No shit: Poetry is so yesterday. The only thing that’s cool nowadays: Pooetry. Thoughts as deep as a beer bottle, sketches as beautiful as a long night out. And true wisdom as ugly as the morning after. Holy Shit is a compilation of the only nonsense that makes sense: wisdom on toilet walls. Shot all around Berlin, including thought and comments by famous German authors who know what they are drinking about.
On Easter, 2014, Britain’s best-loved vicar, the Rev. Richard Coles, led a pilgrimage to all the major historic sites of the Holy Land: from Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee in the North, via Jericho and the Jordan River, to Bethlehem and, finally, Jerusalem. All of the pilgrims in his care were practising Christians, except one: the writer Kevin Jackson, a diffident and sympathetic atheist intrigued by the chance to take part in this modern-day version of an ancient act of piety, and to learn some more about his old friend, the media clergyman.
Coles to Jerusalem is Kevin Jackson’s light-hearted diary of that pilgrimage, and a close-up portrait of Richard Coles both as priest and as man. As the journey proceeds, Coles reminisces at length about his past life as a rock star and radical gay agitator, his new life as a spiritual leader and a popular broadcaster on BBC radio and television, and the strange, unpredictable path that led him from self-destructive debauchery to faith and vocation.
With a lively supporting cast of fellow pilgrims, Coles to Jerusalem ranges among the magnificence of ancient monuments and the banalities of the guided tour, the grim political background of contemporary Israel and the comedy of a group of idiosyncratic English folk abroad, the intensity of worship and the lightness of banter. It will be irresistible to all admirers of Richard Coles, who has contributed a foreword; and a revelation to those who have never encountered his wisdom and warmth.
To rid the world of the evil, ten-headed Ravana, the Hindu god Vishnu appears on earth as a heroic prince, Rama. The devotion of his brother Lakshman, his marriage to the beautiful Sita, and encounters with demons, giants, sages, and holy men form favorite episodes familiar to any Hindu child. Taken from the holy text, the Ramayana, these stories conclude with Rama’s efforts to rescue the kidnapped Sita, aided by Hanuman, leader of an army of monkeys. These incidents have been retold and lavishly illustrated using original paintings from a 16th-century Mughal manuscript.
This lavishly presented coffee table book features 60 new residential projects with a focus on the beautiful use of natural stone. The Beauty of Natural Stone in Private Residences includes over 200 photographs of houses and apartments where the use of this timeless organic material has been used to create unique and stunning entrance halls, kitchens, bathrooms, and wellbeing rooms. Packed full of inspiration this is a must buy for those looking to recreate similar spaces in their own homes.
How can industrial buildings with long histories and spatial uniqueness be integrated into urban life more actively? How can newly built industrial plots with large-scale industrial and commercial buildings be situated and integrated into urban planning and design?
This book features nearly 40 cases of redevelopment and industrial design by the German architectural firm gmp Architects von Gerkan, Marg and Partners in Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Shenzhen (mainland China), and some German cities. These designs are for commercial and industrial buildings, cultural and convention centers, exhibition halls and data centres. They apply gmp’s design concept to industrial buildings within the context of the metropolis, work that is characterized by conciseness, diversity, unity, uniqueness, and orderliness. This book provides examples of, and references to, urban industrial building areas and industrial architecture design, and can be used as a reference by teachers and students of urban planning studies, architectural history, architectural heritage conservation, and architectural design.
Text in English and Chinese.
This volume compiles the buildings and projects produced by Atelier Scheidegger Keller since 2009. The collection is not a traditional architectural monograph, but is instead comparable to the logbook of a ship’s voyage: it records all the particulars and actions on the journey. Models, diagrams, codes, texts, maps, plans, sketches, mock-ups, building and detail plans, engineering and workshop drawings, building-site images and photo series all document the process, as well as the spatial, typological and constructive research involved. The result is direct insight into the multifaceted working methods and conceptual world of Atelier Scheidegger Keller.
The four constructed buildings include the highly-acclaimed House with two Columns in Wilen (2014) and the Rosengarten student accommodation in Zurich-Wipkingen (2020), with its raw materialisation and double-storey halls and loggias. Text contributions by: Christian Scheidegger, Jürg Keller
With articles from various sources by: Tibor Joanelly, Christian Kerez, Mario Monotti, Christoph Ramisch, Christoph Wieser, Raphael Zuber et al.
Text in English and German.
Italian artist Ugo Rondinone was invited by the Musee d’Art et d’Histoire (MAH) in Geneva to curate a show that invites a dialog between his work and the works in the permanent collection. The show he created centers around two emblematic figures of 19th and 20th century Swiss art – Felix Vallotton and Ferdinand Hodler – and considers the importance of love and desire in our relationship with art and creation. This book documents the museum’s halls and the exhibition, which includes works by Rondinone and art from the MAH Collection.
Text in English and French.
The Eighteen Nineties have become legendary: the period of Wilde, Beardsley and the Yellow Book; a decadent twilight at the close of the Victorian century, when young poets weary of life sat about drinking absinthe and talking of strange sins. The provenance of this beguiling picture is peculiar, for the myth of the Decadent Nineties was created during the period itself. It was an age of artistic self-consciousness, during which writers and painters believed that they had to create not only their works but also their personalities. In Passionate Attitudes, Matthew Sturgis examines the varying extents to which ambitious poets, penurious painters, canny publishers and a controversialist press all conspired to promote the notion of decadence. He explores in detail the cataclysmic effect upon English decadence of the spectacular trial and subsequent conviction of Wilde in 1895, a fall which was to cast a blight over the whole generation. As well as the luminaries Wilde, Beardsley and Beerbohm, Sturgis portrays Arthur Symons, the poet of the music halls, who divided his energies between promoting Verlaine and chasing after chorus girls; Ernest Dowson, the demoralized romantic of the Rhymers Club; Count Erik Stenbock, who kept a snake up his sleeve and went mad; and John Gray, who may have been the model for Wilde’s Dorian. John Lane published most of their books; Owen Seaman and Ada Leverson parodied their manners. Elegantly written, Passionate Attitudes provides a hugely informative and richly entertaining account of the zeitgeist behind the glorious decade of excess.
The City of London is a special place; presently associated with business and high-level finance in particular. It is a frenetic, changing cityscape but despite the bluster it retains evidence of a fascinating history and a wealth of sumptuous architectural detail. The Vernacular of Money: Classical Architecture in the City of London documents and illustrates this wealth of institutional and commercial buildings that draw inspiration from Classical architectural canon, reinterpreting and adapting it to coeval requirements.
From graceful livery halls like the Goldsmiths’, to palatial Edwardian insurance offices to decorous official buildings like the Mansion House and Royal Exchange, the buildings documented here are unified not only geographically and culturally but also by the use of a common ‘vocabulary’ — the Classical architectural language that has influenced Western architectural discourse for the better part of two and a half millennia.
The volume is aimed both at as a reference work of architectural history and as a general interest book for the large community of present and past City of London workers and residents.
Portals: The Colours of Our Longing is a visual and poetic dialogue between a painter and a poet/performance artist. Suzi Morris is an artist whose paintings question ideas of the sublime body, most recently through her affiliation with the Faculty of Medicine at Imperial College London, in response to the new science discipline of genomics. Celeste Nazeli Snowber is a poet, dancer, and multidisciplinary artist whose work, through her writing, teaching, and site-specific performance, explores embodied forms of inquiry. In Portals, lyrical texts sit alongside images that are both delicate and intense, as words and paintings invite the reader to consider how body and spirit can move in harmony together. This collaboration creates something personal and universal, bringing beauty to a troubled world. The two artists – one based in Vancouver, the other in London – unite in a shared vision of sensual ways of being in the world, opening portals to the infinite.
There’s more to Washington, D.C. than politics. Beyond the suits and monuments, the nation’s capital is a playground for kids of all ages. Where else can you find a hidden slide inside a public library or rent paddle boats surrounded by iconic memorials and monuments? Fairy gardens, dinosaur parks, swings, and themed playgrounds pop up everywhere, offering adventures at every turn. Kids can also taste the world without leaving town – empanadas from Latin America, Asian-inspired ice cream, and bustling food halls.
Museums aren’t just for grown-ups either: create at the Hirshhorn’s art carts or join a scavenger hunt at the National Portrait Gallery. Families can hike Civil War-era trails, cheer at Nationals Park, or step inside a mansion with 80 secret doors once visited by Rosa Parks. Washington, D.C., is a place where kids can discover history, science, art, and more – all while having a blast and making lasting memories. Explore these 111 kid-friendly spots and uncover a city that’s fun, surprising, and unforgettable.
Like a multi-disciplinary atlas, this art book reveals the lyrical and surrealist unseen behind the work of Dirk Van Saene. Beyond a retrospective, it’s an intuitive journey through the world this master of taste and craft has tailor-made across decades – offering a richly textured view of a complete, nonconformist artist.
A look at a storied career lived his own way — from the Antwerp Fashion Department halls to the Antwerp Six pantheon, conceptual runway presentations, faculty lectures and most prestigious art galleries of today.
Non-chronological by design, the book weaves together Van Saene’s runway shows, behind-the-scenes stories, the cult boutiques, coveted artefacts, collaborations, landmark experiments and deeply personal inspirations and recollections.
There’s more to Washington, D.C. than politics. Beyond the suits and monuments, the nation’s capital is a playground for kids of all ages. Where else can you find a hidden slide inside a public library or rent paddle boats surrounded by iconic memorials and monuments? Fairy gardens, dinosaur parks, swings, and themed playgrounds pop up everywhere, offering adventures at every turn. Kids can also taste the world without leaving town – empanadas from Latin America, Asian-inspired ice cream, and bustling food halls.
Museums aren’t just for grown-ups either: create at the Hirshhorn’s art carts or join a scavenger hunt at the National Portrait Gallery. Families can hike Civil War-era trails, cheer at Nationals Park, or step inside a mansion with 80 secret doors once visited by Rosa Parks. Washington, D.C., is a place where kids can discover history, science, art, and more – all while having a blast and making lasting memories. Explore these 111 kid-friendly spots and uncover a city that’s fun, surprising, and unforgettable.
“It amazes me that after all these years and countless books, the scope of subject matter on The Beatles is so amazingly large that writers always find a new angle. This book does that in a very unique and clever way. It’s a must for every Beatles fan.” – Billy J. Kramer
“…It’s a magical mystery tour through the band’s life and times.” —Yahoo Entertainment The It-List
“Part biography and part map to the stars, The Beatles: Fab Four Cities is your “Ticket to Ride” and walk in the footsteps of John, Paul, George and Ringo. It’s the next best thing to actually driving their car…”—Nina Violi, Capitol File. and Gotham magazine
“While the book can be used as a handy tour guide filled with addresses, maps and photos, it also makes for great reading.” —Steve Matteo, The Vinyl District
“But now comes a “magic carpet volume” for Beatles fans that blends travel guide with historical reference in an expanded study of The Beatles’ homes, schools, pubs, venues, and important historic sites…” —Jude Southerland Kessler, Culture Sonar
John Lennon said: “We were born in Liverpool, but we grew up in Hamburg.”
To paraphrase Lennon, we could say that: “The Beatles were born in Liverpool, grew up in Hamburg, reached maturity in London, and immortality in New York.”
Four cities. Four stars. The Fab Four – the Beatles – are revered the world over, but it is in these urban centres that their legacy shines brightest. Liverpool: where the band graduated from church halls, leaving their initial line-up as ‘The Quarrymen’ far behind. Hamburg: where their raucous stage act was honed; where arrests earned them a more notorious celebrity reputation, but they became a true emblem of rock ‘n’ roll. London: where The Beatles produced Sgt Pepper, and home to the iconic album cover for Abbey Road. And New York: the city that became John Lennon’s home, where their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show announced them to 73 million Americans.
The Beatles: Fab Four Cities invites the reader on a cosmopolitan trek across continents, tracing the Beatles’ rise to fame from one metropolis to the next. Flush with timelines, stories, trivia, the numerous links and connections between the cities and both pop cultural and local history, this is a travel guide like no other.
Ruskin is one of the most influential and exhilarating writers in English. Art critic, architectural visionary, social reformer, climate warner and incomparable teacher; Ruskin’s words not only transformed Victorian England but speak to us with increasing urgency today. This, the first general introduction to Ruskin for many years, places him in the social, economic and aesthetic world of Victorian Britain that he transformed – and shows how this transformation has much to teach us today. The extensive illustrations range from private notes and lecture diagrams to presentation drawings, including some of the most beautiful images of the 19th century and many never before published. Published in association with the Ruskin Foundation.
In 2023 the Danner Foundation is honoring exceptional achievements in craft at the Church of the Holy Spirit in Landshut, Germany, with the Danner Prize, four additional honorary awards, and a remarkable exhibition featuring a total of 41 artists.
Gunther Pfeffer received the Danner Prize for his display cabinet Raster. The unit comprises fir slats arranged in a grid, which, depending on the angle of view, reveal what is inside and render the grid visible, or obscure the view and meld into a single surface.
The objects are presented in the publication in large-format photographs and informative descriptions of the concepts. Personal statements by the artists provide insights into their various working methods. To conclude, texts by renowned authors look into the significance and development of handicraft today from different perspectives.
Text in English and German.
What Denis Rouvre admires about Sâdhus is the way they are in the world, the way they respond to the world, and the way they carry the burden of parallel paths. In non-identity toward extinction, they resist the necessity of their birth. They are born to die, to no longer exist. Every day, individuals defy their common destiny. Among the people whose portraits are exhibited by photographers, we are referring to those who, by their own will and courage, place themselves among the gods.
What is the relationship between the Holy Trinity and social media? How do hashtags influence us? Why are we so inclined to use filters? Why do we treat digital images differently than analogue ones? Art history offers a beginning of answers.
Instagrammable explores the paradox of looking without seeing and seeing without looking. Koenraad Jonckheere examines trust in and distrust of images, drawing on 2,500 years of thinking about visual art. In eleven chapters, he examines the world of digital images through numerous intriguing examples from art history.
The Khalili Anīs al-Hujjāj (Pilgrims’ Companion) presents a ground-breaking new exploration of Safi ibn Vali Qazwini’s richly illustrated manuscript dating from 1676-77. This beautifully produced volume, with a scholarly introduction by Qaisra M. Khan and translation by Michael Burns, documents the author’s year-long journey to Mecca and Medina from Mughal India via the Indian Ocean and Red Sea.
Commissioned by Zeb un-Nisa, the daughter of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, this delightfully vivid account belongs to a long-established tradition of guides to the Holy Sanctuaries. It gives comprehensive advice to prospective pilgrims on every aspect of the maritime journey, such as which ships to select, the best foods to consume, rituals to observe, significant places to visit and the people one might encounter.
This volume extensively explores the original manuscript’s detailed illustrations and text, providing an invaluable window into 17th-century religious practices, maritime travel, and the cultural landscape of the Indian Ocean world.
FMR No. 15 is filled with running water, but also so much more: Théophile Gautier on the tombs of Egypt, to go with a major new exhibition in Rome; the vintage doorknockers of the Cesati collection, on show at the Masone Labyrinth, Simone Facchinetti on the hidden faces of painting. Then, the massive monument of the Chronicle of Georgia, dominates the manmade lake outside of Tbilisi. Giorgio Antei on Piero di Cosimo’s saga of Primitive Humanity, created in Medici Florence. Uncanny Atlantis by Patanè, Villani, and von Neipperg, brings us the paintings of Andrei Beloborodov, who dreamed of silent ruins flooded by vast waters. Then “The Congolese Envoy” focuses on a bust in polychrome marble at Santa Maria Maggiore (Rome), depicting António Manuel Ne Vunda, Congolese envoy to the Holy See. Last of all, Stefano Salis visits the Party Pavilion at the Grand Hotel of Castrocaro, decorated by Tito Chini.
The Mosque in Madinah, which houses the tomb of the Prophet Mohammed himself, is second only to Mecca as the holiest point of pilgrimage in the Islamic world. The Prophet was born in Mecca and died in Madinah in the seventh century. The great Mosque has grown around his tomb and continues to spread at the heart of the city. For centuries the tomb has been watched over by a group of Guardians, brought originally from Abyssinia, who form their own closed society and exercise authority throughout the Mosque, carrying the keys to the tomb. The current generation of Guardians will be the last: they will have no successors and a tradition almost as old as Islam itself will be replaced by modern forms of administration. Adel Al Quraishi began this extraordinary project by taking portraits of the Guardians, after which he was allowed to photograph the keys and finally, to photograph through the enclosing iron grill into the chamber itself. This unprecedented access led to this remarkable photographic record.
This volume is the first to bring together the V&A Museum’s collection of 19th-century temple hangings from South India, made in the kalamkari style of hand drawing, mordant-dyeing and painting. This is the first time they have been fully illustrated with complete translations of their inscriptions, accompanied by detailed analyses of their narratives. Published in association with the V&A Museum, London, this volume features original research and lavish illustrations.
Introduction: The Ramayana: Contructed, Killed and Brought; Ramayana Chirala; Ramayana Machilipatnam; Ramayana Srikalahasti; Ramayana Srikalahasti (English captions); Ramayana Sri Lanka; Ramayana: Selected Scenes; Balakanda Madurai; Yuddhakanda Madurai; Krishnacharita Coastal Andhra. Two Episodes from the Mahabharata; The Killing of Shishupala Madurai; The Duel between Karna and Arjuna Madurai. Two Ganga Hangings; Ganga Dupatti Machilipatnam; Ganga Dupatti Machilipatnam; Mahalakshmi Pithakam Machilipatnam. Introduction to Holy Sites; Sri Subrahmanya Temple, Tiruchendur; Sri Subrahmanyaswami Temple, Tirupparankunram; Sri Ranganathaswami Temple, Srirangam; Alagar Koyil Chittirai Festival; The Life of Christ Srikalahasti; Bibliography; Glossary; Acknowledgements.
Banaras is a city on the banks of the river Ganges. It is the holiest of the seven sacred cities in Hinduism and Jainism, and played an important role in the development of Buddhism. It is regarded as one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. It is portrayed beautifully through Majumdar’s captivating perspective on different walks around the city. Banaras witnesses thousands of devout Hindus who journey to the banks of the Ganga to wash their sins away. The ghats and the riot of colors only add to the character of this city. Banaras now known as Varanasi is also a major tourist attraction and welcomes thousands from around the world.