After Darwin

The Drowned World

Finally, news about my English cousin, Maxime, who has been residing in Australia since many years, and who together with her family has so far eluded the new COVID-19 lockdowns by living aboard a catamaran. Photo courtesy of her herself.

Once Upon a Time

Elderly women attend a dance class, reopened for the first time since the pandemic, in Seoul, South Korea. Photo: Jung Yeon-Je/AFP/Getty Images.

Kissing Frogs

Invited by the haute couture house Aganovich, American photographer Erik Madigan Heck directed the short film Le Grand Cirque. Released during the Digital Paris Fashion Week Fall Winter 2020/21, the film was designed to compensate for the lack of fashion shows due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was inspired by the collection “The Anxiety of Influence” from Aganovich and refers directly to Alexander Calder’s eponymous circus films made in 1950. Photo: Erik Madigan Heck.

Vertigo

A woman walks through the rainbow-coloured Paseo Bandera in Santiago, Chile, empty of visitors amid the pandemic. Photo: Esteban Félix/AP.

One Day

As a consequence of COVID-19 pandemic, also this year most Liberation Day celebrations in Italy were moved online. Offline people, however, taking advantage of the quasi-yellow Sunday, did not forget to lay flowers at monuments and tombstones in memory of the women and men who fought to free the country from fascism.

Wonderbra

A woman goes shopping at a weekly municipal non-food market as the country eases COVID-19 restrictions, in Espinho, Portugal. Photo: Violeta Santos Moura/Reuters.

Blowin’ in the Wind

And while wondering whether culture will survive the new middle ages of the global “big brotherhood”, a second-hand book stall outside Palazzo Strozzi keeps offering its answers at prices below average variable cost.

Portable 3D Art

In these last hours of freedom, one should think a great deal about the meaning of The Wound (La Ferita), the installation with which French contemporary artist JR covered the façade of Palazzo Strozzi in Florence, Italy.

Lifelike

For the second year consecutive, the 7th GRENKE Chess Open in Karlsruhe and Baden-Baden, Germany — originally scheduled for Easter time — has had to be cancelled until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic and delays in the vaccination rollout. For analogous reasons, and for the second year in a row, also the 26th TePe Sigeman & Co Chess Tournament in Malmö, Sweden — scheduled from April 24 to April 30, 2021 — has had to be postponed to better times (hopefully at any time between August and October).

September Spring

The 9th Norway Chess, originally scheduled on May, was postponed to September 7–18 due to the rising COVID-19 cases in Norway and globally as well as travel restrictions to and from most countries. Hence, once again, it’s very likely that public health priorities and emergency logistics will affect the participants’ lineup, even though 16th World Chess Champion Magnus Carlsen has already confirmed his presence. For further details visit: norwaychess.no.

Cat in an Orange Twist

A cat and a dog, a coup de foudre. She is the cat and he is the dog — all the other details are private. As the poet says, “Love, which absolves no one beloved from loving”.

Swan Song

I passed by here around two months ago, when I spotted two ballerinas hidden at the top of a stage behind a shop window. Today things have changed, as one is still on display, while the other has been sold. In a way each one will do its (her) solo variation.

Spring roll

Today, March 21, is the first day of Spring — and luckily, it fell on a sunny Sunday (afternoon).

Guess Who’s Not Coming To Dinner

Two can keep a secret, but it is anyone’s guess who won’t come to dinner tonight.

Not All Heroes Wear Capes

This is exactly the same thing that happened when Jack saved Rose in Titanic.

Off the Clock

Today, there were no stalls around the façades of San Lorenzo street market, but only odds and ends of life, like in Pompeii just before.

Over and Under

At the last underpass before the gate to “home, sweet home”, it’s never too late to leave a donation for underground artists.

Least But Not Last

Happy just walking next to San Marco on way back home. The Last Judgment can wait.

Long Way Home

A peaceful sit-in by Sri Lankan migrant workers in Via de’ Martelli holding a banner that says, “Let’s safeguard the right of Sri Lankan citizens working abroad to return to their homeland!”.