Gymnastique : La culture sans claquage

In 1973 choreographer and dancer Carolyn Carlson brought an breath of American fresh air into the Paris Opera. In true hippy style she brought barefoot dancing, improvisation and a relaxed attitude. Not everyone was ready for change.

The stories of Mohammed Mrabet are rooted in Berber oral tradition, and draw their inspiration from the Tangier of the 40s and 50s. His talent impressed the entire Beat Generation. Thus, Mrabet became the first Moroccan writer published in France. Despite the fact he couldn't read or write.

Ancient Greek statues are white, pure and classical, just like the marble they are carved from. False. These statues were painted in fabulous bright colours. Archaeologists and art academics have known this for centuries so why does the white myth endure?

With one of his paintings, Gerhard Richter made an intervention into a long-running an passionate debate: Which way round should you put the toilet roll?

The humble accordion may not have a reputation as the coolest instrument on the block. But in the hands of Mario Batkovic it takes on another dimension. Since 2017 the Bosnian accordionist has been wowing audiences and recording film and game scores, notably for hit survival game, Red Dead Redemption 2.

When we think of superheroes, American creations like Batman, Spiderman or the omnipresent Superman come to mind. But not so long ago there was a rich culture of French comic-book superheroes. But where have they gone?

A simple hut on the Côte d‘Azur shows all of Le Corbusier’s architectural genius.

“All your base are belong to us” was a baffling translation error in an early nineties video game which quickly became a long-running internet meme. But why share a meaningless sentence?

With its never-ending corridors, beautiful auditoria and recording studios with arguably the best acoustics in the world, the Berlin Funkhaus was the biggest and most advanced centre for radio broadcasting in the German Democratic Republic. Music publisher Elisabeth Heller, who worked there during its heyday, is our guide.

We remember pixels from the early days of video games and the internet. But the pixel is still with us: In art galleries, on the streets and in our minds…

Si le street art est souvent un medium d'expression politique, ce n’est jamais aussi vrai qu’en Irlande du nord. Depuis les années 70, les murs de Belfast ont des oreilles, mais aussi une voix. Les fameux “murals” parlent aussi bien des figures rassembleuses (George Best) que de l’histoire des “Troubles” (du Bloody Sunday aux grèves de la faim), et continuent de refléter les luttes intestines qui agitent le pays - unionistes contre loyalistes, catholiques contre protestants.

Ex-member of the Camorra, Davide Cerullo lives in La Scampia, a notoriously tough suburb of Naples. He fights the local culture of violence with the beauty of photography and poetry.

Before the computer age, Letraset typefaces allowed anyone to make professional-looking graphics on the cheap. It soon became central to punk and the DIY fanzine scene.

Patrick Bailly-Maître-Grand takes photos without a camera. By using techniques from the early days of photography the artist’s works are entirely analogue and highly poetic.

Highly respected theatres are programming gory productions that have more in common with slash horror films than traditional theatre.

When did we start applauding? At the theatre, after speeches or at a football match, people all over the world clap to show their approval. What does this curious human behaviour mean?

Over the last decade strange works of art have arrive on the contemporary art scene: Mountains of mould, sculptures of spiders web and even works that fuse human and plant DNA. Welcome to the world of living art works.

In Greater Paris there exist mysterious white zones, areas on maps which are undocumented and uncharted. What lies in these forgotten or hidden spaces? What so they represent in the age of Google Maps? French writer Philippe Vasser and artists Xavier Courteix and Xavier Bismuth are fascinated by these non-places.

Designer, singer, poet, stylist, Vava Dudu does pretty much everything. But having worked with Jean-Paul Gaultier and designed garments for Lady Gaga, why isn’t she more famous?

Conductors can gesticulate wildly when they conduct an orchestra. But have you ever wondered what exactly they are doing with their hands? And why do they use a baton?

In 1917 Marcel Duchamp conquered the contemporary art scene with his urinal tilted at a 90 degree angle. Since then, artists have repeatedly alienated objects from their original context and meaning to challenge the viewer's perception. The photographer and sculptor Philippe Ramette creates incredible images that laugh in the face of gravity.

15 years ago, a breast exposed for only a few seconds on American television at half-time in the Super Bowl triggered the so-called “Nipplegate” scandal, and led to the founding of Youtube.

Life is unfair. Some have perfect pitch while others can’t sing Happy Birthday in tune. Is musicality innate or cultural?

As good as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo or Botticelli, but for five hundred years the women artists of the Italian renaissance have lacked recognition. Linda Falcone, head of the Advancing Women Artists Foundation, is working to change that.

Viollet-le-Duc oversaw the renovation of Paris' Notre Dame cathedral in 1843. But that was barely scratching the surface of what he wanted to do: he was convinced he could restore Mont Blanc just as he would a building, and even published a book on his plans. Was he an ecologist ahead of his time or an artist detached from reality?

Bauhaus scene is captured in a single photograph: provocative, different, innovative. The movement's influence can still be felt today, despite its time being cut short by the rise of the Nazis.

Brecht Evens started off making comics the traditional way, but his art studies triggered a lightbulb moment. There's no more boundary between highbrow and lowbrow art for him, as he takes his comic style and deconstructs it. All the boxes, speech bubbles, and usual visual cues of most comics are gone. What's left is a colourful universe that plays with lines, persepectives, and realities.

It seems that scientist have proven that the enigmatic gaze of the Mona Lisa does not follow you around the room. So why did we think that in the first place?

In films, almost everybody chases after a MacGuffin. Whether it's a mysterious object, secret information or a character, the MacGuffin is often what drives the action foward. First used and named by Alfred Hitchcock, the MacGuffin itself is enigmatic.

Artist Davina Sammarcelli makes erotic poems out of letters, returning them to their purest state: lines, shapes, and symbols. Two full stops each encased in parentheses can veer away from their linguistic significance, and suddenly take on the appearance of a pair of breasts. A latent sexuality that language had all along, Davina believes.

In 2015, the photo of a dress posted on social networks almost broke friendships: some saw it blue and black, others swore it was white and gold. When it comes to color, our brain plays tricks on us - exactly what Goethe argued centuries ago.

Inspired by Marcel Duchamp, the Italian artist Piero Manzoni sold tins of his own poop, the price of which was indexed to gold. Was he making fun of the art world? And what would drive somebody to buy it?

Roberta Bayley helped shape the aesthetics of punk in the late 1970s. Her snapshot of the Ramones became an inconic image that encapsulated an entire cultural movement.

Gotham City is Batman's eternal playground but is also New York's darker sister. What inspired the cityscape of one of the most famous cities to never exist?

How do you kill time during a flight? Nina Katchadourian has the solution. The artist creates inventive photography using only want she can find from her seat on the plane.

In a church in Halberstadt, an organ slowly plays music that sounds like the eternal Om of a Buddhist song. The piece was written by John Cage, who wanted it to be played as slowly as possible. Each movement lasts 71 years. The concert started in 2001, and is on track to end in 2640.

The fear of being called a witch was once upon a time the ultimate form of social control. Any woman who ruffled feathers ran the risk of being accused of being one, and the mere accusation meant a slow and painful death at the stake. But now, feminists are taking back the term. If women who speak their minds are witches, then maybe more women should be witches.

Madeleines have become literary icons, all thanks to Proust. But it almost didn't happen: according to Proust's notes, the famous madeleine could have been a rusk or toast.

The image of San Sebastian, tied up and his chest riddled with arrows, has inspired generations of artists. Does his gaze beg for mercy or is he actually in the throes of pleasure? Over the years, many artists have transformed this moment of pain into a moment of desire. So much so that Sébastien has become a key figure in homoerotic imagery.

In 1989, a year after being diagnosed with AIDS, Keith Haring created a mural entitled Once Upon a Time in the toilets of an LGBT centre in Manhattan. Eminently political, the work is still there decades later.

Saype is a graffiti artist with a difference. He doesn't spray his works on walls but in fields and on grass, using his own biodegradable paint. His huge works of art are best appreciated by drone, where the true scale is revealed.

Featured in the hit series, ‘Stranger Things’ and popular with celebrities worldwide, the influence of the fantasy role-play game is increasing.

The publishing house Mr. Toussaint Louverture was founded in 2004 by Dominique Bordes. He specialised in non-standard works, mainly forgotten foreign masterpieces. For him, his books must be a physical, almost sensual experience.

At a time when women did not have access to higher education, English women used their sketching and art skills to record wildlife and plants. Beatrix Potter specialised in mushrooms and completed breakthrough research from her kitchen. But the establishment ignored her... and thus her second career as the creator of Peter Rabbit was born.