Dazzled by Art

The Albanian author of Free and the Turkish novelist discuss the rise of populism, censorship – and how today’s conflicts all come from the unresolved trauma of the past Lea Ypi’s prize-winning memoir, Free, detailed the experience of growing up in Albania both before and after communist rule. Her new book, Indignity, reconstructs the life of her grandmother, who arrived in Tirana from Salonica as a young woman and became closely involved with the country’s political life. She currently holds the Ralph Miliband chair in politics and philosophy at the London School of Economics. The Turkish writer Elif Shafak is author of more than 20 books, both nonfiction and fiction, including the Booker-shortlisted novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World and, most recently, There Are Rivers in the Sky. When the pair talked over videocall, Ypi travelling in India and Shafak at home in London, their conversation ranged over the threats of censorship and the rise of populism, the chall...

As one of the orchestra’s two assistant conductors, she has enjoyed already a rapid rise through the Juilliard School and a fellowship with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. LENOX — For BSO Assistant Conductor Anna Handler, her Tanglewood debut this Saturday night is a first chance to lead the orchestra and eventually to set the stage for whatever the next rung on her career ladder might be. It’s a highly anticipated event for her, she said. “I’m not afraid, but of course I want to give them a reason to keep believing in me," she told The Eagle last week. "I don’t want disappoint them, I hope they will enjoy playing this program that goes from darkness to light, and that they will open their hearts and fly together.” The program opens with Brahms’ “Tragic Overture,” followed by Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto with soloist Augustin Hadelich. What’s the role of the two assistant BSO conductors? In rotation with Handler's colleague Samy Rashid, it...

A look back at her nearly five-decade career reveals flirtations with a raft of subjects ranging from carnivals to casinos, car races to quotidian suburban neighborhoods. One night in 1982, the painter Jane Dickson had a stirring encounter with time, place and genius. The era was one of seismic shifts set off by a hungry new generation of New York art masters. The location was The Odeon in Tribeca, then the downtown HQ of Manhattan’s art cognoscenti. And the genius was the newly minted king of neo-expressionist cool, Jean-Michel Basquiat, who took control of the night and ordered for the table. That this particular evening would climax at The Odeon is significant; the location played a singular role in the evolution of Dickson’s career, and it continues to do so. More than 30 years after that night with the imperious Basquiat, Dickson, like The Odeon, remains part of New York City’s cultural DNA. They’re still serving Cosmos and Moules Frites at The Odeon. And Dickson? She’s enjoying...

45th annual Cardiff Greek Festival Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church will hold the 45th annual Cardiff Greek Festival from Sept. 6-7. Highlights include a variety of authentic Greek food and drinks, a traditional Greek marketplace, music by the Southern California Greek band The Olympians and folk dance performances featuring traditional costumes along with guided dance instruction and a kids zone. The Rev. Michael Sitaras will host tours of the church throughout the weekend. The marketplace includes Greek imports, fine jewelry, artwork and a Greek deli. A chance to win a $20,000 cash drawing or four home plate Padres […] 45th annual Cardiff Greek Festival Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church will hold the 45th annual Cardiff Greek Festival from Sept. 6-7. Highlights include a variety of authentic Greek food and drinks, a traditional Greek marketplace, music by the Southern California Greek band The Olympians and folk dance performances featuring t...

Famed for his cubist portraits, the Spanish genius also created costumes for the Ballet Russes and loved the intensity of bullfights. A new show at the Tate explores the dramatic side of an uncompromising artist She is called the Weeping Woman, but that is an understatement. She grinds her teeth on a handkerchief that’s like a jagged white-and-blue spearhead while her fingers claw at her face, tearing the flesh to expose her skull. Her chin is two grenades, her eyes are filled with horror – black silhouettes of planes are held in her transfixed eyeballs. They are the German bombers that attacked the Basque town Guernica on 26 April 1937. Picasso’s Weeping Woman was bought from him by the British surrealist Roland Penrose in November 1937, fresh off the easel. Fifty years later, his son gave it in lieu of tax to the Tate Gallery. Now it is about to star in a Tate Modern exhibition that showcases the museum’s Picasso collection, enhanced with terrific loans from the Musée Picasso in Pa...

The famed premium olive oil brand's CEO Giovanni Colavita is from the not-so-well-known region of Molise—these are his favorites places in his home region of Italy. View of Sepino village, Campobasso, Molise, Italy. De Agostini via Getty Images Italy’s big-name cities hardly need an introduction, but Italians joke that “Molise doesn’t exist.” Nestled between Abruzzo, Lazio, Campania and Puglia, it rarely makes glossy itineraries. Yet if you go, you’ll find another version of Italy before mass tourism—quieter, slower and somehow much more real. I learned this from Molise-born Giovanni Colavita, the olive oil producer whose family name is recognized worldwide. In fact, the Colavita brand is sold in over 70 countries. Over a tasting of his bold, peppery extra virgin oil, he laughed, rolling his R’s in that gorgeous Italian accent: “Most people think Molise isn’t even there. That’s exactly why it’s magic.” The Olive Oil Mogul dreaming of summer holidays Marisa Colavita Colavita Histo...

Before he found fame at 17 photographing Andy Warhol’s Factory, Shore roamed the city with his camera. He talks about the joy of those early 60s pictures – and why they never made him rich Black-and-white street shots of elegant, unimpressed elderly women. Classic cars in shadows cast by New York’s soaring tenement buildings. Street-corner preachers. Imposing wiseguys too busy posturing to notice the camera. Stephen Shore’s new book, Early Work, is full of such everyday New York moments turned into magic. Though he later won acclaim for the photographs he took at Andy Warhol’s studio/hangout the Factory, the previously unseen Early Work may be some of Shore’s most uninhibited and daring pictures – and they were taken in the early 60s, when he was a teenager. Perhaps it’s understandable, then, that the photographer, now 77, can’t really remember taking them – though he does recall that he printed them himself, in a DIY darkroom set up in the bathroom of his parents’ home on Manhattan’...

Introducing the Edinburgh Fringe's most hilarious show (so far). Rosa Garland has one of the wildest and funniest Edinburgh Fringe shows going – but she’s not doing it to shock you (Picture: Corine Cumming) ‘Like a fly on poo, I can’t stop making art about sex and sexual shame,’ says Rosa Garland over a Zoom chat with Metro, ahead of her gloriously stupid and side-splittingly funny Edinburgh Fringe show, Primal Bog. If you happen across Rosa’s show in August, you will find her butt naked rolling around in gunk, getting mucky with real-life worms, peeing into a cup, and even getting an actual tattoo every night on stage. ‘These moments are not there for the sake of being shocking,’ she says. ‘It’s actually trying to break down a barrier between me and the audience, rather than build one.’ While the Edinburgh Fringe is made up of many stand-up comedians, it’s also home to an incredible array of clowns. Sometimes the crossover is a confusing one: where nakedness is a baseline in Ros...

When Literature Stands Against Tyranny The stormtroopers of modernity have trampled much underfoot on their monstrous march across the historical landscape. Having abandoned the lessons of the past in the reckless pursuit of an imaginary future, these slaves of the Zeitgeist have killed millions in the name of a mythical progress. The progressives of the French Revolution ushered in a reign of terror, as well as a policy of genocide against the people of the Vendée, butchering anyone who resisted the “progressive” agenda. Inspired by the proto-communism of the French Revolution, the stormtroopers of the Bolshevik Revolution killed tens of millions of civilians on the altar of “progress.” Not to be outdone, the Chinese communists also killed tens of millions in the name of this same deadly progressivism. In Germany, another form of socialism raised its ugly head in the form of the National Socialists. The hideous legacy of these modernist creeds can be seen in the ghastliness of the g...

From Lake Como to Los Cabos, these 11 new properties offer every amenity under the sun—from a floating pool to a private ski lodge From Lake Como to Los Cabos, these 11 new properties offer every amenity under the sun—from a floating pool to a private ski lodge. As the leaves change and the air begins to chill, it’s time to start planning a fall getaway. Whether you’re seeking a contemporary escape on the shores of Italy’s Lake Como, a ski retreat in Montana’s Big Sky Country or a luxe eco-sanctuary in Tokyo, a lineup of new hotels promises to help redefine luxury travel this season. Here are Forbes Travel Guide’s picks for the fall’s most anticipated hotel openings: One&Only Moonlight Basin One&Only Moonlight Basin, Big Sky, Montana One&Only’s first U.S. hotel will open its doors in November, just in time for ski season. The alpine property will have its own ski lodge and a private gondola that connects to Madison Base, making it an easy perch from which to hit the surro...