

the trauma that you survive that doesn’t break you but remakes you.

Hearing the news of Morrison’s passing at 88, it’s difficult to imagine what the landscape might have been without her

influence. We lost her words yes, the worlds she put on the page, but also her image: She was both a mirror and a map. She

reflected our experience back to us and to the world: but also, projected her own.

There was power in the imagery — I was drawn to the 1970s, black and white photographs of Morrison at work. As a very

young reader, flipping through a magazine, years away from knowing that I’d even entertain the idea of being a writer, I would

catch a glimpse of her with her cloud of an afro, working. Seated in academia — a circle of students before her — her face placid,

eyes ablaze, she demanded respect. Other photographs capture her, bent over stacks of paper, passing pencil marks along

sentences in manuscripts in a New York City publishing house. Making a way, she cleared space for all

TONI MORRISON,in 2008, once described writing as “the most extraordinary way of thinking and feeling.” She died Monday at 88.

Nikki KahnWashington Post/Getty Images

She rewrote herself

As a divorced mother of two, Toni Morrison became an author and

editor, reflecting black life and showing how to demand your place

BYLYNELLGEORGE>>>

AN APPRECIATION

[SeeMorrison,E2]

The unexpected depar-
ture of Kerry Brougher as di-
rector of the Academy Mu-
seum of Motion Pictures on
Monday, just as the organi-
zation was purportedly en-
tering the final stages of con-
struction, has the turned the
project’s story arc from
something of an epic drama
into a mystery.
The $388-million muse-
um — after years of cost
overruns, political infight-
ing, fundraising challenges
and an opening that has slid
from mid-2019 to late 2019 to
an unspecified date in 2020
— now must push ahead
with a litany of questions in-
stead of a leader.
Why is Brougher leaving?
Why now, when the museum
was months — perhaps
weeks — from finishing con-
struction? If various ac-
counts indicate the building
is close to completion, why
do the installation of exhib-
its and the opening of doors
seem like a far-off reality?
How quickly will
Brougher be replaced? And
to what extent will the loss of
the director mean further
delays to the premiere of the
Renzo Piano-designed mu-
seum at Fairfax Avenue and
Wilshire Boulevard?
On Tuesday the museum
offered few answers, saying
only that Brougher was on
vacation and not available to
speakand that the search
for his replacement is immi-
nent. “The museum is still
committed to creating the
best motion picture muse-
um possible,” a spokeswom-
an said via email. “As soon as
we have a more specific
opening date, we’ll reach
out.”
Brougher, 66, came to the
Academy Museum after 14
years as the chief curator of
the Hirshhorn Museum and
Sculpture Garden in Wash-
ington, D.C. Earlier in his ca-
reer he was a curator at the
Museum of Contemporary
Art in L.A.
His future with the muse-
um had been subject of
much recent speculation. A
source close to the museum,
who asked to remain anony-
mous for fear of reprisal, said
critics called Brougher an
indecisive, ineffective leader
who had little interest in, or
talent for, fundraising. The

As Academy Museum

director departs late

in the construction,

how will it proceed?

By Jessica Gelt

[SeeMuseum,E5]

Leader

leaves

Oscars

project

in lurch

A brawl caught on Insta-

gram, with foreign policy im-

plications. Federal hostage

negotiators sent to monitor

courtrooms abroad. Twitter

interventions from the pres-

ident and lobbying efforts

from Kanye West.

The trial of ASAP

Rocky in Sweden feels like

“Straight Outta Compton”

meets “Veep.”

The case has transfixed

both the Swedish public and

American hip-hop fans since

Rocky, born Rakim Mayers,

was arrested last month

on assault charges stem-

ming from an alleged alter-

cation in Stockholm be-

tween him and two compan-

ions and Mustafa Jafari, a

19-year-old immigrant from

Afghanistan. On Friday,

Rocky, 30, was released from

jail and returned to the U.S.,

pending a verdict expected

in two weeks.

But underneath the ce-

lebrity and American politi-

cal entanglements, Rocky’s

ASAP ROCKY was arrested last month after alleged altercation in Stockholm.

Dimitrios KambourisGetty Images for Diamond Ball

ASAP Rocky,

and a country’s

identity, on trial

Assault case thrusts

rapper into Sweden’s

volatile debates on

crime, immigration.

By August Brown

[SeeASAP Rocky,E4]

COMMENTARY