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00:07 - Hogwarts comes to Paris,
00:33 Olympians and artifacts side by side,
00:36 and the visionary artists behind Art Nouveau's
00:38 curvilinear style, that's all coming up in today's show.
00:42 We're starting here in France,
00:43 where Harry Potter fans are getting the chance
00:46 to step into his world as an immersive exhibition
00:49 celebrates everyone's favorite little wizard.
00:51 Using a raft of special effects,
00:53 the exhibit offers visitors the opportunity
00:55 to brush up on their Quidditch skills,
00:58 test out Hagrid's giant chair,
01:00 and relive memorable moments
01:02 from the literary and cinematic saga.
01:04 With thousands of tickets sold
01:06 before the show even opens its doors,
01:08 fans of all generations are waiting,
01:10 wands at the ready.
01:11 Our resident Potter expert, Clemence Waller, explains.
01:14 (dramatic music)
01:18 - Whether you would rather relive
01:19 the epic wizarding battles
01:21 or play a little game of Quidditch,
01:22 welcome to Hogwarts in Paris,
01:25 where visitors can immerse themselves once again
01:27 into the magical world of Harry Potter,
01:29 which has enthralled readers for the last 25 years.
01:32 Covering over 25 rooms,
01:34 Potterheads will need to cast the spell Alohomora
01:37 to be able to access the first and begin their journey.
01:40 From number four Privet Drive
01:41 into Harry's bedroom under the stairs,
01:43 all the way to the Ministry of Magic,
01:45 with a pit stop in Hagrid's Hut,
01:47 fans of the movies will be able to enjoy
01:48 the sets and costumes that brought the beloved books
01:51 from the page to the screen.
01:52 - And as you go through the experience,
01:55 you see the costumes,
01:57 you go in these really beautiful moments,
01:58 there's media, there's music,
02:00 and sometimes you have a golden snitch,
02:02 you tap the snitch and some magic happens.
02:05 And it's a personalized journey.
02:07 - The exhibition allows tourists
02:08 to step into the shoes of a Hogwarts student,
02:10 where they will be able to select their house,
02:12 choose their wand, or have their wand choose them,
02:15 and reveal their Patronus.
02:17 Throughout their exploration,
02:18 the visitors will be able to win points for their team
02:20 and step up to the challenges.
02:23 However, the fun is also tailored
02:24 to bring in new fans to the iconic series,
02:27 so no one feels left out.
02:29 - I don't know much about the Harry Potter universe,
02:32 and the good thing is,
02:33 there are posters which explain the story
02:35 from the beginning,
02:36 without spoiling the series too much.
02:38 - The exhibition has already sold over 100,000 tickets
02:43 before it even opened,
02:44 and is set to last until October 1st.
02:46 So grab your port keys.
02:48 This comes after Warner Bros. announced
02:50 a brand new television series to span over a decade,
02:53 which will once again bring the beloved books to life.
02:56 (orchestral music)
02:59 Now to an exhibition putting athletic excellence
03:02 on a podium, right next to artistic achievements.
03:05 Photographs of the footballer Maradona
03:07 and the French deck athlete Kevin Mayer
03:09 have been put on display
03:10 next to iconic artworks from the Louvre.
03:13 That's all part of an exhibition
03:14 kicking off a series of cultural events
03:16 ahead of the Paris Olympics in 2024.
03:20 That shows on right now at the Sports Museum in Nice.
03:23 Yinka Oyetade gives us a look inside.
03:25 (crowd cheering)
03:26 - A rush of adrenaline, the roar from the crowd,
03:30 and an overwhelming sense of pride.
03:34 There's nothing quite like the thrill of victory,
03:37 and that's the message at the heart of this new exhibit
03:40 at Nice's National Sports Museum.
03:42 On display, antiques, ancient sculptures, and paintings,
03:46 all based on the age-old feeling of triumph.
03:49 For visitors, the expo is a big win.
03:53 - The exhibition is fascinating.
03:55 We can see the link between sport, sacrifice,
03:58 and the peace that it can bring.
04:00 - You'd never imagine that in a sports museum
04:03 that you'd see works from the Louvre.
04:05 This relationship between the two
04:07 brings to mind the history of sport,
04:08 and that's interesting.
04:10 - Just a few weeks before,
04:11 the ancient artifacts were moved from their home,
04:14 the famed Louvre Museum in Paris.
04:17 One of the stars in the exhibition,
04:19 this antique sculpture of Dia Duminos,
04:21 which portrays an idealized athletic physique.
04:24 - The statue personifies victory that comes from competing.
04:29 Culturally, it's emblematic
04:30 of what the ancient Greeks practiced daily,
04:33 which was the art of winning against oneself.
04:35 - 28 artworks in total are on a rare loan
04:40 to the Nice Museum.
04:42 Among them are these wrestlers carved out of marble,
04:45 and this antique vase representing Nike,
04:47 the Greek goddess of victory.
04:49 The works are exhibited among contemporary pieces.
04:52 Dia Duminos finds his match
04:54 in a photo of French athlete Kevin Mayer.
04:57 - The photo clearly shows what we see on the sculpture,
05:04 that shift in the hip and the shoulders,
05:08 which we see represented on the statue.
05:10 - The famous winged victory of Samothrace,
05:14 one of the most revered works of Hellenistic Greece,
05:17 has also made the journey to Nice.
05:20 The exhibition kicks off a series of cultural events
05:23 for the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics,
05:25 an event that's built to give France a taste of victory.
05:29 - Going back to the turn of the 20th century now,
05:33 when the Art Nouveau style was inextricably linked
05:35 to the illustrations and graphic design
05:37 of Czech émigré Alphonse Mucha.
05:40 Now his work is the focus
05:41 of a major exhibition here in Paris,
05:43 which gives visitors an insight
05:45 into his avant-garde vision
05:47 and his impact on contemporary culture.
05:50 Entitled "Eternal Mucha",
05:51 it's on at the Grand Palais Éphémère.
05:53 Florence Galliard, Jonathan Walsh,
05:55 and Monty Francis have this report.
05:57 - Coming through the doors of the Grand Palais Émércif,
06:03 your senses are immediately caught up
06:05 encountering the artist Alphonse Mucha.
06:08 A key figure of Art Nouveau
06:10 and the inventor of an original style of graphic art,
06:14 his posters enchanted Paris during the Belle Époque.
06:18 Mucha grew up in the Austro-Hungarian Empire
06:22 and dreamt of independence for his country,
06:24 what is now the Czech Republic,
06:27 a dream that was realized in 1918.
06:30 - For him, the idea that the Czech people
06:33 might have a right to self-determination
06:35 was an important part of his career.
06:37 He designed the first postage stamps for the country,
06:39 he designed the first bank notes,
06:41 but then also he created the Slav Epic,
06:44 which is one of the centerpieces of this exhibition.
06:47 - Mucha created the Slav Epic in his studio in Prague.
06:51 In this room, visitors can soak up
06:54 the scents of wood and incense
06:56 that were a source of his inspiration.
06:58 The sprawling fresco itself is a testament to survival.
07:03 It barely survived the Nazi invasion in 1939.
07:08 - Communist ministers of culture
07:09 wanted the Slav Epic to be destroyed.
07:13 And so it was only thanks to the efforts of my family
07:17 and other people who cared about it in Czechoslovakia
07:20 that we were able to protect it
07:21 through the dark days of the 20th century.
07:23 Slav Epic was hidden away under piles of coal,
07:27 it was buried in the forests, it rolled up in tubes,
07:30 I mean, it's incredible.
07:31 - Audiences rediscovered Mucha's work in the 1960s
07:37 at a retrospective in London.
07:39 Since then, it has continued to inspire artists
07:42 of all kinds, from Jimi Hendrix to video game creators,
07:47 from advertisers to Japanese manga artists.
07:52 - Mucha is a very contemporary artist
07:58 because of the relationship or link he has created
08:01 between pure artistic creation
08:03 and artistic creation for the masses,
08:06 especially in the realm of advertising.
08:08 He's an artist whose graphic lines are very contemporary
08:12 and clearly recognizable from a distance.
08:14 And his influence is seen across
08:16 an infinite number of other works.
08:18 - Beyond Art Nouveau,
08:24 the Mucha style continues to fascinate and thrill.
08:28 - Next, in Los Angeles,
08:39 a new group show is challenging stereotypes
08:41 about art made by women,
08:43 especially when those women are working in Islamic societies.
08:47 Women Defining Women in Contemporary Art
08:49 of the Middle East and Beyond
08:51 brings together the work of 42 artists
08:53 at the LA County Museum of Art.
08:56 The curators say they want to overcome preconceptions
08:58 that these are oppressed and invisible groups,
09:01 and instead open up the conversation
09:03 about women's rights and bodily autonomy
09:06 in the Middle East and in America too.
09:08 Here's more from the museum.
09:10 - The exhibition helps to demonstrate this history
09:13 just within Iran of women fighting back
09:16 and fighting for their rights.
09:17 There's a large video projection by Nusha Tavakolian
09:21 of a woman who's just standing still
09:24 while the wind blows around her
09:27 and you see plastic bags and leaves
09:29 and she's standing still.
09:30 This is again before the recent uprising in Iran,
09:34 but it emphasizes the resilience
09:36 and strength of Iranian women,
09:38 as do some of the images by Shirin Ali Abadi,
09:41 like the girl blowing a giant bubble gum.
09:43 It's kind of like, I'm in charge.
09:45 - Finally, to a meeting of creative minds
09:48 that shaped the 1980s fashion aesthetic
09:51 and changed the way editorial shoots looked forever.
09:54 Late designer Azadin Alaya is known
09:56 for his figure-hugging, streamlined pieces
09:59 favored by scores of high-profile clients
10:02 from Madonna to Michelle Obama.
10:04 A new exhibition at his foundation in Paris
10:06 shows how his collaborations with photographer Arthur Elgort
10:10 freed up fashion photography
10:12 and ushered in a spontaneous mood
10:14 which made the models the independent,
10:16 aspirational protagonists of those scenes.
10:19 We'll leave you with a preview.
10:21 Otherwise, do check out our website
10:22 for more arts and culture and our social media too.
10:25 There's more news coming up here on France 24 just after this.
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