It starts and ends with a fire
Arts & Culture news for the week starting 11/25/24
Hi everyone,
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, or for those of you not based in the US, a wonderful Thursday.
As an Italian, I can be highly critical of US culinary traditions (don’t talk to me about Alfredo sauce) but I must say, you guys really popped off with Thanksgiving food. I ate my body weight in mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. It was amazing. Can you believe there are people who think stuffing tastes bad? Couldn’t be me. And I’m not done. I just read
’s latest article on where to eat a Thanksgiving leftover sandwich, and I’ll be heading to Court Street Grocers in hopes of finding theirs.Anyway, I’m finishing a fun write up of all the exhibitions I saw in November, so that should be in your inbox sometime next week (hopefully).
As always, keep connecting with me on Instagram, or reply to this email if you want to chitchat. Also, if there’s anything you’d like me to write about, let me know. It’s always a lot of fun to hear from you.
Stay warm,
Ginevra
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is set to reopen next month (December 7th), nearly six years after a devastating fire destroyed much of its roof and caused the collapse of the famous 19th-century spire. French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, visited the restored cathedral. Macron thanked the 1,200 artisans involved in the restoration and acknowledged the 340,000 donors who raised nearly $1 billion.
Nan Goldin Criticizes German Support for Israel in opening speech at Berlin Retrospective at Neue Nationalgalerie. Goldin led a moment of silence for civilians killed in Gaza, Lebanon, and Israel before challenging the museum’s claim that her activism and art were separate. “Why can’t I speak, Germany?” she asked, accusing the state of suppressing dissent against Israel. Her remarks follow the Schelling Architecture Foundation’s revocation of an award to British artist James Bridle over their support for a cultural boycott of Israel. I wrote about it here.
Shah Alam, a 74-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant, sold the banana that would later become Maurizio Cattelan’s Comedian for just 35 cents. After purchasing the fruit for $6.3 million, crypto investor Justin Sun ate the banana in a public stunt and pledged to buy 100,000 bananas from Alam as a token of thanks. However, Alam, a shift worker earning $12 an hour, does not own the stall and will see no benefit from Sun’s gesture. This whole thing is becoming more and more absurd and disrespectful, if you ask me.
Palestinian artists in Gaza are organizing a biennale exhibition to raise awareness about the ongoing siege and military onslaught they’ve faced for over a year. Tasneem Shatat, a 26-year-old artist from Khan Younis, explained the significance of calling the event a "biennale," aligning it with prestigious global art events, to emphasize the importance of Gaza's artists. "For us, the most important artists in the world now are the artists of Gaza," she said.
Speaking of, the 2024 Venice Biennale Closed last week and the numbers are in. This year’s edition attracted around 700,000 (down from 800,000 in 2022). Organisers reported a notable increase in visitors from underrepresented groups, such as people with mental health disabilities and migrants, up by 67%. 30% of attendees were under 26, with 59% coming from abroad. If you’re interested in learning about the Venice Biennale’s history, I wrote about it here ↓↓↓
A minor fire broke out at Christie’s Asia headquarters, nearly damaging Jeff Koons' Balloon Swan (Red). Unfortunately, the statue suffered no damage in the incident.
