One of the most distinctive buildings in the old city still stands in the center of Astana: the house of first-guild merchant Vasily Kubrin, built between 1910 and 1912. It was a luxurious one-and-a-half-story mansion with a wing topped by a green turret, a basement, an English-style garden, and an…
Residents of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city, have begun sharing photos on social media of murals that have disappeared from city streets — works that adorned building walls for years and became part of the city’s visual culture. Users are posting archival photos and recalling their memories of street art that…
A painting depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, attributed to Baroque master Peter Paul Rubens, and believed to have been lost for over 400 years, was sold for €2.3 million at an auction in Versailles this weekend. The artwork, created by the renowned Flemish painter who lived from 1577 to…
Espace Gabrielle Chanel, described as the first public library of its kind, has opened in Shanghai. The roughly 1,700-square-meter space was designed by Japanese architect Kazunari Sakamoto and is located on the third floor of the Power Station of Art museum. A collection of more than 50,000 works The library…
Stephen King’s novel «It» may be rewritten after Russia’s AST publishing house announced it is considering changes following a complaint about «inappropriate content.» The publisher said its editors launched an internal review after receiving a complaint alleging the book contained «depictions of nontraditional relationships.» As a result, the current print…
A new live-action Assassin’s Creed adaptation is moving forward at Netflix, but news of the project — and its newly announced casting — has already sparked debate among fans, Gamingbible.com reported. Netflix recently confirmed that actor Toby Wallace will serve as a co-lead in the series. Many gamers initially speculated…
On Feb. 13, 2026, Astana’s Central Concert Hall Qazaqstan will host a concert, followed by another on Feb. 15 at Almaty’s Republic Palace, as part of a world tour honoring famed composer Ennio Morricone. Under the direction of his son, maestro Andrea Morricone, a symphony orchestra and mixed choir will…
Paris city officials have offered residents an unusually creative way to become part of the city’s history. They’ve launched a lottery that gives winners the chance to secure a burial plot in one of the city’s legendary cemeteries — Père-Lachaise, Montmartre or Montparnasse. These cemeteries are the resting places of…
Archaeologists have identified a significant Bronze Age settlement in the Kazakh steppe, suggesting a more complex urban presence in the region around 1600 B.C. than previously known, according to CNN. The site, called Semiyarka or «The City of Seven Ravines,» was first located in the early 2000s. Its scale and…
Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer was sold for $236.4 million at Sotheby’s New York, making it the second most expensive artwork ever auctioned, the Guardian reported. The portrait, painted between 1914 and 1916, drew six bidders. The bidding lasted just 20 minutes before an undisclosed buyer offered the record-high…
Sony Pictures has reportedly acquired the screen rights to the Labubu brand and plans to develop it into a full-length film — and, if it’s successful, launch an entire franchise. It remains unclear whether the film will be animated or live-action. The project is in its early stages, and producers…
The Swiss government nominated yodeling for UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This move acknowledges the centuries-old singing tradition as a vital part of Switzerland’s cultural identity, according to Euronews. Alpine herders originally used yodeling to communicate across the mountains, but it is now widely embraced as a popular singing…
Sikhs around the world are preparing to celebrate Guru Nanak Jayanti, one of the most sacred festivals in Sikhism, which is observed this year on Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2025. The festival, also known as Gurpurab or Guru Nanak Prakash Utsav, commemorates the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, the…
Chess is becoming a popular new social activity for young people in the U.K., as bars and cafés reimagine the classic game, according to the Guardian. In London, Knight Club has become one of the city’s go-to Tuesday night venues, offering a mix of cocktails, DJ sets and chessboards for…
Egypt has celebrated the long-awaited opening of its largest museum of ancient history — the Grand Egyptian Museum, a project two decades in the making. Located at the foot of the Giza Pyramids, the museum houses more than 100,000 artifacts, many of which have never before been displayed to the…
After a cross was installed on the central tower of the Sagrada Família, the renowned basilica in Barcelona, Spain, has become the world’s tallest church, the BBC reported. It now stands 162.91 meters high, surpassing Ulm Minster in Germany, which had held the record since 1890. Construction of the church…
In Brussels, the iconic Manneken Pis statue is frequently dressed in themed costumes, often reflecting cultural events or anniversaries. For example, it has appeared as Dracula and in many other themed outfits. Recently, to honor Kazakhstan Republic Day, organizers dressed the statue in a traditional Kazakh shapan, a national coat…
«California,» a blue monochrome painting by Yves Klein, sold for a record €18.4 million at a Christie’s auction in Paris. The four-meter-long work is the artist’s largest painting and one of the few to have a title. Klein completed it in 1961 and dedicated it to the state of California,…
Tchaikovsky’s «The Nutcracker» is synonymous with Christmas, its music and story woven into holiday culture. Composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky died a year after completing the score, never seeing the ballet’s rise to fame, as The Irish Times (IT) noted in a recent tribute to the timeless classic. «The Nutcracker» premiered…
Musicians, athletes and fashion enthusiasts around the globe have embraced the Italian brand Stone Island for its high-end technical jackets and distinctive compass logo. But as the brand becomes more visible among extremist groups, partly because of its ties to British football culture in the 1990s, renewed debate has emerged…
In a small Kazakh village, an English teacher captures his students’ attention through rap. Omirbek Zhankuatov, better known on social media as «Mr. Omirbek,» combines beats and rhymes to help young Kazakhstani learners improve their English skills. His blend of language lessons and hip-hop flair has recently gained popularity online,…
The Dubai chocolate bar, first introduced by Fix Chocolatier in the UAE in 2021, gained popularity after trending on TikTok in 2023. Featuring rich milk chocolate with creamy pistachio or tahini filling and crunchy kadayif pastry, it continues to fascinate dessert lovers worldwide. Thanks to unique taste and texture, Dubai-inspired…
Instagram has announced a new award, Rings, described as the platform’s equivalent of the Oscars for content creators. The prize will honor creators whose ideas and content not only attract likes but also influence culture on a larger scale. The platform will select 25 creators worldwide who, according to the…
Glenn Martens, creative director at Maison Margiela, presented his first Spring/Summer 2026 collection at Paris Fashion Week. What stood out was not just the apparel, but the show itself. It embodied the avant-garde spirit that has long defined Maison Margiela. Even though invitations for the show were shaped like recorder…
