Author: Ewang Johnson

This week, Paris des Arts takes you to La Villette, Europe’s largest urban park and the site of a world of cultural and sporting activities. We meet choreographer and director Blanca Li, who ran the institution before returning to her artistic pursuits. She talks to us about her many projects, including the “Bal de Paris”, an immersive creation combining dance, music and virtual reality.  Source link

Getty ImagesNudes in Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment were covered up after they were found to contravene a ban on “lasciviousness” in art (Credit: Getty Images)In retrospect, Michelangelo’s fresco got off rather lightly. Not long after Volterra began preserving the modesty of figures in The Last Judgment with strategically positioned drapery, Protestant iconoclasts swept through the Low Countries in 1566 and attacked Antwerp’s cathedral, permanently mutilating a grand altarpiece by Frans Floris, the city’s leading artist. Floris’s fantastical Fall of the Rebel Angels, painted just 12 years earlier, depicts a saint casting out a swarm of grotesque demons. Reformers, convinced that…

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire, 12 September, 2025 /African Media Agency (AMA)/ – Djamo Finances, a subsidiary of the Djamo group and a pioneering digital financial services platform in Francophone Africa, has officially obtained its license as a microfinance institution in Côte d’Ivoire, issued by the Ministry of Finance and Budget.This regulatory recognition provides Djamo’s clients with an additional guarantee. The company’s governance has also been strengthened to better support and serve the financial needs of its growing customer base.“Obtaining this license is a key milestone in our mission. It gives us the tools to reinforce customer trust and to become their…

Every once in a while I come across a book that changes the way I look at the world. Dorothy L. Sayers’s The Man Born to Be King was one such book (though technically a play cycle rather than a conventional book). So too were Makoto Fujimura’s Culture Care, and Sandra Glahn’s Nobody’s Mother, and Elena Ferrante’s My Brilliant Friend. Each of these led to a fundamental shift in my thinking about a particular topic—faith, or history, or even my own family background—or about life in general.Malcolm Foley’s The Anti-Greed Gospel is another such book. Foley, a pastor, historian, and advisor to the president of Baylor University, makes a provocative…

Harlem-based sculptor Kim Dacres brings her raw, unapologetic vision to Europe with “Crossroads Like This”, now on view at the Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery in Paris. Known for transforming discarded tyres into commanding forms, Dacres centres Black, queer and feminine identity in her work, shaping complex narratives of memory, resistance and cultural pride. From her Bronx studio to international acclaim, her voice is redefining what contemporary sculpture can say and who it represents. She spoke to us on arts24. Source link

Olafur Arnalds & Talos – A DawningIcelandic musician/producer Olafur Arnalds has spanned numerous musical styles, including neo-classical, punk rock and TV-and-film scores. A Dawning is an inspired collaboration, a celebration of kindred spirits and a deeply poignant commemoration; Arnalds began working with poetic Irish singer-songwriter Talos (aka Eoin French) when the two met at an independent music festival. However, French fell ill from cancer and died aged just 36, before this album could be completed. These songs undeniably become a meditation on mortality and grief, but they are also essentially shaped by love. Arnalds’ instrumentation is sensitive and unaffectedly heartfelt,…

Africa is rapidly positioning itself as a global hub for green hydrogen production, leveraging its vast renewable energy resources to meet both domestic energy needs and international demand. With over 60% of the world’s best solar resources and significant wind potential, the continent has the natural advantage to produce green hydrogen at globally competitive costs as low as US$1.80/kg by 2030 (IEA).Green hydrogen offers Africa the opportunity to drive industrialisation, decarbonise heavy sectors, and create new export markets, particularly to Europe and Asia where demand is projected to reach over 600 million tonnes annually by 2050. Countries such as South…

As Unstoppable Africa 2025 returns to New York, UN Global Compact CEO Sanda Ojiambo explains how GABI is driving partnerships, sustainability, and youth-led innovation to redefine Africa’s global economic role. New African: The Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI) has quickly established itself as a powerful platform. Can you explain its origins and why it was important to create such a dedicated initiative for Africa at this moment? Sanda Ojiambo: GABI was established in 2022 to reshape the narrative on Africa, and also reshape how global business engages with Africa and how Africa engages with global business. For too long, the…

Born in Tehran and exiled in Paris, Golshifteh Farahani has become one of the faces of international cinema. At just 42, the Iranian actress has already appeared in more than 50 films in numerous languages. An outspoken artist and a strong voice for women’s rights, she’s presiding over the jury at this year’s Deauville American Film Festival in Normandy. She spoke to FRANCE 24’s Louise Dupont about her latest projects, her career choices and her perspective on Iran. Source link

Lawrence points out how important it was to stay true to the spirit of a novel that is often labelled as King’s most pessimistic, with its grim violence and chilling despair perhaps explaining why its journey to the screen has been so (aptly) arduous. First George A Romero and then Frank Darabont owned the rights to the book but failed to get it over the finish line, despite having previous with King in the form of Creepshow and The Dark Half, in Romero’s case, and The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile and The Mist, in Darabont’s. Lawrence succeeded where they…