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Billie Holiday and Lester Young had as close and creative a musical friendship as any two people could. All agree: the pair themselves, their friends and musical colleagues, their biographers, and anyone else with a view. How can you get…
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A Roman poet in west Wales
Martial – Marcus Valerius Martialis – was a first century Roman poet. He came to live in Rome from Augusta Bilbilis, near Calatayud in modern Spain, and made his name through his hundreds of short poems or ‘epigrams’. Witty, punchy…
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Romancing Wales
Forget MOMA New York. The place to be for the next three months is MOMA Machynlleth. There you’ll find a collection of paintings and other works, from the eighteenth century to the present, that will give you as much visual…
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Wales Coast Path, day 14: Mumbles from Oxwich
A spring morning. Six paces from the car and we’re standing, four of us, on the beach at Oxwich. Calm sea, a light airflow from the south east, and, best of all, sun – a star banished from sight during…
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The destruction of culture: a plea to Swansea Council
What makes a city a city? I mean, in the sense of a particular, distinctive city. Its people, certainly, its geography, landscape and architecture, also its economy and politics. But what really sets a city apart from its neighbours is…
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Brexit: a Martian sends a postcard home
My dearest brothers and sisters, It is two years since you did me the honour of despatching me on a voyage across the solar seas to inspect what the Britons call their ‘mother of parliaments’. I must own that, reviewing…
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Capel-y-ffin: tro ar fyd David Jones
Mae’n drueni mawr na fydd yr arddangosfa David Jones: vision and memory, sydd newydd ddod i ben yn Pallant House, Chichester, yn dod yma i Gymru, cartref ysbrydol ac ysbrydoliaeth yr artist ac awdur o Lundain. Fel cytunodd pob un…
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Two Americans in Porto
What comes to mind when you think of a contemporary art gallery? Probably, big empty spaces, clean geometric vistas, minimal signing, white walls. The Museo de Serralves in Porto, Portugal’s main centre for modern art, meets all those expectations, and…
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August Macke waters modern art
The current exhibition at the Royal Academy is all about gardens. The RA receives no state subsidy and relies on a regular series of blockbusters to bring in the crowds. This one, entitled Painting the modern garden, certainly fits the bill. …
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Kyffin Williams the writer
The text of the 8th Kyffin Williams Annual Lecture, given at Highgate School, London on 1 February 2016. First, I’d like to thank David Smith and Highgate School for inviting me to give this year’s Kyffin Williams Lecture. It’s very…