British art history

Journalist

British art history

Grand mural projects by Jeremy Musson Amsterdam, 23 July 2021–In her book, Lydia Hamlett unpacks the literary, cultural and political significance of “the animated wall” Mural paintings are some of the most ambitious works of art commissioned by British patrons during the 17th and early 18th centuries. From Rubens’ work at Banqueting House, Whitehall, to…
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Kim Bok-Dong

Life as a “comfort woman”: the story of Kim Bok-Dong

Madame Kim passed away on January 28, 2019, making this interview possibly the last sessional interview of her 92 years on earth. Although she dedicated her life to helping wartime rape victims, she received no official apology from the Japanese government. Her story will live on through her fighting spirit. Please watch this video and…
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Buena Vista Social Club (1999)

Music making you drunk: Buena Vista Social Club

The original Buena Vista Social Club album was recorded for World Circuit Records over six days at the vintage EGREM studios in Havana. Released in 1997, the album went on to become a worldwide phenomenon, selling over 8 million copies and contributing to the rise in popularity of Cuban, as well as Latin American, music.…
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Gorilla kisses Baby

First-Time Gorilla Mom Can’t Stop Showering Newborn With Kisses

Calaya is a first-time mother at the Smithsonian Zoo who couldn’t stop kissing her newborn right after she gave birth.

Agafia

Agafia. Hermit Surviving in Russian Wilderness for 70 years

Soon after this film aired, Agafia found a helper who has now been living with her for more than a year. Georgy Danilov, 53, is from Orenburg. He is an Old Believer. It was Agafia’s spiritual father who found and blessed her helper. Georgy has been doing the toughest chores for almost two years: he…
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How Big is the Universe

How big is the universe … compared with a grain of sand?

How big is the universe … compared with a grain of sand? ‘You’ll never get your head around how big the universe is,’ warns astronomer Pete Edwards of the University of Durham in this film about measuring astronomical distances. ‘There are as many stars in the universe as there are grains of sand on the…
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Rainer Maria Rilke and August Rodin

Being here is more than wonderful

Including pain And sorrow Part VIII Amsterdam, June 30 2021–  According to Robert Musil, Rainer Maria Rilke was the greatest German-speaking poet since the Middle Ages.  He had made the poem “perfect for the first time.” Musil made his oft-quoted statements in a 1926 article shortly after Rilke’s death, and at first glance his preference seems…
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Kalmykia History

Kalmykia between Time and Space

Where To This Time? Anton Foek Amsterdam, June 8 th 2021–Kalmykia is in Southern Russia. North of the Caucasus it is bordered by the Oblasts of Volgograd, Dagestan, Astrakhan, Rostov and Stavropol Krai. It has access to the Caspian Sea and the Volga River. The Republic has many natural resources and wildlife including the protected…
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Sea and Wind

Life Itself Part VII Amsterdam, June 30 2021– Different people have different opinions on Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926).  Thomas Mann thought he was an “Austrian snob” whose “large-scale affectation” was unpalatable. Robert Musil, on the other hand, called him the most important German-speaking poet since the Middle Ages, a great modernist and prose innovator, too.…
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Narcissus Caravaggio

Rainer Maria Rilke and his Great Loves

Part VI Amsterdam, June 30 2021– Rainer Maria Rilke’s last great love was a woman he called Merline, whose real name was Baladine Klossowska. Rilke had met this painter, eleven years her junior, in Paris before the First World War. In 1919 he renewed contact with her when both were living in Switzerland, and until his…
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