The Questionable Business of Being Frida

As the 1930s, the Frida Kahlo gained international notoriety as “Diego Rivera’s wife”, gracing the cover of French Vogue. Then, she floored the avant-garde scene with artworks whose vulnerability spoke from the heart while their rawness punched you in the gut. The public ate it up, despite not always knowing how to digest it. Posthumously,…

The Curious Case of Miss Mechanical Venus

The summer of July 1932 brought an unexpected guest to Brussels, Belgium. The city had become its usual, ephemeral playground for the oddities, treasures, and inventions of the Foire du midi annual fair, but this time it was joined by the curious Dr. Spitzner and his posse of wax humans. The production of dissectible, anatomical…

These Sisters will make your Evil Siblings look like Angels

The Mitford sisters were like a train wreck wrapped in a tornado wrapped in a circus fire – you could’t avert your eyes from their lives. The Times’ Ben Macintyre famously caricaturised the women with impressive pithy: “Diana the Fascist, Jessica the Communist, Unity the Hitler-lover; Nancy the Novelist; Deborah the Duchess and Pamela the…

13 Things I Found on the Internet Today (Vol. CCCLIX)

1. The Red Regatta “Red Regatta is a non-profit independent public art project, presented in collaboration with Associazione Vela al Terzo, that unites Venetians and visitors to celebrate the cultural and maritime history of this iconic city to call attention to the forces of climate change and mass tourism that threaten its future.” The latest breathtaking…

The Most Famous Band You’ve Never Heard Of

Whether you know it or not, you have definitely heard them play. Popular music of the 1960s was dominated by young bands like The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas and The Monkees – bands that didn’t play their own records. Sometimes, the only members of famous bands to appear on their own records…

Don’t be a Tourist in Normandy

Since the Belle Époque, Normandie has long been the weekend destination of choice for Parisians looking for a last-minute escape. The region inspired literary and artistic greats and it’s the birthplace of some of the best French delicacies of all time, like camembert and calvados. Dramatic and untouched coastlines, fresh fruits de mer, artisanal ciders,…

Was Inflatable Furniture Really All that Bad?

As we dream of sipping an ice cold margarita on a floaty pool mattress, far from the stuffiness of our cubicles, a certain nostalgia comes to mind: the age of 1960s, blow up “living.” Through furniture, rooms, even a car, the inflatable life brought a welcome touch of relaxation and sheer goofiness to a design…

Loving Monsieur Butterfly: A Tale of Espionage, Romance and the Transgender Soprano

It began with a glance, as so many love stories do. Bernard Boursicot was your average, unremarkable accountant at the French Embassy of 1960s Beijing. Shi Pei Pu was anything but forgettable, a rising opera star in the city who enraptured her soon-to-be lover, and eventual father of her child after a chance meeting at…

The World’s First Solar Powered Train is a 70-Year-Old Vintage Charmer

You might have expected Japan’s next bullet train or even the Eurostar to have figured out solar-powered rail travel first, but instead, on a disused old railway track along the sandy coast of New South Wales, Australia, a little 1940s “engine that could” has become the world’s first solar-powered train. Chugging up and down Byron…

The Art of Power Clashing

“Power clashing” is an art not easily learned, but Alexander Gorlizki lives, breathes, and paints it in his art. The intricate, bright prints and designs look like they’ve been sourced from an ancient Islamic library and combined with vintage Bollywood pop culture. We see both Eastern and Western influencers – dare we say there might…