This is Beirut - Culture

Jon Batiste’s "Big Money": A Musical Call to Climate Action

This is Beirut, 16:10 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Music Jon Batiste Climat Environment US Culture

Celebrated US musician Jon Batiste wants to use his music to fire up listeners to act against climate change, naming his new album after what he sees as the root of the problem, Big Money. The track Petrichor in particular is a call to arms for a younger generation who may have turned their backs on mainstream news and analysis about global ...

'Euphoria, Art Is in the Air': Inflatable Artworks Fill the Grand Palais with Emotion

Marie-Christine Tayah, 14:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Exhibition Paris Grand Palais Art Culture France

The Grand Palais is no stranger to reinvention, but this summer it’s lighter, brighter, and more buoyant than ever. The Balloon Museum, led by curator Valentino Catricalà, returns to Paris after the 2022 hit “Pop Air” with a new immersive exhibition: Euphoria, Art Is in the Air. Spanning more than 40,000 square feet, the space is ...

Van Gogh Museum Faces Closure Without Urgent State Funding to Preserve Cultural Legacy

This is Beirut, 11:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Van Gogh Museum Netherlands Heritage Art Culture

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam warned Wednesday that it faced closure without more state funding, saying a 104-million-euro ($120 million) renovation was vital to protect its masterpieces. The museum, which holds the world's biggest collection of the artist's work, said the project could not go ahead unless the Dutch state honored a 1962 ...

Werner Herzog Honored with Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at Venice Film Festival

This is Beirut, 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Film Venice Festival Werner Herzog Special Award Italy Culture

Globetrotting filmmaker Werner Herzog, an eclectic risk-taker whose monumental works often explore humankind's conflict with nature, was honored with a special award on Wednesday at the Venice Film Festival. The 82-year-old arthouse giant, who helped launch New German Cinema in the 1960s, received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement ahead of ...

Byblos Comes Alive with the Launch of Its First International Film Festival

This is Beirut, 27/08 20:27 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Film Festival Launching Jbeil Culture

The Byblos International Film Festival (BIFF) is set to kick off its inaugural edition from August 29 through August 31, 2025, bringing a new cinematic celebration to one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities. The festival will take place in the atmospheric open-air setting of the Jardin des Artisans in Jbeil’ historic Old Souk, ...

Italy’s Sorrentino Embraces Doubt in Euthanasia Film at Venice

This is Beirut, 27/08 18:45 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Festival Film Venice Sorrentino Euthanasia Culture

Italian director Paolo Sorrentino hopes his latest film premiering Wednesday in Venice will bring attention to the controversial topic of euthanasia, while encouraging those in power to reject the need for certainty and embrace doubt. La Grazia, about an Italian president grappling with indecision over whether to sign a euthanasia bill into law, ...

Smiling Viking Figurine Discovered After Centuries in Denmark

This is Beirut, 27/08 16:00 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Museum Danemark Culture Art Archeology Heritage

Denmark's National Museum unveiled Wednesday what it described as the first "portrait" of a Viking: a miniature 10th-century figurine depicting a man with an imperial moustache, braided beard and neatly groomed hairstyle. Carved out of ivory walrus tusk, the partially damaged representation of a head and torso measures just three centimeters (1.2 ...

Jazz à la Villette Opens With a Bold Tribute to Ornette Coleman

This is Beirut, 27/08 10:30 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Music Festival Jazz à la Villette Tribute Ornette Coleman Culture

The reinterpretation this Saturday at the Philharmonie of The Shape of Jazz to Come, a cult album by multi-instrumentalist Ornette Coleman released in 1959, will be a highlight of the Jazz à La Villette festival in Paris, which kicks off on Thursday. This album, extremely avant-garde at the time, caused a stir upon its release. Ornette Coleman, ...

Women’s Equality Day: How Culture Reflects and Drives the Fight for Women’s Rights

Bélinda Ibrahim, 26/08 19:00 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Women's Equality Day USA Culture Fight August 26

August 26 is not an ordinary day in the United States. It is Women’s Equality Day, a moment to remember the victory of women’s suffrage and to reflect on the progress that remains to be made. Established in 1973, this date commemorates the ratification of the 19th Amendment in 1920, a milestone that secured the right to vote for women. A ...

France Returns Colonial-Era Human Remains to Madagascar

This is Beirut, 26/08 16:25 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Museum History Diplomacy France Madagascar Culture

France on Tuesday returned three colonial-era skulls to Madagascar, including one believed to be a Malagasy king beheaded by French troops during a 19th-century massacre. The skull presumed to be that of King Toera and two others from the Sakalava ethnic group were handed over at a ceremony at the French culture ministry. French troops beheaded ...

San Sebastian Film Festival Awards Lifetime Honor to Jennifer Lawrence

This is Beirut, 26/08 14:30 - Reading : less than a minute

Film Award Jennifer Lawrence Festival Spain Culture

Oscar-winning actor and producer Jennifer Lawrence will receive a lifetime achievement award at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain next month, organizers said Tuesday. The 35-year-old will get a special "Donostia" award at the festival, where her latest movie Die, My Love will be shown. The festival described Lawrence as "one of the most ...

Woody Allen at the Heart of a Controversy Between Moscow and Kyiv

This is Beirut, 26/08 11:00 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Cinema Woody Allen Russia Ukraine Culture Art

Monday, Ukraine denounced Allen’s virtual appearance at the Moscow International Film Festival, calling it "an insult" to the victims of the Russian invasion. The 89-year-old director—largely shunned by much of Hollywood due to longstanding sexual assault allegations made by his adopted daughter—spoke on Sunday during an online event of ...

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