Several Romans dressed as gladiators have climbed the Colosseum to protest a crackdown on their unauthorized business of posing with tourists for money.
Culture officials contend the fake gladiators ruin the decorum at the ancient archaeological site.
Some tourists gladly pose for a photo, then are dismayed when the costumed men demand money. The fake gladiators insist they perform a popular service and that their costumes evoke the atmosphere of ancient Rome.
Source: Associated Press [April 07, 2012]
The British Museum will open a major exhibition presenting a history of Indigenous Australia, supported by BP. This exhibition will be the first in the UK devoted to the history and culture of Indigenous Australians: both Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. Drawing on objects from the British Museum’s collection, accompanied by important loans from British and Australian collections, the show will present Indigenous Australia as a living culture, with a continuous history dating back over 60,000 years.
The objects displayed in this exhibition are immensely important. The British Museum’s collection contains some of the earliest objects collected from Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders through early naval voyages, colonists, and missionaries dating as far back as 1770. Many were collected at a time before museums were established in Australia and they represent tangible evidence of some of the earliest moments of contact between Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islanders and the British. Many of these encounters occurred in or near places that are now major Australian cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth. As a result of collecting made in the early 1800s, many objects originate from coastal locations rather than the arid inland areas that are often associated with Indigenous Australia in the popular imagination.
The exhibition will not only present Indigenous ways of understanding the land and sea but also the significant challenges faced by Indigenous Australians from the colonial period until to the present day. In 1770 Captain Cook landed on the east coast of Australia, a continent larger than Europe. In this land there were hundreds of different Aboriginal groups, each inhabiting a particular area, and each having its own languages, laws and traditions. This land became a part of the British Empire and remained so until the various colonies joined together in 1901 to become the nation of Australia we know today. In this respect, the social history of 19th century Australia and the place of Indigenous people within this is very much a British story. This history continues into the twenty first century. With changing policies towards Indigenous Australians and their struggle for recognition of civil rights, this exhibition shows why issues about Indigenous Australians are still often so highly debated in Australia today.
The exhibition brings together loans of special works from institutions in the United Kingdom, including the British Library, the Pitt Rivers Museum and the Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. A number of works from the collection of the National Museum of Australia will be shown, including the masterpiece ‘Yumari’ by Uta Uta Tjangala. Tjangala was one of the artists who initiated the translation of traditions of sand sculptures and body painting onto canvas in 1971 at Papunya, a government settlement 240km northwest of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory. Tjangala was also an inspirational leader who developed a plan for the Pintupi community to return to their homelands after decades of living at Papunya. A design from ‘Yumari’ forms a watermark on current Australian passports.
This exhibition has been developed in consultation with many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, Indigenous art and cultural centres across Australia, and has been organised with the National Museum of Australia. The broader project is a collaboration with the National Museum of Australia. It draws on a joint research project, funded by the Australian Research Council, undertaken by the British Museum, the National Museum of Australia and the Australian National University. Titled ‘Engaging Objects: Indigenous communities, museum collections and the representation of Indigenous histories’, the research project began in 2011 and involved staff from the National Museum of Australia and the British Museum visiting communities to discuss objects from the British Museum’s collections. The research undertaken revealed information about the circumstances of collecting and significance of the objects, many of which previously lacked good documentation. The project also brought contemporary Indigenous artists to London to view and respond to the Australian collections at the British Museum.
Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum said, “The history of Australia and its people is an incredible, continuous story that spans over 60,000 years. This story is also an important part of more recent British history and so it is of great significance that audiences in London will see these unique and powerful objects exploring this narrative. Temporary exhibitions of this nature are only possible thanks to external support so I am hugely grateful to BP for their longstanding and on-going commitment to the British Museum. I would also like to express my gratitude to our logistics partner IAG Cargo and the Australian High Commission who are supporting the exhibition’s public programme.”
Source: The British Museum [April 23, 2015]
Ceres is quite a strong beer and in Italy it is a brand for a young target audience. Politicians also aim for a young audience, but Italian youth consider them the most aged, corrupted and incapable in Europe.
The challenge: Prove that the young Italians, even if they love a strong beer, are more responsible than those who represent them.
The opportunity: Elections are getting close and everybody feels that the tables are going to turn. But an absurd bureaucratic obstacle stops thousands of Italians studying abroad from voting.
The goal: Ceres Beer will bring the students' problem to the attention of everyone.The strategy: The young Italians abroad are the real heroes, and the will vote anyway.
Execution: We organize symbolic elections in major European cities. Outcome: The cause of the students achieves unprecedented visibility across all media. Ceres gains invaluable awareness and becomes the most cited brand during the election weekend.
Results: Thousands of students from 26 European cities joined the initiative. The protest achieved unprecedented visibility on all the national media: TV, newspapers magazines, radios, social media, news website and blogs. The operation opened a debate all around the country. #ivoteanyway became a tweet trend with more than 10.000 tweets in 10 days.
For the brand: Brand search frequency on google: +470% in 10 days. Ceres was the most cited brand during the election week. People reached: 20 millions, one third of the italian population. Media investment: less than € 5,000.
Credits:
Advertising Agency: Bcube, Milan, Italy
Executive Creative Director: Francesco Bozza
Creative Director: Sergio Spaccavento, Andrea Stanich
Creatives: Sergio Spaccavento, Andrea Stanch, Alessandro Sciarpelletti, Silvia Savoia
Edit: Danilo Carlani, Alessio Dogana
I and my people are revolted by such indicative barbarous gesture during our prosacred time from the US president.
The Gold Coast Film Fantastic opened with a bang (and then some) at Australia Fair Birch Caroll & Coyle cinema's tonight with everyone from Oscar winning special effects whiz John Cox to on-screen (and possibly real life) serial-killer John Jarratt walking the red carpet.
In other highly amusing news I met a young, up and coming Australia actor who just happens to be called James Dean! And he's an actor! And young! Geddit? Sigh. Well, I found it humorous... especially whilst trying to interview him a Marilyn Monroe impersonator was lurking in the background. Eerie.
Anyway, the GCFF is a great local initiative for movie makers and film lovers alike. Festival director Casey Marshall Siemer and co. showcase a selection of Australian films amongst the international offerings and organise the filmmakers to meet with distributors and industry insiders during the event. For cinephiles however, the GCFF is a superb way to see a huge variety of films weeks, even months, before they're released in Oz cinemas.
But with more than 21 films and 7 free outdoor screenings across three days, it's easy to get lost amongst the sheer volume of movies at this year's GCFF. From documentaries and animated films, to romantic comedies and horror, there's something for the cinephile in all of us. Here's my guide to some of the festival highlights:
The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls
Taking out the audience award at this year's Toronto Film Festival, this is an inspirational look at two of New Zealand's national treasures whose radical protest songs have been entertaining the world for nearly 30-years.
The Accidental Husband
Uma Thurman lowers her Samurai sword for a romantic comedy co-starring Colin Firth and Grey's Anatomy fan favourite Jeffrey Dean Morgan.
ZombielandLovers of horror and comedy can hang on to to the Halloween spirit with this mash-up of the two genres. After smashing the US box-office, Zombieland has been getting rave reviews overseas and stars Woody Harrelson, Bill Murray, Abigail Breslin and rising star Jesse Eisenberg.
Sky Crawlers
Nominated for the best animated feature film at the up and coming Asia Pacific Screen Awards, Sky Crawlers is the latest from Mamoru Oshii, director of anime classic Ghost in the Shell. A slow-paced mystery, the animation is incredible with some of the best flight fight sequences ever created.
Prime Mover
Possibly the first love triangle to involve a man, woman and a truck, Prime Mover is the latest from Australian writer/director David Caesar.
BronsonOne of the most talked about drama's of the year, Bronson explores the bare knuckled reality of real life criminal Charles Bronson who has spent the last 30-years in solitary confinement for crimes committed in jail including murder and taking hostages. Oh, it also stars a beefed-up Tom Hardy (above) in his breakout roll.
The Coolangatta Gold This year's race may be over, but relive the excitement with the 1984 film that made the iconic ironman race famous.
I.C.U
From Gold Coast director Aash Aaron, this edge-of-your-seat offering follows three teens in a Surfers Paradise high rise who play a game of cat and mouse with a serial killer.
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
This is one for the kids and kids at heart Inspired by a children's book, the film focuses on a town where food falls from the sky thanks to the invention of a young, wacky scientist. Though I rolled my eyes at the trailer, a four star review from Empire has sparked my interest.
P.S. And I bring you another trailer fresh off the inter-web from another movie on 5 horror movies I must see in 2015 list; Date Night! Yes, the Steve Carrell, Tina Fey led comedy with possibly the best supporting cast ever - Mark Wahlberg, James Franco, Mila Kunis, Leighton Meester, Ray Liotta, Common, Kristen Wiig and more. Oh, did I mention Mark Wahlberg? Did I mention he's shirtless in the trailer? HELL YES! Watch and drool. Thoughts? The trailer looks like its been put together a bit tackily but there appears to be some good moments. We'll have to wait another six months to see the actual movie though. Sigh.
The US president Barack Obama has acted on Wednesday, on September, 9th, with the reference to the Congress in which has stated the basic points of the program of reforming of system of public health services, informs Associated Press.
According to Obama, at the heart of the plan of reforms three purposes lay. The first of them is improvement of conditions of medical insurance for those citizens who have already got the policy. In particular, it is a question of restriction of insurance payments and an interdiction for insurers to limit limits of cost of programs of treatment.
The second purpose of the program is creation of a stock exchange for insurers which will allow to get the insurance for reasonable money to those Americans at whom the insurance while is not present. Thus Obama has noticed, that for legal and physical persons who have no sufficient means, credits and reduced prices will be provided.
The third point of the plan provides introduction of obligatory medical insurance which will allow to cut down not planned budgetary expenses on payment of treatment of not insured persons. The given innovation will concern only those citizens and establishments who are able pay corresponding payments.
According to Obama, the total cost of the program calculated for ten years, will make 900 billion dollars. The president has assured legislators, that these expenses will not lead to the further growth of budgetary deficiency, and has underlined, that reform will manage to the country more cheaply wars in Afghanistan and Iraq or reductions of the taxes undertaken by administration of George Bush.
According to the plan of administration, means for reform will be received for the account of reduction of other articles of budgetary expenses, and also more rational distribution of incomes in the sector of medical insurance. In the long term, has noted Obama if it will be possible to limit rates of growth of expenses on insurance, the budget will win at least four billion dollars.
Besides, Obama has assured, that expenses on reform do not threaten interests of elderly Americans, having explained, that efficiency of program Medicare serving them will be on the contrary increased. Thus the president has answered statements of critics that reform will be defective for elderly citizens.
Reforming of system of public health services is one of key points of program Obama. Earlier it was informed, what exactly this project became the reason of decrease in popularity of the president. The organisations of conservative sense in different states organise protest actions on which blame the Washington authorities for criminal wastefulness.
