The Parsi Museum in Mumbai

Cherylann Mollan reports on a little museum in Mumbai that tells the history and traditions of an ancient people, the Parsis: the Framji Dadabhoy Alpaiwalla Museum.

The BBC News report, entitled "Of opium, fire temples, and sarees: A peek into the world of India's dwindling Parsis" can be read by B2 students and above, who will find interesting expressions like: a saree, a peek, to dwindle, to [be] tucked away, a lane, Zoroastrianism, to flee, [fled, fled], the mainstream [population], to shake-off, an artefact, on display, a curator, to showcase, a print, [to be] draped in [saree], cuneiform, a terracotta [pot], to source, [to be] dated [to 4000-5000 BCE], to rule, a barren [desert], to settle, to outline, to grant, a [human rights] charter, a portrait, to own, a brand, striking, to trade, an exhibit, to depict, a compelling [exhibit], a glimpse into, off-limits [to non-Parsis], [to be] renovated, [well]-captioned, a [glass] case, packed with [history].

You can step into the Alpaiwalla Museum virtually by watching the YouTube video below, where Purva Chitnis, assistant editor of The Print, interviews Kerman Fatakia, the curator of the museum, who offers a guided tour of the main exhibits in the museum.  This video can be watched with machine-generated subtitles, which may prove helpful for those C1 students and above who are less familiar with Indian English:

Almodovar's Gaze at Life & Death

Death is part of life and death can be gorgeous. These paradoxical aphorisms could have been written by Teresa of Ávila, but they have been painted by Pedro Almodóvar in his latest film, "The Room Next Door". 

"The Room Next Door" (01:42':23") is a La Mancha cinematographic work of art, only that it was shot in New York City, in Echo Lake Park & Westfield, New Jersey..., and in the "lush pine woods of San Lorenzo de El Escorial", Madrid, the capital of Spain (located in geographical La Mancha). Tilda Swinton (Martha) and Julianne Moore (Ingrid) walk and talk together, like Don Quixote and a fruit-loving Ingrid, through their lives and Martha's upcoming death while Ingrid helps her along the increasingly arduous trail. But this Shakespearean tragedy is regarded in Almodóvar's eyes as a festival of colours, sounds and literary references, which make it .... just beautiful! The film was awarded the Golden Lion at Venice International Film Festival, 2024.

Based on the novel "What Are You Going Through" by Sigrid Nunez, the film version is inspired by Edward Hopper's paintings, with references to Astrology Angel Number 1614, Fred Flintstones, Dora Carrington, Lytton Strachey, Virginia Wolf, James Joyce, the Film Society at Lincoln Center ("Journey to Italy" issue), "Erotic Vagrancy", Martha Gellhorn, William Faulkner, Ernest Hemingway, Buster Keaton, Stefan Zweig, John Huston etc. The movie frames are accompanied by a delicate score of chirping birds, violins, celloes, violas, oboes, harps and the odd piano or horn, and Ingrid often relishes delicious meals with fruit, wine, herbal teas, tender kisses and sex table talk in the city or in the "Green World", with a gentle breeze, flowers blooming and "the snow falling faintly through the universe, and faintly falling, like the descent of their last end, upon all the living and the dead" (a quote from James Joyce's The Dead). But Almodóvar is also an actively engaged filmmaker who drops occasional political statements in the movie about climate change, doom mongers, euthanasia, the rise of the far right and religious fanaticism, which contrasts sharply with the joyful sacrifice of the gay Carmelite priest, Bernardo, when he refuses to abandon his flock in his Baghdad mission, during the Iraq war.

"The room next door" has just been released in Movistar Plus, Apple TV, Filmin, etc. in Spain and it opened in cinemas the U.S. last December 20. The dialogues are slow and clear and the vocabulary is colloquial, full of phrasal verbs and interesting collocations, so, it can be recommended for C1 students and above with subtitles.  Some of the expressions that come up in the dialogues are: to make out to [somebody], to draw [a crowd], to run into [somebody], a guinea pig, in [good] spirits, to give up, to forgo [treatment], to get along, to swap, to take over, [to be] over, to be high [on drugs], to carve out [an abyss], rehab, to ease [his conscience], to track down, to be trapped, to pass out, a nuisance, to stop by, to be [right] over, to feel obliged, to be infatuated, to devote [time to somebody], an alley, to let [somebody] down, to keep [somebody] company, an opioid, to settle in, to impose [something on somebody], defeatist, bullshit, [what's the] point [in doing something?], a terrible fear of [death], to be confused, to be in touch, to flirt, a blood count, to fill [somebody] in with [information], a caretaker, to misplace [something], the skyline, hassle, [I] got it, a chemo brain, to be spared [something], to budge [from something], to waste away, unacceptable [behaviour], unbearable, [to be] one of a kind, to be winded, a lawsuit, the life of the party, to rush [in], to fend off, looming [thoughts of death], spell, a rehearsal, to act out [all things], here you go, a will, chilly, a downer, [a topic] to come up [in a conversation], to mutter, a coward, blitzed, appalled, a miscarriage, death throes, a scavenger, teethering, to fade away, a patch, the specifics, faith, to aid, to abide [in], the charges, an attorney, an asshole, a [religious] fanatic, sorry for your loss, to pack up, here you go, an estranged [child], to be hard on yourself, dawn.

If you want further information, you can listen to the Fresh Air interview Tilda Swinton thinks about death and says you should too, by Terry Gross, where Tilda talks about her own real life experience as a carer of her friend Derek Jarman and her terminally-ill mother and how tough -and eventually rewarding- it was to accept her own powerlessness. She also talks about her film career, her sexual orientation, and about her wonderful experience working with Pedro Almodóvar and Alberto Iglesias (composer of the score). This long interview (44') has a transcript, so it can be recommend to C1+, or C2 students.

Best Wildlife Photographers and (Silly) Pictures, 2024

In October, the prestigious Wildlife Photographer of the Year Award 2024, was announced by the Natural History Museum in London, and Alberto Román Gómez (Spain) won the under 10 years award with the picture "Free as a Bird" (left). You can gaze at the stunning photos and read the descriptive captions in The Guardian report "Wildlife photographer of the year 2024 winners -in pictures". The captions are very succinct and precise so, rather suitable for C1 learners and above, where these words, among other, will come up: record-breaking [59,228 entries], an exhibition, a tadpole, a swarm, to snorkel, a lily pad, a stonechat bird, hefty, tricky, ownership, to roll [a log] over, to fruit, [slime] mould, a springtail, a split second, focus stacking, to mirror, a spot, a [camera] trap, a prey, an [elusive] lynx, fungi, gnarled, a birch tree, a lichen, a timeless [beauty] etc. 

NPR also covered the same competition with a more factual article, "Lynx, tiger and tadpoles, oh my: See the Wildlife Photographer of the Year winners", which is longer, more cohesive and easier to read perhaps, so, it can be recommended for B2 students and above, who will find words like: a lynx, a tadpole, a swarm, a lily pad, to lay [in wait], to track [animals], to set up, [camera] traps, to frame, a shot, to seize the moment, to stretch, to wrestle, a yacare caiman, a falcon, underwater, to narrow down, to be featured, a venue, to spark [creation], to coil itself, a snout, to snorkel [painstakingly], a lily pad, silt, to dodge, stunning, to hatch, wetlands, to rally [the community together] etc.

To add a touch of humour to wildlife art, B2 students can either have a peek at the Nikon Comedy Wildlife Gallery of Winners and Finalists 2024 or read the USA Today report on the winners of that competition, "'Squirrel stuck in a tree' tops funniest wildlife photos of the year: See the pictures". The final list of goofy winners was published on December 10th.

The pics will certainly bring a sunny smile (or raucous laughter) to learners, who may pick up new words like: a squirrel, [stuck], to stick, smooching, owlets, to highlight, a compromising [position], a [tree] hole, hind [legs], a statement, a raucous [laughter], to be shortlisted, ecstatic, to narrow down, a standalone [photograph], to showcase etc.

Back in April, the winners of the World Nature Photography Awards 2024 came out. B2 learners and above can click above to look at amazing pictures, and find interesting words in the captions and explanations like: hired, waterproof, a gannet, to dive into [water], anglerfish, a reef, a cheetah, a herd, a topi, dotted [across the valley], to cling [onto a foal], to launch, iconic [iguanas], a lizard, to bask, and many more.

Other interesting wildlife photography awards to check out are the British Wild Photography Awards and National Geographic best wildlife photos from 2024.

"Veneradas y Temidas" in CaixaForum Zaragoza

"Veneradas y Temidas: el poder femenino en el arte y las creencias" is a British Museum globetrotting exhibition that opened in London in 2022 as "Feminine Power: the Devine to the Demonic" and has finally come to CaixaForum Zaragoza. 

The exhibition is a 5,000-year, cross-cultural stroll that shows the visitor how femininity has been perceived and represented by different faiths, mythologies and cultures across the world, often in contradictory terms: how women have been worshiped as the embodiment of protection, fertility, purity, gentleness and modesty, but often the very same goddesses have been feared as the epitomes of destruction, vengefulness, lust and wrath. Gender fluidity is also showcased in the exhibit, with artifacts of ancient non-binary deities, who display male and female sexual attributes and can transform into different animals to connect to mortals.  

The British Museum published a number of helpful guides for the teachers and students who are planning to visit "Feminine Power: the Devine to the Demonic", as well as comments by high-profile collaborators like Mary Beard, Elisabeth Day, Bonnie Greer, Rabbia Siddique and Deborah Francis-White, or by current religious communities, like the Bengali Hindu London Durgostav Committee (LDC), or the pagan Children of Artemis.  This kaleidoscope of opinions and materials will certainly sharpen the visitors' eyes to spot crucial details in the figures, and, hopefully, may open their minds to ideas beyond accepted beliefs and truths to prompt meaningful conversations with their companions.  Personally, I would stongly recommend watching a long video with subtitles below (01:11:43) "The curators introduction to the exhibition" -or at least parts of it- where Belinda Crerar and Lucy Dahlsen discuss the artistic and cultural significance of the highlights of the exhibition (note: in "Veneradas y Temidas", the exhibit touring Spain, Kiki Smith's Lilith 1994, has been substituted by Zanele Muholi's Somnyana IV 2015 etc., and John William Waterhouse's Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses 1891, has not come to Spain). 

C2 students who are planning to visit "Veneradas y Temidas" do not need to watch the whole video, they can just focus on the objects that catch their eye. The language in the video is rich and dense at times, so subtitles and pauses could help to pick up individual words and expressions such as: curator, to display, femininity,a deity, beliefs, faiths, to depict [in Art], bigendered, genderless, to honour [these deities], commonalities and contrasts, to run through [these themes], a [faith] community, a playwright, to prompt [questions], to tune in, to hand back [to Belinda], an artwork, a pioneering [artist], a multi-layered [narrative], sacred artefacts, vulva, to drag, to spin out, the cycle of life, [deliberately] provocative, Abrahamic [narrative], an unapologetically [feminist perspective], second wave feminist, [celebratory] imagery [associated with childbirth], visceral, crude, flexed [knees], labia, a carving, [artworks] on display, lust, emaciated, to trace [the interpretentions], [stories] revolve around, to transcend [gender], a print, Shinto, to stir [the primordial water], to bob [its tail], to embody [natural phenomena], to encapsulate, fiery [temper], to flow [like lava],rough/ polished texture, a dual/ multifaceted [nature], unpredictable, volatile, crossovers [between the sections], [female] agency, nudity, a relief, yuxtapositions, to epitomize the [male] gaze, to cover up, to avert [her gaze], to wield [power], rage, to worship, to underscore [other aspects], to mint [a coin], to honour [Venus], a shockingly [erotic image], [who is] in control [of her power], earthbound, stiff, demonology, to submit [to Adam], to lie [underneath Adam], defiance, to wreak [havoc], cast [from a body], crouched, on all fours, to embellish, temptress, [seemingly] blameless [Adam], to underscore [innate female deviousness, [women's] collusive [responsibility],  courtship, 

a cowherd, evil, esoteric [knowledge], to encapsulate, an icon of [feminist rebellion], to reinterpret, hunched [over], [the male] gaze, assertive [figure], to be tamed, to clutch [the chalice], [to have] the upper-hand, a deceptively [seductive figure], to look down her nose, witchcraft, voyeuristic, Sabbath, to epitomize, lust, to poke fun at, surrealist [artist], folk [belief], [feminity] to imbue [the natural world], to draw on [a standard belief], to transgress, demons, vengeance, an ogre, grief,
a sage, anger, jealousy, to encapsulate, furrowed brows, [emotional] turmoil, despair, annihilation, slaughter, wrath, to be venerated, to offset, to wipe them off [the planet], to rampage, harshness, to dye [beer red], Puja [celebrations], fearlessness, [demonic] hordes, to defeat [demons], enraged, emanations, to confront and overcome [injustice], compassion, to sever [her followers from greed, envy, ego], the Savior, [to guide] the faithful [to salvation], a striking [piece], straws, a shimmering [effect], a pilgrimage [site], straw mosaic, a calligraphy [work], upbringing, unshakeable fortitude, a role model, compassion, canonically, to lessen [her importance], an enlightened [being], goddess [of compassion], perceiver [of sound], genderless, wisdom, to be venerated, embodiment, to overcome [a vice], karma, a [fully meditative] pose, [a subject of] contention, seductiveness, sensuous, alluring, curvaceous, draped [in silks], jewels, nirvana.

C1 learners can read a shorter, easier prologue to Feminine Power written by curators Belinda Crerar and Lucy Dahlsen: "An Introduction to Feminine Power". C1 students will find interesting key words like: a sneak peek, belief, artwork, to shine [a light], femininity, a goddess, annihilation, embodiment, to showcase, primordial, vulva, to grasp, a breast, needleworkers, depiction, a deity, a goddess, a [reddish] hue, fiery[nature], flaming [hair], to flow [down], a rough/ polished texture, dual [nature], a relief, to stare [confidently and confrontationally], a [lion] mount, a tiered [crown], volatile, votive [models], to assert [her equality], defiance, to cast [the image from a real woman], piercing, lifelike, to crouch, on all fours, a [voyeuristic] gaze, to permeate [mythology], to defy [expectations of female submission], empowerment, bulging [eyes], a glyph, slaughter, to withhold [her wrath], to grant [healing and peace], scorching, to set up, garland, severed [heads], fearlessness, compassion, karma, enlightened [being], to fan out, to transcend [gender], androgynous, swiftly, to spring [into action], wrathful emanations.

Today covered the opening of the London exhibition on BBC Radio-4 back in May 2022. C2 learners can listen to the inauguration report with an interview to Elisabeth Day, and they can do a listening comprehension task and check their answers with the key. The list of key words can be used to follow the radio report without a script (these materials were already published on this blog, in the entry "Art and Femine Power"). Some interesting words and collocations in the Today report are: a goddess, a she-devil, a saint, a witch, to be betrayed, a blood-thirsty warrior, divine, demonic, to be installed, a gargoyle, a bronze [sculpture], to crawl, [about] to pounce, attached to [the wall], [female] defiance, [to refuse] to submit [to Adam], the Garden of Eden, happily ever after, to rebel, depiction, faiths and mythologies, a [painted] terracotta, dating [from 500 BC], snake-like [hair], fangs, to stick [her] tongue out, to have [someone] round for dinner, to reassess [things after Me Too], a survivor [of rape], [female] rage, a statement [of power], to be rageful, [to be sexually] assaulted, a male-dominated [industry],an all-boys [club], gratitude, to put up with [a lot of stuff], to range from,

an orgasm [machine], to impress [my bosses], [everyday sexual] harassment, micro-aggressions, an admission price [to being a woman], stepped into [my rage], bulbous [eyes], [to die in] childbirth, to be engaged [in a battle], to long for [children], yearning and shaped [by her lack of children], to open up [about a personal failure], [universal] resonance, my soul, [millennia of] patriarchy, to strive [against that], a cohesive narrative to [this exhibition].

"Vereradas y Temidas: el poder femenino en el arte y las creencias", CaixaForum Zaragoza, December 5th, 2024- March 23rd, 2025.

Petra, the Treasury of the Nabatean Civilization

Alice Morrison travels to Petra in Southern Jordan, to show Al Khazneh, the treasure of the old Nabatean civilization, a blend of ancient cultures on the old incense trade route. This BBC video clip, "The treasury of the enigmatic Nabatean civilization" (3:01), shows wonderful pictures and not many words, so, it can be recommended for B1 students and above, who can come across interesting terms like: a nomad, incense, a treasury, breathtaking, carved, a frieze, a tomb, a façade, a jar, shooting, a [solar] disc, a horn, a statement.   

If you are interested, you can watch the whole episode, "Arabian Adventures: the Secrets of the Nabateans, Episode  1" (22:53), and, futhermore "Arabian Adventures: the Secrets of the Nabateans, Episode  2" (22:48). Both episodes have subtitles and can be recommended for C1 students, some of the most interesting words is episode 1 are: a trail,to forge, harsh [conditions], swallowed up, to thrive, a clue, to delve [deep] into, to carve, a gorge, a threshold to [a city], a treasury, breathtaking, exquisite, a frieze, a tomb, a façade, a jar, a shooting, a pediment, a horn, an statement, a sandstone, a shepherd, [to play] hide and seek, a toll, a magnet, pottery, a shard, a karat, a whiff, frankincense, myrrh, off the beaten track, to eat your heart out, to dig, a shovel, brooding [rock], unrelating, impressive, a deity, to worship, a stepping stone, a scarf, a drought, a date, a dromedary, a one humped camel, an insight. Whereas in Episode 2, you will come across: a bubbling [mountain], massive, a towering [monument], a clue, a stonemason,a façade, a burial, to carve, a clean-cut [appearance], to chisel, smooth, a forerunner [of Arabic], thrilling, a nerd, to overlook [the trade route], a grid-like [system], to kick off, a lawn mower, bumpy, a timeline, to [hit] gold, skyscape, to make [somebody] tick, an artefact, a headdress, a thrill, awe-inspiring, grinding, resourceful, a priestess, to round up [our knowledge]. An introductory article to this BBC series can be found on "Alice Morrison explores ancient Nabataean secrets in new BBC series", which can be easily read by B2 students and above, with some interesting words like: to dwell, to span, to be crowned, to carve, a tomb, a sandstone, to delve into.