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Egyptian Billy Elliot sets new bar for Middle Eastern ballet
PARIS (AFP).- Surrounded by little girls and mocked at school when he first tried ballet, it took serious determination for Luca Abdel-Nour to become the first Egyptian prizewinner at the prestigious Prix de Lausanne. The international competition in Switzerland has been one of the leading showcases for young ballet talent since it began in 1973. Abdel-Nour, 17, took three prizes, including second overall and the audience award, at the latest instalment in February, and hopes his success can inspire more boys from the Middle East to overcome their prejudices about dance. Born to a French mother but growing up in Cairo, he performed in dance and theatre shows with his school as a young boy. But he didn't try ballet until he took part in a summer dance school in France aged 12, and an instructor told him to give it a try. "I was like ummm 'I don't ... More

Ageing DR Congo artists keep music of the miners alive
LUBUMBASHI (FP).- The cone-shaped slag heap in the southeastern Congolese city of Lubumbashi is a mighty symbol of the time when copper was king. In that heady era, a vibrant and distinctive culture of music and dancing sprouted among miners who worked for DR Congo's state giant, Gecamines. Today, just a small number of performers are still around to play the songs and do the dances, and recount what it was like in the glory days. One of them is Marcel Tshibanda, once a guitarist with a Jecoke group -- a troupe of employees who were paid by Gecamines' social club to sing and dance for mining communities in their spare time. Their music had a distinctive, calypso-y beat and the dancers dressed in smart long-tailed suits, wowing the crowds with snappy trademark moves. The sound, said Tshibanda, was inspired by musicians in neighbouring ... More

Gap in history: Afghans recall Taliban's destruction of famed Buddha statues
BAMIYAN (AFP).- Afghanistan's giant Buddhas stood watch over the picturesque Bamiyan valley for centuries, surviving Mongol invasions and the harsh environment until the Taliban arrived with an apocalyptic worldview that did not care about one of the great wonders of antiquity. After years of scorched-earth offensives across Afghanistan, the militants -- who saw any representation of the human form as an affront to Islam -- turned their attention to the two Buddhas in Bamiyan, peppering the carvings with tank shells and rocket fire before ultimately dynamiting them in March 2001. To finish the job, the Taliban conscripted locals as porters to lug stacks of explosives to the base of the Buddhas, carved out of the cliff face in the 5th century. Bamiyan resident Ghulam Sakhi said he is still haunted by the role he was forced to play in the destruction. "It is not ... More

Rare illustrated books by Andy Warhol to be offered at Bonhams
NEW YORK, NY.- People who bought Suzie Frankfurts 1959 cookbook, Wild Raspberries looking for culinary inspiration were in for a surprise. In place of the lavish haute cuisine recipes common at the time, they found absurd concoctions such as that for Omlet Greta Garbo Always to be eaten alone in a candlelit room. They would also have discovered a series of charming illustrations by a little-known commercial artist, called Andy Warhol. A copy of Wild Raspberries signed by Warhol for D. D Ryan, the fashion guru and guiding spirit behind the creation of Eloise, the little girl who lived at the Plaza Hotel, is offered at Bonhams Fine Books and Manuscripts sale in New York which runs online from Monday, March 22 - Tuesday, March 30. One of a number of books in the sale illustrated and self-published by Warhol, all of which are being sold ... More

Whyte's to offer Irish & International art
DUBLIN.- Whytes spring auction of Irish & International art promises to deliver another exciting opportunity for collectors to acquire rare artworks of outstanding quality and enduring value. On Monday 22 March 2021 153 lots of Irish & International art will be offered for auction. One of top lots by value is a striking oil (illustrated above) titled Waiting for the Ferry, Low Tide, 1946 by Jack B. Yeats (lot 29, estimate 100,000-150,000). Typical of his later work, in both execution and palette, it depicts a lone figure standing at the waters edge. Behind her a steep bank of cliffs rises upwards creating a striking backdrop. The work has an interesting provenance, purchased from Leo Smith by Helen Hooker OMalley and then gifted to the actor Liam Redmond, with whom Hooker had founded the Dublin Players Theatre in 1944. An earlier ... More

William Kentridge leads Bonhams Post-War & Contemporary Art sale in London
LONDON.- For some the typewriter is simply a relic of the past, perhaps conjuring a nostalgic image in the imagination, but holding little significance. For others it is an intermediary object, allowing thoughts and words to become a tangible presence. For William Kentridge, it is a device to be used in more ways than one, and in Large Typewriters, which leads Bonhams Post-War & Contemporary Art sale on 24 March in London, he creates a dual image combining both the banal and the absurd, the real and the imagined. The imposing work has an estimate of Â£350,000 - 550,000. Ralph Taylor, Bonhams Global Head of Post-War and Contemporary Art, commented: William Kentridge is one of the worlds most celebrated contemporary artists, who lyrically combines the political and the allegorical in his work. Working from a variety of references, ... More

Pirelli HangarBicocca announces Bubbles, a new digital project
MILAN.- Bubbles, a new digital project that goes online today, transforms the Pirelli HangarBicocca website into a dynamic, constantly updated map of contents that revolve around art and artists. The Bubbles project is a digital environment designed to let users explore the world of contemporary art, offering a free-flowing navigation experience to access the wide range of content produced by Pirelli HangarBicocca for its exhibitions and cultural events. The new website, which goes online today, gives users an opportunity to complement or prepare their visit to the exhibition spaces. It is also a stand-alone project, an effective independent means for anyone, from art lovers to students, researchers and intrigued visitors, who wishes to stay up to date on the issues that revolve around contemporary creativity. The navigation system is designed as five ... More

New book from Taschen offers an unprecedented insight into Basquiat's art and work
NEW YORK, NY.- The legend of Jean-Michel Basquiat is as strong as ever. Synonymous with 1980s New York, the artist first appeared in the late 1970s under the tag SAMO, spraying caustic comments and fragmented poems on the walls of the city. He appeared as part of a thriving underground scene of visual arts and graffiti, hip hop, post-punk, and DIY filmmaking, which met in a booming art world. As a painter with a strong personal voice, Basquiat soon broke into the established milieu, exhibiting in galleries around the world. Basquiats expressive style was based on raw figures and integrated words and phrases. His work is inspired by a pantheon of luminaries from jazz, boxing, and basketball, with references to arcane history and the politics of street lifeso when asked about his subject matter, Basquiat answered royalty, heroism and the ... More

Christie's announces highlights included in the 'Watches Online: New York' sale
NEW YORK, NY.- Christies is presenting Watches Online: New York from March 9-23, 2021. With over 130 modern and vintage timepieces from the most celebrated manufacturers such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Richard Mille, Audemars Piguet and many more with bids beginning at $100 and going up to $80,000. Highlights include an iconic Patek Philippe Nautilus reference 3700 in yellow gold ($80,000 - 120,000), an impressive diamond-set Richard Mille RM007 ($70,000-90,000), as well as an important double-signed Patek Philippe split-seconds chronograph pocket watch with minute repeater, circa 1905, retailed by Ryrie Brothers of Toronto ($20,000 30,000). The sale will also feature a wide range of the modern desirable Rolex Sport models, with watches known today such as the: Hulk, Kermit, Batman, Pepsi and the most recent Rolex ... More

Norton Juster, who wrote 'The Phantom Tollbooth,' dies at 91
NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- Norton Juster, who wrote one of childrens literatures most beloved and enduring books, The Phantom Tollbooth, died Monday at his home in Northampton, Massachusetts. He was 91. His daughter, Emily Juster, said in a statement that the cause was complications of a recent stroke. The Phantom Tollbooth, published in 1961, is the story of a bored boy named Milo who, when a tollbooth inexplicably appears in his room, passes through it into a land of whimsy, wordplay and imagination. The book was illustrated by the man Juster shared a duplex with at the time, Jules Feiffer, who was early in his renowned career as a cartoonist and author. It has sold almost 5 million copies, has been reissued multiple times, and was turned into an animated film and a stage musical. There was once a boy named Milo who didnt ... More

Hollywood directors nominate two women for top prize in historic first
LOS ANGELES (AFP).- A year after omitting women entirely, Hollywood's directors Tuesday nominated two female filmmakers for their top prize for the first time in the awards' seven-decade history. "Nomadland" director Chloe Zhao and "Promising Young Woman" helmer Emerald Fennell become the ninth and tenth women nominated for the Directors Guild of America's outstanding feature film category. "I congratulate our five nominees whose diverse and extraordinary films embodied that universal power in a year that will never be forgotten," said DGA president Thomas Schlamme in a statement. Beijing-born Zhao and British director Fennell are joined on the diverse shortlist by Lee Isaac Chung, who drew on his Korean-American immigrant family history for acclaimed drama "Minari." The category is rounded out by David Fincher -- for ... More