Traveler's
Advisory
By LEORA MOLDOFSKY
North
America
Baltimore
Presidential candidate Al Gore, whose campaign look features
open collars and earth tones, is by no means the first White
House habitué to use fashion-or furnishings or art-to define
his political style. "Power, Politics, and Style: Art for
the Presidents" features 100 items from 15 administrations,
categorized by their owners' "regal" or "republican" leanings.
Representing the royalists in the Baltimore Museum of Art
exhibition are George Washington's plan for an elaborate presidential
palace, and ornate White House guard uniforms commissioned
by Richard Nixon. On the populist side are the dressing gown
Thomas Jefferson wore when receiving an English diplomat and
reproductions of furniture commissioned by James Madison in
the style of ancient Greece and upholstered in red, white
and blue. Through Jan. 7.
Asia
Hong Kong
Long before it became a financial and commercial center, Hong Kong was a strategic outpost guarding the southern gateway to China. Situated in
the century-old Lei Yue Mun Fort, the Museum of Coastal Defence, which opened in July, charts Hong Kong's maritime defense from the Ming period (1368-1644), through the Manchu dynasty, the Opium Wars of the mid 19th century, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the end of British colonial rule. The museum, in the Shau Kei Wan district,
features a permanent exhibition of 400 artefacts and a "historical trail" of restored military structures.
Europe
Rome
Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is best known for his flower- and angel-strewn portrayals of Venus and Spring. But his work also embraced darker subjects, including Dante's Divine Comedy. Commissioned by Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, 92 of the Italian
master's ink drawings, depicting Dante's imagined journey through hell, purgatory and heaven, are displayed together for the first time in centuries at Rome's Scuderie Papali. Also at the former papal stables are other religious works by Botticelli, drawings by 15th century masters like Filippo Lippi and Leonardo da Vinci, and portraits of the Medicis. Through Dec. 3.
Bike trails
As one of the most mountainous countries in the European Union, Spain is not an obvious destination for cycling enthusiasts. But that could change with the opening of
a network of 50 greenways paths, or vías verdes, which run along 850 km of disused railway lines. Some, like the Camocha greenway near Gijón, start at the outskirts of cities, while others traverse remote but spectacular areas: the Sierra greenway, for example, passes Andalusia's vulture-circled Rock of Zaframagón. For details, see www.
viasverdes.com.
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November 6, 2000
| NO. 44
SOCIETY
AND SCIENCE
COVER
: Is Divorce Bad for Kids?
A controversial book argues that the damage caused when parents split
is graver than suspected. Should unhappy adults stay together for their
kids' sake?
Viewpoint:
Katha Pollitt on divorce's bum rap
SOUTH
PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA:
Trials of the Regiment
The armed forces have fine policies on violence and sexual equity, but
have they the will to implement those rules?
T
H E A R T S
FESTIVALS:
The Pacific is rediscovered in New Caledonia
CINEMA:
Omar Epps hopes Love & Basketball is a slam dunk
BOOKS: Steve
Martin gets serious in his novella Shopgirl
Margaret Atwood's
sinuous tapestry of family secrets
A Ugandan novelist's
haunting look at his homeland
TRAVELER'S
ADVISORY
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