Ode to the tomato
As the world continues down the path of chaotic politics, we can always count on Ireland to cheer us up and restore our faith in humanity.
Statues
‘Optimism laced with caution’: The delicate task of Syria’s political transition
Syria is stepping into a new reality — but its political contours have yet to take shape.
Before Cephalonia there was a clearing in the Normandy woods, with a spring and a clear, cold stream | Louis de Bernières
I drove my Morris Traveller down a hidden track, and felt I had come to a sacred place where I was completely at homeIn our end of year series, writers and public figures remember the place or time when they felt most at homeDuring my 20s, I was too po…
Syrian rebels storm into Damascus, claim Assad has fled
Assad had been in power for 25 years and his family ruled Syria for half a century.
Kremlin seeks to erase the memory of Soviet repression
Moscow’s Gulag History Museum has closed, and, throughout Russia, statues of Stalin are multiplying as the Kremlin seeks to reshape historical memory.
Taurine torpor: bullfighting’s non-fatal French cousin fights for survival
Picasso and Hemingway believed folk sports like the course camarguaise were the height of European culture. Facing financial struggles, rowdy spectators and animal rights concerns, can its practitioners keep the custom alive?In an arena in the southern…
Qu’importe la guerre, la Côte d’Azur aime toujours les oligarques russes
Un système bien établi permet aux riches amis de Vladimir Poutine de maintenir leur style de vie et d’éviter les conséquences de la guerre, relatent les professionnels du tourisme de la région.
Never mind the war, the French Riviera still loves oligarchs
The south of France has long been a safe space for Russians.
Dems defend Harris’ economic policy but don’t go all in on price-gouging
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear was alone in discussing the particulars of a policy designed to stop price gouging.
Ukraine’s art evacuators: the intrepid team rescuing art from a warzone – in pictures
After Russia’s invasion in 2022, historian Leonid Marushchak saw that Ukraine’s cultural heritage was under threat, too. So he vowed to get to these irreplaceable works before Putin’s forces could. Photographs by Julia Kochetova, Ed Ram and Natalka Dia…
Et voila! Voltaire statue returns to Paris after four-year absence
Following a mystery disappearance sparking outrage and rumour, the original damaged and fragile figure has been replaced by a ‘very fine’ copyA shadow has been lifted over a corner of Paris: Voltaire is back in the City of Light.The statue of the 18th-…
Washington, we need to talk about you and your pandas
The capital is giddy about getting a new pair of zoo animals. It’s a love affair that reveals a bunch about the city.
US returns stolen Italian art worth $65m in vow to put loot back ‘where it belongs’
Italy celebrates getting back 600 antiquities that were taken and sold years ago and recovered as a result of criminal investigationsItaly on Tuesday celebrated the return of around 600 antiquities from the US, including ancient bronze statues, gold co…
‘Shouldn’t we be proud?’: new Stalin statues symbolise Georgia’s battle to control the past as well as the present
Trend is being linked to Kremlin-inspired ‘foreign influence’ bill that has led to huge street protestsVasil Berdzenishvili, 47, was happy to take a moment out from washing his car to talk about Joseph Stalin. He looked across at the bronze bust of the…
Vatican tightens rules on supernatural phenomena in crackdown on hoaxes
Updated guidelines strip bishops of power to recognise ‘supernatural’ nature of purportedly divine eventsApparitions of the Virgin Mary and weeping statues have been part of Catholicism for centuries, but the age of social media has prompted the Vatica…
Europe’s cultural identity — that’s what we’re fighting for
In the last three decades, we’ve enjoyed the luxury of not having to ask ourselves what it is we stand for. But those times have passed.
Italy can reclaim 2,000-year-old Greek statue from Getty Museum, ECHR rules
Lifesize Victorious Youth is at centre of a years-long dispute, with Italy claiming it was illegally bought by US trustA European court has ruled that Italy has every right to reclaim a 2,000-year-old Greek statue from the Getty Museum in California.Th…
France’s war on woke, from the salons to the cinemas
Opposition to identity politics isn’t confined to the cultural right.
‘We are dealing with fundamentalist rightwingers’: Berlin statues are latest battleground in Germany’s culture wars
Monuments erected on the Stadtschloss are an ‘infiltration’ of the city and its skyline by nationalists, say criticsSilently towering into the grey Berlin sky, the latest addition to the German capital’s skyline is easily missed by passengers passing a…
From royal courts to hidden hands: The secret trade of Cambodian antiquities
What Europe’s largest private collection of Asian art says about the trade in cultural heritage.
Gold statues and jewellery stolen in €1m heist at museum by Lake Garda
Items by Italian sculptor Umberto Mastroianni taken from exhibition at Vittoriale degli Italiani estateGold statues and jewellery made by the Italian sculptor Umberto Mastroianni have been stolen from an exhibition in northern Italy in a €1m (£850,000)…
Copenhagen has fewer statues of women than ‘mythical animals’ – but Denmark seeks change
Only five in 101 statues in Copenhagen depict women, with 26 of animals and 70 of menDenmark has pledged to put up more statues of women, with the country’s culture minister saying the capital has “more statues of mythical beasts and horses”.According …
‘A clash of cultures’: Irish opinion split over Travellers’ elaborate headstones
Community representatives say a ‘good sendoff’ is a religious necessity, but others say it introduces a competitive elementThe latest addition to Ballyhaunis cemetery in Ireland’s County Mayo towers over neighbouring headstones in a blaze of white marb…
Walking statues, a child’s shoe, a ghost: only art can show you the surreal reality of wartime Ukraine | Charlotte Higgins
Reading a poem about the war may seem less instructive than watching the news. I suspect the opposite is trueRussia’s war against Ukraine has never been only about territory and artillery, about politicians and putative peace deals. Of course, that is …
Aryan homoeroticism and Lenin’s head: the museum showcasing Berlin’s unwanted statues
At the ancient citadel of Spandau, German history is redefined with rejected sculptures of figures ranging from Kant to HitlerHoused in a former munitions depot in a fortress on the outskirts of Berlin is an exhibition like no other: a v…
End fossil-fuel era to address colonial injustices, urges prominent historian
West should address ‘colonisation of the present’ and not focus on past, argues David Van ReybrouckCities in the global north that curb their carbon emissions are doing more to address colonial injustices than those who focus their efforts on taking do…