Culture

The remains of five archbishops of Canterbury have been accidentally discovered by builders in a hidden tomb beneath a London church, site developers said yesterday.

Some 20 lead coffins were discovered in a crypt underneath St Mary’s-at-Lambeth, which sits outside Lambeth Palace, the central London residence of the archbishop of Canterbury — the highest cleric in England.

Two have been identified from name plates, while records show that five were buried in the crypt.

Of the two identified archbishops, one is Richard Bancroft, who was in office from 1604 to 1610 and who oversaw the production of the King James Bible, considered a definitive work of the English language.

Several hundred coffins were cleared out of the church for extensive renovation works in 1850s, during which the vaults were filled in with earth.

But builders accidentally discovered one crypt had been left untouched.

Published: 17 April 2017

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The first major retrospective of gay British art opens this week at the Tate Britain gallery in London, featuring a portrait of Oscar Wilde next to his prison cell door.

"Queer British Art 1861-1967" marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of male homosexuality in England and looks at the century leading up to the point when the death penalty for gay sex was lifted.

Billed as the "first ever exhibition dedicated to queer British art", the retrospective contains an 1881 portrait of Wilde which is being displayed publicly in Britain for the first time.

"It shows him just on the cusp of success as a writer," said curator Clare Barlow.

It stands next to the cream-coloured wooden door of his cell at Reading Gaol, where he was imprisoned after being sentenced to two years' hard labour for homosexual offences in 1895.

"There's a real emotional punch in this pairing," Barlow said.

Published: 03 April 2017

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The British fashion industry kicked off its seasonal showcase Friday urging the government not to damage a thriving sector by cutting immigration and trade ties with the EU after Brexit.

"Fashion week is a really great time to understand the power and influence of our industry, as well as our creativity," said Caroline Rush, chief executive of the British Fashion Council (BFC).

"We hope that you'll listen as we talk to you about visas, about talent, about tariffs, about frictionless borders, and around IP (intellectual property).

"Because this is incredibly important to sustain this incredible industry, that contributes £28 billion (32.7 billion euros, $34.8 billion) to the British economy and provides 880,000 jobs."

Published: 23 February 2017

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British conductor Simon Rattle on Tuesday called for a new concert hall in London to make the city more competitive on the international music scene, as he takes up his baton at the London Symphony Orchestra.

He threw his weight behind a £280 million (324 million euro, $347 million) project aimed at creating a "Centre for Music" equipped for the digital era.

The plans involve building a new hall on the site of the Museum of London, which is relocating nearby, which would become the new home of the LSO.

Rattle, 61, will head the LSO from September while also conducting his final season at the Berlin Philharmonic until 2018.

Published: 19 January 2017

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London's Science Museum called upon the genius of late architect Zaha Hadid for the “huge challenge” of bringing life to its new gallery dedicated to mathematics, which opens on Thursday.

The Winton Gallery highlights the importance of mathematics through 120 objects, including a cash dispenser, the Enigma encryption machine, a model of a supertanker, a revolutionary aircraft and a 19th-century instrument for measuring tides.

Located in a regenerated old wing of the famous museum, the gallery was co-designed by celebrated Iraqi-British architect Hadid, who died of a heart attack in Miami in March before the gallery’s completion.

Published: 08 December 2016

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From Walkmans to iPhones and classic cars to robotic arms, London's new Design Museum will offer a journey through the world of contemporary design when it opens its doors to the public next week.

The museum in London's plush Kensington district is the culmination of an £83-million (97-million-euro, $103-million) project to transform a once derelict building.

"Our ambition is to create somewhere which would be a world centre for design and a place to start conversations about the world of design," museum director Deyan Sudjic told AFP on Thursday at a media preview.

The museum will house almost 1,000 objects in its permanent exhibition -- among them a London Underground train, a Ford Model T car, Gucci tennis shoes and Christian Louboutin's Pigalle high-heels -- covering everything from fashion to engineering.

The museum's new site is nearly three times the size of its previous home, which was a former banana warehouse in southeast London.

Published: 18 November 2016

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