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LELO, 2015 from Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs on Vimeo.
FACES, 2015 from Taiyo Onorato & Nico Krebs on Vimeo.
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EDMUND DE WAAL is one of the world's leading ceramic artists, and his porcelain is held in many major museum collections. His bestselling memoir, The Hare with Amber Eyes has been published in thirty languages and won the Costa Biography Award and the RSL Ondaatje Prize. It was shortlisted for the Duff Cooper Prize, the Jewish Quarterly Wingate Prize, the PEN/Ackerley Prize and the Southbank Sky Arts Award for Literature, and longlisted for the Orwell Prize and BBC Samuel Johnson Prize. He lives in London with his family.
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Your challenge over the next five days will be to take your idea of a better world, your passion for change, your spark of a project from concept to reality. Soak in inspiration from the guest speakers, learn from their failures and successes, tap into the on-campus coaching and imagine how the arts might be used to positively impact your community, your home, your country, or even the world.
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I teach ancient history at a small liberal arts college in the Midwest. One question I’m often asked when I tell people what I do is whether or not America is falling apart like Rome did long ago. They want to know what Donald Trump’s victory means for our country and if the Romans can teach us anything about why Trump was able to pull off one of the most stunning political triumphs in American history.
Professors hate to give short answers, but there are some disturbing parallels between Rome and modern America, especially in the presidential election of 2016.
Rome was a civilization of haves and have-nots. It was a republic in which every male citizen could vote, but the elections were dominated by an aristocracy that routinely manipulated the process so that they kept power for themselves. The masses were bought off with promises of bread and circuses, while the wealthy dined at lavish banquets and ran the affairs of state.
The Roman people, in the end, simply decided that they would rather have food than freedom.
On occasion, the common people would rise up in rebellion and demand a bigger share of the pie, but they were placated by handouts or beaten into submission by hired thugs. The nobility rarely took seriously the plight of the poor, though there were, on occasion, members of the elite who harnessed popular discontent to seize political power. Nobles such as the Gracchi brothers, Clodius and of course Julius Caesar were masters of reading the mood of the crowd and manipulating it for their own purposes.
We like to imagine Roman civilization falling to sweaty barbarians storming the gates of the city and slaughtering the citizens while they took refuge in the temples of the gods, but it didn’t happen like that. The Roman people, in the end, simply decided that they would rather have food than freedom. When, after a century of civil strife and economic turmoil, Caesar crossed the Rubicon River and took over the state as dictator for life, the crowds cheered and welcomed him. The nobility couldn’t understand what had happened. Had the plebeians lost their minds? No, they were simply tired of being overlooked by an elite who didn’t care about them. Maybe Caesar would be better. He certainly couldn’t be any worse.
I live in a small town in rural Iowa ― one of those red flyover states that progressives on the coasts routinely dismiss as irrelevant to their lives (except when they want to eat). My neighbors who put up Trump signs during the election are good people whose families are hurting and who believe, with good reason, that no one in Washington cares about how hard their lives have become. With rare exceptions, they don’t hate immigrants or minorities, and they cringed when Trump bragged about abusing women.
My neighbors who put up Trump signs are good people whose families are hurting and who believe, with good reason, that no one in Washington cares about how hard their lives have become.
But so many here have lost their jobs in a changing economy that they don’t know where to turn. Walk around my town and look at the signs in store windows of families advertising bake sales to pay soaring medical bills. My neighbors don’t go to jazz brunches on Sunday mornings; they go to church and pray from their hearts for a better life. Like the people of ancient Rome, they were willing to take a chance Tuesday on anyone who would offer them hope.
It’s too easy to say that Donald Trump is a rising demagogue who will do to America what Caesar did to the Roman republic. History lessons aren’t that simple. But if you want to understand why my neighbors voted as they did this election, you can learn a lot from the people of ancient Rome.
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This piece by Derrick Lemos originally appeared on The Establishment, a new multimedia site funded and run by women.
Something happened Tuesday night. Something that will dramatically mark this generation ― and believe it or not, it wasn’t the election results.
That night, while munching on cheese fries, surrounded by friends in a crowded bar, I saw something shift. I saw the diverse and eager faces of Hillary voters cheer every time a state swung in her favor. I saw a table of smug, white Trump voters chant his name. I saw white Hillary voters exchange drinks and make small talk with the Trump table. They took selfies. Meanwhile, anxious Brown, Black, and Asian faces looked to the TV screens.
Then, it happened. Slowly, and late into the night when the results weren’t going to favor Secretary Clinton. I saw those diverse faces leave with quiet resolve. I saw the Trump table order victory shots and chant at those diverse faces leaving the bar.
But the thing that stood out most was the white people I saw crying. They poured out of the bars and onto the sidewalks, holding each other and screaming in agony. They wept.
And standing in the middle of it, I couldn’t help but feel a little vindicated. Rooted in the pain they were feeling was a terrible truth. By feeding themselves and marginalized people empty platitudes, they had built an illusion of safety and progress.
Tuesday night, that illusion was broken.
White people got to see through the glasses from They Live for the first time. And it horrified them. They weren’t ready to see the spiders come pouring out from under the rocks. Spiders with the names and faces of people they knew.
This is the hard part. The part you struggle with accepting. But the sooner it happens, the sooner we can move forward.
Your friends and relatives did this.
Your uncle who hates black people did this. Your aunt who shares Fox News memes did this. Your dad who thinks Hillary’s emails are more questionable than a man who has sexually assaulted a dozen women did this. Your mom who believes all lives matter did this. Your friend who is a piece of shit online, but is a “good dude if you get to know him,” did this.
Your uncle who hates black people did this. Your aunt who shares Fox News memes did this. Your dad who thinks Hillary’s emails are more questionable than a man who has sexually assaulted a dozen women did this.
White people are afforded the privilege of having relationships with awful people. Marginalized people aren’t afforded the same luxury of staying in a relationship with people who hate our existence. I’m not telling you who you can and cannot be friends with, but I am telling you that you cannot be silent.
You can’t say that you’re for progress and then stay quiet because it’s too awkward. We’ve tried changing the minds of racists, and it hasn’t worked. So it has to come from you. Not the you that posts “woke af” articles (like this one) that only your friends can see, but the you that goes home for Thanksgiving and silently digs into the green bean casserole while someone talks about Black Lives Matter being thugs. Use your voice. Those mashed potatoes won’t stand up for Black people—you have to. Talk to your family about the relationships and friendships you have. Those are the experiences that dissolve negative stereotypes. If you don’t have any, well now you have homework for next year. Use the advantage of your personal relationship. People can easily dismiss those they don’t know, but they know and trust you. It won’t be as easy to dismiss your experience when you are leveling with them person to person. Use empathy. This is the part where it gets sticky. White supremacy is so ingrained in American culture that in order to dismantle it, we need you. You’re our anti-racist Serpico. Ask about the troubles they are having in their own lives and relate it to everyone wanting the same things. Discussions about race and white supremacy can make anyone hunker down and get defensive, so in order to keep your sanity, use empathetic approaches.
Also, you don’t have to be an expert. It’s okay if you don’t have all the answers. You probably won’t change hearts and minds over the course of one meal. But understand that you are laying the groundwork for someone who is an expert. Share books or Netflix recommendations or bring your friends along (if it’s safe). If you’re reading this and thinking “this is a lot of work,” or “it’s going to be really hard,” you’re right. It is. This is what dismantling systems of oppression look like. It’s hard work. I’ve seen a lot of apologies to marginalized people because of the election. Save them. If you didn’t know this country could be THAT racist and sexist, you weren’t listening to us. But now that you see what white supremacy looks like ― now that you know how much they truly hate people like us ― ask yourself: What are you going to do to help fix it?
Other recent stories include:
When White People Are Too Hateful To Realize They Screwed Up
The Internet Fueled White Rage, But It Can Help Conquer It Too
When Your Abuser Is Elected President
In This Darkest Of Times, We Fight On
My Mother’s Jewish Family Fled Tsarist Russia, And She’s Terrified Of Trump
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Caravaggio, Judith Beheading Holofernes. Photo: Charles Platiau, Reuters.
This might be the understatement of the year: the world is full of surprises. Every so often, you hear about a truly astounding art discovery that comes right out of the blue: a long-forgotten canvas is found while cleaning out Grandma's attic; a rare antiquity is unearthed at a flea market; or a new attribution transforms an ordinary work of art into a priceless masterpiece. Just this week, it was reported that an oil painting depicting Jesus, trodden underfoot at an antiques fair in Avignon, might in fact be the original work of Renaissance great Raphael.
A possible Raphael, Noli Me Tangere. Credit: Colin Usher, Telegraph.
But how often does this really happen? If the long-running success of the television program Antiques Roadshow is any sort of barometer, the odds aren't astronomical that you might have some hidden treasure worth a surprising amount of money among Grandpa's old belongings. But these finds rarely make headlines. On occasion, however, true masterpieces are found in the unlikeliest places, lurking in attics and basements, just waiting for someone to discover their true value. We combed through MutualArt's database of art news articles from the last ten years to find out where to start looking.
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Portrait of a lady as Flora.
First place to check is your attic, preferably your French attic, which is by far the most popular place for hidden family heirlooms that might be worth a lot of money. In 2008, an exquisite Giambattista Tiepolo masterpiece that had been discovered in the attic of a French chateau sold at auction for a stunning £2.8 million ($4.2 million), exceeding its pre-sale estimate by nearly £2 million. The Portrait of a lady as Flora had been hidden away in the attic by the vendor's grandparents, who perhaps felt a bit prude about a nude. In April of this year, another French attic produced a stunning long-lost Caravaggio painting, depicting Judith beheading Holofernes, and bearing the hallmark dark drama of classic Caravaggio. It was located behind a locked door in the attic, chanced upon by the house's owner while trying to repair a water leak. Quite the hidden treasure: the work is valued at more that 120 million euros, or $136 million. In September of 2013, the Van Gogh Museum unveiled an 1888 Van Gogh painting that had been banished to a Norwegian attic for years because of a passing suggestion that it might be a fake. It was subsequently rejected twice as inauthentic, but was finally authenticated by the Van Gogh Museum based on new evidence. Hidden masterpieces in the attic might also reveal further family secrets: in June of 2015, it was reported that a Scottish man discovered a Picasso painting rolled up and stashed in a suitcase in his mother's attic, while also learning that the painting had been a gift to his mother from a Russian soldier--his real father. And in a sensational story from 2010, a brother and sister chanced upon a Chinese antique vase in the attic of their deceased parents' house in London, and put it up for auction at Bainbridges Auction House. Expecting to sell it for between £800,000 and £1.2 million ($1.3-1.9 million), the siblings were shocked when the auction floor turned into a fast and furious bidding war. After 30 feverish minutes the Qianlong vase was sold to a Beijing-based advisor for a record-smashing £53 million ($85 million). Even the auction house director was flabbergasted at the intense demand for this Qing dynasty heirloom, admitting, "I didn't quite realize how exciting it was."
Vincent Van Gogh, Sunset at Montmajour, 1888. Herman Wouters for The New York Times.
Another great place to look is the basement. In September of 2015, an unknown painting, found in a New Jersey basement, went up for auction; the owner expected it to sell for $800, but it ultimately fetched $870,000 after three aficionados recognized it as an early work by Rembrandt, one of a series of small allegorical paintings he had executed as a very young man. (The fifth painting in the series, which illustrates the five senses, is still missing.) The basements of museums have also yielded some notable surprises in recent years, including Madrid's San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts' discovery of a Van Dyck Madonna, in 2011, which for years had been considered a copy. And 2010 saw a number of museum-basement-related finds, including an early Velásquez, discovered in the basement of Yale University's museum, and the Staedel Museum's rediscovery of a work by Ludwig Kirchner in its basement.
Rembrandt van Rijn, The Unconscious Patient (An Allegory of the Sense of Smell), 1624. Getty Museum.
Antique shops can sometimes house overlooked masterpieces. In May 2014, it was confirmed that a painting bought at a Spanish antique shop for around $200, 20 years earlier, was indeed an early work by the artist Salvador Dali. It had fooled everyone for so long because the date inscribed on the painting read 1896 (eight years before the artist was born) rather than 1921 (the date that infrared, x-ray, and ultraviolet tests determined), possibly meant by the artist as a joke or an experiment with numerology. A Van Dyck painting identified on Antiques Roadshow in 2013 took the title of the most valuable work of art ever appraised on the television show, with presenter Fiona Bruce estimating its value at up to £500,000 ($780,000). It had been purchased 12 years earlier, at a Cheshire antiques shop, for only £400 ($625).
Salvador Dali, The Intrauterine Birth. Photo: AFP/JIJI.
Valuable works often surface among the junk at rummage sales and flea markets. A Philadelphia resident, for instance, ended up with a great find when a striking, modern necklace, bought for $15 at a flea market, turned out to be a piece of jewelry designed by Alexander Calder. In 2010, a man named Andy Fields bought a bundle of sketches for $5 at a rummage sale in Las Vegas, discovering in it a previously unknown, early drawing by Warhol. These finds, though lucky, don't always yield the desired results. Without the stamp of approval from the Warhol Authentication Board (it became defunct before they could gather enough evidence to authenticate the drawing), Fields could not put the drawing up for auction--except on eBay. (In August of 2013, the eBay auction took place with the starting bid set at £1.25 million ($1.5 million). It got zero bids.) Works that have been previously stolen or missing from museums sometimes show up, incognito, at flea markets. A print by Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer was discovered at a flea market in the French town of Sarrebourg, it was reported in August, 2016. The print was returned to Stuttgart's Staatsgalerie, whose name was stamped on the back of the print. It had been missing since WWII. Another stolen work, this one by Renoir, reportedly turned up at a flea market, where it was snatched up for a measly $7. When the bargain hunter tried to sell the work at auction, however, it came to the attention of the Baltimore Museum of Art, from whom the painting was originally stolen, in 1951. It was returned to the museum in January 2014.
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Paysage Bords de Seine, 1879. Photo: Potomack Company / Associated Press.
You can also get lucky on the digital equivalent of the flea market: eBay. In 2014, a collector found an original watercolor by Victorian artist Richard Dadd on eBay, unattributed and included as part of a larger collection of works for sale on the online bidding site. The painting was purchased for a mere £200 ($330), while comparable works are regularly sold at auction for tens of thousands. And in February of this year, the BBC show Fake or Fortune appraised a painting by Post-Impressionist painter Edouard Vuillard, at £250,000-350,000 ($310,000-436,000)--one of a pair of works with a distinct oval shape. The other canvas had been sold on eBay to a mystery buyer for only £3,000 ($3,750), or "the bargain of the century."
French School, 13th Century, Virgin and Child Enthroned.
Often enough, however, these modest, unassuming artworks with priceless pedigrees are hidden in plain sight. An ivory carving of the Madonna and child, purchased in 1949 in London for £80 (or about £2,600 or $3,260 today), spent the next 50-odd years sitting on a mantelpiece, assumed to be a fake or a Victorian copy. In 2013, it was reported that historians traced the carving back to the Bridgettine nuns, dating it to the 13th century - transforming a piece of mantelpiece kitsch to a bona fide Gothic ivory worth £1.2 million ($1.9 million). It was sold at Sotheby's in 2013 for nearly twice that. And in 2010, the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen was surprised to find that a painting hanging in a reception room, that was attributed to one of Rembrandt's pupils, was by the master himself, instantly increasing the painting's value from 80,000 to 8 million euros ($87,500 to $8,750,000).
While some truly incredible works seem to have materialized out of thin air--the Caravaggio behind a locked door in the attic, for instance--most of the great discoveries in recent memory have resulted as a reappraisal of an existing work that was overlooked or underestimated. Clearly, art's value is not inherent to the object. It often just depends on whether the right pair of expert eyes has assessed its worth. So, once you've rummaged through the attic and investigated the basement, take a closer look at what you already know you have. Could that old canvas be misattributed? And have you had it appraised recently?
--Natalie Hegert
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On 4 November, the Paris Climate Change Agreement came into force -- just three days before the official opening of the 22nd Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP22) in Marrakech, Morocco.
The speed of this entry into force speaks to the urgency of the issues at stake. The name of the game is clear -- we need to move from paper to action as quickly as possible.
Mitigating the impacts of climate change calls for new efforts to contain emissions and prevent further drastic consequences, which we have seen affecting women and men in societies across the world, including migrants and refugees. It calls also for a new focus on reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience. For this, we need greener economies, greener legislation, greener policies.
But, most of all, to underpin all of these efforts, we need greener societies. To succeed, fundamentally, we need green citizens.
This is why translating promises into reality must start in the classrooms. Education is the red thread tying together the Paris Agreement with the other historic agreement of 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Education is a human right essential to individual dignity -- it is also the foundation on which to shape a sustainable future for all, and the planet. Sustainability calls for new ways of seeing the world, new ways of thinking, new ways of acting and behaving as global citizens. Only education can catalyse such deep change.
This is why the Paris Agreement includes Article 12, calling for the promotion of climate-change education -- and the 2030 Agenda includes a comprehensive Sustainable Development Goal on education, with a specific target on education for sustainable development. Education is key to understanding climate change -- it is vital to learning to adapt and take action, for today's generation and tomorrow's.
This calls for new approaches to education across the board -- to ensure learning is relevant and empowering. UNESCO's 2016 Global Education Monitoring Report examines education's potential to propel progress toward all of the new goals, along with the need for education systems to pay more attention to environmental concerns. The curricula of half the countries in the world still do not explicitly mention climate change or environmental sustainability in their content. This cannot go on.
We need now political commitment by countries to put commitments into practice. COP22 will serve as the kick-off for the implementation of the Paris Agreement -- education should be included in national commitments, as well as Nationally Determined Contributions. At the same time, education sectors everywhere must be better prepared to support these efforts, through systemic reform.
UNESCO is working to support Member States in bolstering capacities to meet commitments. With the UNFCCC, we have developed an instrument to guide Member States to implement the Climate Convention's Article 6 on education -- I will launch this guide at COP22 next week on 14 November, the thematic day on education. UNESCO is pulling out all the stops to back Governments in efforts to promote a smooth transition to green economies and resilient societies through education and training. We need "whole school" approaches, and education that empowers young people to become change agents themselves, to craft sustainable solutions at every level.
This builds on a decade of UNESCO leading the United Nations Decade on Education for Sustainable Development (2005-2014) -- and the same spirit underpins our action today, to spearhead the Global Action Programme agreed to at the 2014 UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development, held in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan.
Examples abound of positive change. Costa Rica has a National Strategy on Climate Change that includes specific attention to education. Kenya's has developed a national action plan being rolled out across the country, in cooperation with UNESCO. The Cook Islands are actively committed to education for sustainable development and climate-change education, including through the Sandwatch Programme, supported by UNESCO. The Dominican Republic has placed priority on training teachers to address climate change in the classroom. The Kingdom of Morocco has longstanding leadership in integrating education for sustainable development in schools, universities, corporations, associations and society at large. This is embodied in the Government's eco-schools programme, educating students about positive ecological principles.
All of this shows that sustainability -- true and lasting sustainability -- can only be achieved if individuals and societies change the way they think and act. And this can only begin in the minds of women and men. To move forward, we need new political will from every country, combined with resources and the reorienting of education systems. This is UNESCO's mission, and the message we are bringing to Morocco.
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