Month: January 2016

Story of the week: Exploring the art scene of the British Midlands

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The British Midlands is the unlikely setting for a new cultural revolution.

The formerly industrial cities of Nottingham, Leicester and Derby have been slowly re-inventing themselves in recent years with the opening of boutique hotels and chic eateries.

The cultural renaissance comes full circle this year with a triumvirate of new arts hubs to showcase the burgeoning Midlands arts scene.

Derby’s QUAD, the first to open, combines gallery spaces, two independent cinema screens and multi-media facilities.

In April it plays host to the Format’09 International Photography Festival, featuring works by David Lynch and Cindy Sherman.

Leicester’s Curve opened late 2008 and features an innovative ‘inside-out’ design, whereby audience members and actors break down traditional dramatic divisions.

The Light In The Piazza, the European premiere of a romantic musical evoking the glamour of 1950s’ Florence, runs April into May.

The final opening, Nottingham Contemporary [its bookshop pictured above], has been pushed back to September 2009, but exhibitions are currently running in various Nottingham venues as a preview.

The landmark gallery, built at the entrance to Nottingham’s famous Lace Market, will be the largest single gallery space in the East Midlands.

The venues bring outstanding architectural design to the region. They offer a range of facilities to attract internationally renowned artists and encourage local people to get involved with the arts.

Laura Dyer, Executive Director, Arts Council England, East Midlands, said:

“This is one of the most exciting periods for the arts in the region, providing world-class facilities which, together with the region’s existing attractions and strong cultural scene, will put us firmly on the cultural and tourism map.”

What did you think of this story? Post your comments below.

This story was first published in High Life magazine in 2008.

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Story of the week: Uncovering the life of Jules Verne in Amiens, France

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*photo credit: famouauthors.org

He is one of our greatest ever travel writers, producing 62 novels and 18 short stories to transport his readers to fantastic new worlds.

Next year marks the 100th anniversary of his death and his adopted home, Amiens, capital of France’s Picardy region, is holding a year-long cultural festival to celebrate his legacy.

The author in question? Jules Verne, author of Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864) and Around the World in 80 Days (1873).

Early years

Verne was born in Nantes but moved to Amiens, home to his wife, Honorine, in 1871.

He went on to produce many of his best-known works from their house in rue Charles-Dubois. The Maison Jules Verne re-opens after renovations in the spring of 2005 as a major museum, showcasing over 30,000 items of Verne memorabilia.

Festival events, however, kick off on New Year’s Eve with 21st Century Voyagers, a giant parade through town accompanied by fireworks and marching bands.

Jules Verne week (March 21-27, 2005), meanwhile, will see Vernians gather in Amiens for a week of lectures, readings and debates.

Weekend break

For a weekend in Paris combined with short festival hop, Amiens is just 70 minutes away from the French capital by car, or one hour by TGV train from the Gare du Nord.

The Unesco World Heritage listed Notre-Dame Cathedral is the largest Gothic edifice in France, while the lively St-Leu canal district has a Left Bank feel and is packed with restaurants; try Les Marissons for a taste of traditional Picardy cuisine.

Verne was an inveterate traveller and made sailing expeditions in his boat, le Saint-Michel, including trips to Britain and Denmark.

But, in later life, he became a leading member of Amiens council, using his influence to champion a new municipal circus.

Verne had always been fascinated by circus arts and, today, Le Cirque Jules Verne remains one of only seven working indoor circuses in France.

Throughout his life, Verne dreamed of a “time when the creations of science are beyond the imagination.”

Now, 100 years after his death, his moment has finally come.

What did you think of this story? Post your comments below.

This story was first published in High Life magazine in 2004.

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Story of the week: Exploring the global travel trend of ‘dark tourism’

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* Image credit http://wice-paris.org

The latest travel trend has a macabre fascination: death.

While families tend graves from China to Mexico to mark All Saints Day this month, the final resting places of some of the world’s most famous stiffs are becoming major tourist attractions in their own right.

The trend is known as Dark Tourism, a term coined by Professor John Lennon, Director of the Moffat Centre for Travel and Tourism Business Development at Glasgow Caledonian University, to reflect the growing demand for tours to sites associated with war, genocide and assassination.

“The interest in sites of tragic occurrence reflects the human desire to touch death and explore the dark side of our nature,” explains Professor Lennon.

“There’s also growing interest in grave sites associated with famous people.”

The phenomenon even gets its own dedicated chapter in the new Lonely Planet cool-seekers guide, The Bluelist with hints on how to be a “dark tourist.”

Amongst the locations, the best known is probably Père-Lachaise Cemetery in Paris [pictured above], the final resting place of the cream of the French intelligencia with artists, writers and even rock stars pushing up daisies in esteemed company.

Balzac and Proust head up the French heavyweights while Oscar Wilde and Jim Morrison line up for the hedonists.

Meanwhile, London’s Highgate Cemetery boasts a wealth of Gothic tombs and buildings with residents such as the novelist George Eliot and the artist Henry Moore resting in peace along side Karl Heinrich Marx, the father of Marxist philosophy.

Highgate Cemetery tours run Saturdays and Sundays between 11am and 3pm.

The erstwhile Lorraine Motel at 450 Mulberry Street, Memphis, the site of the assassination of Martin Luther King, reopened in 1991 as the National Civil Rights Museum, while Cholame, in San Luis Obispo County, California, the place where James Dean died on September 30, 1955, is today home to a James Dean memorial.

The dates and hours of Dean’s birth and death are etched into the sculpture along with one of his favorite lines from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book, The Little Prince:

“What is essential is invisible to the eye.”

What did you think of this story? Post your comments below.

This story was first published in BA High Life Magazine in 2006.

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Sleeping beauties

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Time away is like a deep sleep.

 It takes you time to settle; some initial tossing and turning is almost mandatory.

But, slowly, your breathing slows. Your mind quietens. You start to drift.

The things that crowded your head on the incoming flight, the stresses that tripped up your transfer start to fade.

You’re entering the first dream.

As the time meanders languidly forward, Larkin on the beach and palms raised in a sun salutation, you sink gratefully into the womb of slumber.

The dreams are freewheeling now, gentle and replenishing, rather than frantic and frightening.

By the time you stir, the sunlight beckoning group the white-net curtains, something has changed: your perspective has altered.

It had been 18 months for me since I’d slept like this and I had carried every day with me like a dead weight. 

But no more. We all need a deep sleep sometimes.

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