culture
Kingwood (United States) (AFP) - Before a T. rex can tower over museum visitors or a Triceratops can show off its huge horns, dinosaur fossils must first be painstakingly reconstructed -- cleaned, fit together and even painted. For US restorationist Lauren McClain, the process is like putting together a giant 3D puzzle. McClain's job begins at her home workshop near Houston, Texas, where she carefully clears away dirt stuck to the more than 60-million-year-old remains using a tiny drill with an air compressor, similar to a dentist's tool. Then, she must assemble this ancient puzzle -- even t...
AFP
New York (AFP) - New York's prestigious Metropolitan Museum of Art wants to offer its millions of visitors a less Western-centered view of the world, a shift that will highlight works from Africa and the continent's 3,000 years of cultural history. That shift in perspective will also help the world's fourth most-visited museum -- behind the Louvre, the British Museum and the museums of the Vatican -- attract more African American and diaspora visitors, Met CEO and executive director Max Hollein told AFP in an interview. The iconic museum, situated on Fifth Avenue across from Central Park since...
AFP
Tokyo (AFP) - Kung-fu-style fights, a monkey-tailed boy and the search for seven magical dragon balls: since its debut in 1984, Japan's "Dragon Ball" manga has captured imaginations worldwide. It grew from a black-and-white serialised comic into one of the most successful manga and anime franchises, beloved by generations of fans and boosting the Japanese manga industry. The shock death of its creator Akira Toriyama, aged 68, was announced Friday by his production team. Here are four things to know about "Dragon Ball": 260 million copiesThe original "Dragon Ball" manga was published for over a...
AFP
United Nations (United States) (AFP) - US authorities announced Friday that two drawings worth $2.5 million stolen by the Nazi regime and eventually displayed in American museums will be returned to relatives of Fritz Grunbaum, an Austrian Jewish cabaret performer killed in the Holocaust. It follows the return last year of seven works of art stolen from Grunbaum in 1938 and sold by the Nazis to fund their war machine. "Girl with Black Hair" had been held by the Allen Museum of Art at Oberlin College and is valued at approximately $1.5 million, while "Portrait of a Man" was in the Carnegie Muse...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Manhattan's Tenement Museum already preserves the history of some immigrants who shaped New York City -- from destitute Irish fleeing the great famine to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust -- now it is also making room for the lives of African-American migrants. Beginning next week, visitors to the museum can tour a two-room apartment that is a recreation of one once inhabited by Joseph and Rachel Moore, a Black couple who lived in the area during the US Civil War in the late 19th century. The Moores squeezed into the unit along with three other boarders. There is no running w...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - The midwestern US state of Minnesota has unveiled a new flag after ditching its old one that depicted a farmer beside a rifle and a Native American on horseback. Criticized for years as racially insensitive, the old flag is being replaced by a light blue and dark blue design with a white star, based on an idea by local artist Andrew Prekker. Prekker said Tuesday that he hoped "that every Minnesotan of every background -- including the Indigenous communities and tribal nations who've been historically excluded -- can look up at our flag with pride and honor." The previous fla...
AFP
New York (AFP) - A prestigious US museum will hand back more than a dozen valuable antiquities to Cambodia, a prosecutor said on Friday, after they were plundered and illegally trafficked into the institution's collection. They were originally stolen by prolific antiquities trafficker Douglas Latchford who in 2019 was charged with operating a major network that stole treasures from Southeast Asia. A priceless 10th century goddess sandstone statute and a larger-than-life Buddha head from the 7th century are among the items being returned. Prosecutors said 13 Khmer antiquities were being returne...
AFP
Paris (AFP) - US doughnut chain Krispy Kreme has opened its first shop in Paris, hoping to follow in the footsteps of other American fast-food franchises have won over the French in recent years. While doughnuts are not unknown in France, they are generally an item among others at bakeries and other outlets, not the main billing. The Californian chain Randy's Donuts opened in the French capital in October 2022 but closed a few months later. So to succeed in its 39th foreign market, Krispy Kreme's director general for France, Alexandre Maizoue, has pulled out all the stops: home delivery star...
AFP
New York (AFP) - Controversy has simmered around France's entry for the Oscars, "The Taste of Things" -- a love letter to the country's culinary traditions -- but filmmaker Tran Anh Hung and star chef Pierre Gagnaire say the art of cooking is worth celebrating. The movie, which hopes to win an Oscar nod in January, is a sumptuous 19th century romance about a cook (Academy Award winner Juliette Binoche), the gourmand she works for (Benoit Magimel) -- and the exquisite dishes they create. "I've been looking for a subject about cooking for 20 years, because I wanted to make a film about an art f...
AFP
Washington (AFP) - In an age where forces from AI to Donald Trump have left Americans doubting the truth, US dictionary Merriam-Webster says that 2023's most looked-up word was "authentic." The venerable publisher, whose dictionary is especially popular online, said the trend was driven by people reading and talking about artificial intelligence, celebrity culture, identity and social media. "Authentic" beat out other contenders such as "deepfake," "rizz" (young-people speak for charisma) and "coronation" for honors as the word that most often sent people to the dictionary. "Authentic" has sev...
AFP
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