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Fashionable Chicago Museum focuses on Michelle Obama’s dresses
Updated: November 6 2008, 11:50 CET
CHICAGO: Although Michelle Obama's choice of the red and black Narciso Rodriguez dress for election night has not been universally applauded, today the Chicago History Museum will explore the dresses of America’s new First Lady Michelle Obama. First Lady fashion has influenced the general public for decades. But, how much? That’s just what the people at the Chicago History Museum are talking about. Just one day after the elections The museum hosts a very timely discussion called “The Politics of Fashion” tonight. Michelle Obama's style has made many a headline and earned her comparisons to the elegant Jackie Kennedy. Michelle's secret weapon? Chicago based designer Maria Pinto. Moderated by journalist Laura Washington, the event is a part of the museum’s ‘In The K/Now series’, which delves into modern societal issues. From Jackie Kennedy’s pillbox hats to Michelle Obama’s elegant dresses, the panel will address how ethics and political shifts influence what we wear. The discussion is linked to the museum’s exhibition ‘Chic Chicago: Couture Treasures from the Chicago History Museum’ that runs until 26 July, presenting the hallmarks of modern fashion. The exhibition's extraordinary garments date from 1861 to 2004 and represent the most prominent couturiers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Each gown has a strong connection to Chicago and belongs to the Museum's permanent collection.
Visitors of the Chicago History Museum who also want to explore what Maria Pinto has to offer, can visit het boutique at 135 N Jefferson Street in Chicago. Pinto also has designed seductive dance costumes for the Joffrey Ballet. She is the recipient of prestigious design awards including the Gold Coast Fashion Award, which formerly honored Donna Karan, Bill Blass, and Anne Klein. A Fine Arts graduate of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Pinto also studied at New York’s Parson’s School of Design and Fashion Institute of Technology.
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Amsterdam experiences ‘For the Love of God’
Updated: November 3 2008, 20:25 CET
AMSTERDAM: This weekend the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam opened her doors to the world premier of the international tour of ‘For the Love of God’, the celebrated diamond encrusted skull by the British artist Damien Hirst (1965). The exhibition is an initiative of the museum’s new director Wim Pijbes attracting more and new visitors. The Rijksmuseum debut falls on the Amsterdam Museumnacht ("Museum Night"), an annual event of late-night cultural performances and exhibitions held in more than 40 of the city's museums. Besides the unveiling couldn't be more timely, as November 1st also happens to be Dia de los Muertos ("Day of the Dead"), a Mexican holiday whose observers typically dress in skull-face costume, and Halloween. Hirst, who was inspired by the Mexican skulls stated in an interview in the Rijksmuseum magazine OOG: “As an artist I try to make things that people can believe in, that they can relate to, that they can experience. You therefore have to show them as well as possible.” For him the international tour is a promotional tour to make the skull even more famous than it already is to be able to sell it. In a long interview last month with the French newspaper, Le Figaro, Hirst said: “I sold 2/3 (of the diamond skull) to an investment company, I kept 1/3.We have an agreement. If they can’t sell it privately, within eight years, it will go to auction.”
To accompany the memento mori skull Hirst has chosen a personal selection from the Rijksmuseum’s collection of 17th-century art, revealing how fear of death has provided a theme in art over the centuries. ‘For the Love of God’ is a platinum cast of a human skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds. Set on the forehead is a large, pear-shaped light fancy pink diamond, called the Skull Star Diamond. The teeth are from the original skull. It was hailed worldwide and generated enormous publicity when first unveiled in 2007 at London’s White Cube.
In the meantime the Rijksmuseum has been struggling with its renovation. There have been several delays in the country's leading museum's renovation, which began in 2003. Work on the renovation, which was originally planned to reopen this year is now at least four years behind schedule, and will not be finished before 2013. Building work is due to begin again in mid-November now that four companies have won new contracts to finish the museum’s renovation.
The exhibition will run until 15 December 2008
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Benidorm one of the wonders of the world
Updated: October 29 2008, 15:55 CET
BENIDORM: "Benidorm is the Dubai of Europe. It is unique in Europe, is known worldwide and is a remarkable site for what is understood by mass tourism.” stated Professor Philippe Duhamel, a geography expert from the University of Angers in France this week at the 12th International Benidorm Tourism. Duhamel says the Spanish resort is one of the wonders of the modern world and should be made a world heritage protected site by UNESCO such as Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal and the Acropolis. According to the professor the resort's "unique collection of skyscrapers" are of particular cultural importance. It was a sleepy village until mayor Pedro Zaragoza Orts recognised the potential of mass tourism in the late 1950s. Now each year 1.5 million Britons visit the Costa Blanca resort. Benidorm is famous for its skyscrapers, 600 bars including 70 British theme pubs, chip shops and replicas of Wigan and Blackpool piers. Located in the province of Alicante, the town is a popular location for families and young people seeking a high concentration of bars and clubs. Among the high-rise buildings Duhamel is pointing at is the Gran Bali Hotel, built in 2002, which is 52 storey and 186m high and the Torre Intempo – which is currently being built and will be 55 storeys. Locals have nicknamed the town 'Beniyork'.
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Music and the Brain for Vienna festival tourist
Updated: October 28 2008, 11:35 CET
VIENNA: Festivals are of major importance for city marketing. The Austrian capital Vienna organizes several international festivals a year. This weekend the Festival Wien Modern 2008 opened her doors to the public for the 20th year in a row. Following its foundation in 1988, this festival of contemporary music very quickly established itself as a leading international forum for the latest developments in new musical thinking and trends. Among this years highlights are works by three composers: Karlheinz Stockhausen, Enno Poppe and Peter Ablinger. Another key focal point is ‘Music and the Brain’ which will examine and explore how music originates in the brain and what effect it has on it. Top international neurologists at the forefront of brain research enter into a dialogue with music makers and audiences alike. Also being showcased at Wien Modern 2008 are the works of the New York-based video artist, filmmaker, musician and composer, Tony Conrad, and Israeli composer Chaya Czernowin. The festival owes its existence to the initiative of the Italian conductor Claudio Abbado. As music director of Vienna State Opera he convinced leading political and cultural representatives of the need to create an independent forum in Vienna for the music of the 20th century. The new festival was meant to re-vitalize Vienna’s traditional musical scene. Amid musical innovation and tradition, Wien Modern was to be an international platform for the most recent musical developments, presenting major works of new music to Vienna’s public.
The term ‘festival tourism’ is used to encompass a vast array of events, from Western music concerts to pop or visual arts. What binds these events together is their value as a marketing tool for tourist boards worldwide, and their undeniable impact in gaining publicity and providing a knock-on effect in terms of extended stays and travelling itineraries. Tourists becoming more well travelled and special events tourism is a growing market. Tourists are increasingly adept at self-packaging their visits around the international events calendar and tour operators are already exploiting people’s desire to attend events in places where they lack the necessary confidence and experience or information.
The festival Wien Modern runs until 16 November 2008.
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Major farewell for director New York museum
Updated: October 27 2008, 13:25 CET
NEW YORK: Last Friday the Metropolitan Museum of Art, one of the major tourist attractions in New York, opened her doors to “The Philippe de Montebello Years: Curators Celebrate Three Decades of Acquisitions” an effusive hats-off tribute to its retiring director of 31 year: Philippe de Montebello (72). When Philippe de Montebello announced his retirement in January this year, the curators at the Metropolitan Museum of Art quickly came up with the perfect going-away gift for their long-serving director: an exhibition. Specialists from the New York museum's 17 curatorial departments selected 300 from the 84,000 works acquired during de Montebello's tenure that could adequately represent his character and vision. The show moves roughly chronologically through de Montebello's years at the museum, with the result that works of art are juxtaposed with each other in ways they aren't normally. Paintings, sculptures, photographs, weapons, clothing, furniture - it's all there, sometimes making for some unusual neighbors, such as an Egyptian statue next to a sculpture from the people of Easter Island. A Freud painting represents one of the more important blockbuster shows under his administration, as does Richard Avedon's photograph of Marilyn Monroe.
De Montebello who first joined the staff as a curatorial assistant in 1963, became director in 1977, and assumed the additional role of chief executive officer in 1998, plans to step down by December 31, 2008. De Montebello is one of the most prominent figures in the art world. His tenure at the Metropolitan Museum was among the longest of any head of an American museum, and he helped transform the renowned institution by greatly expanding its collection over the decades. Starting next year, he will be on the faculty of the Institute of Fine Art at New York University, where he earned his master's degree. He plans to remain an advocate for museums, and will serve as an adviser for NYU's campus in Abu Dhabi. Visitors of the Metropolitan Museum will still be able to hear from him, at least for a short time, since his voice can be heard on some of the museum's audio tours.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is an art museum located on the eastern edge of Central Park, along what is known as Museum Mile in New York City, USA. It has a permanent collection containing more than two million works of art, divided into seventeen curatorial departments.
“The Philippe de Montebello Years” runs until February 1, 2009.
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