Latest news with #WelcomeHome
CairoScene
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CairoScene
Welcome Home: Poltrona Frau's Cairo Debut at Villa Magenta
From gallery walls to storied furniture, the launch explores what 'home' really means. It's not every day that a 114-year-old villa in Heliopolis becomes the setting for a furniture launch. But then again, Poltrona Frau isn't just any brand—and Villa Magenta isn't just any venue. During Heliopolis Anniversary Week, Cairo's design community stepped through the doors of Villa Magenta to mark the arrival of Poltrona Frau in Egypt. The event—titled Welcome Home—was part launch, part exhibition, part reflection on what home really means. Curated by Design Point's Karim El Hayawan and Nehal Leheta, the experience unfolded across the layered rooms of the heritage villa, mixing design, art, and storytelling. At the centre of it all was the Poltrona Frau collection, staged across Villa Magenta's restored interiors in a way that felt less like a showroom and more like a living space in motion. Guests moved through settings where leather textures, subtle tones, and restrained forms didn't shout for attention—they just sat with it. The furniture, handcrafted in Italy and rooted in over a century of design heritage, was positioned not as a luxury statement but as a backdrop to lived-in moments. But this wasn't a typical launch. Alongside the furniture, Welcome Home layered in a series of art installations exploring the personal and emotional ties we each have to the spaces we inhabit. A short film played on loop, tracing fragments of memory, routine, and family. A gallery showcase brought together works from Motion Art Gallery, Picasso Gallery, Ubuntu, and TAM Gallery, all interpreting the concept of 'home' through the eyes of contemporary Egyptian artists. The artworks shared one thing in common: they invited guests to reflect on their own stories—creating an archive of perspectives shaped by nostalgia, change, and identity. Held during Heliopolis Anniversary Week—a city-wide initiative by the Heliopolis Heritage Foundation celebrating 120 years of the district's history—the event echoed the neighbourhood's layered identity. With its regal facade and restored interiors, Villa Magenta provided a setting that blended architectural legacy with contemporary design. It's also a reflection of founder Ramy Effat's wider vision: a space that brings together collectible design, art, and culture under one roof, offering something closer to a lifestyle gallery than a showroom. For Poltrona Frau, this event marks a new chapter in its international presence. Founded in 1912, the Italian brand has become known for its work across sectors, with custom interiors in places like the European Parliament and collaborations with brands like Ferrari and Bang & Olufsen. Bringing that legacy to Cairo emphasizes engagement with a different kind of audience—one that values craftsmanship, heritage, and emotional design in equal measure. The launch was supported by a group of local partners including Design Point, Le Baron, Kahhal Looms, Flower Bar, and Crave, with the Heliopolis Heritage Foundation acting as a cultural partner. Together, they helped position Welcome Home as a meaningful pause in the city's creative calendar. At a time when luxury often leans too far into spectacle, this was a softer kind of moment. A chance to reframe design not just as an aesthetic practice but as something rooted in memory, craft, and everyday experience. As guests trickled into the soft-lit rooms of the villa, that message was clear: home isn't a style. It's a feeling. And the best design doesn't impose one—it makes space for yours. Photo Credit: SceneHome
Otago Daily Times
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Otago Daily Times
Art seen: May 15
"Welcome Home" (Hutch) Hutch gallery's opening exhibition, "Welcome Home", presents work by seven established contemporary artists from across Aotearoa. The art practices represented are diverse in media and subject matter: Simon Attwooll's works blur the line between drawing and photography. Using charcoal from a burnt-out house, images of the aftermath of a fire are, in the artist's words, "made from the materials the image represents''. Justin Spiers' photographs are poetic and adept compositions that draw attention to apparent forgotten objects or vacant interior spaces, and the relationships between random yet familiar found objects. Referencing a long-standing artistic concern with the feature of the picture frame, Tom Mackie presents three photograms of picture frames, including enigmatic images of reverse side wall attachments. Thomas Hancock's oil paintings are abstracted still life works that experiment with colour and form in familiar and domestic yet delightfully strange compositional bundles. Ed Bats' sculptural paintings combine abstraction with multimedia structural approaches to composition building — acrylic on MDF and sapele mahogany, for example. Denise Porter-Howland's ceramics are small scale narrative assemblies — playful combinations of mischievous cats and their interactions with birds, cakes and tiny cigarettes, for example. Hand-tufted wool carpet works by Megan Brady (Kāi Tahu, Ngāi Tūāhuriri) are drawn from a large-scale installation work A quiet corner where we can talk (2018), and dynamically displayed on low-lying plinths. "reception", Yukari Kaihori and Alex Laurie (Blue Oyster Art Project Space) Two distinct yet spatially intersecting installations comprise "reception", by Yukari Kaihori and Alex Laurie. Upon entering the gallery, the viewer is met with a curtain of jewel-like beads at head height, and a ceramic bell suspended at the threshold of a square hole cut right through the floor. There is an immediate dimensional tension created by this exhibition. The viewer is drawn into the exhibition through very direct spatial negotiations with the work. Kaihori's contribution is made up of tiny and multiple site-specific elements. Suspended in resin are tiny bits of moss or leaves, a butterfly and a shell, for example — materials collected from the area around the Blue Oyster. There are further holes cut into the floor, and a patch of living moss. Laurie's work is a v-shaped string of lights, comprising plaster and aluminium casing. It casts a striking perspectival vanishing point, running almost the full length of the gallery and overlapping slightly with Kaihori's work. The auto bulbs emit a subtle light and they are uniformly positioned — a horizontal counterpoint to the vertical sequences in Kaihori's work. At the intersection of this site-specific sculptural intervention, and as noted in the accompanying exhibition text, the artists share a conceptual exploration of transitional spaces, including spiritual or more-than-human worlds. "Spacetimematterings", Motoko Kikkawa, Eva Ding and David Green with Ro Rushton-Green (Pond Art Project Space and Gallery) Pond's opening show presents the work of three Ōtepoti-based artists in a dynamic exhibition that includes video installation, sculpture and painting. The inseparability of space, time and matter is the conceptual premise of the show, and the artists share a biomorphic visual language — of spiral forms or networks, for example. David Green presents a new iteration of a long-standing project, titled Prayer Wheel for a Money Vault (2021-25). The video work, including satellite imagery, is refracted through slumped glass and netting, generating whorls of light and an immersive experience for the viewer. Text by Bruno Latour slowly scrolls across the screen in poetic phrases, sometimes spiralling in the periphery images on the adjacent walls. Ro Rushton-Green's sound piece on alto, tenor and baritone saxophone is a seamless accompaniment and standalone work. Motoko Kikkawa's series of watercolours are titled "How to Capture Things We Can't See" (March 2025). Kikkawa understands the affective connection between emotion and colour, and this work presents some fresh approaches in the artist's calligraphic style. Eva Ding presents a single sculptural work that is installed at ceiling height in one corner of the gallery. Comprised of pipe cleaners in black and red, it is a soft spidery network with tendrils that exit the room and connect across the hallway of the gallery spaces. By Joanna Osborne
NZ Herald
09-05-2025
- Health
- NZ Herald
Sir Dave Dobbyn shares health update, how Parkinson's has changed his performing
Appearing today on RNZ's Afternoons show to play an acoustic session, the Welcome Home singer reflected on receiving his diagnosis, telling host Jesse Mulligan it was 'kind of a relief'. 'It was a relief to find out what it was, because my family couldn't really recognise me. During Covid I went right down the rabbit hole somewhere, I got quite lost. 'And there can be a slight personality change, it can become quite pronounced in some people. 'Thankfully for me, it wasn't too bad. I was rescued by my family, shall we say, and I was able to tackle it head-on.' Dobbyn said almost three years on from that life-changing diagnosis he was 'thrilled with my progress'. 'It does change you, it makes you more receptive, and humble, you find your place in it.' Dobbyn is also 'literally' fighting the progressive neurological disorder by taking up boxing. 'Twice a week I go and do my boxing with some other Parky people, that's what we call ourselves – the Parkies,' Dobbyn told Mulligan. Dobbyn said the combat exercise has helped him counteract many of the physical symptoms of the neurodegenerative disease. 'It [boxing] does wonders for your balance, because your balance is shot with Parkinson's. 'You get all these things that are taken away from you, your balance, the strength of your voice in terms of loudness, things like that become difficult. 'But if you're fighting it and you're doing some exercises, it's the best way to deal with it.' Dobbyn was in good spirits during the performance. He said he considers himself in 'good shape' at the moment but admitted his musicality has been affected by the disease. 'I play less. I can't shred anymore, not that I ever did really... things get taken away. I do less on the piano, which is probably a good idea, I do less on the guitar and focus on the vocal. 'Eventually, it takes your voice, so you sound like a slurring drunk. But I think I'm a few years away from that. I've already done the slurring drunk bit, and it didn't involve Parkinson's.' Dobbyn was knighted in 2020 and appointed an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2003 for services to music. He is set to perform a show at the Auckland Town Hall on June 4. He said the thought of the performance 'scares the hell out of me right now, but I'm sure in doing it on the night it will just be glorious'.
Yomiuri Shimbun
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Japanese Actress Mio Imada Says Drama ‘Anpan' Will Warm Your Heart Every Morning
The Yomiuri Shimbun Mio Imada Mio Imada stars in NHK's serial morning drama 'Anpan,' as the wife of an artist who is based on Takashi Yanase, the creator of 'Anpanman.' Yanase's picture book series 'Anpanman' is also a major hit as a manga series, a TV anime and a series of movies. He was inspired by his wife, Nobu Komatsu, to create the popular female character Dokin-chan. When I asked Imada, who says she loves Dokin-chan, to create a heart shape with her hands, she said, 'No problem.' Dokin-chan often appears with hearts. With her big round eyes, Imada is charming. Like scriptwriter Miho Nakazono said, Imada certainly resembles Dokin-chan. Anpanman literally gives himself (Anpanman's head is an anpan bun with sweet bean paste inside) to help those in need. 'Anpan' is the story of a couple who created such a unique hero. Nobu Asada and Takashi Yanai, played by Takumi Kitamura, meet in a town in Kochi Prefecture and work for the same newspaper after World War II. Nobu helps her husband achieve success later. Imada said their life paths had many events that connect with 'Anpanman.' 'During the war, Nobu [Asada] struggles between 'justice as a teacher' who sends children to the battlefield and 'justice as an individual' who loses a loved one in the war,' Imada said. 'She must consider justice from various angles.' After the war, Nobu became a newspaper reporter to determine what justice really is. Imada believes that whatever the couple seriously contemplates leads to 'a justice that never overturns,' which lies at the root of Anpanman. Courtesy of NHK Nobu Asada, played by Mio Imada Imada says she feels Nobu Komatsu's presence in Anpanman's world, which is filled with gentle characters. 'Yanase's experiences of war and hunger are expressed in 'Anpanman,'' she said. 'Even so, the story is always positive, and I think it's because Nobu, who was generous, soft and tough all at once, was by his side.' The drama has already been in production for more than half a year. Imada says Nobu Asada has become a part of her life. The production of a long-running morning serial is said to be mentally and physically demanding, but she says she is simply treasuring the remaining time. 'The drama will warm your hearts every morning,' she said at the time of the interview, before it started airing. The drama is broadcast on NHK from 8 a.m. Monday through Saturday and on NHK BS from 7:30 a.m. Monday through Friday. Q&A session with Imada Q. What is your favorite bread? A. Salted butter rolls. When it comes to anpan, I prefer koshi-an (smooth bean paste). Q. How do you cope with fatigue from filming? A. I soak and relax in the bathtub and drink alcohol on a day when I have worked hard. First a beer, then a highball. There is no filming on Saturdays and Sundays, so I really look forward to drinking beer after work on Fridays. Q. What advice did you receive from your predecessors, heroines of NHK morning dramas? A. Kaya Kiyohara, whom I worked with on 'Welcome Home, Monet,' as well as Hana Sugisaki and Mei Nagano, told me, 'It's tough, so call me if you need anything.' Mio Imada Born on March 5, 1997, and raised in Fukuoka Prefecture. She won the Japan Academy Film Prize's newcomer award for the movie 'Tokyo Revengers' in 2022. 'Anpan' is her second NHK serial morning drama following 'Welcome Home, Monet.'
Scroll.in
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘Black White & Gray' director Pushkar Mahabal on upending true crime: ‘We have no time for nuance'
By vividly challenging the true crime project's claim to verity and certitude, Pushkar Mahabal's Black White & Gray elegantly upends the filmmaking genre. The six-episode Hindi series on Sony LIV has two parallel strands. Filmmaker Daniel Gray is pursuing a true crime documentary about a set of murders attributed to a young man. In the other strand, actors play characters associated with these killings. But like the fake found footage in the horror film The Blair Witch Project (1999), the documentary within Black, White & Gray is fiction, designed to demolish the notion of absolute truth. The series seeks to remind viewers that a sensational crime may never give up its secrets. What we see and hear could be a feint rather than fact, which makes a final judgement difficult or even impossible. The series stars Mayur More and Palak Jaiswal as characters known only as the Boy and the Girl. In the mock documentary segment, Sanjay Kumar Sahu plays the alleged killer, who pleads his innocence. Mahabal worked in television before making his first feature, the acclaimed thriller Welcome Home, in 2020. The 40-year-old filmmaker spoke to Scroll about the ideas that went into Black, White & Gray and the slippery charms of true crime. Here are edited excerpts from the interview. Black White & Gray appears to have come out of a deep interest in the true crime genre. True crime has been an obsession. I have been obsessed with the Jeffrey Dahmers and Ted Bundys of the world. I have even memorised Jeffrey Dahmer's interviews. During the coronavirus pandemic, I watched the docuseries Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer and Night Stalker: The Hunt for a Serial Killer. I wondered whether I had the skills to make such documentaries, since I am a fiction person. I felt, if I can't make it, let me fake it. You might be obsessed with true crime but you are not seduced by it. You are sceptical about the genre's inherent gimmickiness. As the title suggests, the show is trying to prove that there is no black and white to crime. The story of the show is as mysterious to me as it is to viewers. If it wasn't this way, it wouldn't be fun. Like the character Sneha Meshram says in one of the episodes, we tend to see people as either simplistic heroes or villains. We don't have the understanding, time or IQ to appreciate nuance. This is happening with general content too, which angers me. So I guess my frustration came out through the show. What was your writing process like? The show needed to look like the real thing, whether it's the slightly cheesy music or the visual effects. But the show needed to be serious too. The best thing I did was not to write the story first. Instead, I started writing the scenes and the dialogue. The script also had edit points – where the show would go into fiction or come back to the documentary. During the post-production, several assistants thought that the staged documentary part was real. When Sanjay Kumar Sahu came in for the dubbing, they were startled to see him. They hadn't been told that he is an actor. We kept playing along until we reached the fifth episode. The fictional story of the couple is not filmy, it is straightforward. But in the mockumentary, you don't trust anyone by the end of the season. That's the thing about unreliable narrators – you don't know who's lying or who's telling you the truth. There are two kinds of styles at work. There is the gritty documentary aesthetic, and a more fluid kind of storytelling centred on the Girl and the Boy. There is a clear distinction between the two styles. The show jumps back and forth between the two strands, so you know what you are watching. We didn't merge the two worlds at any point, otherwise it would have come off as a gimmick, a kind of false complexity. We shot the series in roughly 46 days, with a small crew. The non-fiction bits took less time to shoot. For instance, although Sanjay is in the show throughout, he shot for only two-three days. Cinematographer Saee Bhope has completely designed the different shooting styles. She shot the interviews on small cameras and degraded them to create authenticity, the way Daniel Gray would have done. There are also two different acting styles. The largely neutral performances in the mock documentary are more convincing and powerful than the parallel strand. The mock documentary portions were extremely challenging. How do you get an actor to perform in a non-actor way? An actor will give himself away, however realistic the performance. It was especially tough for Sanjay and Isha Mate, who plays Sneha. We tried out all variations of the dialogue. The most important thing was that Sanjay didn't know the script or how his character would turn out. If he knew, it would have shown in his performance. I wrote his dialogue in English. Just before the take, he would read his lines and translate them while the camera was on so that I could get the mumbles, the realistic pauses, the self-correction. The guy who plays the real Rao isn't a trained actor, so it was okay for him. Now I am getting calls about Vinod Wanikar, asking who he is, how is he so natural. Sanjay is mostly dead-eyed and unemotional, like people in true crime documentaries. Sanjay and I watched a lot of documentaries. I remember a documentary about the November 2008 attacks on Mumbai in which a cop said that his superior was shot dead before his eyes. He said this in a flat way that was still emotional and authentic. The man wasn't acting, he was trying his best not to be emotional. That's what Sanjay did too. One of the most memorable characters is the police officer Bobade – and his pet dog. Bobade is played by Chetan Mhaske, a brilliant Marathi theatre actor. There is a moment when Bobade gets angry and the dog barks. The moment doesn't look designed but it was. Why do we never see Daniel Gray's face? It adds to the realism. It's me saying that if you want to make a documentary like this in real life, you have to remain hidden. It's me being scared of exposing the main thread, which is Daniel Gray. This is also why I haven't named the characters played by Mayur More and Palak Jaiswal. It creates a sense of mystery or even confusion. I didn't want to create unnecessary conversations around class or caste or religion. The simple point is that the characters come from two groups that do not get along. As Rao says, the father's main problem is that his daughter is in love with a man she isn't allowed to be with. Viewers can project their own political readings onto the show. I have tried to represent all sides, I have tried not be biased. But yes, the show is political. All content is political. Even romantic films are political. How did you get into filmmaking? I am from Nagpur. I am a trained Hindustani classical music vocalist. I came to Mumbai in 2006 to become a music director. I did a few projects, including a couple of Marathi films. In 2011, I made a short film out of curiosity with my writer and actor friends. Somehow, the trailer reached Ram Gopal Varma. I was over the moon since I am a huge Ram Gopal Varma fan. He was very impressed to know that I had learnt filmmaking through YouTube. We made a film together in 2011, a thriller called Jungle 2, which was completed but never released. I wanted to continue as a director. I worked in television for six years. I was earning well. But one day, I was hanging out with my old friends from Nagpur, Saee Bhope and Ankita Narang. We were ranting that nobody appreciated our talent. Then we thought, why not make something on our own? Welcome Home was a trust-based film. We called up all our friends and said, let's make something, never mind whether it sells or not. Producers Hemal Thakkar and Paresh Rawal saw it, Sony LIV saw it, and they liked it. I am very relaxed when Saee and Ankita are on the sets. Since we wanted to do something else with Sony LIV, I wrote Black White & Gray. Saee shot the show, as she did Welcome Home, and Ankita, who wrote and produced Welcome Home, is the creative producer on the show. How have viewers reacted to Black White & Gray? Filmmakers have been asking me how I pulled off such an experimental show in a corporate set-up. On that front, I have had a very good experience with the people at Sony LIV. They didn't interfere and let me do my thing. We had pre-written the show when we pitched it to Sony LIV. Such a complex narrative can't be pitched as an idea. You need to have episodes ready so that you can explain the treatment, otherwise it can be confusing. I couldn't even explain the show to my father. I told him to watch the episodes instead. Mounting a show like this is tiring since there is no template, no reference, but it's hugely enjoyable too. Play
