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2009 rewind: Culture Monster’s controversies of the year

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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

How will the arts world remember 2009?

In Los Angeles, it was the year of Gustavo Dudamel’s arrival and Shepard Fairey’s legal tribulations. It was the year when MOCA got back on its feet -- sort of -- and when LACMA decided to kill its weekend film program.

Some of us may recall pianist Krystian Zimerman’s anti-American speech at Disney Hall while others will remember the controversy surrounding the return of Chaka, the graffiti artist. All in all, it was a year to talk about. Culture Monster’s fingers get tired just thinking about it.

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To the seasonal profusion of lists and rankings -- best of, worst of, etc. -- Culture Monster is here with our lightening-rod stories of the past 12 months. These are the stories that struck a chord with our readers, often generating an avalanche of feedback.

The stories run the cultural gamut from the visual arts to classical music, from theater to architecture. If there’s a common thread that links them together, it’s that everyone loves a controversy.

Click on the photo gallery and see them in roughly descending order of popularity (or notoriety).

What stories do you remember?

— David Ng

‘Best of’ lists for 2009:

Art 2009: Christopher Knight’s Top 10

Architecture 2009: Christopher Hawthorne’s Top 10

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Music 2009: Mark Swed’s Top 10

Theater 2009: Charles McNulty’s Top 10

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