An Arctic Seaside Town they call “The Paris of the North”

Today, we’re pointing our compass to an alternative seaside town – the Arctic island city of Tromsø, Norway, known for over a century as the “Paris of the North” for its blend of mainland-European and Nordic culture. Dream of spending a night under the Northern Lights in your own Bio-Dome-like house? It awaits you here.…

Signed with Love: The Hand Painted Posters of NYC’S Cevallos Brothers

Sometimes, you just need a sign. Preferably: one crawling with brilliant fonts, memories of your favourite childhood foods and a few brujas on broomsticks. Such are the delightful creations of NYC’s local legends, the “Cevallos Brothers,” who for almost half-a-century have been hand painting the town’s streets, tortas trucks, bars, and more with our favourite…

For a Year, They Lived Tied Together with 8 Feet of Social Distance

The promise was made on American Independence Day, 1983. “We, Linda Montano and Tehching Hsieh, plan to do a one year performance. We will stay together for one year and never be alone…tied together at [the] waist with an 8 foot rope.” Arguably the most difficult part of this promise? That artists Hsieh and Montano…

Has Coronavirus Killed the Menu? An Ode to the Restaurant Staple

Ah, Paris! Global capital of couture, style, and…menus? As café terraces welcome back patrons post-lockdown, it’s comes to the attention of our Paris team that tangible menus have gone digital across the city. Restaurants are displaying QR barcodes for customers to scan and access menus via their smartphones in order to avoid spreading les microbes.…

The Art of Destroying Money

For the past few decades, the American artist Mark Wagner has been snipping up US dollars to make intricate collages that comment on Capitalism, greed, and materialism; elaborate allegorical pieces that prompt us to reconsider our relationship with such a powerful, albeit banal object. You’d be hard pressed to find an artist who so boldly,…

How Black Cowboys Built the American West: A Living History

You may hear it, before you see it. The gentle trotting of hooves backdropped by the sounds of New York City’s JFK Expressway. Even locals do a double take when they cross paths with a member of the Federation of Black Cowboys. When they ride, they tell the true story of the Wild, Wild West:…

She Was a Black Librarian Who Could Equal America’s Most Powerful Man

Today, we meet a heroine by the name of Belle da Costa Greene. Under the honey-hued lights of Manhattan’s Morgan Library, she became the guardian of the world’s greatest cultural treasures: not one but three Gutenberg bibles, illuminated manuscripts, originals by Da Vinci, Mozart, Michelangelo, and others – the list goes on (in its very own…

Why NASA Set up Shop in Russia’s Forbidden Star City

Tucked in a Russian forest not terribly far from Moscow, you’ll find it: a veritable mini-city, populated entirely by space explorers and their kin for over half-a-century. This is “Star City,” and getting an invite here is a bit like making it into Wonka’s Chocolate Factory; it’s the world’s oldest habitation of its kind, a…

If Ophelia Could Talk: The True Story of the Iconic Artist-Muse

If there’s one thing we’ve learned over the years, it’s to listen to the muse – she usually has the juiciest details behind some of history’s most iconic artworks and artists. Today, we travel to the gauzy, sun-dappled world of the romantic pre-Raphaelite painters and zoom in on their unsung queen, “Ophelia” in that iconic…

Under His Pen, Art Nouveau became delightfully Trippy

Re-discovering history’s rebellious and obscure artists is one of our favourite pastimes on the internet. When their brushtrokes indulge their inner ghoul and become mischievous à la Edward Gorey, King of American macabre, or Oscar Wilde’s fearless illustrator who shook up Victorian society. Today, let’s unroll the black carpet for Mr. Harry Clarke and revisit…