"Herkules i Omfale" Petera Paula Rubensa (1602)

Hercules and Omphale by Pierre Paul Rubens

Ercole e Onfale, di Rubens (1602)

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"Hércules y Ónfale", de Rubens

Bitte nicht anfassen! Mischwäsche

Hercules is known as an allegory of strength and virility. But his love life doesn't quite match up to that, with the exception of his relationship with Xena, the warrior.

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Look but Don't Touch

Hercules is known as an allegory of strength and virility. But his love life doesn't quite match up to that

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Is Saint Thomas' touching of Jesus' wounds homoerotic? It's certainly in stark contrast to Mary Magdalene, who is told not to touch him and spends the rest of her life living in a cave.

Is Saint Thomas' touching of Jesus' wounds homoerotic?

The incredulity of Saint Thomas - Caravaggio

In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Jupiter transforms into a swan to have sex with Leda. In this work, the painter takes the opportunity to explore the sensuality of the encounter, working with colours and fabrics to convey pleasure.

The painter explores the sensuality of the encounter between Leda and Jupiter

Leda and the Swan by Paolo Veronese

Written in the Middle Ages, the accounts of the life and death of the saints occupy an important place in the Catholic tradition, especially accounts of their torture... JK, this is actually an episode about BDSM. But no worries! We're just doing soft stuff.

Is this an episode about Catholic saints or BDSM? Maybe... both?

San Sebastian by Perugino

In the 1980s, a Japanese television channel financed the restoration of the Sistine Chapel and during that restoration, workers discovered the garish colours and parts of the body that had since been covered up. So which version of the painting is more important to preserve?

The Sistine Chapel could have looked very different...

Original Sin by Michelangelo

Depictions of Venus and nude women in general in art can be considered objectifying and insulting. In 1914, a suffragette even slashed a painting in the National Gallery in protest. But Venus is perhaps more inclusive than she looks at first glance. 

Depictions of nude women can be objectifying and insulting. But Venus is perhaps more inclusive than she looks

Aphrodite's Child

Olympia is a classic Venus with a 19th century twist. She caused quite a stir, as Édouard Manet painted her as a prostitute waiting for the client. 

Olympia is a classic Venus with a 19th century twist: she's a prostitute

Olympia by Édouard Manet

An author once described this work as a portrait of a woman done by a painter who had forgotten to paint the feet, legs, thighs, stomach, hips, chest, hands, arms, shoulders, neck and head. 

The Origin of the World by Gustave Courbet

At first glance, it's an image of innocence. A motherly milkmaid pouring out the milk in a kitchen, preparing snacks from our childhoods. But there's actually far more to her than meets the eye.

A famous image that at first glance looks totally innocent, but is in actual fact full of innuendo

The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer

Diana, the mythological goddess of the hunt, lives with her band of nymphs in the forest, free of men. Representations of her in painting are a contradictory mix of fantasy and repulsion. These nympths are both virgins and lesbians, naked and threatening, seductive and violent.

Representations of Diana in art are a contradictory mix of fantasy and repulsion. 

Diana and Callisto by Le Titien

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This documentary tells the story of German Expressionism in the context of colonial exploitation for the first time. When German artists Emil Nolde and Max Pechstein travelled to what was then the colony of German New Guinea and the Palau Islands in 1910, they wanted to revolutionise painting through inspiration from indigenous art and peoples. But their "South Sea paradise" had already been destroyed by the European colonial masters and their art would reveal the ideals and prejudice of early twentieth century Europe.

Expressionism and Colonialism

This documentary tells the story of German Expressionist art for the first time in the context of colonial exploitation. 

The White Gaze

Gaming isn't all fun and games; there's an ideology and a world view behind each game. Trinity notes, as she plays her favourite games with political scientist Oliver Mauco, how often the protagonists are white men defending America from a foreign enemy. They then move on to Gal*Gun, and discuss the model of submissive femininity that it portrays. What if gaming was politics?

Art of Gaming

Gaming isn't all fun and games; there's an ideology and a world view behind each game

Ideology

The body has been a central motif in art for centuries. What place does it have in the digital world? We pop to Vienna for a choreographic performance, in Munich for the exhibition of the sculptor Alexandra Bircken, and finally in Denmark for a shoot where Spencer Tunick photographs a naked crowd.

TWIST

The body has been a central motif in art for centuries. What place does it have in the digital world?

The Body and Art

A look at the tormented life of Clara Haskil (1895-1960), and the dazzling purity and fluidity of her unique sound. Her 10 year professional career was short but disproportionately influential.

The Magic of Interpretation

A look at the tormented life of Clara Haskil (1895-1960)

Clara Haskil

How are artists and cultural institutions responding to the climate emergency? What are they doing to become "greener"? Twist goes to Dresden, a city which has launched its pilot project "Culture for Future" to explore ways in which culture can address sustainable issues.

Twist

How are artists and cultural institutions responding to the climate emergency?

Go Green: Culture and Climate

With Estonia celebrating 30 years of independence this year, TWIST goes to Tallinn to discover the city’s cultural scene. Featuring writer Sofi Oksanen, artists Flo Kasearu and Timo Toots, the Estonian Voices ensemble and rapper Tommy Cash

With Estonia celebrating 30 years of independence this year, TWIST goes to Tallinn to discover the city’s cultural scene.

Estonia: Young, Digital, Provocative

Portugal’s most famous singer of the twentieth century and Queen of Fado, Amália Rodrigues passed away in 1999. Beloved by all Portuguese people rich and poor, she became an ambassador for the Portuguese art of Fado, this music that expresses the unique Portuguese melancholic yearning that is  Saudade.

Portugal’s most famous singer of the twentieth century, Amália Rodrigues passed away in 1999. Beloved by all Portuguese people rich and poor, she became an ambassador for the Portuguese art of Fado.

Amália Rodrigues and the World of Fado

In 1970, the festival was interrupted after the screening of the film by Michael Verhoeven, OK, a parable about the Vietnam War. 16 years later, controversy reignites over the film Stammheim. When the film received the Golden Bear, the president, Gina Lollobrigida, immediately declared: "I was against this film." In 1976, people got flustered over Realm of the Senses, by the great Japanese director Nagisa Oshima, over accusations that it was pornography. 

70 Years of the Berlinale

The Berinale has had its fair share of drama throughout the years

Scandal!

The solitary genius in art has long been venerated. But no longer. Make way for the artist collectives that are reimagining the art world and the role of the artist.  

Artist Collectives - The Ego Trip is Finished!

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Faced with more frequent and violent natural disasters caused by climate change, animals and plants are adapting. Some species, such as sharks, which are able to sense the change in atmospheric pressure of a coming hurricane, move away from danger. Others learn to live with it, such as curlews, which use the hot ash from erupting volcanoes in Papua New Guinea to incubate their eggs. A surprising and inspiring documentary about nature's survivors.

How Animals and Plants Survive

Faced with more frequent and violent natural disasters caused by climate change, animals and plants are adapting. A surprising and inspiring documentary about nature's survivors.

Natural Disasters

Behind his polite exterior lies a formidable leader with a ruthless character, ready to do anything to make China the world's leading power by the People’s Republic’s centenary in 2049. This well-documented portrait of the Chinese president gives an unprecedented insight into his politics and shows how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

A portrait of the Chinese president giving an unprecedented insight into his politics and showing how Xi Jinping's personal journey has shaped his choices as he steers China towards world domination.

The New World of Xi Jinping

Pippi Longstocking, the superhumanly strong redhead with pigtails and freckles, conquers the world of classical ballet. The Swedish dancer and choreographer Pär Isberg stages Astrid Lindgren’s favourite character from the Villa Villekulla for the Helsinki opera house. The ballet music is the work of Georg Riedel and Stefan Nilsson.

From the Helsinki Opera

The Swedish dancer and choreographer Pär Isberg stages Astrid Lindgren’s favourite character for the Helsinki opera house.

Pippi Longstocking

Meet two of Poland's oldest hippies: Juliusz (92) and Krystof (77) have been living on the shores of Lake Solina, in almost total isolation and surrounded by nature and animals, for decades. But life in the middle of nowhere is increasingly hard on their aging bodies. 

Meet two of Poland's oldest hippies: Juliusz (92) and Krystof (77)

Re: An Unconventional Retirement

Lowriding is a passion for cars where owners customise their vintage vehicles to look cool gliding along the Los Angeles boulevards. For long a male-only pursuit, more and more women are getting into it lowriding.

Geo Reportage

Lowriders of Los Angeles

To celebrate 50 years of French radio station FIP, Sting gives a special performance in the monumental surroundings of the Pantheon in Paris.

50 Years of FIP Radio

Sting at the Pantheon in Paris

A region of Europe with a shared experience of communism and USSR dominance, Eastern Europe today is characterised by nations with diverse cultural and political identities.

Mapping the World

How many Eastern Europes?

Present on the coast but also inland, dunes are shaped by the wind and are in perpetual movement. These extraordinary landscapes made of infinite grains of sand are ephemeral and inhospitable. Yet the environment they offer is astonishingly diverse.

Present on the coast but also inland, dunes are in perpetual movement, creating extraordinary ephemeral landscapes.

Dunes: Europe's Moving Landscapes

A special gala concert to celebrate five years of Hamburg’s fantastic new concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie, opened on January 11 2017. The NDR Elbphilharmonie orchestra performs works by Adams, Adès and Salonen with conductor Alan Gilbert and pianist Kiril Gerstein.

With Kirill Gerstein, Alan Gilbert and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra

A special gala concert to celebrate five years of Hamburg’s fantastic new concert hall, the Elbphilharmonie.

5 Years of the Elbphilharmonie

Saudi Arabia is reputed to be one of the richest and most conservative nations on the planet. But how do its citizens live today?

Unknown Arabia

Saudi Arabia: The West

Vadum Minsyuk and Yuri Andreyev fled the war in eastern Ukraine in 2014. In search of a new beginning, they decided to start a new life in the Chernobyl region, close to the exclusion zone from the 1986 nuclear disaster. The dangers of radiation are better than the rockets of war.

Vadum Minsyuk and Yuri Andreyev fled the war in eastern Ukraine to start a new life in the Chernobyl region,  The dangers of radiation are better than the rockets of war for them.

Re: New Beginning in Chernobyl

Stuttgart Ballet performs ‘Onegin’, John Cranko’s acclaimed 1965 choreography of Alexander Pushkin’s novel. Classical ballet at its best in a version created for the cinema.

A Ballet by John Cranko

Stuttgart Ballet performs ‘Onegin’, John Cranko’s acclaimed 1965 choreography of Alexander Pushkin’s novel.

Onegin

The Indian state of Sikkim has banned pesticides completely, allowing only organic farming. The results: healthy food and healthy soils.

ARTE Reportage

India: Sikkim - A Green New World

A journey through Middle-earth, or rather New Zealand. Peter Jackson used the natural beauty of his native land to great effect in his film adaptation of J.R.R Tolkien’s classic trilogy. A tour through locations for the Shire, the Misty Mountains and Mordor… 

Cult Film Locations

A journey through New Zealand used to great effect in the film adaptation of Tolkien’s classic.

Looking for the Lord of the Rings

It's big business: in summer, hundreds of kilos of mushrooms are illegally picked every day in Romanian forests. They are then transported to Italy by intermediaries where they are sold at astronomical prices. Romanian authorities do nothing as the forests are looted unsustainably for their grey gold.

It's big business: in summer, hundreds of kilos of mushrooms are illegally picked every day in Romanian forests

Re: Truffle Traffick in Romania

Iraq in 2022: Will the emerging nation succeed in resisting foreign influence and from Iran in particular? What does the future hold for the Kurdish autonomous region? And will the USA ever really leave?

Iraq in 2022: Will the emerging nation succeed in resisting influence from foreign powers, and from Iran in particular? 

Iraq - A Sovereign Country?

In recent years Oman has been opening up to western tourists. What awaits them is a land of mountains, deserts, fjords, and pristine beaches.

Fairytale Oman

Carolyn Carlson and her company bid farewell to each other in a final creation. On the Chaillot theatre stage in Paris, the legendary choreographer and performer presents The Tree (Fragments of poetics on fire), an ode to nature and the elements.

Théâtre de Chaillot

The legendary American choreographer presents The Tree (Fragments of poetics on fire), an ode to nature and the elements.

Carolyn Carlson's The Tree

The United Arab Emirates includes the sci-fi like cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai with their breath taking towers and impressive beach resorts. It is also a land of expats with residents from over two hundred different nations.

The United Arab Emirates includes the sci-fi like cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. It is also a land of expats with residents from over two hundred different nations.

Look but Don't Touch

Look but Don't Touch

The incredulity of Saint Thomas - Caravaggio

Leda and the Swan by Paolo Veronese

San Sebastian by Perugino

Original Sin by Michelangelo

Aphrodite's Child

Olympia by Édouard Manet

The Origin of the World by Gustave Courbet

Hercules and Omphale by Pierre Paul RubensLook but Don't Touch

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