History in the Making

COLLEGE PARK, GEORGIA – MAY 19: Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson speaks onstage during the 137th Spelman College Commencement Ceremony at Georgia International Convention Center on May 19, 2024 in College Park, Georgia. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images) Words by Cynthia Martens With Donald Trump’s re-election, the divisive U.S. political scene is poised to deliver ever more legal discord.  Stare decisis, the principle that interpreting past decisions, or precedent, should guide the resolution of new legal questions, is the core doctrine of the common law system. Adherence to precedent provides stability; yet society changes, technology evolves, and sometimes the law is just wrong, created by fallible human beings who are creatures of their time. Progress requires reckoning with the past without allowing it to dictate the future. When the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, Ketanji Brown Jackson hadn’t been sworn in yet. Her ceremony took place just six days later. What does Justice Jackson make of the decision, in which the Court’s majority spurned stare decisis and ruled that women do not have the constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy? And in her role on the Court, how does Justice Jackson balance respect for the past with duty to the future?  LOVELY ONE: A MEMOIRBy Ketanji Brown Jackson published by Random House The newly published Lovely One: A Memoir by Ketanji Brown Jackson is an opportunity to meet America’s first Black female Supreme Court justice at a highly charged moment in politics, a welcome chance to see how one of the nation’s most influential legal scholars – a former public defender who once dabbled in musical theater – thinks. In her memoir, she mentions finding inspiration in the Lin-Manuel Miranda lyrics from Hamilton, “But remember from here on in / History has its eyes on you,” and observes that her parents, who attended her swearing-in ceremony, came of age in the segregated South. Diverse personal narratives allow us to make sense of shared history and our own. This winter, we’ve assembled a new list of artsy suggestions that will get your creative juices flowing. “Unlike many archaeological sites, a wreck represents a single event in which most of the objects were in use at that time and can often be closely dated.” —DAVID GIBBINS ParthenopeDirected by Paolo SorrentinoTo be distributed by A24 Films in North America, with a targeted release date of February 2025 The sound of the rolling tide, sometimes muffled and sometimes sharp, is ever-present in Parthenope, the latest film by director Paolo Sorrentino. Parthenope, a mythological siren who, the story goes, drowned herself when she failed to seduce Odysseus, is also the original moniker for the city of Naples, where Sorrentino grew up. How much choice do we have in life, and to what extent is the die already cast, from the moment we are born into a name, a family, a society?  There is always a bit of melancholy in Sorrentino films; the director, known for his rich visuals, likes to explore splendor and decay, the passage of time and how a person’s sense of self evolves, all themes at the heart of The Great Beauty, Youth and the semi-autobiographical The Hand of God. Here, the director takes us on a ride through the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Naples, in which a young woman, played by Celeste Dalla Porta, grapples with the power of her beauty and pursues a career in anthropology. There are sweaty dance parties, cigarettes and sequins, but also a funeral procession that runs into a sanitation truck, a reference to the cholera outbreak of 1973. There’s a lascivious cardinal painting his hair black, an aging drama coach who won’t show her face but longs to be kissed, a troubled young man who takes his own life. Everyone is waiting for a miracle, for the relic containing the blood of San Gennaro to liquify. Parthenope may not always make the best choices, but she asserts herself, turning down an affair with a wealthy playboy and choosing to have an abortion. In contrast, she sees a young man and woman from rival clans of organized crime forced to have sex in front of their families to cement a new alliance. The film was released in Italy last October after premiering at the Cannes film festival, and reviews have been mixed (“troppo bello but mostly just troppo,” said The Hollywood Reporter) – all the more reason to see it for yourself. Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis: A FableDirected by Francis Ford CoppolaReleased in U.S. theaters September 27, 2024lionsgate.com/movies/megalopolis Another film dividing cinephiles is Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis: A Fable, a sci-fi epic starring Adam Driver – whose character, Cesar Catilina, can pause time on command – and Giancarlo Esposito. Set in a city called New Rome that looks a lot like New York, the movie explores the tension between art, beauty and idealism, on the one hand, and business-as-usual on the other. Coppola had been tinkering with the idea for this film for decades, and finally financed the project by selling part of his wine business in California. Summing up his thoughts on the meaning of utopia in an interview with NPR, Coppola said he wanted audiences to have discussions and to ask themselves: “is the society we have the only one available to us?” A History of the World in Twelve ShipwrecksBy David Gibbins published by St. Martin’s Press Art and artifacts are not just an expression of ideals or dreams for the future; they also provide a ladder connecting the past to the present. In a fascinating new book, archeologist David Gibbins, who is also a professional diver, shares musings based on his exploration of shipwrecks around the world, observing that “unlike many archaeological sites, a wreck represents a single event in which most of the objects were in use at that time and can often be closely dated.” Moreover, the wrecks “provide access to individuals, and that allows us most clearly to empathise with the past.” In A History of the World in Twelve Shipwrecks, immerse yourself in the stories of a merchant from the time of Tutankhamun and the last survivor of a torpedoed ship that went down in the North Atlantic, among others. Distance of the Moon by Shuang LiPrada Rong ZhaiNo.186, North Shaan Xi road, Jing’an District, Shanghai, Chinarongzhai.fondazioneprada.orgThrough January 12, 2025 Personal relationships forge our sense of who we are, and while modern tools make it easy to keep in touch – witness the prevalence of group chats – some argue that all these devices actually impede communication. That’s the position of Chinese artist Shuang Li, whose first solo institutional exhibition, Distance of the Moon, relies on a combination of performance, sculpture and multimedia to explore the pitfalls of tech gadgetry. “All of the tools that were supposed to make communication easier – instant messengers, video calls, stickers – have lost their magic, and actually create more distance. Words seem to lose their meaning when sent digitally,” she said in a statement, noting that her exhibition aimed to highlight “the shadows of technological ‘progress’.” The show, supported by Fondazione Prada and held at Prada Rong Zhai, a Jazz Age mansion in Shanghai, is open through January 12, 2025. Its title refers to a book by Italo Calvino, Cosmicomics, in which people regularly use ladders to climb to the moon and collect “moon milk” until suddenly gravity changes, pulling the moon away from Earth and dividing families. “There is always a bit of melancholy in Sorrentino films; the director […] likes to explore splendor and ruin, the passage of time and how a person’s sense of self evolves.” Lizzie Fitch | Ryan Trecartin: It Waives BackPrada Aoyama Tokyo5-2-6 Minami Aoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japanprada.comThrough January 13, 2025 Fondazione Prada is also promoting an exhibition in Tokyo. Through January 13, 2025, visitors to the sixth floor of the Prada Aoyama Tokyo can experience the first Japanese solo show by American collaborative artists Fitch | Trecartin, Lizzie Fitch | Ryan Trecartin: It Waives Back. The exhibition builds on the artists’ 2019 “Whether Line” project, which merged film, animation and sound and debuted at the foundation’s Milanese venue, a 20th century industrial distillery-turned-arts hub. In “It Waives Back,” Fitch and Trecartin re-examine footage from that initiative in a sweeping new installation, two movies and a sculptural theatre with various gaming elements, exploring contrasting notions of physical and social boundaries: indoors and outdoors, viewer and participant, work and leisure. Aurelio Amendola for Michelangelo. The primacy of the informalRifugio Digitale—Via della Forance, 41, 50125 Florence, Italyrifugiodigitale.itThrough January 5, 2025 In Florence, architecture firm Archea Associati developed an exhibition space on the foundations of a World War II-era bomb shelter. Called the “Rifugio Digitale,” or digital refuge, its interior is now entirely adorned with rectangular blue-green tiles, while the walls are mounted with 16 screens spanning the bunker’s 33 meters. Situated steps away from the Arno River, across from the Basilicata di Santa Croce, the Rifugio Digitale hosts cocktails and lectures, and serves as an ongoing photography exhibition – the perfect hideout from winter chill. Through January 5, stop by to see Aurelio Amendola for Michelangelo. The primacy of the informal, an examination of Amendola’s sensual, textured black-and-white photography of Michelangelo’s sculptures, including the recently restored Bandini Pietà, also known as The Deposition, depicting a dead Jesus Christ taken down from the cross, with the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene and a hooded figure whose identity is disputed. Dream On—Berlin, the 90sC/O Berlin at Amerika-HausHardenbergstraße 22–24, 10623 Berlin, Germanyco-berlin.orgThrough January 22, 2025 The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, 1989, the first major step toward a tumultuous German reunification. Through January 22, the C/O Berlin exhibition space at Amerika Haus, a cultural institution that opened in the aftermath of World War II, is presenting Dream On—Berlin, the 90s, a show featuring over 200 works by nine original members of the OSTKREUZ group. Founded in 1990 by a team of East Berlin photographers, OSTKREUZ is now recognized as one of the country’s leading photographic agencies. Sibylle Bergemann, Harald Hauswald, Ute Mahler, Werner Mahler, Annette Hauschild, Thomas Meyer, Jordis Antonia Schlösser, Anne Schönharting and Maurice Weiss all captured the social upheaval of those years and the emergence of a new city identity. “Wonderwall has been streamed more than 2 billion times on Spotify, with a daily estimate of well over a million streams.” Oasis Live ‘25For more information, visit oasisinet.com Speaking of walls, though reportedly not songwriter Noel Gallagher’s favorite Oasis ballad, Wonderwall, released in 1995 on the album What’s the Story, Morning Glory?, has been streamed more than 2 billion times on Spotify, with a daily estimate of well over a million streams. Something about those lyrics, with their winding roads and blinding lights, have made the song a Millennial touchstone. Fans of the Brit rock band, which split in 2009, rejoiced last summer at the announcement that Noel and Liam Gallagher are reuniting for a 2025 tour, including in various North American cities. “America. Oasis is coming. You have one last chance to prove that you loved us all along,” the duo said in a press statement. Take note: most dates are sold out, and the Ticketmaster pricing has been contentious. But even if you can’t attend a live concert, maybe it’s time to revisit the music. Whether that’s a trip down memory lane, or to a champagne supernova you never experienced, it’s worth the journey. Read GRAZIA USA’s Winter Issue featuring cover star Natasha Lyonne: WTF with Joan Juliet Buck: I Don’t Want to Look Rich, I Just Want the Brightness & the Light Andie MacDowell: In Every Woman, I See a Sister Sky High: Big Sky, Montana’s Luxe Additions Game Changers: Mary Alice Stephenson GRAZIA USA Winter Cover Star: Natasha Lyonne, New York Doll Game Changers: Vicky Tsai

View Original Article