Ian Katz says new show, Art Trouble, celebrates the channel’s tradition of ‘iconoclasm and irreverence’
Channel 4 has bought a painting by Adolf Hitler and will allow a studio audience to decide whether Jimmy Carr should burn it with a flamethrower.
As part of its latest season of programmes, the TV channel has bought artworks by a range of “problematic” artists, including Pablo Picasso, as well as convicted paedophile Rolf Harris and sexual abuser Eric Gill.
Continue reading...Duo say police, in separate incidents at Atlanta airport, singled them out for drug search and questioning because of their race
The comedians Eric André and Clayton English have sued police, alleging racial profiling at Atlanta’s main airport in a program supposedly aimed at finding illegal drugs but in which officers regularly confiscate passengers’ cash.
André, creator and host of The Eric Andre Show, and English, a standup comedian and actor, say that in separate incidents, Clayton county police officers at Hartsfield-Jackson international airport racially profiled and illegally stopped them to question if they had illegal drugs.
Continue reading...DJ and presenter will take over when the reality TV show returns for ninth series early next year
Maya Jama is to succeed Laura Whitmore as the host of Love Island, it has been announced. ITV said Jama would take over when the reality TV show returns for its ninth series early next year.
“I’ve always been such a massive Love Island fan and I’m so excited to be hosting one of the nation’s favourite shows,” Jama said. “I can’t wait to get into the villa to meet all of the islanders.”
Continue reading...Tourism Australia hopes cartoon mascot, voiced by actor Rose Byrne, will entice international travellers
Tourism Australia has revealed a computer-generated kangaroo named Ruby Roo as “the new Paul Hogan”, an unofficial national mascot they hope will entice international travellers to Australia.
The latest global campaign, featuring the cartoon creature voiced by Australian actor Rose Byrne, was unveiled to the world on a major digital billboard in Tokyo on Tuesday, kickstarting a world tour to officially launch in New York on 19 October.
Continue reading...Rapper deals in antisemitic tropes in interview after he wore ‘white lives matter’ T-shirt
Unaired segments of an interview between Kanye West and the Fox News host Tucker Carlson document the American rapper airing a series of comments based on racist conspiracy theories, adding to the growing controversy over the interview.
In the segments, first reported by the tech news outlet Motherboard, West, who has changed his legal name to Ye, detailed his belief in an unfounded and antisemitic conspiracy theory that Planned Parenthood was founded “to control the Jew population”.
Continue reading...Dance group leads with seven nominations, with Flume, the Kid Laroi, Baker Boy and Vance Joy also winning multiple nods
Rüfüs Du Sol has dominated the 2022 Aria award nominations, featuring in a total of seven categories, followed by Amyl and the Sniffers and Flume.
The Sydney electronic trio’s latest album, Surrender, continues to pay dividends for the band, who won best group and best dance song for their track Alive at last year’s Arias. Alive also won them best dance song at this year’s Grammy awards.
Continue reading...Biggest tour in orchestra’s history reflects boom in interest in Ukrainian culture since Russian invasion
The National Symphony Orchestra of Ukraine (NSOU) has announced its first UK tour in more than 20 years, and the biggest in its history, to reflect venues and audiences’ newfound interest in Ukrainian culture since the Russian invasion.
During the three-week tour the orchestra will play works by Ukrainian composers such as Borys Lyatoshynsky alongside classical greats such as Finland’s Jean Sibelius and Germany’s Richard Strauss across 17 venues in October and November 2023. No Russian music will be played.
Continue reading...Hepworth prize winner’s works have been shown around the world and now arrive in Llandudno
His twisty neon installations and glittering towers of light are frequently shown in some of the world’s most exclusive galleries in New York, Mexico City, Tokyo and Shanghai.
For his first major solo show in his home country of Wales, Cerith Wyn Evans’ work is on display in the traditional surroundings of a gallery built in Edwardian times in the resort of Llandudno, best known for its old-fashioned pier and seafront – and the bold goats that descended on the town during the first lockdown.
The exhibition runs until 5 February 2023.
Continue reading...In what would have been artist’s 90th year, first retrospective at Biesdorf Palace has been a surprise success
Seven men wash the sweat off their toned bodies in a communal shower. Unless you squint and mistake a tightly gripped bar of soap for something else, their limbs are suspended in tantalising proximity but never quite touch.
The German artist Jürgen Wittdorf’s 1963 linocut print, from a series titled Youth and Sport, may look like something out of a top-shelf graphic novel or the virile drawings of the gay liberation icon Tom of Finland.
Continue reading...The Bahraini activist who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in anti-government protests was chosen to share the PEN Pinter prize by Malorie Blackman
The academic, activist and blogger Abduljalil al-Singace from Bahrain has been named this year’s international writer of courage by Malorie Blackman. Al-Singace is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in Bahrain’s 2011 anti-government protests.
The award is part of the PEN Pinter prize, which goes to an author deemed to have fulfilled Harold Pinter’s aspiration to “define the real truth of our lives and our societies”. This year’s PEN Pinter winner was Blackman, the first children’s writer to be awarded the prize. She chose al-Singace as the international writer of courage, an award for an author who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs, with whom she will share her prize.
Continue reading...Any use of Italy’s publicly owned art to sell merchandise requires permission and payment of a fee
Italy’s Uffizi Galleries are suing the French fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier for damages that could exceed €100,000 (£88,000) after the company’s allegedly unauthorised use of images of Botticelli’s Renaissance masterpiece The Birth of Venus to adorn a range of clothing products, including T-shirts, leggings and bodices.
The matter came to light earlier this year after the Uffizi in Florence was notified of the garments being advertised by Jean Paul Gaultier on its website and social media.
Continue reading...Singer, 73, is focused on getting better after 12-hour operation in August to remove cancerous growth, sons Robert and James say in TV interview
The Australian singing legend John Farnham is on the long road to recovery after his life-saving cancer surgery, his sons say.
The 73-year-old underwent a 12-hour operation in August to remove a cancerous growth from his mouth.
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Continue reading...Author’s method acting approach to writing terrified local people in Aberdeenshire as he perched on the rocks like a bat
In August 1894, at the end of a month-long stay to research his embryonic novel, Bram Stoker wrote in the visitors’ book at the Kilmarnock Arms on the Aberdeenshire coast that he had been “delighted with everything and everybody” and hoped to return soon.
According to new research, though, the feeling was not entirely mutual. Stoker, a genial Irishman usually known for his cheeriness, was experimenting with what would become known as “method acting” to get under the skin of his new character, one Count Dracula. Local historian Mike Shepherd, who has spent seven years researching Stoker, says the author’s links with the London theatre inspired Stoker to try inhabiting his character in a different way.
Continue reading...City beat 19 others to host 67th contest after Volodymyr Zelenskiy agreed staging event in Mariupol was not possible
The Eurovision song contest will be hosted by Liverpool next year after it beat 19 other cites to stage the event on behalf of war-torn Ukraine.
The annual extravaganza will be held in the UK for the first time in 25 years on 13 May as Ukraine is unable to host the event due to the Russian invasion.
Continue reading...Actor will address her ‘unconventional upbringing in Baltimore’ and ‘complicated marriage’ to Will Smith in tell-all due next year
Jada Pinkett Smith is putting her experiences on record in a new tell-all memoir, the publisher Dey Street, an imprint of HarperCollins, announced on Thursday.
The “no holds barred” memoir, due next fall, will chronicle “lessons learned in the course of a difficult but riveting journey – a rollercoaster ride from the depths of suicidal depression to the heights of personal rediscovery and the celebration of authentic feminine power”.
Continue reading...The fashion-friendly actor will star as the larger-than-life designer, who died in 2019, in a new film project
Jared Leto’s foray into fashion continues. After playing Paolo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s sprawling House of Gucci last year and Gucci designer Alessandro Michele’s “twin” at this year’s Met Gala, he will now star as Karl Lagerfeld in a new biopic of the designer.
Lagerfeld, who died in 2019 at the age of 85, was one of fashion’s larger than life characters, so he undoubtedly has a theatrical dimension that would appeal to an actor. According to an interview with Women’s Wear Daily, when Leto first met Lagerfeld, he said to him: “You know, one day I have to play you in a movie.” Lagerfeld answered appropriately in fashion speak: “Only you, darling, only you.”
Continue reading...Former judge appointed to investigate claims prominent dance schools have rigged competitions
The ostensibly quaint world of Irish dancing has been rocked by allegations of competition fixing and cheating, with some parents and teachers saying there is a code of omertà akin to The Godfather and The Sopranos.
The Irish Dancing Commission, a governing body known in Irish as An Coimisiún Le Rincí Gaelacha (CLRG), has appointed a former judge to investigate claims that prominent dance schools and teachers have rigged competitions, it emerged this week.
Continue reading...Sotheby’s describes 17th-century Cervantes editions as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity for collectors
One day in the early 1930s, a young Bolivian diplomat named Jorge Ortiz Linares walked into the illustrious Maggs Bros bookshop in London to ask if they might have a particularly fine edition of Don Quixote for sale.
But even for Ortiz Linares – a dedicated bibliophile who also happened to be the son-in-law of Simón Patiño, the Bolivian tin magnate nicknamed the Andean Rockefeller – the answer was a polite no.
Continue reading...The artistic director has resigned a year before his contract ends – within a week of former ACCC chair Rod Sims taking the beleaguered company’s helm
Within a week of former Australian Consumer and Competition Commission chair Rod Sims taking the helm at Opera Australia, the company’s creative leader has announced his resignation, more than 12 months before his contract expires.
Opera Australia announced on Thursday its artistic director of 13 years, Lyndon Terracini, would stand down from his position early, formally leaving the company next Friday 14 October.
Continue reading...Sydney Theatre Company’s announcement of the work, written by Joanna Murray-Smith, aligns with 10-year anniversary of former PM’s misogyny speech
A new one-woman play focusing on the life of Australia’s first and only female prime minister, Julia Gillard, will debut on stage next year.
The play Julia, written by Joanna Murray-Smith, one of the country’s most prominent playwrights, has been billed as a highlight of the Sydney Theatre Company’s (STC) 2023 season, and will feature actor and Play School presenter Justine Clarke in the eponymous role.
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