BBC News – Arts and Culture

“Cloud” sculptures and crochet lions are among ideas in the running for an art project to celebrate the London Olympics. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/8200210.stm

The Royal Opera House will stage an opera created through social networking site Twitter, it announces. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8193917.stm

US choreographer Merce Cunningham, widely recognised for revolutionising modern dance, dies in New York. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8171036.stm

A blue plaque scheme to remember British jazz venues with an interesting history is launched by festival organisers. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/wales/mid/8170325.stm

A handwritten joke by the playwright George Bernard Shaw, lost 79 years ago, is rediscovered by a political researcher. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/london/8169297.stm

E Lynn Harris, a pioneer of black gay fiction, dies at the age of 54. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/8169325.stm

German film director Wim Wenders is to re-start work on a 3D film based on the work of the late dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/8162627.stm

Frank McCourt, Irish-American author of best-seller Angela’s Ashes, has died in a New York hospice, his brother says. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/8158451.stm

Julius Shulman, considered one of the finest architectural photographers of all time, dies at his home in Los Angeles. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8155697.stm

A garden gnome giving the Nazi salute lands a German artist in trouble with the authorities in Nuremberg. Full published article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/8155542.stm