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The image of San Sebastian, tied up and his chest riddled with arrows, has inspired generations of artists. Does his gaze beg for mercy or is he actually in the throes of pleasure? Over the years, many artists have transformed this moment of pain into a moment of desire. So much so that Sébastien has become a key figure in homoerotic imagery.

How a Saint Became a Gay Icon

Gymnastics

Madeleines have become literary icons, all thanks to Proust. But it almost didn't happen: according to Proust's notes, the famous madeleine could have been a rusk or toast.

Proust's Sweet Tooth

The publishing house Mr. Toussaint Louverture was founded in 2004 by Dominique Bordes. He specialised in non-standard works, mainly forgotten foreign masterpieces. For him, his books must be a physical, almost sensual experience. 

Toussaint Louverture

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Madeleines have become literary icons, all thanks to Proust

Olympic events in painting, sculpture, literature, music and architecture? The idea sounds crazy. And yet, between 1912 and 1948, 150 medals were awarded at the Olympic games for artistic excellence. 

The Artistic Olympic Games

Between 1912 and 1948, 150 medals were awarded at the Olympic games for artistic pursuits.

Do you know Kraków, a picture-perfect city? It's the former Polish capital, with 500,000 students and a castle... But Kraków also has its hidden side, quite literally "underground": its cellars. This is how these underground Gothic remnants have become a hub of artistic avant-garde and dissent.

The Secret Life of Kraków Cellars

Kraków has a hidden side, quite literally "underground": its cellars. 

When we talk about visionary science fiction writers, we often think of Philip K. Dick, Isaac Asimov, or René Barjavel... rarely of Stanislaw Lem (1921-2006). And yet, this Polish author created one of the masterpieces of the genre, Solaris, which was adapted into a film by Tarkovsky. He also envisioned ahead of his time what the Internet could be and a world where computers would be capable of thinking and experiencing emotions.

Science Fiction Prophet Stanisław Lem

The Polish author Stanislaw Lem created science fiction masterpieces and envisioned the Internet ahead of his time.

Featuring masks, faceless faces, truncated bodies either dismembered or dissolved, Polish artist Aneta Grzeszykowska creates uncanny, unsettling imagery. Her art prompt us to question our identity and society's expectations of women.

Feminism Behind a Mask

Featuring masks, faceless faces, and truncated bodies, Aneta Grzeszykowska creates unsettling imagery.

She was called the queen of Warsaw. A prominent figure in the drag scene in Poland, Kim Lee was a muse for photographers, painters, and writers. In a country with a conservative government, Kim Lee was an icon for the Polish queer community. An ode to a Queen taken during the pandemic.

Warsaw's Queen of Drag

In a country with a conservative government, Kim Lee was an icon for the Polish queer community.

Does the name Ifi Ude mean anything to you? If not, it's because you're not Polish... or Nigerian. It's within these two musical traditions that the artist finds her inspiration. And this blend doesn't come from nowhere; it began in the 1950s during the time of student exchanges between the communist bloc and the newly independent African countries.

The Soviet Erasmus

Does the name Ifi Ude mean anything to you? If not, it's because you're not Polish... or Nigerian.

In 1989, a year after being diagnosed with AIDS, Keith Haring created a mural entitled Once Upon a Time in the toilets of an LGBT centre in Manhattan. Eminently political, the work is still there decades later.

Once Upon A Time by Keith Haring

Keith Haring's mural Once Upon a Time is a celebration of sex and life even as he himself was dying 

Gymnastics - Cultural Brain Stretching

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Entire generations have learned about sex through mainstream porn, blurring the lines between personal desires and platform-driven fantasies. But if our sexuality is shaped by algorithms, can’t we take back some control? The post-porn movement is doing exactly that. Aimed at creating pornography that reflects honest, consensual sex – its creators are making waves online.

Can Post-porn Awaken Our True Desires?

What if porn reflected our true desires? Post-porn aims to be more ethical, more honest and more revolutionary.

Tracks

Chinese men are suffering. There are simply not enough women to go around since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979.  This means that 1 in 5 Chinese men will not be able to find a partner in five years’ time.

ARTE Reportage

Chinese men are suffering. There are simply not enough women to go around since China implemented its one-child policy in 1979. 

China: Men without Women

After unprecedented downpour this week in Spain, over 200 were killed as the country grappled with its worst flooding in decades. In this episode of Arte Europe Weekly, we ask if Europe can turn the tide as it faces a future of flooding.

Is Europe ready for a future of floods?

As flash floods in eastern Spain have swept away almost everything in their path, is Europe ready for a future of climate disasters?

ARTE Europe Weekly

Diwa is only 11 years old. She is one of the thousands of victims of a crime that is hardly reported on in Europe but which is causing havoc in the Philippines. She was raped by her parents, live on the internet, to satisfy the desires of foreign paedophiles who paid for the spectacle of her rape, giving instructions from a distance.

Philippines: Child Rape Online

Thousands of children in the Philippines have been abused, live on the internet. Report on a shocking crime.

Horses have long played an essential role for the nomadic peoples of Mongolia, but as Mongolians have adopted a sedentary way of life, they now breed horses primarily for their meat. This has had disastrous consequences, including animal abuse, overgrazing and obesity in large swathes of the population.
Naranbadrakh Batkhuu wants to revive the age-old relationship between Mongolians and their horses for the good of the people and the natural world.

Mongolia: The Man Who Loved Horses

Naranbadrakh Batkhuu wants to revive the age-old relationship between Mongolians and their horses.

360° Reportage

In 2019, Quincy Jones came to Paris to celebrate his prolific career and his special place in pop music history. The man with 27 Grammy Awards arranged, composed, produced and orchestrated for some of America's most legendary artists such as Louis Armstrong, Barbara Streisand and Michael Jackson: Here his greatest hits are performed by a host of talented musicians including Ibrahim Maalouf, Shelea, Selah Sue and Véronique Sanson.

A Musical Celebration

In 2019, Quincy Jones came to Paris to celebrate his prolific career and his special place in pop music history.

Quincy Jones

In 2024, India experienced the longest heatwave in its history. Temperatures soared to over 50°C in the capital, New Delhi, and up to 56°C in Nagpur, in the centre of the country.

India: Life at 50 Degrees

In 2024, India experienced the longest heatwave in its history with temperatures soared to over 50°C.

In Georgia, a former Soviet republic, the pro-Russia party Georgian Dream won the parliamentary elections, amid accusations of vote rigging and Russian interference. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin is seeking to counter European influence both close to home and in emerging countries, particularly Africa. We look at how Russia and its allies are destabilising Europe.

How is Russia trying to destabilise Europe?

Russia is waging a shadow war on Europe – combining its military invasion of Ukraine with disinformation, propaganda campaigns, sabotage and election meddling. 
 

Yetundey is originally from Leipzig and mixes styles and influences. Layla Boe wants to make the German language smoother in her music.

Germany

Girlhood - Women in Rap (1/4)

There have never been more opportunities to meet new sexual partners in our liberated world of dating apps, sex parties and queer liberation. But how come we are having less sex today than in the past?

Why Do We Have Less Sex?

There have never been more opportunities for sex in our liberated world. But how come we havz less sex today than in the past?

42: The Answer to Almost Everything

Cécile McLorin Salvant has been described as ‘the heiress of Billie Holiday’. When she sings, it's as if time and space disappear, with a modern-day voice reviving the soul of ‘Lady Day’. Winning award after award, this Franco-American singer is now one of the leading figures in jazz today.

Leverkusener Jazztage 2024

A singer who has won three Grammy Awards and whose critics are full of praise for what they describe as a 'jewel.'

Cécile McLorin Salvant

All in their mid-twenties, models Vivian, Lisa, and Tanja chase personal fulfillment and career triumphs. As they grapple with societal pressures, their friendship turns into rivalry, their bodies becoming battlegrounds in a relentless pursuit of beauty, love, and success.

Three models juggle the pressures of love, career, and self-image in a seemingly glamorous world.

Models

ALA.NI, Patrice, Celeste, Kareen Guiock Thuram, Kham Meslien and Youn Sun Nah celebrate the legacy of Nina Simone at the Pantheon in Paris. Six artists, six emotional perspectives on the work of this timeless artist.

Resonances at the Paris Pantheon

Six contemporary artists celebrate the legacy of Nina Simone.

Nina Simone

It’s the sound from South Africa that went global during lockdown: Amapiano mixes deep house with traditional music to create a sound that is spiritual and celebratory, and for some its a way of life. Tracks went to find out more about it.

Amapiano: The Sound of South Africa

House music was born in Chicago but South Africa has given the genre its own spin: Amapiano.

In the last 50 years, the proportion of asthma and allergy sufferers in industrialised countries has risen from five to 30 per cent. This is likely due to the lack of diversity of microbes in our increasingly germ-free environment. This documentary look at how microbes affect our health and how we can plan urban space to renew our contact with the natural world.

Could microbes hold the key to understanding the increase in a number of chronic conditions and allergies?

The Power of Microbes

When international superstar Beyoncé wanted some new dance moves for her latest video, she chose little known Mozambique dance trio Tofo Tofo to create the choreography.

Beyoncé

When international superstar Beyoncé wanted some new dance moves for her latest video, she chose little known Mozambique dance trio, Tofo Tofo to create the choreography.

TAPE

In recent years, works by photographers who lived in the GDR before the fall of the Berlin Wall have been rediscovered and reappraised.  An exclusive look at a world that no longer exists.

Propaganda and Daily Life

An exclusive look at photography from the GDR, a world that no longer exists.

GDR Photo Shoot

What did the record companies do to push jazz legend Nina Simone to attempted murder?

AIR perform their iconic album Moon Safari at London's prestigious Royal Albert Hall. Return to the tail end of the 1990s with this exceptional concert, when the "French Touch" scene was conquering hearts and minds from the European continent to Hollywood.

Royal Albert Hall

Air bring their totemic French Touch founding album to London's Royal Albert Hall.

Air play "Moon Safari"

During the Cold War, when Germany was split between West and East, people still fell in love across the physical and ideological border. Some risked everything to cross over to join their partners.

Despite the Berlin Wall, people from East and West fell in love and wanted to live together. But how?

Gymnastics - Cultural Brain Stretching

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