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Culture

Essays and videos on the arts, literature, travel, rituals and celebrations
ArchitectureArtBiography and memoirDance and theatreDesign and fashionFilm and visual cultureFood and drinkHomeMusicNature and landscapeRituals and celebrationsSports and gamesStories and literatureSubculturesTravel
Aerial view of concentric snow tracks around a phone booth and street light. The artist walks in circles away from the center, dragging a suitcase behind her.
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video

Home

An artist endeavours to bring the Moon down to Earth in a ritual of yearning

5 minutes

Painting of two clothed men and a naked woman picnicking in a forest, with another woman in the background near a pond.
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Art

Creating art that was aware of itself – and the viewer – made Manet the first modernist

15 minutes

A detailed pencil sketch depicts a chaotic scene with fallen bodies, horses, and a broken chariot, with distressed figures in the foreground.
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Life stages

What Michelangelo’s late-in-life works reveal about his genius – and his humanness

13 minutes

Intricate artwork of robed women with long, flowing hair in a forest, surrounding a glowing, veiled woman adorned with flowers.
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Beauty and aesthetics

All aquiver

The Decadent movement taught that you should live your life with the greatest intensity – a dangerous and thrilling challenge

Kate Hext

Two wooden chairs with a unique, organic design stand in a lush garden surrounded by green plants and yellow flowers. A small tree in the background appears to be pruned in an artistic manner, enhancing the natural aesthetic.
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essay

Design and fashion

Sitting on the art

Given its intimacy with the body and deep play on form and function, furniture is a ripely ambiguous artform of its own

Emma Crichton Miller

Ancient cave painting depicting bison and other animals, primarily in red and black hues, on a textured stone surface that shows visible cracks.
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essay

Archaeology

Why make art in the dark?

New research transports us back to the shadowy firelight of ancient caves, imagining the minds and feelings of the artists

Izzy Wisher

Watercolour painting of a landscape with a vivid yellow sky, a band of orange clouds, and a purple mountain. The foreground is dark with indistinct foliage.
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video

Music

The peculiar beauty of a song caught between composition and improvisation

3 minutes

Artist painting vibrant, abstract artwork on large canvases in a studio, with paint buckets, a stool, and a folding chair nearby.
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Art

‘If you’re creative, why can’t you create a solution?’ One artist’s imaginative activism

17 minutes

Painting of a nude woman standing on a seashell, with two figures blowing wind from the left and a woman offering a cloak on the right.
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Art

More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution

19 minutes

Detailed beaded artwork depicting two figures with dark hair and cheerful expressions, adorned with vibrant blue and gold beads.
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video

Rituals and celebrations

The spectacular Mardi Gras artworks born of a unique New Orleans tradition

16 minutes

Marble statue depicting Apollo and Daphne, set against a detailed, ornate ceiling in a classical style room. Daphne is reaching upward with flowing hair.
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video

Art

The overlooked polymath whose theatrical oeuvre made all of Rome a stage

30 minutes

Black-and-white photo of two men standing behind a sign that reads “What is the line between us?”, gesturing towards a partition with another person’s hand visible.
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Art

The irreverent duo who thumbed their noses at the Soviet Union and the US art world

11 minutes

A rich Tudor-era outfit with elaborate brocade, fur trimming and jewellery, featuring ornate sleeves, a belt, and a robe with intricate patterns.
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Art

Why a forcefully phallic portrait of Henry VIII is a masterful work of propaganda

6 minutes

A man in an apron operates a large wooden printing press wheel in an artisan workshop filled with tools, shelves, and a table.
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Design and fashion

From spark of inspiration to final press – how William Blake built a book of poetry

8 minutes

Close-up of a leafcutter ant cutting a vibrant green and pink leaf with distinct veins, showcasing the intricate patterns and the ant’s detailed body.
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Animals and humans

An artist and ants collaborate on an exhibit of ‘tiny Abstract Expressionist paintings’

5 minutes

Three painted figures with large black hair, blue clothing, and red cheeks. Their faces are unpainted, drawn with kinetic linework over beige paper. Behind them are sparse white clouds and a blue sky.
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Art

Inside the unique creative space where ‘outsider’ artists find their form

14 minutes

Painting of a lively medieval village with men and women dancing and socialising in colourful traditional clothing on a grassy area.
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Art

Why European artists shifted their focus from power to peasants in the 16th century

5 minutes

Illustration of a person observing a large, abstract red painting in a gallery with a red gradient background and a small arrow sign to the left.
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Art

Negative capability

When it comes to our complicated, undecipherable feelings, art prompts a self-understanding far beyond the wellness industry

Aparna Chivukula

“Hieronymus Bosch’s ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’ triptych depicting paradise, earthly pleasures, and hell with a multitude of intricately detailed figures.”
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Art

Earthly delights

Noticing first one then many parrots, peacocks, owls and more birds in Old Master paintings taught me to truly see the world

Leanne Ogasawara

Person carving angel figures in stone with various chisels and brushes on a dusty table.
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Art

From a pencil sketch to cherubs dancing in stone – recreating a Donatello work

7 minutes

Ancient Greek marble relief of a centaur engaging in combat with a human, displaying intricate muscle details and dynamic movement on a stone background.
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Art

All those naked Greeks…

Men in ancient Greek art exercise, fight battles, pursue lovers and mourn lost friends, all without their pants on. Why?

Sarah Murray

A sepia sketch of a pensive person with the words “happy” and “for ever” overlaid in red and blue text.
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video

Stories and literature

What makes John Keats’s ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ so enduringly powerful?

10 minutes

A traditional Noh theatre mask lies on a table, surrounded by pottery and art supplies in a workshop. A person works in the blurred background.
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Dance and theatre

How a Noh mask-maker summons a lifelike face from a single block of wood

16 minutes

Three figures are visible through dense fog, with two figures raising their arms and the middle figure standing with hands at sides.
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Art

The art of rules

Conceptual art often confounds. The key is to understand the rules of the artwork and the aesthetic experiences they yield

Sherri Irvin