Observations · Society

Experts of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives reviewed 11,700 grant applications

The time has come to "reap the harvest" for those who did, after all, apply for presidential grants in the field of culture. The experts of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, which this year is distributing 3.5 billion roubles among cultural projects, have familiarised themselves with

Art · Heritage · Society · Humour

Art object VeloNapoleon placed in Rouen on the plinth of the dismantled Napoleon monument

On Sunday morning a new monument to Napoleon appeared in Rouen: on a bicycle, in a worn tracksuit, Air Maxes and Lacoste, in the colours of a food courier's uniform, and in a Napoleonic bicorne. The art object has been installed on the plinth of the real monument

Cinema · Observations

Konstantin Khudyakov’s 1984 film “Success” about a new director at a provincial theatre

A new director arrives at a provincial theatre, and from the first minutes a smug, haughty expression never leaves his face: I, of course, know how everything here should be done. Gennady Fetisov is neither shallow nor stupid, and he wants to stage a "Seagull" the like of

NB! · Art · Observations · Mores · Humour

Nineteenth-century memento mori figurines seem to remind us not of death but of the mistaken search for a better half

Rectangular brooch with a painted eye under glass, surrounded by a row of small pearls, with the pin visible on the right.

NB! · Art · Mores · Humour

English brooch of the early 19th century with an image of a lover's eye

A brooch "Look me in the eye, I want to say I'll forget you, I won't weep", with the portrait of a lover's eye, as you will understand. England, early nineteenth century

Close-up of a stone mask with empty eye sockets, a long nose and an open mouth with carved teeth.

NB! · Archaeology · The East · Museums

Neolithic stone masks from the Judean Desert, 9,000 years old

With empty eye sockets and gaping mouths: not guests of Mutabor, but Neolithic masks from the Judean Desert. These 9,000-year-old artefacts are carved from limestone and served a ritual purpose, embodying the spirits of ancestors

Gallery with white walls and a gilded frame at left. A white-haired woman in a wheelchair raises her hand; a blonde woman in a dark jacket and a woman in a pink blouse stand beside her.

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Elderly woman in a wheelchair talks with two women in a gallery

Art · Museums · Observations · Paris · Humour

Pablo Picasso's 86-year-old daughter Maya Picasso-Widmaier (68-year-old Brigitte Macron stands beside her, please do not confuse the two) has presented her father's museum with a number of memorial items and 6 of his works, including this portrait, in whi

It must be said, a very good likeness: you have scarcely changed, my dear

NB! · Observations · Paris · People · Humour

Claude Debussy, who died as the First World War drew to its close, has a maximally dull grave, and I cannot imagine how Manuel de Falla managed to dedicate music to this resting place, music of which, incidentally, I am not much enamoured either

Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Hairstyle of Empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, on a coin

All the best things were invented in antiquity. Take this hairstyle of the Empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus. I understand that few would expend so much effort on arranging their hair, especially in the absence of slave labour, but it looks positively regal. Incidentally, I commend the maker

Books · Observations

And suddenly summer was plunged into autumn

Oscar Wilde

Black-and-white drawing: iron bars between stone blocks are threaded onto a vertical rod and bound by a ring to a forged pin with curved, splayed prongs.

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