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Day: 8 December 2021

HOFA comes to Monaco  

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/12/2021

House of Fine Art and Rainbow Art and Design are hosting an ongoing exhibition at the YellowKorner gallery in Monaco, featuring well-known artists such as Damien Hirst. Zhuang Hong Yi and Bran Symondson.
Looking for a fun and fabulous gift or something incredible to add to an art collection? Look no further than YellowKorner in Monaco where some off-beat contemporary art is up for grabs by some of today’s best-known artists.
The exhibit, a collaboration between House of Fine Art (HOFA) and Rainbow Art and Design, came about as a result of HOFA’s interest in finding a foot hold in the Monaco market. The two entities recently held a pop-up event that sparked a lot of interest, cementing the two as synergistically compatible.
The kick-off to the collaboration was a glamorous cocktail event held during the week of the Monaco Yacht Show in September. The event was well attended by a number personalities including Leonidas and Iro Kambanis, Konstantinos Tsouvelekakis, Rita and Stavros Xenakis, S. Vuckovic, Irene Mayer, Anna Vissi, and Monaco Life publisher Eric Brundage.

Leonidas & Iro Kambanis, Konstantinos Tsouvelekakis, Rita & Stavros Xenakis, S. Vuckovic, Irene Mayer

Some of the highlights of the collaboration include Bran Symondson’s ‘Beat of a Wing Draco’, ‘Mini Flowerbed’ by Zhuang Hong Yi and ‘Untitled’, a 2009 piece by Damien Hirst.
Other featured artists include Mary Ronayne, Daniel Arsham, Robert Longo, and Florian Eymann.
HOFA specialises in contemporary art by established and emerging international artists and features a multitude of artistic disciplines with an intent focus on exceptional talent, diversity and cultural relevance. The gallery represents acclaimed painters, sculptors, photographers, and multidisciplinary artists from all over the world including those from China, Korea, America, Italy, France, Argentina and Australia.
Since its inception in 2012, HOFA Gallery has provided government institutions, museums, art galleries and private collectors access to some of the most sought after and collectable works of contemporary art.
YellowKorner Gallery is located at 1 Avenue Henry Dunant and their website is www.rainbow-art-design.mcfor more information.
 
Click on the images below for more pictures from the cocktail event at YellowKorner…

 

Primitive Budget: surpluses, infrastructure and housing concerns

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/12/2021

The National Council met to discuss the 2022 Primitive Budget on Tuesday and, along with monetary matters, it was a time for council members to review plans for the future.

To start, the budget itself was discussed, notably the €2.8 million surplus which was regarded as “a strong signal of the resilience of the Monegasque model”, according to council member and President of the Finance and National Economy Commission, Balthazar Seydoux.

VAT was cited as the main source of revenue for the state, 53.4% to be exact, with 88.3% being internal VAT. There is an anticipated increase by 10.4% compared to the 2021 amending budget, though Seydoux believes the government estimates to be on the cautious side.

Minister of State Pierre Dartout stepped in to remind the Council that the health situation is anything but stable and that caution is better than the need to revise the forecast downward. The government, he said, prefers to hold a “reasonable rather than too cautious” assessment.

The meeting moved onto accommodation from here. Regarding expenditure, it is estimated at €1,886 billion, an increase of 19.2% compared to the initial 2021 projection, including €378 million for public interventions and €866 million for equipment and investment, or nearly 46% of the total.

In his report, Seydoux reminded the Council that over 600 housing units will be move-in ready between the end of 2022 and the end of 2023. This number does not cover the shortages in housing in the Principality, though and the next large-scale project, the Bel Air, will not be ready until 2027.

In order to fill in the gaps, intermediary housing options are necessary. Councilman Seydoux mentioned the need to build a state-sanctioned buildings with 60 housing units in Monte-Carlo where an EHPAD is planned, the so-called Les Lierres-Nathalie operation with more than 40 housing units in the Annonciade and suggested adding to the Palais Honoria operation to deliver 30 additional homes.

Minister Dartout made assurances that plans for more units were underway, though was unable at the meeting to give concrete dates.

Balthazar Seydoux also addressed the construction of major infrastructure schemes, including the renovation and extension of the Princess Grace Hospital, whose budget is currently sitting at €965 million, Pasteur Island with new college, the Salle Léo Ferré  and the media library with three-year budgets of €507 million, the car park at the entrance to the city above the Exotic Garden with a three-year budget of €234 million, the Larvotto seaside complex with a three-year budget now at €129 million and the Charles III block, the sole base of which implies a three-year investment of €670 million to which must be added the future waste recovery plant itself for three-years at €377 million, making for a grand total of €1.47 billion.

This led to the discussion of the waste treatment plan originally proposed on 22nd November. Councilman Seydoux believes it to be a solid and achievable project, saying that, “It meets many of our assembly’s expectations in terms of a 2- to 10-fold reduction in polluting emissions, a sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, compatible with Monaco’s commitments and better energy recovery from waste.”

Dartout was happy for the warm reception to the idea, which is being called Symbiosis. “Symbiosis, the investment cost of which is indeed very high, will form part of one of the most complex public operations that the Principality has had to carry out. It will be a question of giving a new face to this entrance to the city and placing the network of roads underground,” said the Minister of State, specifying that the residual plastics will be extracted from the household refuse.

The maritime operations of Monaco were also discussed, including the Cala del Forte port in Ventimiglia, the 40-year concession for the port of Cività Vecchia in Rome, the acquisition of a stake in Informa Marine Inc, promoter of the Monaco Yacht Show and the partnership with P&O Marina Dubai. Also brought up were the expiration of the Cap d’Ail concession in 2027 and the projected Nice-Cap d’Ail shuttle.

Balthazar Seydoux then went on to speak of the “national Monegasque public television service channel to be called Monte-Carlo Riviera” indicating that under Article 14 of the Constitution, international treaties or agreements whose execution has the effect of to create a new budgetary burden can only be ratified by virtue of a law.

The Government and National Council have a different interpretation of the text, in this case the elected officials consider that a specific budget article should be dedicated to the financing of the channel within the framework of the agreement with TV5 Monde.

Finally, civil servant pay rises were discussed, along with the assurance that the proposed free bus test will take place in due course.

 
 
 

Arctic explorer donates collection to Oceanographic Institute

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/12/2021

Famed polar explorer Jean Malaurie has donated a large part of his collection, amassed over 70 years, to the Oceanographic Institute where it will be part of a featured exhibit in spring of next year.

Jean Malaurie has been a celebrated polar explorer, writer, geographer and cultural anthropologist for seven decades. His accomplishments are many, including being the first person, along with his Inuit companion Kutsikitsoq, to reach the North Geomagnetic Pole on 29th May 1951.

His illustrious career saw him become director of studies at the School for Advanced Studies in Social Sciences (EHESS) and director and founder of the Terre Humaine collection, which features 1955’s Last Kings of Thule, translated into 23 languages. It is still today the world’s most widely distributed work on the Inuit people. Additionally, he is a UNECSO Goodwill Ambassador for Arctic issues.

Now, much of his collection, including archives and personal effects, has been ceded to the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco. These pieces will form the backbone of an upcoming exhibition, “Polar Mission”, which will open in spring 2022. The exhibit will also celebrate the explorer’s upcoming 100th birthday next year.

The bequest was first touched upon during a visit between Malaurie and Prince Albert II in 2019, where the explorer mentioned his wish to donate his collection to the Principality. Prince Albert suggested the Institute as a possible recipient and the matter was all but settled.

The deed of the gift was finally sealed on 19th November of this year in Dieppe where the researcher-explorer and the museum, represented by Chairman of the Board of Directors, Professor Philippe Taquet, signed an agreement.

The collection consists of almost 500 personal objects, 200 hours of recordings, and nearly 5,000 photos. Also included is Sir Wally Herbert’s sleigh, which he used when he became the first to reach the geographic North Pole, that he gifted to Malaurie.

“On this solemn day of the donation of my Arctic collections to the Oceanographic Institute, which will be scientifically supported by the Jean Malaurie Monaco-UVSQ Arctic Research Institute, I have the great honour to celebrate this body of international Arctic union in close alliance with the indigenous peoples of Siberia, Lapland, Greenland, Nunavik, Nunavut and Alaska. Respect for them and the nature that transcends them,” said Jean Malaurie.

In order to enhance this heritage, a tripartite agreement was signed on 26th November at the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco between Jean Malaurie, the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en Yvelines (UVSQ), and represented by its president Alain Bui, and the Oceanographic Institute, represented by its director general Robert Calcagno, in the presence of Prince Albert II.

“It is a source of pride that UVSQ is associated with the donation of the collections of Professor Jean Malaurie to the Oceanographic Institute of Monaco. Engaged for many years in the development of arctic studies, the UVSQ will play, through the Jean Malaurie Arctic Research Institute (IRAM) directed by Professor Jan Borm, the scientific promotion of these collections and the animation of research around the world-renowned work of Professor Malaurie,” said Alain Bui.

Part of the newly acquired collection will be shown for the first time in the ‘Polar Mission’ exhibition at the Oceanographic Museum starting 4th June. There will be five themed spaces making up the tour and will allow visitors to step inside the icy world of the Inuit to get a snapshot of their daily lives. Items such as tools for fishing or hunting, clothing, oil lamps and skinning knives will be on display.

“The research made discover in these people a thought and a philosophy, in particular in Greenland, then in Lapland, finally in North Siberia. Canadian organizations have expressed their willingness to join in this vibrant cooperation to which the Principality of Monaco will lend its prestige. Our thanks to Prince Albert II. We must protect the future of the Earth. In the Arctic, in particular, principles of ecology, even spirituality, are due to thisa high place first consecrated by Apollonian wills. Honour to the Oceanographic Institute and the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) who, through this institute, give their perception of the urgency of protecting the Earth’s balance, threatened in particular by its accelerated warming,” concluded Malaurie in his closing speech.

Professor Philippe Taquet, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oceanographic Institute closed by saying, “We are delighted with this donation which enriches the collections of the Oceanographic Institute. We admire Professor Jean Malaurie, a great explorer of the Poles and a keen connoisseur of the peoples of the Arctic. This theme, which is dear to us, will be at the heart of our programming in 2022. Through the use of part of these collections, we will be able to make visitors to the Oceanographic Museum discover in a more meaningful way the peoples of the Arctic and the importance of this region, which is at the forefront of global warming.”  

 
 
Photo by M Dagnino
 
 
 

Roca team avenge Lyon defeat

by: Luke Entwistle
08/12/2021

AS Monaco basketball, having lost to an on-the-buzzer winner against Lyon less than a fortnight ago, exacted their revenge on the Rhône side, coming out 84-82 winners on Tuesday.
History seemed like it was going to repeat itself, with Lyon working a shooting position as the seconds on the clock wound down to zero, but Elie Okobo’s three-point attempt came up short, handing the victory to Zvezdan Mitrovic’s side, cuing jubilant scenes at the Salle Gaston Médecin.
The game was decided by fine margins. A combination of indiscipline and inferior accuracy, especially outside the key for Lyon, and a storming performance from Donatas Motiejunas was enough to give the Roca team the edge.
Mitrovic was without star-man Mike James for the fixture, but Monaco started well in his absence, Paris Leee filling the void with eight points early-on, including two three-pointers to open up a lead. This was, however, a match in which the pendulum swung back-and-forth, and following a timeout, Lyon had overturned the deficit with 11 unanswered points.
Finishing the first-quarter with a minor deficit, the pendulum swung once more as Monaco were gifted a route back into the lead. Lyon were the architects of their own downfall as their indiscipline gifted Monaco a flurry of free-throw (FT) points – the Principality side converting 18 of their 23 FT opportunities on the night.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXMg187M097/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Monaco this time went on their own scoring streak, scoring 14 unreplied points, most of which were FTs, and a spectacular, speculative Alpha Diallo three-pointer on-the-buzzer gave Mitrovic’s men the advantage heading into the break.
Monaco extended their lead in the third-quarter, largely thanks to the incredible accuracy of Donatas Motiejunas within the key, with 16 of the Lithuanian’s 28 points on the night, coming from this area of the court. Rob Gray backed up his team-mate with a brilliant half of his own, his incisive running, allowing him to score 13 points on the night.
Lyon were far from out of the game however, and Monaco didn’t need a long memory to remember the controversial, agonising defeat that the Asvel side inflicted less than two weeks ago. The beginning of the fourth-quarter was dominated by the Rhône side, who wiped out the deficit, and edged into a narrow lead with minutes to spare.

Lyon and Monaco then started matching each-other blow-for-blow, and the Monegasque crowd were celebrating defensive interceptions as if they had scored a three-pointer of their own. Lee got the vital two-pointer to give Monaco the advantage with 40 seconds to spare, and Lyon’s last-gasp attempt to repeat their on-the-buzzer victory fell short, quite literally, as the three-point attempt didn’t even reach the hoop.
The buzzer was greeted with raucous applause from the home support as they celebrated a victory that holds greater importance to the Monaco faithful given the recent history of the fixture. Mitrovic acknowledged the importance of the victory post-match: “It is always difficult to play against Asvel… for us it is a particularly satisfying victory.”
Having registered consecutive victories in the domestic division, the Roca team will now be hoping to carry their form into their Euroleague fixture against Milan on Friday evening at the Salle Gaston Medecin.
 
 
 
Photo by Monaco Life
 
 
 

Scrooge comes to Monaco  

by: Stephanie Horsman
08/12/2021

The holidays will be upon us before anyone can say “bah humbug”, and what better way to celebrate this festive time than to see a holiday classic on the stage, redone in a modern way.
The tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, who went from holiday-hater to Christmas convert in the course of a night, is one most are familiar with. The Dickens classic has been a staple of the season for 177 years giving people a reminder of the true meaning of Christmas on an annual basis.
Now, a modern pantomime-esque version is hitting the stage right here in the Principality. The Drama Club of Monaco is putting on Patrick Barlow’s rendition of “A Christmas Carol” this month to give everyone a taste of the spirit.
The Drama Club is a small amateur theatre company who perform shows in English. They have members of all ages participating from varied backgrounds and different levels of experience.
This year the club has put on shows including James and the Giant Peach, the Raoul Dahl favourite, and online youth performances.
The performance will be held at the Salle Des Variétés in Monaco on Thursday 16th December at 8:30 pm.  For tickets and more information, visit the Drama Group’s website on www.dramagroup.com or ring them on +33 7 85 33 04 74.