Global Pulse

分类： entertainment

  • Tennessee governor plans to name Nashville airport after Dolly Parton

    Tennessee governor plans to name Nashville airport after Dolly Parton

    Following the passing of 80-year-old country music icon Dolly Parton from cancer earlier this week, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has formally tabled a plan to rename Nashville International Airport in her honor, a move that comes after a massive grassroots outpouring of support from fans across the globe.

    Born and raised in rural Sevier County, Tennessee, Parton launched her legendary entertainment career after moving to Nashville, the heart of American country music, making the city’s primary travel hub a fitting site to carry on her legacy. The push to rename the airport did not emerge overnight: the original online petition calling for the change was first launched in January 2025, but it saw a surge of new signatures after Parton’s death, accumulating nearly 160,000 signatures by Friday evening. The petition itself frames the renaming as a perfect way to spread Parton’s famous warmth, creativity, and generosity to visitors arriving from across the world, writing, “What a wonderful way to share her light and magic across Tennessee and the world.”

    In an official statement released Friday, Governor Lee confirmed that he has already reached out to Parton’s personal team, who conveyed their gratitude for the overwhelming public support to honor the late star. “Dolly Parton’s extraordinary life is forever woven into the fabric of our state,” Lee said. “At a place where Tennessee welcomes the world, it is fitting that Nashville International Airport would bear the name of our state’s favorite daughter and greet travelers with the enduring legacy of Dolly’s music, generosity, faith, and kindness.”

    The proposal still needs to clear several regulatory hurdles before it becomes official. The governor’s office confirmed that the Metro Nashville Airport Authority board will hold a formal vote on the name change at its upcoming meeting on September 17, and a final greenlight will also require approval from the Federal Aviation Administration. Beyond the grassroots petition, the push has also gained institutional support: a sitting Tennessee lawmaker has already pledged to introduce formal legislation in the state legislature to advance the renaming in Parton’s honor.

    This naming convention is not without precedent in the United States, where a number of major airports already bear the names of iconic cultural figures. New Orleans’ primary airport is named for jazz legend Louis Armstrong, while Louisville, Kentucky’s main airport honors boxing and cultural icon Muhammad Ali.

    Over the course of her decades-long career, Parton cemented her status as one of the most influential artists in American history: she won 10 Grammy Awards, sold more than 100 million records worldwide, and produced countless enduring hits including *Coat of Many Colors*, *9 to 5*, *Jolene*, and *I Will Always Love You*. In a touching tribute to Parton just days after her death, guards at Buckingham Palace paid their respects by playing her hit song *9 to 5* during a public ceremony, underscoring the global reach of her legacy.

  • The chaotic saga of Kanye West’s planned Russian concerts

    The chaotic saga of Kanye West’s planned Russian concerts

    The planned pair of concerts by American rap icon Kanye West, who performs under the stage name Ye, in Russia has devolved into a chaotic public saga marked by venue withdrawals, internal government division, and widespread public confusion, leaving the future of the shows completely up in the air.

    West, who has been banned from performing in multiple European countries over a history of virulent antisemitic statements and public praise for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, would be the most high-profile Western musician to perform in Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine in 2022. For factions within the Russian government, the concerts have emerged as a potential opportunity to push back against widespread narratives that Russia has become culturally and politically isolated in the wake of the war, leading some officials to openly support the shows moving forward.

    However, the controversy surrounding West’s past statements has sparked fierce pushback from other political leaders, particularly given the history of Nazi Germany’s brutal siege of Saint Petersburg—originally scheduled as the host city for the October 10 and 11 shows. Initially, the events were advertised by Moscow-based promoter Say Agency as taking place at Saint Petersburg’s Gazprom Arena, which even shared promotional posts for the concerts on its official Telegram channel. Just one week after the announcement, however, the stadium backed out entirely, issuing a statement that it had “not signed any contracts to lease the stadium for the event,” leaving both promoters and ticket buyers shocked.

    Ticket sales for the shows saw extraordinary early demand: entry-level tickets priced between roughly $100 sold out within hours of going on sale, with premium tickets reaching as high as nearly $2,000. Russian state media reports that more than 100,000 tickets have already been sold, and the venue’s withdrawal sparked immediate anger from fans who had already purchased entry, with many demanding immediate refunds on social media. “Give the people their money back, you clowns,” one user commented on Gazprom Arena’s official Telegram post announcing the withdrawal.

    Promoter Say Agency has pushed back against claims that the concerts are fully cancelled, saying only that it is actively working to find an alternative venue and asking fans to wait for an official update. Local Saint Petersburg outlet Fontanka reports that the decision to pull the venue booking did not originate with the stadium itself, but came from senior federal officials in Moscow, with the outlet citing anonymous sources saying “the concert had not been approved by all the necessary authorities” before being called off via a single high-level phone call.

    Outlets including business news outlet RBK have confirmed that intense debates over whether West should be allowed to perform are ongoing within the Kremlin and Russia’s presidential administration. The fault lines of these debates reportedly fall along generational lines: younger political and media officials, including leadership at Gazprom Media, are said to support allowing the concerts to proceed, while older, more established officials remain deeply skeptical.

    The controversy around West’s past statements runs particularly deep in Russia. The rapper has openly expressed admiration for Hitler on multiple occasions, infamously declaring his “love” for the Nazi leader during a 2022 interview with far-right broadcaster Alex Jones. While West issued a public apology for his past antisemitic comments in 2023 and published a full-page advertisement in The Wall Street Journal in January 2024 attributing his past harmful remarks to his bipolar disorder diagnosis, many Russian public figures remain opposed to his appearance.

    Among the critics is Ekaterina Mizulina, head of Russia’s influential internet safety watchdog, who has pointed out that Saint Petersburg suffered a devastating 900-day siege by Nazi forces during World War II that killed hundreds of thousands of civilians, calling West an “admirer of Adolf Hitler” in her criticism of the planned shows. Even some political figures who have opposed banning West have condemned his past actions: lawmaker Vitaly Milonov, best known as the architect of Russia’s controversial LGBTQ propaganda restrictions, called West’s past statements “vile, obscene things” but argued against barring him from performing.

    In the week since Gazprom Arena withdrew, multiple alternative venues across Russia have stepped forward to offer to host the controversial shows. Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium, the largest sports venue in Russia by capacity, confirmed its chief executive has said the venue would “consider” hosting the concerts if approached by promoters. Even a 1,500-capacity arena at a medieval-themed museum near the southern Russian town of Anapa has offered to host, with museum head Vladimir Vladimirov telling state news agency RIA “we have a wonderful arena here… Everyone will fit.”

    Large-scale concerts by A-list Western musicians have become extremely rare in Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, with a small handful of mainstream artists including Jason Derulo and Flo Rida having performed in the country since the war began. West himself has had multiple planned shows cancelled across Europe and North America in recent years following his public antisemitic and pro-Nazi comments, and the rapper has not yet issued any public statement on the current controversy surrounding his Russian concerts. According to Fontanka’s reporting, West has already received a multi-million dollar down payment for the planned Saint Petersburg dates, adding further financial stakes to the ongoing uncertainty.

  • Celine Dion is back in Paris, but her first song remains ‘a big secret’

    Celine Dion is back in Paris, but her first song remains ‘a big secret’

    Global pop icon Celine Dion has returned to Paris to kick off her highly anticipated comeback run of live shows, marking her first full concert series since publicly revealing her diagnosis of rare neurological condition stiff-person syndrome. The Grammy-winning artist received a rapturous welcome from adoring fans and assembled media on Friday as she arrived at her central Paris hotel, blowing kisses and forming a heart shape with her hands to greet the cheering crowd. Supporters packed the sidewalk outside the venue, shouting messages of love and excitement including declarations that they were overjoyed to see her back in public.

    Dion is currently preparing for a 16-show residency at Plenitude Arena, located in Paris’ western suburbs, with opening night scheduled for September 12. The residency will run across September and October 2024, followed by an additional 10 shows scheduled for May 2025, all under the official tour banner “Celine Dion Paris 2026-2027”. Speaking to French broadcaster BFMTV, the 58-year-old Quebec-born singer opened up about her emotions ahead of the landmark shows. “I am ready and I’m a bit uptight of course because it’s been a long time,” Dion explained, noting that Paris has long felt like a second home to her. “I have always felt supported from the first day and because it’s a story that continues. It’s true that this is my second home.” When asked to reveal which track would open the first show, Dion playfully kept fans guessing: “I can’t say, it’s a big secret!”

    This concert run stands as a major milestone in Dion’s career, coming after nearly three years away from full-scale touring. The singer first announced her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis in 2022, and later canceled her planned Courage World Tour as her symptoms progressed, leading her to step back from regular public performances. She made a celebrated, brief return to the global stage earlier this summer during the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, where she delivered a haunting performance of *Hymne à l’amour* from the top of the Eiffel Tower, singing through a rainstorm to an audience of millions that spread widely across social media and news outlets.

    One of the most commercially successful and acclaimed artists in modern pop music history, Dion has sold nearly 260 million albums worldwide across her decades-long career. She is globally renowned for signature hits including *My Heart Will Go On* and *Because You Loved Me*, and the upcoming Paris residency will draw from her extensive catalog of chart-topping tracks in both English and French. Plenitude Arena, the venue for the shows, is a 40,000-capacity facility that also served as one of the competition venues during the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

  • A theater is reimagining Homer’s Odyssey through the agony of Ukraine’s war

    A theater is reimagining Homer’s Odyssey through the agony of Ukraine’s war

    Against the persistent rumble of distant conflict and the ever-present threat of Russian air strikes, Kyiv is preparing to stage a radical, deeply personal reimagining of Homer’s ancient *Odyssey* that weaves Ukraine’s ongoing wartime struggle into the 3,000-year-old epic. Titled *Odysseus, Maeotis*, the new production hits the stage of Kyiv’s Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theater at a moment when Homer’s classic is already enjoying a global cultural spotlight, buoyed by Christopher Nolan’s big-budget IMAX blockbuster *The Odyssey* starring Matt Damon, a box office hit that has introduced the ancient tale to new international audiences.

    Unlike Hollywood’s big-screen adaptation, however, this Ukrainian production draws its raw material directly from the front lines of the ongoing war. Its cast blends professional performers with active-duty Ukrainian soldiers, with the lead role of Odysseus, the warrior king desperate to return home after a decade of conflict, played by Daniil Mireshkin, a serving member of Ukraine’s 1st Corps Azov. For Mireshkin, the fusion of ancient myth and modern Ukrainian reality creates unflinching, vital parallels to the issues defining his country today.

    “This combination of myth and modernity allows us to draw parallels and understand just how critical the question of return is: the return of military personnel to civilian life, the return of our territories and the return of ourselves to our true identity as Ukrainians,” Mireshkin explained in an interview with the Associated Press following a final rehearsal Tuesday. The play’s premiere has already been pushed back multiple times, delayed by successive waves of Russian attacks on Kyiv – a disruption that itself mirrors the endless, uncertain waiting the story explores.

    “This story helps us talk about these topics, which, as it turns out, haven’t lost any of their relevance,” Mireshkin added.

    The production strips Homer’s original text to its core narrative bones, retaining only the central arc of Odysseus’s long, punishing journey home and his wife Penelope’s equally grueling wait in Ithaca. Director Ivan Uryvskyi said the play was written entirely from scratch, reworking the epic’s timeless themes of return, exile and captivity to fit Ukraine’s current reality.

    “Of course, very little of Homer’s original text remains here, because the play was written from scratch. We simply took the core narrative arc — Odysseus’ return home,” Uryvskyi said.

    Even the play’s title carries layered modern meaning: Maeotis is the ancient Greek name for the Sea of Azov, the body of water off Ukraine’s southern coast that was once considered the edge of the known ancient world. The Sea of Azov is home to Mariupol, the devastated port city that fell to Russian forces after a devastating 2022 siege, and the production draws heavily on firsthand accounts from Azov brigade defenders who held the city. Today, around 600 Azov brigade servicemen remain held as prisoners of war in Russian captivity, out of thousands of Ukrainian captives.

    Playwright Oleksii Dorychevskyi, also a member of 1st Corps Azov, spent a year conducting interviews with former Ukrainian prisoners of war to build the play’s narrative. For Daryna Leheida, the professional actress who plays Penelope, Odysseus’s faithful wife, the ancient queen’s decades-long wait for her husband mirrors the lived experience of millions of Ukrainian women today.

    “It’s about the fate of Ukrainian women who wait, believe and hope, but who can also feel powerless, hopeless and stripped of faith,” Leheida said. Beyond the fates of individual soldiers and their families, the story extends to the land itself: “It’s about the temporarily occupied land waiting to come back home. It’s about the children and people who are waiting, what we face during this waiting and the toll that war takes on us.”

    The staging reflects the bleak uncertainty of wartime Ukraine, with a deliberately austere, unsettling design. Against a darkened set accented by glowing neon light bars, projections are cast directly onto the performers’ bodies. Homer’s iconic mythical monsters – the one-eyed Cyclops, the deadly enchanting sirens – have been replaced by modern symbols of war: buzzing drones that glide across the stage and scale models of robotic killing machines, turning ancient dangers into the threats that Ukrainians face every day.

  • Jacob Elordi on why The Dog Stars had him asking ‘What am I missing’ in life?

    Jacob Elordi on why The Dog Stars had him asking ‘What am I missing’ in life?

    Legendary filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott is set to debut his haunting new post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller *The Dog Stars* in UK cinemas on August 28, bringing Peter Heller’s 2012 bestselling novel of the same name to the big screen with a star-studded cast and sharp, timely themes that draw direct parallels to modern global crises. At the core of the story is a bleak 2030s landscape, where a devastating global flu pandemic has wiped out most of humanity, leaving behind only immune survivors in a fractured, anarchic society ravaged by environmental collapse. Leading the cast is 29-year-old Jacob Elordi, fresh off his first Oscar nomination for *Frankenstein*, who stars as Hig, a former mechanic turned civilian pilot who roams the empty skies over Colorado alongside his loyal German shepherd companion Jasper in search of signs of a better, more meaningful future.

    In an interview with the BBC, Elordi explained that the film frames its apocalyptic setting not as a mere action backdrop, but as a mirror to examine the universal human condition. Even when everything familiar has been destroyed, he noted, the core impulse to seek more, hope for more, and crave connection remains unchanged. The cast also includes A-list talents Guy Pearce, Margaret Qualley and Josh Brolin, with Pearce playing Pops—a retired Navy SEAL and veteran survivor who takes in Hig after the younger pilot makes an emergency landing near Pops’ isolated homestead. For both Elordi and Pearce, the story’s themes of environmental collapse hit close to home: both actors grew up in Australia, a nation that has faced increasingly severe and widespread bushfires in recent years, with Pearce’s home state of Victoria suffering major damage just this year.

    Pearce pointed out that the film’s desolate, scorched landscape shots echo real-world footage of climate-driven disaster, making the dystopian premise feel far from abstract. “All round the world now there’s just more and more effects of climate change so it’s pretty terrifying that a lot of those things are not far away,” he said. Both cast members also highlighted the film’s undercurrent of hope, rooted in the natural world’s ability to regenerate. Elordi noted that just a few years after the apocalyptic pandemic in the story, lush green forests, thick grass and wildflowers begin to regrow across the scarred landscape, mirroring how coastal ecosystems bounce back after devastating wildfires. “This provides a note of hope and an idea of redemption,” he explained.

    Beyond climate, the story also pushes audiences to reflect on the everyday privileges many people take for granted, from access to groceries to the simple joy of sharing a meal with loved ones. Pearce, who previously collaborated with Scott on 2012’s *Prometheus*, noted that this message feels particularly pertinent even today, when billions of people around the world lack these basic comforts. Elordi added that his character’s quiet restlessness—his search for purpose even when he has secured survival—mirrors the unspoken dissatisfaction many people feel in modern, developed societies: “Everything is sweet for us… and we still go to bed and think ‘What else is there?’, ‘What am I missing?’”

    Scott, the film’s director, shared that the project drew dual inspiration from the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic and the original novel’s roots, which was written in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis. Combining these two periods of widespread chaos, he explained, created the perfect foundation for a story of societal breakdown: “If you put those two together you’ve got a great combination of chaos. If you have chaos, you get panic and anarchy and away you go.” Scott also drew from his own personal experience building the film’s post-apocalyptic world: born during World War II, he recalled childhood memories of sheltering from incendiary bombings, an experience that gave him first-hand insight into what it feels like to live through an existential crisis.

    For Elordi, working with Scott—an industry pioneer who defined the modern sci-fi and thriller genres—was an unforgettable privilege. “I would have done any movie he sent through for me to make, it’s a privilege to get to work with a pioneer of our industry in my lifetime—it’s kind of unfathomable,” he said. Early critical reception of *The Dog Stars* has been mixed. The Guardian gave the film three stars, calling it “limp and lethargic” that only briefly sparks audience curiosity, while *Empire*’s two-star review criticized it for failing to deliver a convincing answer to its core question about the difference between surviving and thriving. *The Telegraph* also awarded three stars, noting that the film’s action sequences are more nonsensical than frightening. On the more positive side, *The Hollywood Reporter* described the film as “muted but never dull” and an “appealingly mellow watch” that rewards patient viewing.

  • Rapper Yung Filly allowed to fly back to UK by court ahead of retrial over rape allegations

    Rapper Yung Filly allowed to fly back to UK by court ahead of retrial over rape allegations

    A Western Australian court has granted bail to British rapper and prominent YouTube creator Yung Filly, legally clearing him to travel back to his home country ahead of a scheduled retrial on unresolved rape charges. Born Andres Barrientos, the 30-something entertainment personality has been confined to Perth since his late 2024 arrest, which stemmed from allegations that he sexually assaulted, choked and raped a 20-year-old female fan during an Australian tour stop.

    Barrientos has maintained a plea of not guilty to all charges brought against him, and his first two-week trial concluded earlier this year in the Western Australia District Court. The jury delivered a mixed verdict: jurors found Barrientos guilty of one count of assault linked to biting the accuser across the face, neck and breasts, which left an open wound, but acquitted him of one count of choking and three separate rape charges. The panel was unable to reach a majority consensus on three outstanding rape charges, leaving those counts unresolved and requiring a retrial.

    During Thursday’s bail hearing, Judge Linda Black noted that a significant delay was inevitable before a new trial date could be scheduled for the outstanding charges. Black argued that forcing Barrientos to remain in Western Australia through this extended waiting period would be unfair, pointing out that he has already been required to stay in the country since his 2024 arrest, and that this would mark his second trial related to the incident.

    After carefully reviewing the case against the provisions of Western Australia’s Bail Act — including a full assessment of the risk of flight — Black ruled that appropriate bail conditions could be structured to mitigate any concerns, clearing the way for Barrientos to return to the UK. “After careful consideration the accused is allowed to return to UK until he is needed at trial,” Black stated in her ruling.

    As part of the approved bail terms, Barrientos is required to reside at a confirmed, undisclosed address in the UK for the duration of the pre-trial period. He must also return to Western Australia no later than 10 days prior to his scheduled court appearance for the retrial. A further condition prohibits Barrientos from publishing, commenting on, or engaging in any public or private discussion related to the ongoing court proceedings, either directly or indirectly.

    The case has been adjourned until September 25 for a formal scheduling of the retrial date, and court officials confirmed Barrientos will not be required to attend the September listing hearing. The assault conviction from the first trial remains in place, and Barrientos will be sentenced for that offense following the conclusion of his retrial on the outstanding charges, per standard Western Australian legal procedure.

  • Japan’s ‘polka dot queen’ artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97

    Japan’s ‘polka dot queen’ artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97

    Yayoi Kusama, the globally revered Japanese avant-garde artist universally known as the ‘Polka Dot Queen’, has passed away at the age of 97, her official institution confirmed in a public statement on August 27, 2026. The pioneering creative, who died on August 14 at a Tokyo hospital, leaves behind a seven-decade legacy of boundary-pushing work that transformed contemporary art, shaped by her unique relationship with mental health and a distinct visual language defined by polka dots, net patterns and infinite, immersive motifs.

    Born in 1929 into a wealthy Japanese family, Kusama began nurturing her iconic artistic style as young as 10, rooted in the vivid visions and hallucinations that shaped her childhood perspective. In her autobiography, she recalled an early transformative experience: after noticing a red floral pattern on a tablecloth, the pattern appeared to spread across every surface of the room, from ceilings to pillars, even covering her own body. This epiphany laid the foundation for the repetitive, proliferating motifs that would become her lifelong signature.

    After completing art studies in her home country, Kusama relocated to the United States in the late 1950s, where she quickly carved out a space in New York City’s exploding 1960s avant-garde movement. As a Japanese woman working in a predominantly white, male creative scene, she faced systemic discrimination, but her large-scale bold canvases and provocative, experimental ‘happenings’—which combined body painting, public performance and her trademark polka dots—earned her rapid notoriety and a devoted cult following. Beyond fine art, Kusama expanded her practice into multiple domains: she launched a commercial fashion line, founded the conceptual ‘Church of Self-Obliteration’, and even officiated a same-sex wedding under her self-styled title as the ‘High Priestess of Polka Dots’, cementing her reputation as a radical cultural trailblazer.

    Kusama returned to Japan in the 1970s, where she voluntarily admitted herself to a Tokyo psychiatric hospital to manage her long-standing mental health challenges. For the remaining decades of her life, she continued to create art daily from her base at the facility, rarely stepping away from her practice. Her official statement noted that she kept painting until her final days, never putting down her brush, and remained committed to exploring her core artistic themes of infinite love and the eternal soul throughout her entire life.

    In the decades following her return to Japan, Kusama’s work grew into a global cultural phenomenon. Her iconic large-scale pumpkin sculptures—including the legendary installation on Japan’s Naoshima ‘art island’, her immersive ‘Infinity Rooms’ that play with perception and endless repetition, and other interactive installations drew record-breaking crowds at museums around the world, with major works selling for millions of dollars at auction. She developed a instantly recognizable public persona, often seen in public wearing her signature bright red wig and bold, polka-dotted clothing, turning her own image into an extension of her artistic brand.

    Her artistic philosophy, which she termed ‘self-obliteration’, centered on the idea that repeating simple motifs allows the individual self to dissolve into a larger, interconnected whole, a concept deeply rooted in her lifelong experience of hallucinatory visions. News of her death triggered an outpouring of tributes from fans and admirers across the globe. One Japanese user on the social platform X wrote, ‘I’ve had the privilege of viewing her paintings and your works several times. Bold, delicate, beautiful. That world was one I had never known. And to me, she was also someone truly endearing. May you rest in peace.’

  • Yayoi Kusama, who splashed polka dots across art world, dies at 97 in Tokyo

    Yayoi Kusama, who splashed polka dots across art world, dies at 97 in Tokyo

    Legendary Japanese contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama, whose instantly recognizable polka dot works transformed global visual art, passed away on August 14 at a Tokyo hospital at the age of 97, her official studio confirmed in a public statement released Thursday.

    Kusama remained dedicated to her craft right up to her final moments, the statement emphasized: “She continued to paint until her final days, never setting aside her brush, and continued exploration of forever love and eternal soul. We will carry forward Kusama’s wishes and, through art, continue to bring hope and strength for the future to people around the world.”

    Widely celebrated as one of Japan’s most influential contemporary creators, Kusama’s work has been showcased in leading cultural institutions across the globe, including New York’s Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art. Repetition lies at the core of her artistic identity: while she experimented with recurring motifs ranging from woven net patterns to swirling, worm-like forms, polka dots remain her most iconic signature. These vibrant, psychedelic spots danced across her canvases, took shape as glittering spheres, and became glowing installations that immerse visitors in her singular visual world.

    In a 2012 interview with The Associated Press, Kusama — appearing in her characteristic orange bob wig and a garment covered in her beloved dots — summed up her creative mantra simply: “Polka dots are fabulous.” Speaking in a gentle, straightforward tone, she added, “I want to create a thousand paintings, maybe two thousand paintings, as many as I can draw. I will keep painting until I die.” She kept that promise.

    Kusama drew the world as she experienced it: she explained that the spotted perspective that defined her work originated from the hallucinations she experienced from childhood. For decades, she navigated regular stays in psychiatric institutions, but her mental health struggles never derailed her trailblazing career. In 1957, she became one of the first Japanese female artists to relocate to New York to pursue artistic work. Though soft-spoken and naturally shy, she was unapologetically bold in advancing her unique creative vision, sticking to her dot-centric style for decades while working to make her art accessible to mainstream audiences, not just gallery elites.

    In her later life, Kusama received the widespread acclaim she had long been denied. She collaborated with global luxury fashion brand Louis Vuitton and lent her designs to a range of licensed consumer goods, from teacups and t-shirts to keychains and store display figures of herself. In 2008, one of her works sold for $5.8 million at Christie’s auction house, cementing her status as a major commercial force in the art world. In 2016, she received Japan’s highest honor for artists, the Order of Culture. Upon accepting the award, she reaffirmed her unwavering commitment to her craft, noting that the sincerity and devotion she brought to her personal life formed the core of her artistic legacy. “I feel there is little left in my life, but I am now still fighting to the death for my art,” she said at the time. “I am giving all I have so that many people will continue to be interested in my art, even after I am dead.”

    Critics have labeled her work with a wide range of labels, from pop art and avant-garde to feminist art, but Kusama rejected most attempts to box her practice into narrow categories. Born into a middle-class Japanese family, Kusama grew up feeling deeply misunderstood: her parents discouraged her artistic ambitions, pushing her to pursue traditional domestic life and marriage instead, offering to buy her kimonos rather than paints and brushes. Knowing she had to escape to fulfill her potential, she chose to build her career in the United States.

    When Kusama arrived in New York, the dominant artistic trend was abstract expressionist “action painting,” defined by gestural drips and broad brushstrokes — not the controlled, repetitive dots that would become her trademark. She endured years of poverty and public obscurity, but never abandoned her commitment to painting dots. In the late 1960s, she gained media attention (and legal scrutiny) for anti-war “happening” performances where she placed paper dots on participants’ bodies — and even on a horse — leading to obscenity arrests for some involved. While building her practice in New York, she befriended leading contemporary artists including Andy Warhol, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Joseph Cornell, all of whom praised her innovative creative approach.

    Over her seven-decade career, Kusama created a vast body of quirky, celebratory works that span multiple mediums. Notable pieces include *Macaroni Girl*, a figure covered in dry macaroni that explores fear of food; *The Visionary Flowers*, large-scale sculptural works of twisting tulips; and *Mirrored Corridor*, an immersive installation that uses reflective surfaces to create the illusion of an endless field of dotted phallic forms. Beyond visual art, Kusama also experimented with filmmaking and published multiple novels. She once told the AP that the origin of her creative ideas remained a mystery even to her: she simply picked up her brush and started creating, and the process often surprised her. “I think, ‘Oh, I drew that? I was thinking that,’” she said.

    Kusama embraced public attention and acclaim for her work, happily reading her poetry for reporters and posing with energy for press photographs. She remained a disarmingly charming mix of vulnerability and defiance to the end: one moment declaring herself “an artistic revolutionary,” and the next murmuring, “I am so afraid, all the time, of everything.” Her work and legacy continue to resonate with audiences around the world, carrying forward the message of hope and creativity she spent a lifetime building.

  • Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97

    Japanese avant-garde artist Yayoi Kusama dies aged 97

    Yayoi Kusama, the iconic Japanese avant-garde artist whose decades-spanning career redefined global contemporary art, has passed away at the age of 97, her official company confirmed in a formal public statement this week. The pioneering creator died on August 14, 2025, while receiving care at a Tokyo hospital, ending a life singularly dedicated to boundary-pushing artistic innovation.

    Widely recognized for her instantly recognizable visual language of infinite polka dots, immersive installations, and bold, colorful large-scale sculptures, Kusama rose to widespread international acclaim late in her life, cementing her status as one of the most influential contemporary artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. Unlike many creators who confined their practice to a single medium, Kusama built a boundary-crossing career that spanned far beyond visual art: her body of work includes groundbreaking performance pieces, published fiction, and collections of poetry, each marked by her distinctive exploration of infinity, obsession, mental health, and human connection.

    For much of her later life, Kusama chose to live voluntarily in a Tokyo psychiatric hospital, a decision she framed as central to sustaining her artistic practice while managing her long-standing mental health challenges. She was equally famous for her iconic public persona as for her art, often appearing at exhibitions and public events in her signature bright crimson wig and playful polka-dot clothing, a look that became synonymous with her unapologetically creative and whimsical approach to life and work.

    Born in 1929 in Matsumoto, Nagano, Kusama moved to New York City in the 1950s to pursue her artistic career, where she became a central figure in the 1960s avant-garde movement alongside pop art and minimalist pioneers. Though she faded from public attention for decades after returning to Japan in the 1970s, a global critical re-evaluation of her work starting in the 1990s catapulted her to the mainstream fame she holds today, with blockbuster exhibitions drawing record crowds at museums around the world. Tributes to her life and work have begun pouring in from art institutions, fellow creators, and fans across the globe, who celebrate her as a visionary who turned personal struggle into universally resonant art.

  • Susan Sarandon, Carol Burnett lead tributes to The Rocky Horror Picture Show star Tim Curry

    Susan Sarandon, Carol Burnett lead tributes to The Rocky Horror Picture Show star Tim Curry

    The global entertainment community is in mourning this week after news broke that legendary British actor Tim Curry, best known for originating the iconic role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in *The Rocky Horror Picture Show*, has passed away at the age of 80. Curry died peacefully on August 25 at his home in the Toluca Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles, his long-time manager and friend Marcia Hurwitz confirmed publicly.

    Curry first introduced the world to his boundary-pushing interpretation of the mad, cross-dressing scientist on the London stage in 1973, before reprising the career-defining role in the 1975 cult classic film adaptation. The role catapulted him to international fame and cemented his legacy as a subversive, one-of-a-kind performer whose influence still ripples through stage and screen today. Over a six-decade-long prolific career, Curry built an extraordinary body of work that spanned genres, mediums, and generations of fans. His resume includes memorable turns in beloved projects ranging from *Home Alone 2: Lost in New York*, *Annie*, and *The Hunt for Red October* to the 1990 television miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s *It*, where he famously portrayed the menacing clown Pennywise. He later earned critical acclaim for originating the role of King Arthur in the hit Broadway musical *Spamalot*, and delivered a fan-favorite turn as the sharp-witted butler in the cult comedy film *Clue*, among dozens of other roles across film, theater, and voice acting.

    Since news of his passing broke, fellow performers, collaborators, and co-stars from across the industry have shared heartfelt tributes celebrating Curry’s talent, generosity, and irreplaceable impact on entertainment. Oscar-winning actress Susan Sarandon, who starred opposite Curry as heroine Janet Weiss in *The Rocky Horror Picture Show*, remembered the actor for his extraordinary spirit as much as his on-screen presence. “What I loved about him most was his heart,” Sarandon said, praising Curry as “a funny, sexy, original.” She added, “Even wheelchair bound he continued to be so sweet and generous with his fans. Thank you Tim for meaning so much to so many people.”

    Australian actress Nell Campbell, who played Columbia opposite Curry in the original *Rocky Horror* film, described the actor as the patriarch of the tight-knit *Rocky Horror* community. “I feel like the head of our family has just died because he was the head of the Rocky Horror family,” she told the BBC. Welsh actor Luke Evans, who stepped into the role of Frank-N-Furter for a Broadway revival of the musical, called Curry “a force, a bright fierce flame, an exquisite charm.” In a letter written to Curry before his passing, Evans thanked him for his groundbreaking fearlessness, writing that Curry “created something so enduring, and for inspiring generations of actors to be a little braver than they thought they could be.”

    The official Broadway production account for *The Rocky Horror Picture Show* echoed that praise, nodding to one of the musical’s most iconic lines delivered by Curry: “Don’t dream it, be it.” The account wrote that Curry “gave the world a little more freedom, a little more fearlessness, and through the tears in our eyes, the courage to BE IT.” Richard O’Brien, the writer and composer who co-created the original *Rocky Horror* stage musical, remembered Curry as a generous, humble talent in a statement to *Entertainment Weekly*. “He never sought attention and never put himself before the roles that he played,” O’Brien said. “He was, in short, a good egg and class act.”

    Other co-stars and collaborators shared their own personal memories of Curry, highlighting his extraordinary skill as a character actor and his warm personality off-screen. American comedy legend Carol Burnett, who worked with Curry on the film *Annie*, posted a clip of his performance as her scheming brother to social media, writing that “nobody could play lovable villains better than he could.” Actor Rob Schneider, who shared the screen with Curry as a bellhop in *Home Alone 2: Lost in New York* where Curry played the condescending hotel clerk, called him a “sensational character actor.” “A truly gifted performer of stage and screen, his one eyebrow could say more than most actors entire bodies,” Schneider wrote. “I am grateful to have the rare gift of watching him work, he made you better just standing near him.”

    Michael McKean, who co-starred with Curry in *Clue*, shared that his final conversation with the actor revolved around the simple joys of “life and love and laughter.” “The grim physical state he found himself in has now ended, a blessing. Our blessing was that we had Tim Curry in our lives. RIP, my friend,” McKean wrote. Fellow *Clue* co-stars Christopher Lloyd and Lesley Ann Warren also paid tribute, with Warren calling Curry a “dear companion in crime” and writing, “The brilliant, hilarious, hysterically funny, magician of artistry has left us. What an unbelievable joy to have shared a soundstage with him and to engage with such a master talent. I adored him. Bless his wild and inspired soul.”

    Even the Muppets franchise honored Curry, who starred as Long John Silver in 1996’s *Muppet Treasure Island*. The official Muppets social media account noted that Curry was one of the few human performers to earn the title of honorary Muppet, writing: “As a performer he was unparalleled – witty, charming, unnerving, and deeply funny. We will always consider it one of our greatest treasures to have been part of Long John Silver’s crew.”

    Curry had suffered a major stroke in 2012, and had used a wheelchair in the years following his illness, continuing to make occasional public appearances and connect with fans until his passing.