lifestyle WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2014 FEATURES Indian artist asks people to nod off with a partner in Berlin s night settles over India’s capital, a dozen tasks in an Indo-German project that explores post-industrialist phenomenon.” “The way we expe- ing, which otherwise is an activity you do every sin- volunteers lie ensconced in soundproof shared experiences in an increasingly connected rience sleep has changed over the last 800 years, gle day, without much thought,” said Nikita Sarkar, Acubicle tents, playing soothing music via world. Many attendees fall asleep and are woken and this gave us the idea to experiment,” said 22, a student of theatre in Delhi. In a separate Skype to try and lull to sleep collaborators in a when their time is up. “Sleep Hotel” is the final act Grover, who created three performance events “Sleep Walk” segment, a local guide took volun- German city halfway across the world. In one such of “Downtime”, a curated performance event over with his German counterpart and invited volun- teers to a railway bridge across a Delhi river to makeshift bedroom, participants are asked to two weekends that revolves around human slum- teers to sign up for the experience. observe homeless men dozing in improvised beds recline with their eyes shut while engaging in ber, controlled dreams and diverse sleep patterns. “I prefer ordinary people, or users, to discover beside the girders. About 150 participants took simultaneous role play with a partner in Berlin, Project director Amitesh Grover, a new media our theatre by immersing themselves in it,” he said. part in “Downtime” events in Delhi and Berlin over imagining scenarios such as being marooned on a artist, said he drew inspiration from conversations On the first weekend, attendees in New Delhi and the last two weekends, and Grover is planning a mountain peak. with sleep experts and therapists about the human Berlin were invited to swap beds in a “Sleep bigger sleep project in the coming year. “I hope, After about an hour, each participant moves on need for eight hours of uninterrupted shut-eye, Surfing” event with a fellow participant in the same after this performance, people will have a different to another sleep chamber with a different set of and discovering that the concept was “largely a city. “It has definitely got me thinking about sleep- perspective on sleep,” he said. — Reuters ‘Small Stories: At home in a doll’s house’ A visitor looks at a creation from the “Blake and Mortimer” cartoon series during an exhibition to mark the launch of the 23rd installment of the series, “Le Baton de Plutarque”, for a press preview at La Maison Autrique, in Brussels. — AFP photos Famed Belgian comic series finally gets prequel A collections ans of famed Belgian cartoon strip Blake ple, when Blake and Mortimer and Olrik see assistant poses for and Mortimer, the story of two British each other for the first time, they know each a photograph by Fadventurers which first appeared in other. How is that possible if they have never the “Tate Baby Tintin magazine in the 1940s, will finally get a seen each other before. But there is no expla- House” from 1760 chance to know more about the pair with the nation anywhere. “So we had fun, as much in during a photo publication of a prequel. The stories about creating a story which we hope is exciting, as call for the “Small fictional professor Philip Mortimer and dash- asking all the questions left hanging.” Stories: At home ing intelligence captain Francis Blake were in a doll’s house” the brainchild of artist Edgar P. Jacobs, a con- Spies and flying machines exhibition at the temporary of Tintin creator Herge, who died Hailing from the land of Tintin and The Victoria and in 1987. After his death, other authors took Smurfs, Blake and Mortimer may not have the Albert Museum of up the baton to write about the further same international profile as their comic Childhood in east adventures of the two stalwarts of the British cousins, even though they have been trans- London empire, most recently Yves Sente and Andre lated into English with a TV cartoon version yesterday. Juillard, who have been in charge since 2000. also available. But prospects of discovering — AFP photos But the publication of “The Staff of more about the backgrounds of the two char- Plutarch” on Friday is the first to go back in acters is big news in cartoon-mad Belgium, where comic strips are as much of a national symbol as beer or chocolate. Dashing, blonde, moustachioed, Blake is a former Royal Air Force officer who goes on to become the head of the British intelligence service MI5. His friend Mortimer is a bearded scientist and gentleman scholar. Both embody British wartime grit with a touch of empire. “We weren’t going to change their personalities, we did everything we could to keep them the same,” said Juillard, the artist. For that, they went back to the mini-biogra- phies of the main characters written by Jacobs himself. But it was on a chance visit to Winston Churchill’s War Rooms in London that Sente and Juillard decided to set the adventure in spring 1944, just before the D-Day Cartoon script writter Yves Sente and landings. The new strip starts with Nazi fighter cartoonist Andre Juillard, authors and jets attacking Big Ben in London, with Blake in creators of the 23rd installment in the an RAF jet trying to fight them off-a nod to “Blake and Mortimer” cartoon series, “Le both the World War II past and the jet-age baton de Plutarque”, pose for a photo. future. Along the way they face a typical mix of spies, traitors, futuristic flying machines and time from the first Blake and Mortimer story secret codes-all in the classic, cleanly drawn in 1946, and answers some mysteries about “Ligne claire” style that is familiar to the world the dynamic duo at the centre of one of from the Tintin comics. Blake and Mortimer first Belgium’s favourite comics. How, for example, appeared in Tintin magazine, a project that did they meet? And where did they meet Jacobs worked on with his friend Herge, and their sworn enemy, the diabolical Colonel Jacobs went on to publish 12 of their adven- Olrik? tures. After his death other authors published “When we reread (“The Secret of the several more. “In Blake and Mortimer, there is Swordfish”, the first Blake and Mortimer always action,” says Juillard, joking that Sente adventure), we noticed some strange things,” had “spoiled” him by giving him so many aerial said Sente, who writes the strips. “For exam- combat scenes to draw. — AFP Coldplay at BMW Welt unich Marking a huge honor for most acclaimed in the world . Their sixth BMW Welt, December 6, 2014 saw and latest album “Ghost Stories” continues Mthe British band Coldplay celebrate to evolve their vision and has been hailed the end of their “Ghost Stories Tour 2014” by many as their best work yet. with an exclusive gig in the auditorium. Around 1,500 fans came to see a brilliant Events at BMW Welt performance by one of the world’s biggest BMW Welt organizes and hosts a wide- groups. At the end of the gig the band ranging program of events from the worlds attended an after-show party together of culture, art and entertainment. The con- with invited guests in the Double Cone. cept is based on the different brands which During their set the group played songs send out invitations to their own events, from their latest album “Ghost Stories” such as the BMW Welt Jazz Award and the together with an equally thrilling selection MINI Club Series. The Event Forum makes of songs from throughout their history. BMW Welt a popular location for up to 450 external events each year with more than Coldplay - a success story 45,000 guests attending congresses, semi- With global sales of almost 80 million, nars, film premieres and award ceremonies. Coldplay, consisting of Chris Martin, Jonny It is also regularly used for special concerts Buckland, Will Champion and Guy such as the opening concerts for the Long Berryman, is one of the most successful Night of Music in Munich and the exclusive bands of our time. They shot to fame in appearance of two-time Grammy winner 2000 with their first album, “Parachutes” Frank Ocean last year. In 2013, BMW Welt and subsequent records have seen the was presented with the Location Award as group develop into one of the biggest and the best design location in Germany. .