The New National Museum of Monaco (NMNM) has been hosting an exhibition of photographs by Kasper Akhøj, Welcome (To The Teknival), dedicated to Villa E-1027 in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, since early summer at Villa Sauber.
The exhibition has now been enriched with new photographs, taken in July of this year by Akhøj, which ends a work begun in 2008. The public can now admire 63 shots that are an echo to the portfolio made by the architect Eileen Gray during the construction of the iconic villa E-1027, the summer hideaway house designed by Eileen Gray for Jean Badovici between 1926 and 1929.
Kasper Akhøj also presents a new film entitled C2RMF75602, produced by the NMNM, in the video room of the Villa Sauber, recounting the restoration of a 16th-century painting entitled Portrait de Femme, attributed to Titian.
This film, shot in 16 mm, creates magnificent links to Welcome (To The Teknival), both of which pose many questions inherent in the conservation and restoration of heritage sites such as the Eileen Gray villa.
The Welcome (To The Teknival) exhibition runs until January 8, 2018. Villa Sauber is open daily from 10 to 6 pm; admission is €6 or free on Sundays.
Hidden in the hills of Southern Italy is a remote farm where the world’s most expensive ham is produced. I don’t know the farm address or even the name. A mysterious Daniele contacted me out of the blue to ask if I’d like to come to Naples to taste his prosciutto di Pietraroja ham. By coincidence, my partner and I were planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast so my curiosity got the better of me and I said yes.
Daniele sent instructions by email about how we should meet on the edge of a motorway near Casertano. We ignored this presage of a B-movie Mafia plot with the rationale that neither of us was important enough to kidnap.
Log in to your Premium Account (at the top of the page) to read full article.
She, or as it turned out he (my rudimentary Italian didn’t stretch to realizing that Daniele was a boy’s name), met us in a battered Fiat Uno. We followed his car down a dizzying wild-goose chase of country roads. He might as well have taken us blindfold, because we’d never be able to find the farm again. Finally we arrived at a modest wooden homestead, behind which stretched acres of undisturbed green hills. This verdant slice of paradise was chiefly for the enjoyment of 80 very lucky black pigs.
Daniele introduced us to Tullio, the farmer who rears the black pigs that Daniele makes into his prosciutto di Pietraroja ham. Tullio reminded me of an Italian version of Richard Briars in “The Good Life”. His rare black pigs were introduced from India to Italy by the Roman Emperor Trajan around 100 AD. Unlike easy-going white pigs that are ready to slaughter within nine months weighing 300 kilos, these black pigs take four years to put on just 150 kilos and another six years to turn into revenue-producing ham. I ponder that romance trumps financial efficiency when it comes to black pigs.
We were taken on a tour of the fields where the pigs roamed to the sound of Mozart playing in the background. According to research by the RSPCA, music socialises and calms pigs. They looked relaxed as they rolled about in the mud, snorted and gorged upon acorns.
I smiled nervously as Daniele told us: “Pigs eat everything from grass to flesh. It’s the best way of getting rid of a body.”
Daniele explained how only the female pigs are made into Pietraroja ham. Through pregnancy, the females develop pockets of fat that can be infused with flavours according to their diet. The pigs are fattened up on a rich fodder that includes five types of acorns, chestnuts, arugula, grasses and even rotten apples.
“The acid in the apples turns to sugar when they rot,” explained Daniele. “It’s the equivalent of pig chocolate.”
At four years old, the female pigs are slaughtered during the waxing crescent moon according to ancient Italian farming wisdom. Daniele only buys the legs to make his ham; the rest of the pig goes to make salami. The legs are then stored and matured for a further six years before the final prosciutto di Pietraroja ham is ready. After a decade of labour, the ham is given an official certificate of authentic origin by the Consorzio di Tutela.
Clutching our glasses of homemade red wine, we sat upon rusty chairs on the bougainvillea-shaded terrace. We watched Daniele tie the ham to a stand and brandish a large knife.
“If you cut ham with the grain in the Spanish way, you take all the nerves,” he said cutting the ham against the grain. “This way, the ham is softer.”
As we waited for the ham to be carved, Tullio brought out loaves of bread and plates of homemade mozzarella with tomatoes and basil. Everything from the red wine to the olive oil drizzled on our tomatoes had been produced in this self-sufficient idyll. Everything was 100% organic. His farm encapsulated the slow food movement that started in Italy a couple of decades ago.
Finally the ham was ready to be tasted. It looked richer in colour and softer than its distant cousin prosciutto di Parma ham. Bursting with the flavour of chestnuts and apples, the ham melted in my mouth. I’d never tasted ham like this before. I now understood why his prosciutto di Pietraroja ham had starred at events around the globe from St Tropez’ Byblos Hotel to Moscow’s Italian Embassy; why it had been nibbled by illustrious figures from Andrea Bocelli to Athina Onassis.
The good news is that Daniele can now bring this little slice of paradise to your home in Monte Carlo. A Master Cutter from the Consorzio di Tutela will serve out the ham. At around €6,000 per whole leg, it may not be cheap but surely the world’s best ham must be priceless.
You can grab a taste of the Italian slow food culture at Marcello, an Italian winery and deli where you’ll find prosciutto di Parma hams hanging from the ceilings as well as Parmesan cheese and wine. The store has another outlet in Beaulieu-sur-Mer. 22 bis Rue Grimaldi, +377 97 98 37 81
For nearly three years the Monaco Méditerranée Foundation, chaired by Enrico Braggiotti, has been offering a series of high-level conferences to students dedicated to the 21st century’s societal issues.
As the initiator of the programme, Mr Braggiotti was anxious to associate fully the Directorate of National Education, Youth and Sports with his ambitious approach, and these conferences, initially open to high school students from the Principality’s general education system, have since been extended to a wider audience of young people.
Students from the Sciences Po Menton campus as well as from the International University of Monaco were also invited to participate.
The quality of the speakers, known for their strong experience in economics, international relations, finance, and geopolitics, has been met by the enthusiasm of the young public in the audiences.
The 2017-2018 edition of this cycle of conferences began on Monday, October 16, in the Auditorium of the Hotel and Technical School in Monaco with an address by the cofounder of “Big Mamma”, Tigrane Seydoux, whose start-up is an exceptional success.
According to the Financial Times, the Italian Big Mamma food group “has grown to six restaurants, employs more than 400 people, and this year will close a €20 million fundraising round at a valuation of just over €100 million.”
More than one hundred students heard Tigrane Seydoux’s speech and enthusiastically asked questions and added their comments.
The Oceanographic Museum of Monaco and the submarine equipment manufacturer, Beuchat, have partnered to create a unique interactive Facebook Live event … at 30 metres below the surface.
On Wednesday at 12:30 pm EST, this unusual dive, without getting wet, aims to give Facebook users a more direct experience of the biodiversity of the Mediterranean seabed.
A biologist-diver will visit the famous wreck of the “Toulonnais”, an old 27-metre tug long resting since 1991 outside the port of Monaco and since moved to the foot of the Museum. An artificial reef, it constitutes an ideal dive site sheltering rich fauna and flora – brown grouper, lobsters, schools of Anthias, moray eels, and more.
Facebook users will have the unique opportunity to send their questions via Facebook to interact live with the diver equipped with a mask with headphones and a microphone. For 20 minutes, the underwater world will be within reach of those who click.
To take part, sign in @OceanoMonaco @BeuchatDivingFR @SuuntoDivingFrance to follow and share Facebook Live.
Pursuing a joint commitment to the oceans, the Oceanographic Museum and Beuchat – who help equip the divers of the Museum – put the most advanced technologies at the service of the environment.
“Great premiere yesterday! Excited and proud to celebrate Mister Kylian!”. Photo: Patrick Vereecken
At the invitation of Jiří Kylián and the Holland Dance Festival, the Monte Carlo Ballets visited The Hague on October 12 and 13 to celebrate the 70th birthday of the choreographer.
In front of a packed room, performances of the dancers in “Bella Figura”, “Gods and Dogs” and “Hat” were greeted with enthusiastic ovations.
For the event, HE Sophie Thevenoux, Ambassador of Monaco to the Netherlands, accompanied by diplomats from the Embassy, hosted a number of Dutch personalities, including HE Versteeg, Grand Master of His Majesty’s Household, and Mrs Bergsma, Director of the European Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, and representatives of the Monegasque Consular Corps in the Netherlands, Mr van Iersel, Consul General of Monaco in The Hague and Mr Krooswijk, Consul Monaco in Amsterdam.
A reception was held by the Embassy at the end of the performance, in which Jean-Christophe Maillot, Jiří Kylián and the dancers of the Ballets de Monte Carlo mixed with invited guests.
RELATED ARTICLES Friends of Monte Carlo Ballets support company in Paris
Monaco hosts “Women in Light” prize-giving on Friday
The prize-giving ceremony for the Concours Aux Coeurs des Mots – the Hearts of Words contest – will take place on Friday, October 20, at 4:30 pm at Monaco’s Hotel and Technical School.
This second edition will be in the presence, and under the patronage, of HSH Prince Albert and under the High Patronage of Michelle Jean, Secretary General of the International Organisation of the French-speaking World.
Ban Ki-moon, the eighth Secretary General of the UN (from 2007 to 2016) said: “Respect for human rights and gender equality are not unattainable ideals. Yet all women and girls in the world still face unequal opportunities and discrimination.”
According to an original idea launched by the Founder of the Association Femmes Leaders Monaco,, Hilde Haneuse Heye, the first contest entitled “Heart of Words” was born in 2012 with the participation of 20 countries in four continents.
Following the resounding success of the young contestants ages 14 to 17, the adventure continues with “Aux cœurs des mots, Women in Light”. This time the organisers have asked the students to highlight women who have made a significant impact and are able to meet challenges in a sometimes very complex context, often working in the shadows.
For this round, 26 schools on four continents participated: Algeria, Belgium, Benin, Bulgaria, Burundi, Canada, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, United States , France, Iran, Lebanon, Madagascar, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Poland, Romania, Senegal, Togo, Tunisia and Uruguay.
The international jury, composed of prestigious members from different backgrounds, was headed by Doctor of French and Comparative Literature at the Sorbonne, writer and journalist, Fawzia Zouari.
Hidden in the hills of Southern Italy is a remote farm where the world’s most expensive ham is produced. I don’t know the farm address or even the name. A mysterious Daniele contacted me out of the blue to ask if I’d like to come to Naples to taste his prosciutto di Pietraroja ham. By coincidence, my partner and I were planning a trip to the Amalfi Coast so my curiosity got the better of me and I said yes.
