Autumn Leaves
As the leaves on the autumn trees change colour, swarms of photographers descend on Tokyo’s parks and gardens to catch the spectacular display afforded by maple and ginko trees. One of the most popular spots for autumn leaf viewing or ‘koyo’ is Koishikawa Korakuen, Tokyo’s oldest traditional garden (the remains of a larger garden founded in 1629).
Puff Daddy
He’s been arrested on weapons charges, (allegedly) punched Boyzone upstart Shane Lynch and lost friends through gangsta killings. Is there anything tame about Seán ‘Puffy’ Combs? Yes, his music. Puff Daddy is the Val Doonican of hip hop, serving the antithesis of Public Enemy’s urgent and angry beats. This is the man, after all, who made Sting’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ sound more mawkish than the original. There is, however, one good reason to attend this concert: the remote possibility that his drop-dead-gorgeous girlfriend, Jennifer Lopez, might be in the audience.
Ousmane Sow
The latest free open-air sculpture exhibition organised by the Mairie de Paris groups 68 larger-than-life sculptures by Senegalese artist Sow on the Pont des Arts. Made entirely from recycled material to resemble caked-mud figures, his serene-faced Masai warriors and the 24 men (and 11 horses) in the Little Big Horn tableau are a striking collection.
Walker Evans 1903-1975
Walker Evans was to American photography – and art more generally – what Woodie Guthrie was to its music: an untiring chronicler of the dignity and struggle of the underclass routinely excluded from the mythology of the ‘American Dream’. Hired by the Roosevelt administration to document its Depression-era farm programmes, he created a haunting and deeply evocative body of images of American poverty that continue to resonate. The Met’s retrospective also includes his quirky populist images of New York City, photographs of poverty in Cuba during the 1940s and even Polaroids of signage taken in the last years of his life. The first complete retrospective of the man who is arguably America’s most influential photographer.
Rembrandt’s Treasures
Rembrandt had his own collection of paintings, prints and drawings by Titian, Raphael, Da Vinci and Rubens, from which he drew inspiration. He also had Far Eastern porcelains, Venetian glass and fans, a bird of paradise, Roman busts and baskets full of minerals, shells and corals, which he used as study objects. All of these are now placed in their original spot within his recently renovated former residence.
International Sports Leagues
Amateur football, basketball, volleyball and floorball leagues – this last a kind of iceless hockey – are forming all over Prague, welcoming anyone with hoop dreams or just a pair of trainers. Throughout the grey winter, these teams provide scores of Prague locals and foreigners with their only source of exercise, so now that spring has arrived in earnest, the matches should really take off. Sign up singly or in teams with your mates – all are invited.
Miu Miu
Florence’s designer fashion shopping scene is definately looking up. The latest addition to the city’s glossy ‘alta moda’ stores is Miu Miu, Prada’s young line. Just off Piazza della Repubblica and next door to the new Savoy Hotel, the shop is displaying an enticing collection of autumn ready-to-wear for men and women – snappy leather jackets, double breasted pea coats, sleek trousers and tailored skirts in autumnal red, camel, cream and grey. There are also the bags and accessories that Prada is famed for, and some wonderful 1940s-style peep-toe shoes.
