THE MAGAZINE
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Pigs for the New Year
Wishing you pigs for the New Year! Read on to find out why.
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Magdalena Abakanowicz: Every Tangle of Thread and Rope
London’s Tate Modern hosts a beautiful vision of harmony wrapped in ropes and threads, as Magdalena Abakanowicz’s exhibition provides an overview of her amazing career. Born in Poland in 1930, Abakanowicz’s work invites the viewer to consider humanity and its harmony with earth.
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Anonymous Artist on Secret Mission: Banksy in Ukraine
First, there was a discovery: several graffiti appeared seemingly out of nowhere in a bombed-out small town outside of Kyiv (Ukraine). Then, there was speculation: could the graffiti be the work of Banksy, the celebrated, but secretive graffiti artist whose identity remains unconfirmed?
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“What Is Worth More: Art or Life?”
London’s National Gallery houses one of the most important art collections in the world. But on 14 October, visitors to room 43 got more than they bargained for: two climate activists threw tomato soup at Vincent van Gogh’s iconic painting “Sunflowers.”
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Living in a Dream? The Messy Reality of Living in a “Bauhaus”
A hundred years ago, the Bauhaus movement hoped to build a better, more equal future by imagining a new way of living. Unfortunately, this vision was to remain a dream. In the 1930s, many German Jewish Bauhaus architects emigrated to the British Mandate of Palestine to escape the Nazis. As a result, Tel Aviv can boast over 4,000 buildings in the Bauhaus style, more than any other city in the world.
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Damien Hirst: Burning Art?
The British artist Damien Hirst was never one to shy away from publicity and controversy. Dead animals suspended in formaldehyde made him famous: in 1992. This month, in his project “The Currency,” he is burning physical artworks that have been exchanged for digital artworks, NFTs.
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Women. Life. Freedom
On 13 September, the Iranian morality police arrested Mahsa (Jina) Amini, a 22-year-old young woman. The offence: Mahsa Amini had allegedly not complied with Iran’s strict rules on head coverings. Three days later, she was dead. Her death has sparked protests across Iran. Jalz, a 22-year-old artist and graphic designer in Iran, is the same age as Mahsa Amini. He is posting powerful works of graphic art in support of the protests on Instagram.
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Royal Academy of Arts: Summer Exhibition 2022
Since 1769, London’s Royal Academy of Arts has held its annual summer exhibition, a showcase of art created right now, by both established and emerging artists. It is the world’s largest open submission exhibition: anyone can submit their work for consideration. This year was also the fourth year of the Royal Academy’s Young Artists’ Summer Show for students aged 4 – 19 across the UK.
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Africa Fashion
Can fashion be art and does it belong into a museum? Certainly! London’s Victoria and Albert Museum (V &A) has the largest, most comprehensive collection of dress in the world. But this collection has been very Eurocentric. The V & A is now trying to redress this imbalance with a major exhibition on African fashion, celebrating the imagination of African designers from over twenty countries.
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The Blackest Black, or: Anger Makes Creative
Imagine a black that is so black that it absorbs 99.96% of visible light, making three dimensional objects look flat if you stand directly in front of them. Impossible? Well, take a look at Anish Kapoor’s sculptures painted in Vantablack that are currently on display in Venice. The stuff is pretty scary.