Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Uganda Wildlife Education Center – UWEC plans to construct a resource center and memorial monument in remembrance of Zakayo, the late celebrity Chimpanzee. Zakayo died in November 2018 at UWEC where it had stayed since June 1976 after it was handed over by whites who …
Read More »Row over plans to move Greek antiquities from construction site
Thessaloniki, Greece | AFP | Opposition politicians, archaeologists and locals have denounced Greek government plans to displace the fragile remnants of an ancient city district unearthed during work on a subway tunnel in Thessaloniki. Experts say the early Byzantine site, which includes the city’s main 6th-century highway, ancient buildings and hundreds …
Read More »Benin readies for return of treasures taken by France
Abomey-Calavi, Benin | AFP | The display cases at the royal palaces in Benin’s sleepy southern town of Abomey are coated in dust and the exhibition halls plunged in darkness. But local tourism chief Gabin Djimasse hopes all this will change with the return of 26 artefacts from former colonial master …
Read More »Facelift helps Morocco’s old city of Fez lure tourists
Fez, Morocco | AFP | In recent times the imperial city of Fez has been overlooked by tourists in favour of Marrakesh, but now Morocco’s “spiritual” capital is bustling with visitors due to major renovations and low-cost flights. “It is an open air museum, with the largest pedestrian zone in the …
Read More »Haunted by colonial past, Belgium’s Africa museum reopens after revamp
Tervuren, Belgium | AFP | Belgium’s Africa Museum reopened on Saturday after a five-year restoration to repackage its looted treasures with a critical view of the country’s brutal colonial past. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander De Croo hailed a “historic moment” and said it would open “a new chapter” in Belgian-African …
Read More »Nsenene hits world stage, but at Sweden’s ‘Disgusting Food Museum’
Maggots, grasshoppers, licorice and cobra hearts at Sweden’s ‘Disgusting Food Museum’ Malmö, Sweden | AFP | Cheese teeming with squirming maggots, grasshopers and sheep’s eye juice and mouse wine: the “Disgusting Food Museum” explores why a dish seems delicious to some, but for others is stomach-churning. On show for three …
Read More »Trump salutes civil rights heroes at boycotted museum opening
Jackson, United States | AFP | Donald Trump called for an end to racial hatred Saturday at the launch of a museum dedicated to victims of white-supremacist violence in America’s Deep South, a ceremony boycotted by several black leaders. The Republican president’s attendance at the gathering to open the Mississippi …
Read More »Abu Dhabi authorities ‘acquired’ $450 mn Da Vinci: museum
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | AFP | The Louvre Abu Dhabi said Friday that local Emirati authorities had “acquired” a $450-million painting by Renaissance master Leonardo Da Vinci, as reports swirled about the original source of funding. “Louvre Abu Dhabi is looking forward to displaying the Salvator Mundi by Leonardo …
Read More »Michael Jackson’s impact on art revealed in new show
Paris, France | AFP | Pop legend Michael Jackson’s “huge impact” on contemporary art will be explored in a new exhibition in Paris and London next year. The “groundbreaking” show claims it will tell the “untold story” of how the king of pop became “one of the most influential figures …
Read More »UAE and Qatar stake billions in ‘soft power’ showdown
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | The opening this week of the glittering Louvre Abu Dhabi museum marks the latest stage in a multi-billion-dollar “soft power” showdown between energy giants Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Culture, media and sports have turned into battlegrounds for branding and global recognition. “There …
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