Portugal has had little to cheer about in 2012, with its post-bailout economy still struggling to bounce back under the weight of austerity. But Lisbon-based artist Joana Vasconcelos has had a year to remember. She was already a fêted figure in the world of sculpture and installation art, having exhibited at the 2005 Venice Biennale, Sao Paulo and Moscow. But this year, the Paris-born Vasconcelos came full circle, returning to France to show her work at the Palace of Versailles. In the process, she became the first woman to do so and took on what she described as “the most fascinating challenge” of an already remarkable career. … [Read more...] about Joana Vasconcelos
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Bittersweet celebration for Basques a year after end of ETA’s violence
During a visit to Gipuzkoa recently, it was hard at first to gauge how important the Basque regional elections are to people there. Today marks a year to the day since ETA announced the “definitive” end of its campaign of violence and Sunday’s vote will be the first without the terrorist group’s shadow looming large. And yet, when I talked to locals about what all this historic fact meant to them, many replied that rather than celebrating the peace, they were fretting about the economy. The Basque Country has weathered Spain’s crisis better than most, but it still has a jobless rate of 15 percent. “People are thinking so much about how to make ends meet that the other stuff doesn’t … [Read more...] about Bittersweet celebration for Basques a year after end of ETA’s violence
Vasconcelos finds a Baroque home in Versailles
Lisbon-based Joana Vasconcelos is the latest artist to be featured at the annual contemporary art exhibition at the Palace of Versailles, France. Joana Vasconcelos Versailles includes a number of works, including site-specific pieces, within the state apartments and gardens of the Baroque palace. Born in Paris, Vasconcelos studied art in Lisbon, where she now lives and works. She has won a number of prizes including the Prémio EDP Novos Artistas in 2000 and the Fundação Berardo’s The Winner Takes it All in 2006, resulting in Néctar, which sits at the entrance of the Museu Colecção Berardo in Lisbon. She captured international attention with her participation at the 2005 Venice Biennale … [Read more...] about Vasconcelos finds a Baroque home in Versailles
Spain gets secular… with its Muslims
A Madrid state-run secondary school’s decision to ban a 16-year-old female pupil from wearing a hijab, or Islamic headscarf, to classes has hit the headlines, bringing to the surface the uncomfortable issue of the place in public life of Spain’s more than one million Muslims. The Camilo José Cela school in the prosperous Madrid suburb of Pozuelo has decided that Najwa Malha, who was born in Spain to Moroccan immigrants, has violated its dress code by wearing the hijab. The school’s board has ratified the decision by an overwhelming majority, and Malha has been receiving individual tuition in the school’s waiting room. Her options are simple: accept the ban and remove her headscarf, or … [Read more...] about Spain gets secular… with its Muslims
La Roja steals France’s crown of dominance
Not even a partial strike by Spanish state broadcaster RTVE could prevent the latest triumph for Spain's national football team from being seen by the masses - it eventually proved to be the most-watched game in the station's history. The 2-0 win against France in Paris underlined the notion that there seems to be little that can stop Vicente del Bosque's La Roja at the moment. That said, an anaemic France offered very little to recommend Raymond Domenech's tenure at the helm of a badly listing team that was comprehensively sunk by a nation that had not won on French turf since 1968. Luis Aragonés found the net that day in a 3-1 win, and Del Bosque's predecessor left the incumbent a group of … [Read more...] about La Roja steals France’s crown of dominance
Morocco edges closer to Europe
Question: Which country applied for EU membership the same day as Turkey in 1987? Answer: Morocco. While full membership for the Maghrebi nation is viewed as impossible, the weekend of March 6-7 does signal a landmark on the long road toward a truly advanced status of integration into European structures and political realities onto which the Moroccan ruling elite is pinning so many of its hopes. The EU-Morocco summit, held within the architectural gem of Al Andalus, Granada’s Alhambra palace, is designed to celebrate the achievements of the past few years; Rabat has secured an advanced partnership status with the EU, unique in the Arab world, and agreed to an extensive trade deal – … [Read more...] about Morocco edges closer to Europe
How long can ETA ride on?
Few pieces of news can have more effectively conveyed the notion that ETA is on its knees than the arrest in mid-February of an alleged member of the violent separatist group while he was cycling through Guipúzcoa with a handgun and false papers in his backpack. Interior Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba insisted that Ibai Beobide was on no innocent jaunt. “He wasn’t practicing sport, because nobody does sport with a gun and a pen-drive,” he said, adding that the detained man had “the worst intentions.” With Spanish and French security forces making a seemingly never-ending string of arrests of ETA militants and leaders over recent years, often in stolen vehicles, this seemed to be an … [Read more...] about How long can ETA ride on?