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The Headlines
NOTRE DAME PARAGLIDER. Last week, a man managed to slip by security and climb to the top of Paris’s newly renovated Notre-Dame Cathedral. Once on the medieval monument’s uppermost scaffolding around the spire, he jumped off with the help of a paraglider, as Le Canard Enchainé first reported. The publication reported that the incident was possible due to a major reduction in security personnel, as part of a cost-cutting measure. The climber was intercepted by authorities upon his rough landing in the square in front of the cathedral, and the incident has embarrassed the cathedral’s caretakers, who had put in place a new security system and thermal cameras as part of the recent renovation.
MEGA-CONTROVERSIAL MEGALITH. A granite statue sold at auction in London’s Lyon & Turnbull house earlier this month is a fake, historians told Corse Matin. The piece was described as a Bronze Age Corsican megalith, similar to steles found on the archaeological site of Filitosa, but Anne-Laure Santucci , an executive member of Corsica’s culture and heritage council, told Corse Matin, “This is a fake without any possible doubt.” Corsican archaeologists caught wind of the sale after it appeared at the house on March 13; it was sold by a Spanish dealer for $24,300. Such megaliths are protected heritage. Found on the southern end of the island, they are among the earliest known representations of humans in Europe. For experts, the question of whether the sculpture was an intentional forgery or a copy made as an artistic exercise still lingers. A Lyon & Turnbull representative told the Art Newspaper house remains “confident of the authenticity and dating of the sculpture.”
The Digest
A trove of Iron Age artifacts was found by a metal detectorist in a Yorkshire field. Dubbed the “Melsonby Hoard,” it includes over 800 items, including remnants from wagons and ceremonial spears. [Independent]
Hamdan Ballal, a Palestinian filmmaker who co-directed the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, was reportedly injured and arrested following attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the southern West Bank. [Haaretz]
In a bid to reach aspirational middle-class shoppers in China, more luxury brands are turning to institutional exhibitions to showcase their fashion collections. This month alone, brands including Penhaligon’s, Gucci, and Loro Piana are hosting public exhibitions timed to Shanghai Fashion Week, marking a clear shift from the lavish, exclusive events of the past. [WWD]
Japanese designer Yuri Suzuki created an intriguing sound installation for the 2024 Jing’an International Sculpture Project in a public park in Shanghai that features horn-shaped speaking tubes, swings, and slides. “My main goal was to design a space that is open and welcoming, without barriers or intimidation,” Suzuki said. [Dezeen]
The Kicker
IN BASQUIAT’S FOOTSTEPS. The building at 57 Great Jones Street in Manhattan was once the property of Andy Warhol, and later was home to Jean-Michel Basquiat, who also had his studio there. But for some time now, Oscar-winning actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie has taken over the space, dubbing it Atelier Jolie. Though she first conceived it as a platform for high-end fashion and visiting designers, that has all changed, as the New York Times reports. The 6,600-square-foot space is now a publicly accessible, creative space for the arts that includes a gallery and artist residency program. French artist Prune Nourry is the atelier’s artist-in-residence, and Invisible Dog is the gallery using the space rent-free. “I wanted a place where I could spend time with local artists” and create the sensation of a film set, said Jolie. “You can feel that feeling of being purposeful with others.”
