It’s the opening of the Florida Grand Opera’s 82nd season, and this one delivers a few of the most beloved in the operatic canon. The FGO is starting with La Traviata, and audiences are already buzzing about its passion and sumptuousness. Before the actual premier performance, nearly 1,400 students from the Miami-Dade district attended a dress...
Art & Style
Inside Miami’s Hidden Gem: the Parodi Costume Collection
For in-the-know fashion historians and fans, Miami’s Parodi Costume Collection is an essential destination. Nonetheless, it’s admittedly a bit of an insider’s secret. Tucked on a quiet street not far from busy destinations like Wynwood Walls and the Miami Design District, it showcases highlights of a collection of more than 10,000 pieces that its founder,...
French Love Letters Confiscated by Britain Finally Read After 265 Years
Over 100 letters sent to French sailors by their fiancées, wives, parents and siblings – but never delivered – have been opened and studied for the first time since they were written in 1757-8. The messages offer extremely rare and moving insights into the loves, lives and family quarrels of everyone from elderly peasants to...
Judge Dismisses Most of Artists’ Copyright Lawsuit Against AI Image Generators
The artists have indicated they will amend their complaints and continue the legal battle against what they say is unfair use of their work by artificial intelligence image generators A federal judge has dismissed most of the claims in a lawsuit filed earlier this year by artists accusing artificial intelligence (AI) image generators of copyright...
The Cool Conceptualism of Charles Gaines
A new show at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami explores the layered work of the American artist Charles Gaines is the subject of a show that opens at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach this year. The survey, ‘Charles Gaines: 1992-2023’, focuses on the latter half of the artist’s career and...
Alleged Head of Egyptian Antiquities Trafficking Ring Arrested in Paris
Serop Simonian was arrested in his hometown of Hamburg and transferred to France The suspected head of an alleged Egyptian antiquities trafficking ring, Serop Simonian, has been arrested in Germany and transferred to France. Investigators believe the octogenarian is the source behind a string of allegedly smuggled Egyptian antiquities sold for around €60m to the...
Our Favorite Bittersweet Symphonies May Help Us Deal Better with Physical Pain
Research has shown that music might be a drug-free way to lower humans’ pain perception. This decreased sensitivity to pain – also known as hypoalgesia – can occur when pain stimuli are disrupted between their point of input and where they are recognized as pain by the conscious mind. In a new study, researchers in...
How Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor Became Halloween’s Theme Song
In Bach’s era, the pipe organ was one of the world’s most technologically advanced instruments. Stefano Bianchetti/Corbis via Getty Images Imagine a grand house on a hill, after dark on an autumn night. As the door opens, an organ pierces through the thick silence and echoes through the cavernous halls. The tune that comes to...
Africa’s Fashion Industry Is Growing to Meet Global Demands but Needs More Investment, UNESCO Says
Africa’s fashion industry is growing rapidly to meet local and international demand but inadequate investment limits its potential, UNESCO said Thursday in a report released during Lagos Fashion Week. Currently valued at $15.5 billion worth of exports annually, the earnings from the continent’s fashion industry could triple over a decade with the right investment and...
Nostalgia Fuels Hype for Adult Barbie Costumes, Fashion Design Expert Says
This Halloween is expected to look a lot like Barbie’s Dreamland. The widely successful summer film’s stars Barbie and Ken have found their way onto the top Halloween costume lists for this year. In fact, social media has even dubbed the holiday #Barbieween. Pop culture has long inspired fashion, including Halloween costumes, said Dina Smith-Glaviana, a...