A new platform called Masterworks allows individuals to buy shares of specific artworks in $20 increments. The platform capitalizes on the democratization of online investing, but is also a variation on a model that dates back a century.
Tag: culture
Born some eight centuries ago, the famed poet and philosopher Rumi offered ideas on religion that bear little resemblance to the brand of Islam being imposed right now in Afghanistan by the Taliban regime.
The prima ballerina Eleonora Abbagnato recently bid farewell to the Paris Opera, under the gold roof of the historic Palais Garnier. It’s an obligatory passage for Parisian ballet dancers of a certain age, a moment that is often happy, always dreaded and sometimes salutary.
The so-called “White Elephants,” or massive building projects that go unused, keep going up across China as local officials mix vanity and a misdirected attempt to attract business and tourists. A perfect example the 58-meter, $230 million statue of Guan Yu, a beloved military figure from the Third Century, that nobody seems interested in visiting.
Some might ask: Why is there such a thing as International Country Music Day? Turns out the American musical genre has pockets of popularity around the world, from twanging sounds in Japan to South Africa to line dancing in France.
BERLIN – Now, in the opera, there are Black people portraying Germanic gods, Russians appearing as Chinese people, and Don Giovanni may even be played by a trans woman. If ethnically correct casts are required to be politically correct, this would mean the end for many classics and several would become unemployed. Trinidadian-born soprano Jeanine […]
Chicken waffles, mac and cheese, cornbread… these iconic African American dishes aren’t just trending on Netflix — they’re also making a name for themselves in the capital of haute cuisine.
At 3,304 and counting, the list of officially recognized emojis includes more than just happy faces, hearts and clinking beer mugs. With certain icons there are politics at play, and even questions about regional pride and sovereignty, as lawmakers in the Canadian province of Quebec made clear in recent days. For now, there is no […]
Close brushes with bulls are part of the culture of Arles, which maintains a strong tradition of bullfighting in local Roman ampitheaters and annual festivals with well-organized courses of the bulls through the streets of the southern French city. But on Tuesday, it was the bulls who chose the time and place to brush with […]
Shortly before being appointed Undersecretary for Education, Rossano Sasso dashed off for Rome, amid around-the-clock negotiations in the capital to form Italy’s new government. And Sasso made sure to share the moment with his Facebook followers. “He who stops is lost, a thousand years for every minute,” the 45-year-old politician from the southern Puglia region […]
A New Year’s Eve ‘free party’ in Lieuron, France, became a state affair. While politicians are quick to condemn and punish the fête’s organizers and attendees, they offer no real solution.
Hindu nationalist groups want to force the cancellation of Netflix shows that celebrate inter-religious romance with Muslims — it’s both censorship and ethnic prejudice.
Despite decades of violence and tension between opposing army outposts, villagers caught in between have no choice but to keep living their lives.
Gaspard Koenig has returned after several months spent traveling across Europe on horseback. The journey included a conscious effort to limit his exposure to current events, relying only on the local newspapers and conversations.
Swedish-born, Paris-based writer Carl-Johan Karlsson has been seeing “dead museums” since the pandemic arrived… and even earlier.
Movie houses, music venues and art galleries are showing signs of life after a long lockdown. They’re also having to be creative with how they reopen, as certain health restrictions still apply.
With edgy lyrics and an attitude that’s too legit to quit, rapper Houda Abouz — aka Khtek — is pushing against the grain and gaining a substantial following.
A self-described American aesthete has no good answers for her French friends aghast at the reality show in the White House.
Self-quarantining is a concept incompatible with a culture that helps the sick and greets them with open arms.
A new rendition of the famous Puccini opera opens this month in Milan, and it all revolves around the powerful and predatory Scarpia character.
A Chinese dog meat festival has generated outrage in France. The controversy is a complex dance between animal rights, racism and consumer hypocrisy.
BEIRUT — Located in the heart of Beirut’s vibrant Hamra Street, an area that served as a hub for intellectuals in the 1960s and 1970s, Metro al-Madina is an independent theater company and cabaret. The theater was founded in 2012 by Hisham Jaber & co. from the rubble of an abandoned theater with aspirations of […]
Too often works of art are being judged not by their aesthetic or intellectual merit, but on how closely they toe a certain ideological line.
The National Radio and Television Administration has issued a ban on historic melodrama in time for the 70th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China. A billion-dollar industry is turned upside down.
For Lijuan Wang, starting a business in Chile was rewarding but also challenging, for being Asian, female, and ‘working at all hours.’
Sure, Naples has sun, sea and amazing pizza. But it’s also violent and corrupt, and there’s no point in pretending otherwise. A look from Italian city’s celebrated author.
People in Asia already trust robots enough to let them take care of their loved ones and deliver the evening news. Meanwhile, a hitchhiking robot’s world tour successfully passed through Germany, the Netherlands and Canada, but the American leg of the journey was cut short when it was decapitated and beaten to death in Philadelphia. […]
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What If Warren Buffett Were Peruvian?
In the race to succeed, talent can certainly play a role. But not everyone competes on the same playing field.
PARIS — Paleo, keto, vegan, pescatarian. There are so many ways we can choose what, and what not, to eat. Give or take, I choose to eat roughly 160 grams of carbohydrates, 110 grams of protein, and 40 grams of fat per day. That comes to 1440 calories. Some of my friends find it neurotic […]
The events that have marked the 800-year history of the Notre Dame cathedral bear witness to the monument’s eternal meaning and national symbolism.
BUENOS AIRES — Mariana Stange has lots of market experience, particular in the corporate sector. She’s a realtor who specializes in helping firms move premises. For the best results, she uses scientific research, which may not be the standard practice, but it is very effective. The intersection of architecture and psychology has created neuro-architecture. “It’s […]
As the Japanese government plans to accept up to about 340,000 new foreign workers over the next five years, coexistence may become an issue.
Architects plan to restore one of the Argentine capital’s architectural gems, but with new co-working and co-living spaces that reflect the latest trends.
Immigrants from Venezuela, Colombia and elsewhere in Latin America are making their presence felt in the Argentine capital, where more than a dozen salsotecas have opened in the past decade.
WASHINGTON — My first encounter with China was, oddly, at the top of the Empire State Building. I was a young student, and climbing to the top of the Manhattan landmark was the last thing I did before returning home from my first visit to the U.S., where I now live. I was not particularly […]
Forget nylon!. Local clothing lines like Animaná are rediscovering all-natural fibers such as lama and linen, and even producing fabrics the old-fashioned way.
RIO DE JANEIRO — Protests are expected to continue after the fire early Monday that largely destroyed Brazil’s National Museum. The public’s anger at the blaze, which is estimated to have destroyed nearly all of the 20 million works and artifacts at the Rio de Janeiro museum, comes amid rising economic and political unrest as […]
Japan’s Senate passed a reform bill in June modifying the regulation of the workplace, and promoting new ways for employees to work. But things were already changing.
Avant-garde art projected itself through provocation in the 20th century, but has provocation simply become a great marketing ploy for artists?
Is religion numbing Egyptians into acquiescence amid a number of merciless austerity measures?