Berlin art show shocks with jihadist ‘martyrs’ display
BERLIN — A Berlin art installation dedicated to “martyrs” has prompted outrage by including one of the Paris jihadist attackers alongside the likes of Martin Luther King and Socrates, with the French embassy calling the display “deeply shocking.” The so-called by a Danish art collective shows the portraits of 20 people throughout history who “died for their convictions” accompanied by short biographies.
The exhibition includes an image of French jihadist Ismael Omar Mostefai, one of three gunmen and suicide bombers who stormed the Bataclan concert venue in Paris in 2015, killing 90 people. On display next to his portrait is an entrance ticket to the Bataclan. Also sharing a wall with US civil rights icon King and Greek philosopher Socrates is Mohammed Atta, the pilot who slammed a passenger plane into one of New York’s World Trade Center towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
The weeklong installation by the art group, The Other Eye of the Tiger, was inaugurated last Wednesday at the Kunstquartier Bethanien art center.
It sparked howls of outrage in German and French media and on social networks. The French embassy in Berlin expressed “consternation” and said it found the decision to include the attackers “deeply shocking.” “While keeping in mind our attachment to the freedom of artistic creation, we strongly condemn the confusion here between martyrdom and terrorism,” it said in a statement.
But the art collective defended the show, saying that it condemned any kind of violence or terrorism and that it was merely taking a wide look at the usage of the term “martyr.” “All the martyrs in the artwork have been appointed martyr by either a state, religion or an organization. None of the martyrs have been appointed by the artists,” it said in a statement.
Berlin city hall authorities distanced themselves from the project, saying in a statement they did “not support it” and had not provided any financial assistance.
An earlier version of the in Copenhagen in 2016 also caused controversy, with critics filing a police complaint accusing the artists of “encouraging terror.” —
Winnie-the-Pooh to bear all in London show
LONDON — Paddington Bear may have captivated cinema audiences this year, but another ursine star, Winnie-the-Pooh, will get his own show at London’s historic V&A museum this month.
which opens this week features around 230 works and artefacts dating from 1920 onwards, including original illustrations and manuscripts, such as E.H. Shepard’s first portraits of the honey-loving bear.
The exhibition is not the first examination of real-life inspirations for Winnie-thePooh this year, with a Hollywood film, telling the story of A.A. Milne and his family while he was creating the character.
The V&A is hoping to attract more young families through its doors and one of the exhibition’s curators Emma Laws felt that Pooh, who turned 90 last year, was the perfect bear for the job. “Everybody loves Winnie-the-Pooh, he’s inter-generational, so this is a chance for everybody,” Laws told Reuters
In addition to memorabilia, the exhibition examines the real people and places behind the stories — Milne’s son Christopher who served as the inspiration for Christopher Robin, and Ashdown Forest in Sussex, which inspired the Hundred Acre Wood.
“Winnie-the-Pooh is a very simple, evocative sort of world in which you want children to be able to get fully immersed in the imagination of going into the Hundred Acre Wood,” exhibition designer Tom Piper said. “So we wanted to make it immersive in lots of different ways. So there’s digital immersion, but equally we’ve created huge hand-painted, five meter-high versions of the Hundred Acre Wood, (so) that you can really get the atmosphere of the place.”
Not everyone has such fond childhood memories of Pooh and his pals, however, Milne’s son Christopher wrote in a memoir that he had a difficult relationship with the character, and had suffered bullying at school as a result of the books. —
Washington holds glam art awards Trump skipped
WASHINGTON — The Kennedy Center Honors celebrated a star-studded group of artists and performers Sunday in a gala that took on decidedly political overtones with the presidential box sitting conspicuously empty. It was one of just a handful of times in 40 years that a sitting US president skipped the event, and seen as the first not caused by a crisis or travel.
Norman Lear, known for his sitcoms including and that shed light on prejudice and social ills, seized on his moment in Washington to cite “equal opportunity” and “equal justice” as “the promises of this country.” “Deep in our hearts, we still have promises to deliver,” said the 95-year-old World War II veteran, who received the lifetime artistic achievement award. “I want to call to attention in this room, with these people.”
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania were not attending to avoid “political distraction” after several honorees said they planned or would skip the traditional White House reception preceding the event. That decision came as the administration sank deep into political turmoil after Trump failed to definitively condemn the role of white supremacists in violent Virginia protests that ended in bloodshed. But the move infused the usually non-partisan cultural celebration at the Kennedy Center Opera House with a decidedly political flavor.
The posh annual awards program — one of the US capital’s preeminent social events — this year honored Cuban-American singer Gloria Estefan, dancer and choreographer Carmen de Lavallade, Lear, rapper LL Cool J, and musician Lionel Richie.
LL Cool J’s nod marked the first time a hip-hop or rap artist has taken home one of the Kennedy Center’s rainbow ribbon medals. The event, to be broadcast Dec. 26 on CBS television, featured performances from singers Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan, rapper DMC and ballet dancer Misty Copeland.
At an annual State Department dinner on Saturday lauding the performers, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson emphasized the role of the arts in championing free speech, saying this year’s class of awardees “affirm the American value of free expression to the whole world.”
Estefan, the Latin pop star known as “the conga queen” who immigrated from Cuba, alluded to political tensions over immigration. “My dad brought us here to live in freedom and to live in a country that allows everyone to be who they are,” she said. “We all have to stand up for what this country is.”
Hip-hop trailblazer LL Cool J, 49, told the dinner “you’re looking at what every young black man in the inner city could be if they were given the opportunity.” He later praised the Kennedy Center for acknowledging rap as a “high art,” telling journalists “I think they’ve embraced hip hop in a big way.”
Richie, now 68 and known for his slew of soulful hits including “All Night Long,” “Hello,” and Endless Love,” was all smiles as he entered the Kennedy Center, calling art “a unifier.”
The graceful De Lavallade — who like Lear had promised to shun the White House reception — strode the red carpet with perfect posture cultivated by decades of
The 86-year-old doyenne of dance, who charmed Paris alongside fellow renowned performer Josephine Baker in the 1960s, disparaged the administration’s efforts in past months to eliminate federal arts funding and voiced satisfaction that the president had bowed out. “I’m used to taking directions; I’m a team player — and this is the first time I said ‘no,’” she said, referencing her boycott threat. “I feel wonderful about it.” —