Arts and Culture

Banksy unveils Ukraine mural in town bombed by Russia

Borodyanka, Ukraine (AFP) Banksy, the elusive British street artist, has painted a mural on a bombed-out building outside Ukraine’s capital, in what Ukrainians have hailed as a symbol of their country’s invincibility. On Friday night the world-famous graffiti artist posted on Instagram three images of the artwork — a gymnast performing a handstand amid the ruins of a demolished building in the town of Borodyanka northwest of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. The caption read “Borodyanka, Ukraine”. […]

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Warhol piece sells for $85 mn at New York auction

New York, United States (AFP)   Andy Warhol’s iconic 1960s painting “White Disaster” sold for $85 million at auction Wednesday evening at Sotheby’s in New York. The 1963 piece of art was sold after two minutes and a brief duel between two bidders, for a total of $74 million, or $85.4 million with all related costs and fees. The last time a piece of art from Warhol’s “Death and Disaster” series was sold in 2013, […]

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Chagall painting stolen by Nazis sells for $7.4 mn at US auction

  New York, United States | AFP | A painting by Marc Chagall, which was among 15 works stolen by Nazis and eventually returned by France to the heirs of the affected families, sold for $7.4 million at auction in New York Tuesday. The sale at the Phillips auction house was part of the fall auction season, which sees major industry players sell hundreds of works of art for several billion dollars in a few […]

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Handshakes, shoes and coffee cups: Qatar etiquette essentials

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) – Home to gleaming skyscrapers and upmarket shopping malls, World Cup host Qatar is also a conservative Muslim country deeply attached to its customs and traditions. Here are some of the cultural conventions football fans should know when visiting the gas-rich Gulf emirate, which, like other Arab nations, prides itself on its hospitality. – Greetings and handshakes – In public places, it is customary to stand up when greeting others, particularly the elderly, […]

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Paul Allen’s art collection tops $1 bn at Christie’s

New York, United States | AFP | Paintings and sculptures from the collection of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen were auctioned off for a historic $1 billion Wednesday, Christie’s auction house said, with records set for works by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin, Seurat and Klimt. Five paintings entered the exclusive club of works of art sold for more than $100 million at auction, the New York auction house said, in a sign that the art […]

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Life imitates tart: Japanese shop mistakenly sells plastic pastries

Tokyo, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s plastic food samples are a multi-million-dollar industry, but one pastry shop’s fake egg tarts are so life-like that its staff unwittingly sold five to customers. Plastic food samples, known as “shokuhin sampuru”, are made in painstaking detail to look as realistic as possible, from moisture droplets on a chilled glass of beer to the glistening surface of a bowl of ramen. The plastic pastries at Osaka-based Andrew’s Egg Tart are […]

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Lost 17th-century warship found in Sweden

Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) — Swedish maritime archaeologists have discovered the long-lost sister vessel of the iconic 17th-century warship “Vasa”, which sank on its maiden voyage, the Swedish Museum of Wrecks said on Monday. Launched in 1629, “Applet” (The Apple) was built by the same shipbuilder as the famed 69-metre (225-foot) “Vasa”, which is now on display in Stockholm after being salvaged in the 1960s. “Our pulses raced when we saw how similar the wreck was […]

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Israel to spend millions on Einstein museum

Jerusalem, Undefined (AFP) — The Israeli government decided on Sunday to allocate millions of dollars for a museum to house the world’s largest collection of Albert Einstein documents, the Hebrew University said. It will be built on the university’s Givat Ram campus in Jerusalem, with the government committing to approximately $6 million and the university raising another $12 million. Einstein, one of the founding fathers of the Hebrew University, was a non-resident governor of the […]

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‘Murder, She Wrote’ star Angela Lansbury dies aged 96

  Los Angeles, United States | AFP | by Huw GRIFFITH / and Manon BILLING in Paris Actress Angela Lansbury, who became a household name through her role as a writer-detective in “Murder, She Wrote,” died on Tuesday, her family announced. She was 96. The British-born star, who found fame and fortune as one of television’s most memorable characters, was also a hugely successful and decorated stage and film actress. “The children of Dame Angela […]

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Taste of Qatari hospitality: traditional Arabic coffee

by Raphaelle Peltier Agence France Presse Al Wakrah, Qatar (AFP) — With its strong aroma of cardamom and its yellowy, tea-like consistency, Arabic coffee is a ubiquitous symbol of hospitality across Gulf countries, not least in World Cup host Qatar. Prepared by roasting coffee beans then boiling them with cardamom and saffron, the traditional “gahwa” is usually enjoyed in the Qatari majlis — the all-male gathering that forms the centrepiece of social life in the […]

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Five things to know about the Nobel prizes

Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) — Since 1901, the Nobel prizes have been awarded to men, women and organisations for work that has led to great advances for mankind, in line with the wishes of inventor Alfred Nobel. The winners of this year’s prizes will be announced daily from Monday, October 3 through October 10. Here are five things to know about the prizes and their creator. – Posthumous awards – Since 1974, the statutes of the […]

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‘Safari for sound’: New York Philharmonic fine-tunes new home

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – The New York Philharmonic is tuning up to open their brand-new performance space next month — and it’s not only the instruments that need to strike the perfect pitch. The hall itself is getting trial runs, with the famed symphony testing their pieces as acousticians make adjustments to wall and ceiling panels to ensure warm, rich tones. It’s “almost like you’re going on a safari for sound,” said Jaap […]

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