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Month: February 2021

Monaco Yacht Show gets an overhaul

by: Stephanie Horsman
25/02/2021

Organisers of this year’s Monaco Yacht Show are betting on a new badge system to better connect visitors and exhibitors and take the flagship event to another level.
After a forced hiatus due to Covid last year, the Informa Group, owner of the Monaco Yacht Show (MYS), says it has made good use of the time and is looking at the yachting industry and where it is headed with fresh eyes.
In a statement released this week, the group says that it has decided to redesign the event to “rise to the commercial and marketing challenges facing the market.”
In order to make the overall experience clearer to visitors and professionals, a new three-category system is being introduced. There will be a Discover badge for yacht clients, an Advise badge for their advisors and consultants, and a Connect badge for trade visitors.
The badges will show the profile of each visitor so that the right people can connect on sight.
Buyers can therefore suss out designers and builders at a glance, whilst their captains and reps can readily find equipment manufacturers, for example.
“On Wednesday 22nd September, the Dockside Area will be open to Discover and Advise badges only, so that these categories of visitor can meet with shipyards, yacht brokers, designers or tender manufacturers in a more intimate and personalised environment,” indicated the organiser in a press statement. “From Thursday onwards, the Dockside Area will be open to all participants.”
The system will help visitor flow and reduce crowd sizes, an important requirement in the current times.
Meanwhile, in an effort to include more personalised experiences, Informa will introduce the ‘Sapphire Experience’, a VIP programme which includes activities at both the show and in the city for superyacht owners, charterers and potential clients.
Another upgrade is being made to the exhibition areas, which will be renamed to make it easier for visitors to find their way around. They are also adding new sections dedicated to innovative projects and trends in sailing, design and exploration, with the idea that the programme will grow over the coming years to include a range of activities that reflect life on board a superyacht.
The group said that it’s main priority is to safeguard the health of participants, therefore it will implement all necessary health measures, guided by its AllSecure programme and health regulations issued by the Monaco’s government.
The Monaco Yacht Show will run from 22nd to 25th September.
 
Photo by MYS
 
 

Princess helping to fight the digital divide

by: Stephanie Horsman
25/02/2021

Connected Success, a programme created by the Break Poverty Foundation to ensure that no young person gets left behind and supported by Princess Caroline and her AMADE Foundation, was launched in the Alpes-Maritimes this week.

The Connected Success programme brought together 65 young people who are under the care of Social Assistance for Children in Nice and presented them with restored computers and a reliable internet connection provided by Bouygues Telecom.

This small gesture could mean the difference between a child falling through the education system’s cracks or staying in school.

“AMADE is enthusiastically associated with this operation, the objective of which is to fight the digital divide and prevent dropping out of school,” said the Princess of Hanover, Caroline, and President of AMADE. “We also place a lot of hope in longer term support through mentoring.” 

Since the start of the health crisis, the digital divide has never been more pronounced. It is estimated that in France, 970,000 children have been “lost to follow-up” since the pandemic began due to a lack of interconnectivity required for schoolwork and remote learning.

Despite schools being in session at the moment, there are many who have hybrid learning situations, which alternate face-to-face schooling with distance learning. This has put a fine point on the reality that a half million students do not have access to a computer at home or to the internet.

It puts these children at high risk of not just falling behind, but of disappearing from the system altogether.

Photo: A young girl receives a computer and help with getting started, by Eric Mathon / Prince’s Palace

“Almost one in four disadvantaged families do not have the necessary computer equipment and internet connection to meet the educational needs of their children,” said Denis Metzger, Founding President of the Break Poverty Foundation. “It is urgent to fight against this digital divide which is leading thousands of children to drop out of school. Through Operation Connected Success, we are reconnecting thousands of children with school, and with the hope of a better future.”

Break Poverty launched Connected Success back in September with the aim of providing 5,000 disadvantaged children, mostly between 10 and 18 years old, a computer, connectivity and a mentor to prevent them from being left behind.

The system is carried out in partnership with AFEV, a leading French network for student educational mentoring, providing mentors and volunteers to support the young beneficiaries throughout the school year.

“Each week, the students engaged in mentoring help children and young people to gain self-confidence, make them want to learn and offer them an openness to culture,” explained Mathieu Py, Territorial Delegate Nice-Cannes-AFEV.

AMADE (Association Mondiale des Amis de l’Enfance) was founded in 1963 by Princess Grace of Monaco and is today chaired by Caroline, Princess of Hanover. Alongside the Break Poverty Foundation, it helps to finance part of the equipment and support needed for 230 vulnerable young people identified by partner associations and Social Assistance to Children.

 

Top photo: Valérie Daher, Managing Director of Break Poverty, accompanied by Anthony Colombani, Chairman of the Bouygues Télécom Corporate Foundation, give a computer to a young girl entrusted to Social Assistance to Children, by Ministères sociales / DICOM / Frédéric Dides  / SIPA
 
 
 

Monaco's own manga powers ahead

by: Cassandra Tanti
25/02/2021

The third volume in the Blitz series, the first and only manga produced in Monaco, is hitting stands this Friday.
Created by Monaco-based Shibuya Productions, Blitz entered the exclusive manga realm in 2020, combining the clever world of chess with the phenomenon of Japanese story telling.
Backed by the greatest chess player in history, Garry Kasparov, volume one has sold almost all of the 10,000 copies printed in France – a rare recognition for a new manga series created outside Japan. This edition is now back in print and volume two is barely four months old.
On Friday 26th February, volume three will hit the stands, and Cédric Biscay, Daitaro Nishihara and Tsukasa Mori have promised some exciting new additions.
In this new opus, chess games are redoubled in intensity. The reader finds themself transposed on a real battlefield where each player makes move for move. The heroes are confronted with strong personalities which challenge their nerves and their concentration.
Monaco’s famous landmark, the Monte-Carlo Casino, makes an appearance and readers are drawn into the Zen method of meditation by the great Japanese master Sosho Yamada, which will be very useful to the Blitze heroes during their adventures.
Meanwhile, new text by intuition specialist Alexis Champion gives the keys to better understand the phenomena present in the manga and which often occur in the real world.
“Blitz always aims to democratise chess by offering ambitious entertainment for everybody. Volume three is a new step in this direction,” said Cédric Biscay, founder of Shibuya Productions.
 
Related stories:

Interview: Cédric Biscay, CEO Shibuya Productions

Interview: Blitz 2 creator Cedric Biscay

 
 

Spring Arts Festival schedule

by: Stephanie Horsman
25/02/2021

The Monte-Carlo Spring Arts Festival has confirmed they are going ahead as planned with their annual cultural event that spans five weekends from 13th March to 11th April.
The Monte-Carlo Spring Arts Festival is moving forward with strict sanitary measures in place as well as mandatory PCR tests for all international visitors. Performances are scheduled at various venues around the Principality over five weekends starting on 13th March.
The theme of this year’s festival is an ‘Exploration of the Second Vienese School’ and will feature performances from several well-known and respected artists.
The festival opener will be at the Grimaldi Forum on Saturday 13th March and features music by Anton Webern and Alban Berg as performed by the National Orchestra of France under the direction of Daniele Grotti, with soprano Chen Reiss singing. The pieces they will perform are Anton Webern’s Langsamer Satz en mi bémol majeur (version orchestre à cordes) followed by Alban Berg’s Sieben frühe Lieder and Lulu-suite. The concert starts at 3pm.
On Sunday the 14th, soloists from the Ensemble Intercontemporain will be doing their renditions of Franz Liszt’s La lugubre gondola I, Alban Berg’s Quatre pièces, pour clarinette et piano, op. 5, Ein Stelldichein, pour hautbois, clarinette, violon, violoncelle et piano, Weihnachtsmusik, pour deux violons, violoncelle, harmonium et piano and
Fantaisie, pour violon et piano, op. 47 by Arnold Schönberg and Anton Webern’s
Deux pièces, pour violoncelle et piano. The concert will be held at the Oceanographic Museum and the show begins at 2:30pm.
Also on Sunday the 14th, the Ensemble Intercontemporain will be joined by Hideki Nagano on piano under Matthias Pintscher’s direction for a concert featuring post World War I music by Liszt and his contemporaries.
Arnold Schönberg’s Cinq pièces pour orchestre (réduction pour orchestre de chambre du compositeur), op. 16 and his Symphonie de chambre n°1, pour quinze instruments solistes opus 9, Johann Strauss’s Kaiser Walser, arrangement d’Arnold Schönberg pour flûte, clarinette, quatuor à cordes et piano, op. 437 and Rosen aus dem Süden, transcription d’Arnold Schönberg pour piano, harmonium et quatuor à cordes, op. 388, La Lugubre Gondole n°1, pour piano by Liszt and Alban Berg’s Quatre pièces, pour clarinette et piano, op. 5. The concert starts at 4pm at the Grimaldi Forum.

Saturday, 20th March at 9am, a Master Class by famed pianist Bertrand Champayou will take place at the Auditorium Rainier III. Admission is free but seating is limited, so reservations are required.
That same afternoon, at 2:30pm at the Oceanographic Museum, an afternoon with Franz Liszt is scheduled. Pianist Beatrice Berrut will perform several pieces from the Austrian composer including La Lugubre Gondole II, 3 Odes funèbres, S. 112, Am Grabe Richard Wagners, S. 202 and Csárdás macabre, S.224.
Before the main event, a prelude introducing composer-in-residence Gerard Pesson will feature budding pianist students from the Beausoleil Music School.
Finally on 9th April, Andreas Staier will hold a Master Class on the harpsicord at the Auditorium Rainier III from 2pm to 5pm. There will be free admission with reservations. Spaces are limited.
 
Photo: printempsdesarts.mc
 
 

Are vaccine passports the way forward?

by: Stephanie Horsman
24/02/2021

As more governments consider the possibility of vaccine passports as a way out of Covid restrictions on travel, some fear the documents will discriminate against those unable, or unwilling, to take the jab.
Vaccination programmes are stepping up pace the world over, and for many this is cause for celebration. Business leaders, governments and even every day citizens see this as the beginning of the end of curfews, lockdowns and travel bans.
The silver lining the world has been waiting for has also spawned the idea of creating vaccination passports, a certificate that proves a traveller has been inoculated against Covid-19 and is therefore “safe” to cross borders without being bound by quarantine restrictions and pre-arrival tests and checks.
Iceland has already introduced such a document, the first in Europe to do so. Greece has followed suit with a digital certificate for those who have received their two doses. Other European countries such as Cyprus, Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Poland, Spain, Slovakia, Portugal and Sweden are either issuing or asking for vaccination certificates, and the United Kingdom announced on Monday that the government is considering this option as a way to end the crisis faster.
But with the good comes the bad, and issues surrounding this kind of document have some human rights experts concerned. Ana Beduschi, an associate law professor from the University of Exeter in Britain, recently published a study on this topic saying, “Arguably [vaccine passports] could preserve the freedoms of those who do not have the disease or have been vaccinated. However, if some people cannot access or afford Covid-19 tests or vaccines, they will not be able to prove their health status, and thus their freedoms will be de facto restricted.”
This general sentiment is echoed by many organisations and governments, with France being one that is holding off on deciding to go this route. France has an incredibly low vaccination uptake, only 2.5 million people have received their first dose, and the jab-sceptical population would be put on the back foot by such a passport. As a result, the French Health Minister, Olivier Veran, has practically made a mantra stating it is “too early” to discuss such documents.
When asked about a passport that would allow those possessing one to start being able to attend cultural events, French Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot lashed out saying it would be “an attack on our freedoms.”
“As a freedom-lover, I can hardly imagine it. If it came to that, it would be a step backwards,” she told France 2 in an interview on 10th February.
France is not alone on this. The Netherlands Belgium and Germany all share the same view, as do the World Health Organisation and the European Commission.
But the public sees it a bit differently. Six out of 10 French people say they would be in favour of a vaccination passport if it meant they could move about more freely, according to a poll conducted last month by Ifop.
In the meantime, the EU member states are following a 28th January agreement on the issuing of standardised proof of vaccination certificates “for medical purposes” that can be used for people who receive their second dose in a country different from where they got the first. This document does little in terms of practical use, as it does not allow free travel within Europe.
The travel industry is, not surprisingly, a big advocate of the passport idea, as are those who put on major sports and entertainment events.
In theory, vaccine passports make sense, but there is still much to be ironed out before it becomes globally standardised and fair for all.
 
Photo by Hakan Nural on Unsplash
 
 

Talks underway for Mike Tyson to box in Monaco 

by: Stephanie Horsman
24/02/2021

Boxing legend “Iron Mike” Tyson has been in talks with Laurent Puons, President of the Monaco Boxing Federation, since last November. Now, what started as an off-the-cuff idea may actually become a reality.

Mike Tyson officially retired from the ring 16 years ago, but after an exhibition match last November that saw the 54-year-old boxer go head to head for a full eight rounds against Roy Jones Jr, it was apparent he still had a lot of fight left in him.

This is when the map-cap idea between Tyson’s people and Laurent Puons, President of the Monaco Boxing Federation, was hatched. After months of negotiation, a fight featuring the one-time heavyweight champ in Monaco may actually become a reality.

“There is a real desire of the Tyson clan to come to Monaco. I have them on the phone once or twice a week for the progress of the deal. To date, nothing has been signed. It is necessary that we come to an agreement,” Puons told the Var Matin.

Negotiations are slow and some of this has to do with how such a spectacle would be financed.

“I was clear with the promoter: it is out of the question that this event costs the Principality and the Société des Bains de Mer. The fight must be self-financed via pay-per-view. The fight in November against Roy Jones Jr brought in 70 to 75 million dollars,” he went on to explain.

Another issue on the table includes the time difference between the United States and the Principality. In order for the event to be viewed by as many people as possible, the US audience must be taken into consideration, and therefore the hour of the match is extremely relevant.

There is also a question of who Iron Mike would go up against. At one point, it was bandied about that he could fight Evander Holyfield, Tyson’s great rival from his heyday and the man who put Tyson firmly on the map when he bit Holyfield’s ear, drawing blood, in a 1997 match. But this option has been ruled out.

As a result, the event is conditional on finding solutions that satisfy all partners.

Tyson was the undisputed world heavyweight champion from 1987 to 1990 and was the youngest ever to hold the title at 20 years, four months and 22 days old. He won his first 19 fights by knock-out, 12 of them in the first round.

 
Photo of Mike Tyson in 2012 by Abelito Roldan on Flickr