By LEORA MOLDOFSKY
North America
New York
Westerners unfamiliar with Chinese script may balk at an exhibition
devoted to handwritten scrolls. But in China calligraphy is
not only a means of recording information but an art form
ranking above even painting as a vehicle for personal expression.
Spanning 16 centuries, "The Embodied Image," at the Metropolitan
Museum of Art, surveys the work of key exponents like Wang
Xizhi, who founded the classical calligraphy tradition, and
Mi Fu (known as "Crazy Mi"), whose "wild cursive" style, with
its changes in line, ink tone and character size, gives a
vivid sense of the dramas described in his poems. Through
Jan. 7.
Dallas
To Helen Keller (1880-1968), life was "either a daring adventure
or nothing at all." The story of the deaf and blind writer
and educator is one of many told at the Women's Museum, which
opened its doors last month in Dallas, Texas. The 6,500-sq.-m
"Institute for the Future" pays tribute to the achievements
of women in science, politics, literature, entertainment and
sports from the 1500s to the present through interactive exhibitions
like the "Wall of Words" (featuring "inspirational quotes,"
including Keller's). Collection highlights include the Nobel
Peace Prize awarded to social activist Jane Addams in 1931
and the flight suit aviator Amelia Earhart wore when she delivered
mail for the U.S. Postal Service.
Islands
Vanuatu
While the resort hotels
of Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, cater for comfort-seeking tourists, more adventurous travelers can click onto Island Safari's website, www.islandsvanuatu .com, for basic but clean accommodation on the less visited islands of the South Pacific archipelago. A shell-rating system indicates what level of comfort to expect
at the guesthouses (the top rating of three shells means telephone, electricity and private facilities are provided). Visitors are warned to "keep a low level of expectation in regard to food." But all guesthouses provide transport, tours (canoe fishing, sea kayaking, wild pig hunts) and access to local events and ceremonies.
Europe
Guildford
Low-altitude turbulence in the early days of commercial air travel meant hungry passengers had to make do with soggy sandwiches. But higher-
flying aircraft, advances in food storage and reheating and celebrity-chef-planned menus have expanded the meal choices available on board. Now in-flight catering has academic status, with the University of Surrey about to appoint the world's first professor of airline food. Located in Guildford, 30 km west of England's Gatwick Airport, the university already provides in-flight catering courses; the new chair (for which applications close on Oct. 20) will allow students to gain specialist qualifications in the subject.
