Latest news with #Met
France 24
44 minutes ago
- General
- France 24
New York's Met museum sheds new light on African art collection
After a four-year renovation with a $70 million price tag, the reopening of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing comes amid heated debate over the representation of cultural diversity in Western museums and the return of works to their countries of origin. The reopening should be "an opportunity to recognize that the achievements of artists in this part of the world (sub-Saharan Africa) are equal to those of other major world traditions," Alisa LaGamma, the Met's curator for African art, told AFP. In a spacious gallery bathed in light, visitors are greeted by a monumental Dogon sculpture -- "a heroic figure, likely a priest," LaGamma explained. Next to it sits a clay sculpture of a curled body from the ancient city of Djenne-Djenno, in present-day Mali, which is believed to be one of the oldest pieces in the collection, dating back to the 13th century. 'Complex history' The exhibit does not present the works of sub-Saharan Africa as a single unit, but in chapters to better distinguish between the various cultures. "We don't want people to oversimplify their understanding of an incredibly complex history," LaGamma said. "There are over 170 different cultures represented among the 500 works of African art on display," she pointed out. "That gives you a sense of how many different stories there are to tell in this presentation." The museum wing, which also displays arts of Oceania and the "ancient Americas" -- prior to European colonization -- opened in 1982 after former Republican vice president and philanthropist Nelson Rockefeller donated his monumental collection. It is named for his son. "This is a collection that was formed essentially following independence in a lot of what were new nations across sub-Saharan Africa," LaGamma said. "It doesn't have necessarily the heavy weight of a collection that was formed under colonialism," she said, hinting at the pressure faced by many museums to respond to questions about the origins of works on display. 'African Spirits' A third of the works shown here were newly acquired. The museum was thus able to benefit from a donation of thousands of photographs from the renowned Arthur Walther collection. Among the vast trove of pieces donated is a 2008 series of self-portraits entitled "African Spirits" by Fosso, a Cameroonian-Nigerian photographer. Among Africa's leading photographers, Fosso poses as major figures in African independence and civil rights struggles, from Congolese independence leader and first prime minister Patrice Lumumba, to Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X. Through around a dozen films directed by Ethiopian-American artist Sosena Solomon, visitors can also explore iconic cultural sites across the continent, like Tsodilo rock paintings in Botswana, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and Tigray in Ethiopia, and the tombs of Buganda kings at Kasubi in Uganda. "In an art museum like this, it is important that rock paintings should be reflected," said Phillip Segadika, chief curator for archeology and monuments at Botswana's national museum, in residence at the Met to participate in the project. "It tells us that what we are seeing today, whether it's in European art, medieval art, whatever -- it has a history, it also has an antiquity."
Time of India
an hour ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Rain, thunderstorm likely in Indore-Ujjain till June: Met
Indore: The Meteorological Department has forecast continued rainfall and thunderstorm activity across most parts of the Indore and Ujjain regions till the end of May and even into early June. June 2 marks the conclusion of Nautapa—the traditional nine-day period believed to be the hottest phase of the pre-monsoon season. However, this year Nautapa has witnessed rainfall and thunderstorm activity instead of high temperatures. On Thursday, Indore experienced clear skies after several days of cloudy weather. However, the lack of rainfall allowed daytime temperatures to climb to 36 degrees Celsius, three degrees higher than Wednesday's 33.1 degrees Celsius. Despite this rise, the maximum temperature remained four degrees below the seasonal normal. The discomfort persisted due to high humidity levels, with relative humidity recorded at 77% in the morning and 46% by evening. The minimum temperature settled at 22 degrees Celsius, which is three degrees below the normal. As of 8:30 AM on Thursday, the city recorded a temperature of 26.8 degrees Celsius and wind speeds of 17 kmph from the west-northwest. By 5:30 PM, temperatures rose to 35.6 degrees Celsius, while wind speeds increased to 19 kmph. Indore's seasonal rainfall has now reached 207.9 mm. During the last 24 hours, thunderstorms in western Madhya Pradesh brought strong winds, with Agar recording the highest gust at 118 kmph, followed by 65 kmph in Neemuch. In the past 24 hours, significant rainfall was reported in Warla (43.2 mm), Hatod (32 mm), Bhagwanpura and Bhavgarh (30 mm each), Sailana (29 mm), and several other locations including Mhow (13.8 mm) and Gautampura (12.5 mm). Depalpur recorded 18.6 mm of rain. "During the last 24 hours, most parts of western MP received fairly widespread rainfall and thunderstorms. Monsoon on Thursday further advanced in some parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha. With the current weather systems active over the state, the rainfall and thunderstorm activity is expected to continue in most parts of MP for the next four days. Temperatures are also expected to remain below normal; however, high humidity is expected to maintain the discomfort despite lower temperatures," said Dr Divya Surendran, Met scientist, IMD Bhopal.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Expect dust storm, strong winds today; orange alert issued
New Delhi: The city experienced a slight rise in daytime temperature; however, an overcast sky in the late afternoon, accompanied by gusty winds and short-duration rain in many areas by early evening, provided some relief. Safdarjung recorded a peak wind speed of 41 km/h, while Palam saw winds reaching 46 km/h. Several localities witnessed brief spells of rain, with Safdarjung, Palam, and other areas recording traces. Pitampura received 2 mm of rainfall, and Mayur Vihar recorded 3.5 mm. The Met has issued an orange alert for Friday. "A fresh western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from May 29. Under its influence, light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms/lightning and gusty winds is likely over Delhi NCR on May 30," stated an IMD forecast. Officials advised against travelling to mountainous areas over the weekend due to the risk of severe weather, including strong winds and hailstorms. "Extreme weather may cause strong winds, rain, and hailstorms in J&K on May 30 and 31; in Himachal on May 31 and June 1; and in Uttarakhand on May 30, 31, and June 1. Travel to these regions should be avoided," said Krishna Mishra, scientist at the IMD. Meanwhile, on Thursday, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung was 39.1 degrees Celsius. The AQI on Thursday remained moderate.
Time of India
an hour ago
- Climate
- Time of India
Deep depression triggers Kol showers, brace for rainy Friday
1 2 Kolkata: A deep depression that crossed over to the land near Sagar Island on Thursday triggered moderate rain in Kolkata. The Alipore weather office recorded 15.5 mm rainfall till Thursday night. Met officials said the system is likely to trigger more rain till Friday afternoon. While this weather system accelerated the monsoon's arrival in North Bengal on Thursday, six days in advance, Met officials have yet to forecast monsoon's date with Kolkata. The city woke up to a mostly sunny morning, with cloud cover in between. But clouds from the deep depression system started reaching the city sky when it began crossing the land between 10.30 am and 11.30 am, triggering widespread showers. Although the prediction for the city was heavy rain till late night, the rain amount remained moderate. However, Met officials have not ruled out rain till Friday afternoon with squally wind at night. The rain also dragged the maximum temperature to 29.7°C, 5.4 notches below normal and the lowest this month. The minimum was 25.8°C,1.4°C below normal. "Moving at 22 kmph, the deep depression crossed land between Sagar Island and Khepupara at a distance of 40 km southwest of Canning, 130 km west-southwest of Mongla, and 190 km west of Khepupara," said Somnath Dutta, head of Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Kolkata. The system's speed slowed to 5 kmph as it moved northeastwards. Till reports came in last, the system was close to Canning and was about 100 km west-southwest of Mongla. "This system will continue to trigger more rain in almost all parts of Bengal in the next few days," said Dutta. The system is likely to rescind into a depression by Friday morning and then become a well-marked low-pressure area by Saturday. Met officials said the window for an intense shower in Kolkata was Thursday and Friday afternoon. Met officials said they are keeping tabs on this system that could affect monsoon reaching the city in about three days. The normal monsoon arrival date in North Bengal is June 5, while it is June 10 for parts of South Bengal, including Kolkata. "Monsoon has covered Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Jaipaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. Conditions are favourable for the further advance of southwest monsoon over some more parts of Bengal in the next couple of days," said H R Biswas, head of the weather forecast section at RMC.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
New York's Met museum sheds new light on African art collection
From a delicate 13th-century clay figure to self-portraits by photographer Samuel Fosso, New York's Metropolitan Museum reopens its African art collection on Saturday, exploring the "complexity" of the past and looking to the present. After a four-year renovation with a $70 million price tag, the reopening of the Michael C. Rockefeller Wing comes amid heated debate over the representation of cultural diversity in Western museums and the return of works to their countries of origin. The reopening should be "an opportunity to recognize that the achievements of artists in this part of the world (sub-Saharan Africa) are equal to those of other major world traditions," Alisa LaGamma, the Met's curator for African art, told AFP. In a spacious gallery bathed in light, visitors are greeted by a monumental Dogon sculpture -- "a heroic figure, likely a priest," LaGamma explained. Next to it sits a clay sculpture of a curled body from the ancient city of Djenne-Djenno, in present-day Mali, which is believed to be one of the oldest pieces in the collection, dating back to the 13th century. - 'Complex history' - The exhibit does not present the works of sub-Saharan Africa as a single unit, but in chapters to better distinguish between the various cultures. "We don't want people to oversimplify their understanding of an incredibly complex history," LaGamma said. "There are over 170 different cultures represented among the 500 works of African art on display," she pointed out. "That gives you a sense of how many different stories there are to tell in this presentation." The museum wing, which also displays arts of Oceania and the "ancient Americas" -- prior to European colonization -- opened in 1982 after former Republican vice president and philanthropist Nelson Rockefeller donated his monumental collection. It is named for his son. "This is a collection that was formed essentially following independence in a lot of what were new nations across sub-Saharan Africa," LaGamma said. "It doesn't have necessarily the heavy weight of a collection that was formed under colonialism," she said, hinting at the pressure faced by many museums to respond to questions about the origins of works on display. - 'African Spirits' - A third of the works shown here were newly acquired. The museum was thus able to benefit from a donation of thousands of photographs from the renowned Arthur Walther collection. Among the vast trove of pieces donated is a 2008 series of self-portraits entitled "African Spirits" by Fosso, a Cameroonian-Nigerian photographer. Among Africa's leading photographers, Fosso poses as major figures in African independence and civil rights struggles, from Congolese independence leader and first prime minister Patrice Lumumba, to Nelson Mandela and Malcolm X. Through around a dozen films directed by Ethiopian-American artist Sosena Solomon, visitors can also explore iconic cultural sites across the continent, like Tsodilo rock paintings in Botswana, the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela and Tigray in Ethiopia, and the tombs of Buganda kings at Kasubi in Uganda. "In an art museum like this, it is important that rock paintings should be reflected," said Phillip Segadika, chief curator for archeology and monuments at Botswana's national museum, in residence at the Met to participate in the project. "It tells us that what we are seeing today, whether it's in European art, medieval art, whatever -- it has a history, it also has an antiquity." arb/gl/nl/sla
