Culture
AAPA Gets the Lowdown on Art Risks, Antiquities Theft
AAPA members and their guests now understand the illegal trade in cultural objects and the natural and human risks that owners of art works must address after meeting with senior insurance company executives and a senior police officer over breakfast for a panel discussion on May 25. The meeting was hosted by AXA Art, a division of leading French insurer AXA, in the Hotel de La Vaupalière, an…
Philharmonie Seeks to Break Down Social Barriers
AAPA members enjoyed a rare privilege on March 25 when they visited the Philharmonie de Paris, the city’s brand-new classical music concert hall. Located in the north east of Paris near the Porte de Pantin, a popular, working class area known better for its “Zenith” rock and pop music venue, the Philharmonie opened in January to resounding success, confounding critics who predicted…
AAPA Meets Culture Minister Pellerin
Getting big multinational corporations like Google Inc to pay more to local internet providers for the bandwidth they use was just one of the topics when Culture and Communication Minister Fleur Pellerin met the AAPA on March 11. Speaking off-the-record to around 20 AAPA members in the gilded Salon des Maréchaux of her ministry near Palais Royal, Ms. Pellerin touched on a number of…
AAPA Gets A Sneak Preview of Châtelet’s “Singin' in the Rain”
Some 30 AAPA members and their guests now have a better idea of what goes into producing a world-renowned musical after their privileged behind-the-scenes visit to the Théâtre du Châtelet's production of “Singin' in the Rain" on March 6. We enjoyed an hour-long tête-à-tête with the show’s director Robert Carson, choreographer Stephen Mear, dramatist Ian Burton, musical director Gareth…
France's top rabbi alarmed by anti-Semitic attacks
After a summer heated by protests over the Israeli offensive in Gaza and the growing clout of militant Islam, France's chief rabbi is raising the alarm over rising anti-Semitism in the country - and the public silence that is greeting it. "What has stuck us is the sense of indifference on the part of society," Grand Rabbi Haim Korsia told AAPA members on Sept. 16 in wide-ranging…
AAPA Pays Tribute to John Morris
Many more images of the John Morris event are available at: https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/106700829338050700067/photos/+ClaussenFinksCreativeUlm/albums/6080839223978580305 British Ambassador Sir Peter Ricketts pays tribute to John Morris It was a memorable evening when some 80 friends, colleagues, AAPA members and their guests paid tribute to the Association's 97-year-old doyen member,…
JACK LANG INVITES THE AAPA INTO THE ARAB WORLD
Former Culture Minister and recently-appointed President of the Arab World Institute (IMA), Jack Lang hosted some 30 members of the AAPA at the IMA on Dec. 17 for an interesting and stimulating visit that included a 90-minute question-and-answer session with Lang, himself. The enthusiastic AAPA group was firstly treated to some historical explanations on the make-up and evolution of…
A Day Off at Versailles
It was almost like a scene from “Night at the Museum,” starring Ben Stiller. Except it was “Day Off at Versailles,” starring the Anglo-American Press Association. The event aired on Monday, March 18th, when about 40 of us got a wonderful “insiders” tour of the Chateau de Versailles on the day when its doors are closed to the public. We followed museum historian and curator Beatrix…
UNESCO Leader Appeals For US To Resume Funding
UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova highlighted her organization's financial plight when she met with a dozen AAPA members at a breakfast meeting at UNESCO headquarters on October 11. "UNESCO needs all our members," she said, calling it "unfair that UNESCO is caught in the Middle East conflict" over a US law requiring a halt to payments to international organizations that admit Palestine…
Meeting with Khadija al-Salami
On May 10, AAPA members were treated to a viewing of Yememi filmmaker Khadija al-Salami's "Amina,'' followed by a thoughtful discussion about the current situation in Yemen and the Middle East. The event was hosted by AAPA President John Keating at his apartment. Ms. al-Salami, who lives in Paris, is considered to be the first female filmmaker & producer in Yemen. Originally…