In The 500 Hidden Secrets of Madrid, Anna-Carin Nordin presents 500 must-know addresses in the Spanish capital, such as the 5 trendiest but affordable restaurants, 5 shops with the coolest sunglasses, 5 places that are decorated by the new generation of Madrid’s designers, 5 buzzing after-work bars or the 5 most curious street names… Madrid has so much to offer, and this guide helps you to choose where to start discovering this beautiful city. It is the perfect book for those who wish to discover the city, but avoid all the usual tourist haunts, as well as for residents who are keen to track down the city’s best-kept secrets.
The 500 Hidden Secrets of Rome helps you set out to discover the most attractive, fun and unique places in Italy’s capital. Luisa Grigoletto and Christopher Livesay share 500 addresses and facts that many tourists don’t know, sometimes off the beaten track, but always loved by the locals and worth a visit.
This book lists, among other things, the 5 best gelaterías, the 5 most beautiful historic shops, 5 breathtaking palazzi which played an important role in art history and 5 sites where major Italian films were shot. It is the perfect book for those who wish to discover the city, but avoid all the usual tourist haunts, as well as for residents who are keen to track down the city’s best-kept secrets.
The 500 Hidden Secrets of Rotterdam is a guide to the city’s hidden gems. It takes you off the beaten track to discover the city’s turbulent history, its modern architecture, its little-known museums, the best restaurants and the coolest clubs.
True locals Saskia Naafs & Guido van Eijck selected 500 addresses and facts about Rotterdam that few people know and presents them in lists of 5, alongside beautiful photographs. Guido and Saskia’s favorite addresses include a former harbor warehouse turned daily fresh market where you can sample a perfect locally roasted coffee or a homemade cider, a bright-red light-vessel ship where you can attend an intimate concert, or a former subtropical swimming paradise where you can grow your own oyster mushrooms.
There are many reasons to plan a visit to The Hague. It is the international city of peace and justice, the only large Dutch city by the sea, one of the greenest cities of the Netherlands, and it boasts a long and rich history.
For this book, Tal Maes listed her 500 favorite places and tips, presenting them in original and interesting lists such as 5 historic houses of famous Dutchmen, 5 fun boat trips, the 5 best spots for Dutch “maatjes” herring, 5 museums around the Binnenhof, the 5 best lifestyle and concept stores, and much more. This guide encourages you to look further than the usual hotspots. Walk to the far end of the beach to find peace and quiet, try a beer from a hidden monastery, discover cutting-edge art in a former power plant. Of the highlights included, lesser-known aspects are revealed.
High jewelry has entered the 21st century with a spring in its step. Design has been as diverse as it has been innovative. The technical advances of the ’90s and the new materials being used by this exuberant group of independent jewelers have helped pave the way to breaking down preconceived ideas of high jewelry. Some enjoy the adventure of finding the rarest of gemstones that speak to them, others seek to tell a tale or relay a secret message to the wearer and thus the onlooker. They are artists, engineers and adventurers; and, above all, they are passionate about their world, using only the best workmanship wherever it is to be found. From the great JAR, to James de Givenchy and Nicholas Varney in the West, and Michelle Ong, Wallace Chan and Bhagat in the East, 21st-Century Jewellery Designers: An Inspired Style is an exploration into the designers’ worlds. Interviews reveal the designers’ inspirations and passions, their signature materials, designing processes, and how their personalities influence their designs. Designers featured: JAR (France); Kaoru Kay Akihara / Gimel (Japan); Walid Akkad (France/Lebanon); Lorenz Bäumer (France); Bhagat (India); Sevan Biçakçi (Turkey); Luz Camino (Spain); Wallace Chan (China); Edmond Chin / Etcetera (China); Lydia Courteille (France); Michele della Valle (Italy/Switzerland); Patrice Fabre (France); James de Givenchy / Taffin (USA); Vicente Gracia (Spain); Hemmerle (Germany); Anna Hu (USA/Taiwan); Michelle Ong / Carnet (China); Suzanne Syz (Switzerland); Nicholas Varney (USA); Stephen Webster (UK); Dickson Yewn / Yewn Heritage (China).
When Ziggy played The Marquee Club in Soho, London, in October 1973, most of those invited to the small venue did not realize that this would be the last performance David Bowie would ever give as Ziggy Stardust. Terry O’Neill, celebrated photographer, was given unprecedented access to document the event.
O’Neill captured Bowie and his crew backstage as they went through costume changes, and Bowie transformed into the character he’d soon put to rest. On stage, dodging television cameras and lights, O’Neill snapped the incredible stage presence for which Bowie and his crew had become renowned. O’Neill remembers of Bowie: “He became a character on stage. As much as a person takes a role in a play for the West End or on Broadway, learning the lines, putting on the costumes – this was, I think, the way Bowie treated his stage. This night at the Marquee, I witnessed a modern-day Hamlet – and it was Ziggy Stardust”.
Award-winning music writer Daniel Rachel interviews key contributors of the day, including O Neill, Ava Cherry, Amanda Lear and Geoff MacCormack along with new insights and memories from fans who were in the audience who played witness to this incredible moment.
Richard Mille, 54, has devoted his career to haute horology. His love for high-precision mechanism and his passion for technological perfection have inspired his creations. Thousands of hours devoted to engineering research in a state-of-the-art workshop in the Swiss Jura resulted in the realisation and marketing in 2001 of a wristwatch which was the most ergonomic and the most technically sophisticated watch of its time. Since then, about ten new models have been created and launched successfully.
In a Richard Mille watch, the concept dictates the components, and not the other way round. Therefore there is no “standard” part. Carbon fibre, silicon, metallic and non-metallic alloys and ceramics are no longer exclusive to the car, aeronautics or aerospace industries. These materials offer haute horology fabulous possibilities and new technical solutions, provided it accepts the challenge of their adaptation to watchmaking.
These costly materials must be tried and tested many times before their full potential to watchmaking is appreciated and understood by the tool-makers and watch-mechanics. It can be considered therefore that Richard Mille watches are futuristic high-tech works of art.
Text in English & French.
Alexander Calder (1898-1976) was a radical inventor: an artist who discarded convention and disrupted hierarchies, overturning the traditional basis of culture while revolutionising the way people perceive and interact with art. Calder’s ‘new line’ was not simply an evolution of forms and styles. From the start, it was quite clear to all who witnessed him at work that – in his way of drawing attention and gaining notoriety – he was doing something radically new. This catalog shows how Calder’s work emerged from expectations of change in American popular culture. Calder, who was initially attracted by the structure and functions of the circus, looked for alternative models to triumph over respectability, public decorum, and the ambitions of industry. The catalogue, with twelve essays from major contributors, will examine how Calder, among the first college-trained artists, found techniques and inspiration in many disciplines and their development: technology, engineering, architecture, physics, and astronomy, among others. All these contributed to the development of his wire sculptures, mobiles, and stabiles. More than 100 works and comparative illustrations will guide the reader through this innovative and unique path.
Kifwebe masks are ceremonial objects used by the Songye and Luba societies (Democratic Republic of Congo), where they are worn with costumes consisting of a long robe and a long beard made of plant fibres. As in other central African cultures, the same mask can be used in either magical and religious or festive ceremonies. In order to understand Kifwebe masks, it is essential to consider them within the cosmogony of the python rainbow, metalworking in the forge, and other plant and animal signs. Among the Songye, benevolent female masks reveal what is hidden and balance white and red energy associated with two subsequent initiations, the bukishi. Aggressive male masks were originally involved in social control and had a kind of policing role, carried out in accordance with the instructions of village elders. These two male and female forces acted in a balanced way to reinforce harmony within the village. Among the Luba, the masked figures are also benevolent and appear at the new moon, their role being to enhance fertility. Although the male and female masks fulfil functions that do not wholly overlap, they do have features in common: a frontal crest, round and excessively protruding eyes, flaring nostrils, a cube-shaped mouth and lips, stripes, and colours. Art historians and anthropologists have taken increasing interest in Kifwebe masks in recent years.
U Thong, 100 or so km north of Bangkok, has been an important site for over 2,000 years, as witnessed by the discovery of a 3rd century Roman coin. The moated city was connected to the Chin river, thereby gaining access to international trade routes.
The inhabitants of the early centers of Classic Southeast Asian civilization were already wealthy enough to own large quantities of ornate jewelry such as imported beads from India and carved stone from Taiwan. They had so much gold that central and western mainland Southeast Asia including the U Thong area was known in Sanskrit as Suvarnabhumi, the Golden Land.
This publication brings a new perspective to the study of ancient gold from U Thong. The author is a trained research metallurgy scientist, and these skills have been brought to bear on the highly significant corpus of early gold artifacts found in and around the moated city, the largest accumulation of such artifacts from any of the ancient muang of Thailand.
The goldsmiths were as highly skilled as those anywhere else in the world, but almost all previous studies have been written by people who can only study the outer appearance to draw conclusions regarding its age and place of origin.
Published 2016 in collaboration with Edizioni Musei Vaticani, this book beautifully reproduces close-up views of Michelangelo’s supreme work in new photography of the restored Sistine Chapel.
Contents: Introduction; The Sistine Chapel; The Frescoes of the 15th Century; The Ceiling; The Last Judgement.
Yasser ‘Mierkat’ Booley started producing photographs in 1993 on the eve of the ‘new’ South Africa. Raised within the tension of a conservative Cape Malay home in politically fraught South Africa, he soon became an observant apprentice, set on mastering the essence of the electric ‘rainbow nation’. This book is a celebration, an indulgent vision. Booley’s South Africa shows ordinary people caught at a crossroads, entangled in a dishevelled unity. He brings to light the beauty of humanity through all religious and cultural differences, through class and gender diversity. His character and style reveal an unbridled optimism, sprinkled with an accidental whiff of irony. Text in English, French, Dutch, and German. Also available in the Africalia series: Grassroots Upgraded ISBN 9789058563910 Calvin Dondo ISBN 9789058564214 Julius Mwelu ISBN 9789058564030 Kiripi Katembo ISBN 9789058565174 Teddy Mazina ISBN: 9789058565167 Sammy Baloji ISBN 9789058563965