Culture and Arts

Joan L. Cannon writes: For readers who like adventure and macho behavior, subdued heroism with a dollop of basic cynicism, this will be a memorable experience. Descriptions are nothing short of brilliant, so vivid and evocative are they. For others who prefer some entertainment with a slice of terrible life, The North Water will be a trial in spite of its artistry. more »

"This year's Human Rights Watch Film Festival presents an array of women's rights issues through inspirational and personal stories of remarkable women," said John Biaggi, the festival’s creative director. "From a tenacious women's rights activist in China to a teenage Afghan rapper fighting child marriage to a courageous director of a women’s health clinic in Mississippi — the festival is spotlighting women and amplifying their voices in society through film. more »

English novelist William Thackeray observed: "That is not a smear of purple you see yonder, but a beautiful whale, whose tail has just slapped a half-dozen whale-boats into perdition; and as for what you fancied to be a few zig-zag lines spattered on the canvas at hap-hazard, look! they turn out to be a ship with all her sails." Apparently Turner undertook the painting — which was returned to him — for the collector Elhanan Bicknell, who had made his fortune in the whale-oil business. more »

The British Museum is staging a major exhibition on two lost Egyptian cities and their recent rediscovery by archaeologists beneath the Mediterranean seabed. Opening for an extended run of six months, The BP exhibition Sunken cities: Egypt’s lost worlds is the Museum's first large-scale exhibition of underwater discoveries. more »