Name: The Secret Code of Love - Gymnastics
Uploaded: 2020-11-25T17:31:27.000+01:00
Duration: 291 s
Description: In a time before social media and dating apps gay people communicated their sexual preferences to one another with a subtle code of colour-coded hankies. What is left of this practice today?

Gymnastique

Flick Flack

The Secret Code of Love

El código gay de los pañuelos de colores

Sekretny kod miłości

L'antenato di Grindr: l'Hanky Code

In a time before social media and dating apps gay people communicated their sexual preferences to one another with a subtle code of colour-coded hankies. What is left of this practice today?

program_content

Cultural Brain Stretching

Gymnastics

<p>In a time before social media and dating apps gay people communicated their sexual preferences to one another with a subtle code of colour-coded hankies. What is left of this practice today?</p>

program_playNext

Ayn Rand was a survivor of Communism, and as a result, her writings fiercely advocate uncompromising individualism. Her high profile fans include Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, and Angelina Jolie.

Ayn Rand was a survivor of Communism, and as a result, her writings fiercely advocate uncompromising individualism

Ayn Rand, Capitalism Guru

In 2019, Les Indes galantes was performed at the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, hip hop style. This baroque opera, composed by Jean-Philippe Rameau, is an ode to colonial exoticism, and its reworking is the brainchild of Bintou Dembélé, the first black woman to choreograph a ballet at the Paris Opera.

In 2019, Les Indes galantes was performed at the Opera de la Bastille in Paris, hip hop style

Operatic Hip Hop: Dance Decolonised

Yurts, tipis, igloos: traditional homes are round, but most modern buildings are full of harsh right angles. In the 60s, influenced by science fiction, strange, curved creations started popping up in France. But it was a brief movement that fell out of favour.

In the 60s, influenced by science fiction, strange, curved homes started popping up in France

Why Live In a Bubble House?

California, 1962: as counter-culture boomed, Corita Kent created her first pop-art paintings. The nun and art teacher mixed Jefferson Airplane, Pepsi and Bible verses in her work. But her activism and political convictions would force her to hang up her habit.

How a nun became a counter-cultural icon thanks to her art

Corita Kent, the Pop Culture Nun

Stadiums filled with raving fans, millions of dollars in contracts and fierce competition: esports is no longer a fad, and could even be headed to the Olympics. A look back on how it all began.

Esports is now mainstream. We take a look back at where it all began

Esport: Born in 1972?

The trolley problem asks, is it better to let 5 people die or choose to kill only 1? And now that problem is more pressing than ever with the advent of self-driving cars. Do they think? And what role should morality play in their decision-making process?

A self-drivng car won't just get you from A to B, it'll make crucial decisions in those life-or-death moments right before a car accident

Are Self-Driving Cars Moral?

A 1960s icon and a martial arts legend, Bruce Lee is still beloved as the king of martial arts the world over. But Quentin Tarantino may have committed the small crime of lese-majesty in his latest film. He asks: was Bruce Lee even really that good at fighting?

Was Bruce Lee even really that good at fighting?

Was Bruce Lee Actually Good at Fighting?

A tribute to nature and a classic coming-of-age film, Bambi is not just a cute Walt Disney cartoon. It first started off as a novel by Austrian writer Felix Salten, which was banned by the Nazi authorities in 1936. So why did the story of this harmless deer draw the ire of the facist censors?

Why Burn Bambi?

Statues are silent observers of our everyday lives... and most of the time they go unnoticed as city dwellers bustle from one destination to the next. But now statues are having their moment in the spotlight. When we look at the stories of the people we put on plinths, we discover painful histories and shameful, forgotten truths.

When we look at the stories of the people we put on plinths, we discover painful histories and shameful, forgotten truths

Why are Statues Controversial?

These aren't doodles: Art Spiegelman or Marjane Satrapi's books are pieces of literary art. Without boxes or bubbles, the graphic novel is now a major genre in publishing. Graphic novels have an unlikely origin story: the genre emerged from woodcutting.

These aren't doodles: Art Spiegelman or Marjane Satrapi's books are pieces of literary art

The Origin Story of the Graphic Novel

White noise to better concentrate at work, pink noise to put baby to sleep, brown noise to meditate... After ASMR, this is the latest trend catering to a society in burn out. Tune in to a sound with a tune, melody, or rhythm.

White noise, pink noise, brown noise: tune in to a sound with a tune, melody, or rhythm

Relax, Listen to Noise

Birds have inspired many great composers, and like all self-respecting performers, they improvise and only sing when they are happy. But can you call them musicians?

Birds have inspired many great composers, but can you call them musicians?

Are Birds Musicians?

Some letters never reach their destination, whether by accident or design. This missing mail is brought back to life thanks to artist Adrianna Wallis. In a high tech world saturated by data, has the art of letter writing definitively died? 

In a high tech world saturated by data, has the art of letter writing definitively died?

The Search for Lost Letters

In response to the planned obsolescence programmed by the giants of the web, artist Olia Lialina designs interactive works that revive old tech. Will she succeed in saving the Internet?

Meet the artist hacking the internet to revive old tech

Olia Lialina: The Artist Who's Saving the Internet

Mohamed Ali was aware of the power of image. A genius boxer and king of communication, he surrounded himself with the best photographers of his time and attracted the interest of the press, shaping his own iconography. So how did Muhammad Ali win the fight to control his image?

Mohamed Ali wasn't just a genius boxer, but a king of communication

Mohamed Ali: The Legend of a Fighter

Degas’s The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer hit the headlines at the Impressionist exhibition because of its shocking hyperrealism. It's found to be an ugly and crudely done piece. But the real scandal wasn't the work's reception, but the life of the young dancer herself and the treatment of her peers. 

Degas’s The Little Fourteen Year Old Dancer has a sad history behind it

Degas, Backstage at the Opera

Would you attend a gallery exhibition with the paintings turned to face the wall? Probably not. And yet curators find a huge wealth of information about the painting based off of the clues left on the back of the canvas and its frame.

Would you attend a gallery exhibition with the paintings turned to face the wall? Probably not...

The Picture Behind the Picture

We've all experienced lockdown in the past year, but one artist has been doing his own self-imposed lockdowns for years. For Abraham Poincheval, confinement is just another form of artistic expression.

For Abraham Poincheval, confinement is just another form of artistic expression

Confined for Art

They cry, they cry and they faint at the Beatles or One Direction concerts: they are the fans. One might think that this isn't a recent phenomenon. In the 19th century, a pianist prodigy drew big crowds. His name: Franz Liszt. Long before beatlemania, there was "Lisztomania".

Long before beatlemania, there was "Lisztomania"

Franz Liszt, the First Rock Star

In many French cities, there are feminist messages hastily pasted across the walls, denouncing rape and violence against women. They come from a long tradition of feminist protest first sparked off by Oympe de Gouges.

In many French cities, there are feminist messages hastily pasted across the walls, denouncing rape and violence against women

Street Art Takes on Patriarchy

How can an artist unblock writer's block and free themselves of the fear of the blank page? Producer and musician Brian Eno has found the solution: a card game. Called Oblique Strategie", it gave artists inspiration when they had none. David Bowie composed his unforgettable Heroes thanks to this very strange game.

David Bowie composed his unforgettable Heroes thanks to this very strange game

The Game That Saved David Bowie

If Monopoly today is a cheerful celebration of capitalism, it actually didn't start off that way. Its creator, a working class woman who barely made any money from it, had devised the game as a way of denoucing the worst excesses of unfettered capitalism. 

Let's give credit where credit is due: the creator of Monopoly was a working class woman who barely made any money from it

When Monopoly Was Anti-Capitalist

Taboo since ancient times, periods are also taboo in art. But thanks to a generation of feminist artists determined to end the shame around menstruation, period blood is making a big splash in the art world - even if social media has yet to catch up. 

A generation of feminist artists are determined to end the shame around menstruation

The Art of Menstruation

Designer Erik Spiekermann explains how he created the map for Berlin's newly unified public transport network, just after reunification and the fall of the Berlin wall.

Designer Erik Spiekermann explains how he created the map for Berlin's newly unified public transport network

How a Map Healed Berlin

Federico Fellini is renowned for his extravagant productions. On the sets, there was often a mixture of creativity and chaos. But why did the filmmaker make his actors recite numbers and pasta recipes rather than scripts?

Federico Fellini's creative process was chaotic but legendary

Carbonara Alla Fellini

At the first hint of sadness, out comes the pints of icecream and the sad power ballads. But why is listening to sad music our idea of a good time? Does sad music make us happy?

Why is listening to sad music our idea of a good time?

Why Do We Love Sad Music?

In old paintings, the subjects never smile. Up until the 18th century, every figure was sombre and strict-looking, because smiling was considered uncouth. 

In old paintings, the subjects never smile

Why Do Old Portraits Look Grumpy?

The Dreamachine is a cylinder that generates a psychedelic light that triggers strange visions in the people who look at it: it's a drug-free high. Its inventors even thought it would replace TV.

The Dreamachine triggers a drug-free high in th people who look at it

The Dreamachine Trip

From Baudelaire to Cocteau to Hemingway, artists have often chosen the company of cats. This artist-animal relationship has inspired many works. Why are so many artists so obsessed with cats?

Why are so many artists so obsessed with cats?

Cats and Artists, a Love Story

Yes, football is art! And we have proof. On March 26, 1952, the France-Sweden match took place at the Parc des Princes. This was the first artificially lit football match in France. A genius painter, Nicolas de Staël, was there in the stands. The scene sparked off something special. 

Football is Art

You've probably never heard of Pamela Colman Smith, but you have seen her work. Known as Pixie, she illustrated a deck of tarot cards that went on to become world famous, and are still sold to this day. But the artist herself, a woman and a person of colour, died penniless, her name whitewashed from history. 

You've probably never heard of Pamela Colman Smith, but you have seen her work

Pamela Colman Smith, the Tarot Card Artist

We all spent a lot of time looking out the window during lockdown, but the artists always have. From Flemish paintings to Hitchcock, how does the window feature in the history of art?

We all spent a lot of time looking out the window during lockdown, but the artists always have

Art and Windows

From the earliest days of culture, women have been presented as sinners, even demonic beings. Starting with the most famous of them: Eve. In the 20th and 21st centuries, many of them became scapegoats: none more so than Yoko Ono. 

Women have been portrayed as evil throughout the ages, from Eve right through to Yoko Ono

The Yoko Ono Effect

Their whole life is spent in front of an audience, but most actors and musicians sick with stage fright rarely talk about how their nerves impact them. How to explain this paradox? Does stage fright help them?

Is stage fright an advantage for actors and musicians?

Is Stage Fright Good?

Gymnastics - Cultural Brain Stretching

program_recommendations

Artist Davina Sammarcelli makes erotic poems out of letters, returning them to their purest state: lines, shapes, and symbols. Two full stops each encased in parentheses can veer away from their linguistic significance, and suddenly take on the appearance of a pair of breasts. A latent sexuality that language had all along, Davina believes.

Meet the artist who thinks letters are sexy

Porno-graphics (.)(.)

In 1989, a year after being diagnosed with AIDS, Keith Haring created a mural entitled Once Upon a Time in the toilets of an LGBT centre in Manhattan. Eminently political, the work is still there decades later.

Keith Haring's mural Once Upon a Time is a celebration of sex and life even as he himself was dying 

Once Upon A Time by Keith Haring

Ancient Greek statues are white, pure and classical, just like the marble they are carved from. False. These statues were painted in fabulous bright colours. Archaeologists and art academics have known this for centuries so why does the white myth endure?

Ancient Greek Statues Were Not White

A simple hut on the Côte d‘Azur shows all of Le Corbusier’s architectural genius.

Le Corbusier and his Cabin

Conductors can gesticulate wildly when they conduct an orchestra. But have you ever wondered what exactly they are doing with their hands? And why do they use a baton?

Why Do Conductors Use Batons?

Highly respected theatres are programming gory productions that have more in common with slash horror films than traditional theatre.

Gore at the Theatre

The humble accordion may not have a reputation as the coolest instrument on the block. But in the hands of Mario Batkovic it takes on another dimension. Since 2017 the Bosnian accordionist has been wowing audiences and recording film and game scores, notably for hit survival game, Red Dead Redemption 2.

The humble accordion may not have a reputation as the coolest instrument on the block. But in the hands of Mario Batkovic it takes on another dimension.

Mario Batkovic: Superstar Accordionist

In 1973 choreographer and dancer Carolyn Carlson brought an breath of American fresh air into the Paris Opera. In true hippy style she brought barefoot dancing, improvisation and a relaxed attitude. Not everyone was ready for change.

Carolyn Carlson: The Day They Danced Barefoot at the Paris Opera

program_bonus

Bonuses and Extracts

program_external

Discover more

program_categoryMostViewed

Amsterdam’s famous red-light district attracts hordes of noisy tourists making the neighbourhood unliveable for many of its residents. With the city authorities considering measures to push sex workers out of the area, does this spell the end for the historic trade in the city centre?

Amsterdam’s famous red-light district attracts hordes of noisy tourists making the neighbourhood unliveable for many of its residents.

Re: Mass Tourism in Amsterdam's Red Light District

Second or third children born illegally during China’s One Child Policy are banned from marrying, having children or simply boarding a train. Condemned to a non-life, these ghost children do not officially exist according to the Chinese state. ARTE Reportage goes in search of these ‘Haihaizi’,  those children who should not have been born.

Arte Reportage

Second or third children born illegally during China’s One Child Policy are banned from marrying, having children or simply boarding a train. 

China's Ghost Children

A century ago the Treaty of Trianon formally ended World War I between the Kingdom of Hungary and the allied powers. Hungary lost two-thirds of its territory at Trianon which is still a contentious subject in Hungarian politics and society.

Hungary's Trauma

Tortured, murdered, or kidnapped, migrants held in Libya go through hell. Shot on location, this poignant documentary reveals a system ruled by impunity and collusion between smugglers, militias and authorities, to which Europe turns a blind eye.

ARTE Reportage

Tortured, murdered, or kidnapped, migrants held in Libya go through hell

Libya: Migrant Camps Scandal

From India, Pakistan and Thailand, thousands of Asian workers toil in the plantations of southwestern Portugal. They do hard, poorly paid work, far from their families and their country, in hopes of getting Portuguese nationality. It's their passport to a better life, elsewhere in Europe.

Hoping for an EU passport

Thousands of Asian workers toil in plantations in Portugal, in hopes of getting Portuguese nationality

Re: Asian Workers in Portugal

When Massimo Vacchetta discovered little Ninna, he immediately adopted her and saved her from certain death. The veterinarian, whose specialty was caring for cattle, had found his vocation: he opened a hedgehog refuge, now a local institution partly run by volunteers.

When Massimo Vacchetta discovered little Ninna, he immediately adopted her and saved her from certain death

360° Geo: A Hedgehog Shelter in Italy

From an incredibly varied selection of 19th century postcards, the Paris of the Belle Epoque (1871 – 1914) comes to life. Street-photography captured Parisians from all walks of life and conveyed the optimism and elegance of the period.

From an incredibly varied selection of 19th century postcards, the Paris of the Belle Epoque (1871 – 1914) comes to life.

Paris in the Belle Epoque

The world's tech giants - the likes of Facebook, Apple or Google - now have a political role to play. They can curb misinformation or spread it, along with all of the massive social issues that entails. An in-depth analysis of social media uses and regulations in China, the United States, and Europe.

Mapping the World

An in-depth analysis of social media uses and regulations in China, the United States, Europe and Russia.

The Geopolitics of Social Media

The kea is a large native bird of New Zealand, a mountain parrot that calls the Southern Alps of the South Island home. Reputedly extremely clever and mischievous, they have earned the nickname, the clown of the alps.

The Keas of New Zealand

In Myanmar the veneration of the Buddha is a popular practice which takes many forms. In the second city of Mandalay, craftspeople make thousands of statues of Buddha in the local white marble to satisfy the demand coming from temples and monasteries throughout Asia.

GEO Reportage

Mandalay's Buddha Statues

Long-neglected works from several centuries of operatic history have long been a staple of the internationally acclaimed annual opera festival in the little Irish coastal town of Wexford.Having been forced to take a break last year, the festival has a rediscovered work by the important Italian composer Alfredo Catalani on this year’s programme: Edmea.

Wexford Festival Opera 2021

Wexford Opera Festival proudly presents a rediscovered, long forgotten work by Alfredo Catalani.

Alfredo Catalani: Edmea

For a new generation of designers, "fast fashion" and disposable clothing is over! Their motto: "less is more". They are making a radical change in the fashion world by using timeless designs to produce clothing that is sustainable, and fair trade.

For a new generation of designers, "fast fashion" and disposable clothing is over! 

Fashion Rebels

Sting appears at the Reeperbahn Festival opening gala in Hamburg performing "Rushing Water", a track from his forthcoming album "The Bridge", due for release on 19 November. Discover the track exclusively! As a bonus, one of the Police's biggest hits "Every Breath You Take".

Reeperbahn Festival 2021

Sting appears at the Reeperbahn Festival opening gala in Hamburg performing "Rushing Water", a track from his forthcoming album "The Bridge", due for release on 19 November. 

Sting - 'Rushing Water'

Pasta made from worm flour, grass-hopper salads or muesli bars with cricket… Insect food products could be appearing on our plates soon if Laetitia Giroud and Julien Foucher get their way. 360° Geo visited the couple at their insect farm in Spain.

Insect food products could be appearing on our plates soon if insect farmers Laetitia Giroud and Julien Foucher get their way.

360° Geo: Insects - the Food of the Future

Patrick Messina and the Orchestre National de France conducted by Bernard Haitink perform two gems of Austrian music, Mozart's Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra and Bruckner's Symphony No. 9, at the Auditorium de Radio France.

Orchestre National de France

Patrick Messina and the Orchestre National de France conducted by Bernard Haitink perform Mozart's Clarinet Concerto and Bruckner's Symphony No. 9, at the Auditorium de Radio France.

Bernard Haitink and Patrick Messina Perform Mozart and Bruckner

Conductor Raphaël Pichon and director Cyril Teste team up to bring Beethoven’s Fidelio to the stage of the Opéra Comique.

Beethoven’s only opera conducted by Raphaël Pichon.

Beethoven's "Fidelio" at the Opéra Comique

The Franco-Venezuelan singer’s performances are as emotional as they are upbeat, impressing audiences with her refreshing electro-pop blend of European and Latin American sounds

Nancy Jazz Pulsations

La Chica

As Daniel Hope has been awarded the distinguished Opus Klassik prize, we celebrate with highlights from his much-loved lockdown series, Hope@Home.

With Daniel Hope, Christoph Israel and Guests

The Best of Hope@Home

From the late 1990s, Rødhåd laid the foundations for his DJ career. His perfectionist mixes of dub techno and percussive grooves earned him widespread recognition and since 2010, he has been a resident of Berlin's Berghain.
At the same time, Vril took the techno scene by storm, almost out of nowhere. As a producer, he pursues a timeless sound aesthetic that serves no trend in the genre. With his energetic live sets, he has impressed audiences across the world.
The techno giants perform from the post-industrial space of the Ruhr Museum. 

Stone Techno X Zollverein

Techno giants Rødhåd and Vril perform from the post-industrial space of the Ruhr Museum.