His mother, a Russian Jewish immigrant from Odessa, was devoted to reading and to seeing that her sons succeeded. Mr. Serra drew incessantly from an early age — in part, he admitted, to compete for his parents’ attention with his brilliant, athletic older brother, Tony. Impressed by his drawings, his third-grade teacher told his mother…
In four months, France will host the Paris Olympics, but which France will show up? Torn between tradition and modernity, the country is in the midst of an identity crisis. The possible choice for the opening ceremony of Aya Nakamura, a superstar French-Malian singer whose slang-spiced lyrics stand at some distance from academic French, has…
Last Tuesday, Hong Kong lawmakers passed an overarching national security legislation, widely known as Article 23, through a unanimous vote that augments the existing national security law imposed in June 2020, passed despite intense domestic protests, the pandemic, and its ensuing travel restrictions. The new law’s provisions, which critics have labeled as “incredibly vague,” allow…
Last month, the Lagos Biennial assembled the works of over 80 artists for its fourth edition, on a site named in honor of the first Prime Minister of an “independent” Nigeria. Prior to being renamed Tafawa Balewa Square in 1960, the 14.5-hectare plaza had been known as “Lagos Racecourse,” having been “given” to British colonial…
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