Culture

Basel to Vote on Hosting Eurovision 2025 in November
Basel to Vote on Hosting Eurovision 2025 in November

The canton of Basel-City, in northern Switzerland, will need to organize a referendum in November on hosting Eurovision 2025, as opponents submitted enough signatures on Saturday.  Swiss singer Nemo, a non-binary activist, won Eurovision 2024, granting Switzerland the right to host the world’s largest song contest next May.  In August, ...

Baalbeck and Its Roman Ruins Deserted by Locals and Tourists
Baalbeck and Its Roman Ruins Deserted by Locals and Tourists

For over a month, the iconic Palmyra Hotel has not hosted a single tourist coming to explore Baalbeck’s Roman ruins, near which Israeli bombs are falling. Yet Rabih Salika refuses to leave the establishment where he has worked for 24 years. The war between Israel and the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, deeply rooted in Baalbeck (east), has not ...

John Williams Unveiled: Spielberg’s Tribute to a Legendary Composer
John Williams Unveiled: Spielberg’s Tribute to a Legendary Composer

He composed “the soundtrack of our lives” with scores for Star Wars, E.T., and Indiana Jones, yet his own story remains lesser-known: John Williams, 92, opens up in a documentary produced by his “soul brother,” Steven Spielberg. Premiering Wednesday at the American Film Institute Festival in Los Angeles, before its November 1st release on ...

Puccini: The Brand Behind the Opera
Puccini: The Brand Behind the Opera

Giacomo Puccini, the genius of Italian opera, is the subject of a captivating exhibition at La Scala in Milan, revealing the influence of the emerging media of the 20th century, such as records and cinema, on the global dissemination of his works. Titled Puccini – Opera Meets New Media, the exhibition revisits the emergence of the "Puccini ...

Amsterdam’s 750th Anniversary Celebrations Spotlight Iconic Jordaan Neighborhood’s Legacy
Amsterdam’s 750th Anniversary Celebrations Spotlight Iconic Jordaan Neighborhood’s Legacy

Amsterdam kicks off year-long celebrations this weekend to mark its 750th anniversary, with one ancient and formerly down-at-heel neighborhood playing a starring role in the festivities. Sitting cheek by jowl with the city’s Canal Belt, the once working-class Jordaan neighborhood is the setting for a new musical that its producers say captures ...

Sean Baker: Hope Revives on the Margins for American Cinema
Sean Baker: Hope Revives on the Margins for American Cinema

Director Sean Baker embodies the renewal of American independent filmmaking on the fringes of the cinema industry, ever since the Cannes Film Festival awarded him a Palme d’Or, a kind of life-affirming triumph. "I will never film in a studio, but always on real locations," declared this devotee of cinéma vérité in Cannes, who crafts films ...

Phil Lesh, Grateful Dead Bassist and Innovator, Dies at 84
Phil Lesh, Grateful Dead Bassist and Innovator, Dies at 84

Phil Lesh, an innovative bassist and founding member of The Grateful Dead, passed away Friday at the age of 84, according to a statement on his Instagram account. For over three decades, Lesh, a classically trained musician, shared a deep musical partnership with Grateful Dead icon Jerry Garcia, helping create the band’s unique psychedelic ...

Lisbon's Trams: A Charm Disrupted by Overtourism
Lisbon's Trams: A Charm Disrupted by Overtourism

In the winding streets of Lisbon, the screeching of the small yellow trams paints a picturesque tableau of the Portuguese capital. Every morning, at Martim Moniz Square, tourists and locals flock to the legendary tram number 28, whose route through the city’s hills offers a unique glimpse into Lisbon's ancient charm. However, this popularity ...

Women Revitalize and Redefine Traditional English Morris Dancing
Women Revitalize and Redefine Traditional English Morris Dancing

Rain might be falling outside on the promenade in the English seaside resort of Blackpool but the inside of the Tower Ballroom - billed as "the UK's most spectacular" - is bathed in light, sequins, pompoms and music. Dozens of women and girls are warming up before the end-of-season Carnival Morris dancing championships, which combines traditional ...

Rare Typescript of ‘The Little Prince’ Set for Auction in UAE
Rare Typescript of ‘The Little Prince’ Set for Auction in UAE

A specialist London bookstore is offering a rare piece of literary history: an original typescript of Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s The Little Prince, featuring the author’s handwritten corrections and revisions. This unique treasure will be sold at the Abu Dhabi Art Fair 2024, with an expected price of at least $1.25 million. The typescript, ...

Laurent Schwarz, Three Years Old, the New Painting Prodigy
Laurent Schwarz, Three Years Old, the New Painting Prodigy

Laurent Schwarz, only three, has quickly risen to fame on Instagram and within the art world, despite still being in diapers. Some media outlets have already dubbed him the "mini-Picasso." In a corner of their family home in Neubeuern, Bavaria, his parents have set up a small studio where this young German talent paints large abstract and ...