La Villette’s annual outdoor film festival is a summer fave, with movies projected on to a huge inflatable screen. This year’s theme – ‘Les Grands Espaces’ (the great outdoors) – includes films by Kurosawa, David Lean, Chaplin, Agnès Varda and John Huston. Acoustics are some way short of multiplex standard and movies have been known to break down half way through for minutes at a time, but apart from the fact that all films are free, you should go at least once for the experience. Take friends, a blanket to sit on, a four-pack of beer and soak up the good-natured atmosphere (courtesy of Qantas).
Le Cinéma en Plein Air
November 28, 2008
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Posted by hurricon
The Birth of Time
November 25, 2008The Old Tretyakov Gallery, in combination with a number of German musuems and the Louvre, tackles time this summer. ‘The Birth of Time’ exhibition looks at how the concept of time has been seen in art. Exhibits range from ancient Egyptian water clocks and antique sundials to Russian icons which explain time through Russian Orthodox holidays. Both the Christian view of time as a straight line, and the more Asian view of time as circular, are on view. A special part of the exhibition focuses on Europe’s first observatory founded in 1560.
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Shakespeare by the Sea
November 22, 2008Here’s a splendiferous spot to enjoy a play or two – the Rotunda at ritzy Balmoral Beach. A bunch of Shakespeare enthusiasts will perform ‘As You Like It’ (Fri) and ‘The Winter’s Tale’ (Sat & Sun) in the old bandstand, while the audience makes itself comfortable with blankets, food and wine on the grassy surrounds. There is no entry fee but the hat will be passed around after the show. The actors advise that the plays are not suitable for children or dogs.
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Secrets of the Sea
November 21, 2008This is a nifty maritime exhibition for kids of all ages that dwells on the more mysterious side of the world’s oceans. Place yourself in the cockpit of a plane entering the Bermuda Triangle, observe the mummified remains of a mermaid (okay, so it’s a 150-year-old fake, but it’s damned impressive), find out about the ‘Flying Dutchman’ and view remnants of the ‘Marie Celeste’, found adrift with all her passengers and crew missing. Then get your face painted in Neptune’s Kingdom (Sundays only).
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64 + 30 Appartements Montpellier/Paris
November 20, 2008Models and slide projections reveal the extraordinary eco-architecture of Edouard François in 64 recently completed flats in Montpellier where plants sprout out of a cladding of gabions and his project for 30 flats in Paris where plants and concrete create a building that is half-vegetable, half-mineral. In addition there is work from Droog Design, La Forêt des Délaissés (plans for returning the banlieue to forest) and Habiter la Ville Outre-mer (competitions in the tropics).
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L’Esplanade
November 16, 2008The Costes brothers’ latest Jacques Garcia-decorated trend-o-rama has a brilliant location – overlookiong the huge lawn in front of the Invalides which is gorgeously illuminated at night. There’s the usual tongue-in-cheek décor, patronised by a very interesting crowd. The fine food includes standard starters like rocket salad with parmesan shavings, tomato and mozzarella or even onion soup and escargots. Mains are steamed cod with puréed potatoes or grilled chopped steak with a topping of fresh herbs – in other words, just the type of food you might cook for yourself if you had the time to shop and the energy to cook. Don’t miss the Chapoutier Côtes du Rhône at 115F.
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The White Horse
November 14, 2008The White Horse was one of those famous early houses in Dublin where, at ungodly hours of the day, you’d find taxi drivers and dockers finishing their night shifts or party-goers finishing theirs. Not so now in ‘Celtic Tiger’ Dublin. The White House has been revamped, rebuilt and repackaged as an airy modern bar with bright and friendly staff. Big, light and overlooking the quays, the White Horse is enough off the beaten track to let you esacep the crowds. And while it hasn’t retained any of the soul of its previous incarnation, it is quickly creating some of its own.
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SYRIË
November 13, 2008
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Rosanna Casano
November 12, 2008The oil paintings in this intriguing exhibition, by one of Barcelona’s young established artists, display intricate urban landscapes impregnated with human presence, but absent of any figures. Fragments of the city viewed from the sky are repeated over and over to the point of abstraction, yet, these bits of rich form and colour are still charged with the deep solitude of city life. The works are based on a formal study of architecture and act as powerful metaphors of the human condition in urban spaces.
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father and son working
November 8, 2008
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