Travel: Grape Harvest In The Loire Valley, France

FRANCE 24 English (October 30, 2023) – In the vineyards of France’s Anjou region, in the Loire Valley, a ritual takes place every year at the end of the summer. At harvest time, dozens of brave seasonal workers come from far and wide to pick the ripe grapes.

Some of them have been regulars for several years and their experience is invaluable to the newcomers. The grape picking is done by hand and in a good atmosphere, but has its own rules. Once collected, the harvest heads to the winery.

Exhibitions: Hans Holbein At The Court Of Henry VIII

Royal Collection Trust (October 30, 2023) – Explore the art of the image-maker of the Tudor court in the Royal Collection. Watch the film to discover the importance of the drawings, paintings and miniatures in the Royal Collection.

Discover how Holbein rose to become Henry VIII’s court painter and find out more about the techniques he used. See a rare moment where Holbein’s preparatory drawing and finished painting were reunited. Hans Holbein was one of the most talented artists of the 16th century. 

From his arrival in England in search of work he rose to royal favor, chosen to paint the portraits of Henry VIII, his family and leading figures, among them Anne Boleyn and Sir Thomas More. By his death, Holbein’s work was as admired by his contemporaries as it is today. His portraits inspired the next generation of artists in their depictions of Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I.

Design: The Architectural Review – November 2023

Image

The Architectural Review (November 2023) – The November issue of The Architectural Review showcases the shortlisted architects of the 2023 AR Emerging awards, who are leading the way in careful adaptive reuse and ecological ways of building around the world. But emerging into an industry that is overly reliant on unpaid labour and race-to-the-bottom fee structures has always been difficult. 

Since these conditions are rarely discussed, this issue is also dedicated to  ‘beginnings’ and their paradoxes: ‘you are supposed to begin knowing something but also doing something completely new,’ writes Renee Gladman in the Keynote. Taking in napkin sketches, competitions, references and photographs, AR November 2023 serves a useful reminder that others came before, and that the beginning is behind us.

Previews: The New Yorker Magazine – Nov 6, 2023

People walk by The Cube at Astor Place at night.

The New Yorker – November 6, 2023 issue: The new issues cover features Jorge Colombo’s “Astor Place” – The artist discusses landmarks and his own New York City.

Why Maui Burned

A burned vehicle is seen through the branches of a tree.

Lahaina’s wildfire was the deadliest in the U.S. in more than a century. Now the community is grappling with the botched response as it tries to rebuild.

By Carolyn Kormann

At 4 p.m. on August 8th, Shaun Saribay’s family begged him to get in their car and leave the town of Lahaina, on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The wind was howling, and large clouds of smoke were approaching from the dry hills above the neighborhood. But Saribay—a tattooist, a contractor, and a landlord, who goes by the nickname Buge—told his family that he was staying to guard their house, which had been in the family for generations. “This thing just gonna pass that way, downwind,” Saribay said. At 4:05 p.m., one of his daughters texted from the car, “Daddy please be safe.”

In the Cities of Killing

Mourners carry multiple coffins in a line. Two busses are in the background.

The Hamas massacre, the assaults on Gaza, and what comes after.

By David Remnick

The only way to tell this story is to try to tell it truthfully and to know that you will fail.

On the evening of Wednesday, October 18th, with the entire Middle East in a state of mourning and outrage, I took a taxi to the information offices of the Israel Defense Forces, a heavily guarded compound in northwest Tel Aviv. Like many reporters, I’d accepted an invitation to see video evidence of the worst massacre of Jews in generations, certainly in the history of Israel—Hamas’s rampage through Kibbutz Kfar Aza, Kibbutz Be’eri, and other communities near the Gaza Strip, extending to an outdoor electronic-music festival, Nova. At last count, the attack throughout what Israelis call Otef Aza—“the Gaza envelope”—had claimed some fourteen hundred lives; thousands were wounded, and around two hundred and twenty people had been kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip. Hamas gave the operation a name, the Al-Aqsa Flood.

The New York Times — Monday, October 30, 2023

Image

How Years of Israeli Failures on Hamas Led to a Devastating Attack

Before the attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and top Israeli security officials believed the greatest threats to Israel were Iran and Hezbollah.

Israeli officials completely underestimated the magnitude of the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas, shattering the country’s once invincible sense of security.

34 Hours of Fear: The Blackout That Cut Gaza Off From the World

Gazans line up at a bakery in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip on Friday.

As Israeli forces entered Gaza on Friday to fight Hamas, phone and internet service was severed, sowing chaos for Palestinian civilians and leaving rescuers driving blindly toward explosions.

Reaction to Hamas Attack Leaves Some Jews in Hollywood Feeling Unmoored

The response to the Oct. 7 assault, and to Israel’s retaliation, has revealed a schism in the entertainment world that many did not realize was there.

Matthew Perry, Star of ‘Friends,’ Is Dead at 54

He was known for playing the sarcastic but lovable Chandler Bing and for his struggles with drugs and alcohol, which he chronicled in a memoir.

Travel Guide: What To Do For One Day In Paris (DW)

DW Travel (October 29, 2023) – A visit to Paris without seeing sights like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre or the Sacré-Cœur is almost unimaginable – despite the throngs of tourists. How can one of the world’s most visited cities become more sustainable, for Parisians and tourists alike?

Video timeline: 00:00 Intro 00:27 Eiffel Tower 01:55 Louvre Museum 02:27 Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Montmartre 04:52 Seine riverbank 07:26 Pont Neuf 08:17 Bistro “La Timbale”, Montmartre

From the banks of the Seine to Montmartre, DW reporter Swati Bakshi takes you to places in the French capital where you can observe the city’s transition to sustainability.

Previews: Holbein And The Renaissance In The North

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist (detail; c. 1520–24), Andrea Solario. Kunsthistoriches Museum, Vienna

Apollo Magazine (October 27, 2023) This exhibition at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt places work by Hans Holbein the Younger and the Elder, Albrecht Dürer and Hans Burgkmair in dialogue with that of their contemporaries working in the city of Augsburg and elsewhere in Germany, and in Italy and the Netherlands (2 November–18 February 2024).

Holbein and the Renaissance in the North

2 Nov 2023 – 18 Feb 2024

The Städel Museum is prized far and wide for its major Old Masters exhibitions. After Rubens, Rembrandt and Reni, it now holds yet another exceptional show in store for the public. The Städel Museum is presenting the Renaissance in the North—a new and entirely unique style of painting that originated more than 500 years ago in the North of Europe at the threshold from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern period.

Philipp Demandt, Director, Städel Museum
Renaissance in the North

It brings together some 130 painting, drawings and prints by leading artists of the Northern Renaissance dating from the period of the 1480s through to the 1530s. These include two masterpieces by Holbein the Younger – the Solothurn Madonna (1522), on loan from the Kunstmuseum Solothurn, and The Madonna of Jacob Meyer zum Hasen (1526–28) from the Würth Collection.

READ MORE

 Find out more on the Städel’s website.

Turkey At 100 – Ataturk’s Dream & Erdogan’s Reality

DW News (October 29, 2023) – Turkey is celebrating its 100th birthday. Events are taking place across the country to mark the anniversary of its founding.

In the capital Ankara, Pesident Recep Tayyip Erdogan laid a wreath at the mausoleum dedicated to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the country’s founder, who created a modern, secular republic from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire in 1923.

The centennial is also a personal milestone for Erdogan, who has been in power for more than 20 years. But challenges loom large as Turkey looks to the future. More from our correspondent Julia Hahn in Istanbul.

Books: World Literature Today – November 2023

Image

World Literature Today (October 29, 2023) – The latest issue features 4 Artists of Iraqi Descent – Achieving recognition in the Diaspora; Cornel West’s prophetic witness; Traveling Mexico City’s Body by Metro; The Cheikh Bookstore – One of the Few Still Standing in Algeria, and more…

Artists of Iraqi Descent Celebrate Roots and Global Belonging

by Shakir Mustafa

Traveling Mexico City’s Body by Metro

by Erik Gleibermann

The Cheikh Bookstore: One of Few Still Standing in Algeria

by Saliha Haddad

Sunday Morning: Stories And News From London, Hong Kong And Helsinki

October 29, 2023 – From London, Emma Nelson, Isabel Hilton and David Bodanis on the weekend’s top news stories. Also, Monocle editorial director Tyler Brûlé in Hong Kong and our Helsinki correspondent, Petri Burtsoff.