Applications open for the 15th edition March 19–22, 2026
MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas
Superstudio Più Via Tortona 27 Milan
20144
Italy
T +39 342 706 0124 info@miafair.it
MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas, Italy’s leading international art fair dedicated to photography, has officially opened registration for its 15th edition. Scheduled from March 19–22, 2026, the fair will return to Superstudio Più in Milan’s central art and design district.
Organized by Fiere di Parma and under the artistic direction of Francesca Malgara for the third consecutive year, the fair continues to shape the cultural landscape of contemporary photography.
Renowned for bringing together international galleries, artists, collectors, curators, and photography enthusiasts, MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas is a key cultural event on the international art calendar in Milan.
Applications are now open for galleries wishing to participate in the 2026 edition. Interested galleries are invited to submit their applications by contacting info@miafair.it.
The 2026 edition will feature several curated sections that examine the multifaceted nature of photography:
Main Section: Showcasing established galleries from Italy and abroad. Beyond Photography—Dialogue: Curated by Domenico de Chirico, exploring photography in dialogue other media as sculpture, painting, video, and installation. Reportage Beyond Reportage: Curated by Emanuela Mazzonis, this section delves into documentary, photojournalism, and street photography. Special Focus: Curated by Rischa Paterlini, offering a photographic deep dive into the contemporary art scene of a selected country or region, soon to be revealed.
The fair also hosts several prestigious awards:
BNL BNP Paribas Award: An acquisition prize for the bank’s prestigious art collection. Fiere di Parma Fund: Targeted acquisitions of outstanding works shown at the fair. Additional Awards: Focused on both artwork acquisition and gallery support.
In 2025, the fair welcomed over 13,000 visitors, featuring 114 exhibitors and 77 galleries. Now in its 15th year, MIA Photo Fair BNP Paribas continues to grow as both a marketplace and cultural hub, supporting the work of emerging and established voices.
For more information and updates, visit miafairbnpparibas.it.
Last month, the BBC said it was no longer airing a documentary about Israeli military attacks on hospitals in Gaza because it risked creating “a perception of partiality” over the broadcaster’s coverage of the conflict. Channel 4 is now showing it instead. Ramita Navai investigates the allegations of the targeting of doctors and healthcare workers in Gaza’s 36 main hospitals – which the film says have all now been attacked by Israel. Hollie Richardson
Can’t Sell, Must Sell
8pm, Channel 4 “Oh God, they’ve got the Live, Laugh, Love wallpaper – that needs to go.” In a slightly more bearable new property series, expert siblings Stuart and Scarlette Douglas help couples who are struggling to sell their properties. First up, a seriously cluttered cottage in Wales and a terrace with too much pink personality in Liverpool. HR
Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace
9pm, ITV1 Long Lost Family often reveals the devastating impact of last-century attitudes to things like out-of-wedlock pregnancy, but this week tells the story of Sarah, the show’s youngest-ever foundling, who was left in a Surrey car park in 2001. Also featured is Chris, who was dropped off at a childminder’s 62 years ago and never collected. Ellen E Jones
Britain’s Most Expensive Houses
9pm, Channel 4 Llwynhelig House in the Vale of Glamorgan is a Grade II-listed manor with a log cabin and shepherd’s hut in case the house itself isn’t big enough – but can agents Sorcha and Jemma flog it for £2.2m? More than seven times that price will secure Sunningdale Manor in Jersey for one lucky buyer. Down in Flushing in Cornwall, meanwhile, big local noise Ian spots the chance to trouser more commission on a house he has sold twice before. Jack Seale
Ashley Graham and Emma Grede know how to side hustle. Photograph: UKTV Alibi
Side Hustlers
9pm, U&W This small business competition from Reese Witherspoon’s production studio continues, and a woman who works a food stall with her ex is the first to pitch her future dreams to potential investor Emma Grede. Then, Ashley Graham is excited to meet the woman behind Bonks emergency thongs (“Yes! Yes! I want panties in a bag!”). HR
Mary Earps: Queen of Stops
10.45pm, BBC One There might be a tear of pride in your eye while watching one of the best goalkeepers in the world tell her story – from “being in pieces on the kitchen floor” after not making the England squad to a meeting with Sarina Wiegman that would lead to her helping the Lionesses become the 2022 European champions. It hits even harder given that she retired from international football in May. Jill Scott, Alessia Russo and Ella Toone chip in, too. HR
Film choice
Heads of State (Ilya Naishuller, 2025), Prime Video
Gleefully preposterous … Heads of State on Prime Video. Photograph: FlixPix/Alamy
Strongly in the running for the most gleefully preposterous film of the decade, Heads of State is a movie about the American president and the British prime minister. What’s preposterous is that they are respectively played by John Cena and Idris Elba. Even more preposterously, it’s an action buddy comedy by Ilya Naishuller, the director of Nobody. Did the world need a film where the leaders of the western world are stranded in the middle of nowhere and have to machine-gun their way out in a whirlwind of quips? Absolutely not. But the most preposterous thing of all is that it somehow works. Stuart Heritage
Live sport
Football: Uefa Women’s Euro 2025, Switzerland v Norway, 7pm, BBC One The opening match at St Jakob-Park in Basel, Switzerland.
Geezer Butler, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward, Ozzy Osbourne formed Earth, later renamed Black Sabbath, in 1968
With Black Sabbath’s final concert just days away, metal bands and musicians explain how the band influenced the course of their lives – and paved the way for a new generation of artists.
“Sabbath gave us the blueprint, Sabbath gave us the recipe. They gave us the cookbook, man,” says Slipknot’s Corey Taylor.
“The mystique was in the lyrics. It was in the sound. It was in the way that everything was just a little darker.”
The song that shares the band’s name is “one of the scariest songs I ever heard” says Taylor, which he plays when he “wants to go someplace mentally”.
“I don’t have to look for, you know, [The Omen’s] Damien Thorn. I don’t have to look for merciful fate.
“I go back to the beginning. I go back to Black Sabbath, the song and the rest is history.”
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Corey Taylor says Black Sabbath paved the way for bands like Slipknot
The frontman is among musicians paying tribute to the band ahead of their final performance on Saturday.
The all-day Back to the Beginning event at Villa Park on Saturday will feature Metallica, Slayer, Halestorm, Lamb Of God, Anthrax and Mastodon among many others.
Halestorm’s frontwoman Lzzy Hale says she would not be the singer, songwriter or guitarist she is today without the influence of the band.
“For whatever reason Black Sabbath caught me early on and it was something that I didn’t even know how to describe, but I understood it,” she says.
Being part of the show “wasn’t even on my bucket list of dreams,” she adds, “because it was an indefatigable dream to even consider because it was impossible.”
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Lzzy Hale says playing the Villa Park gig was not even on her bucket list of dreams
Ozzy Osbourne, guitarist Tony Iommi, bassist Geezer Butler and drummer Bill Ward sold more than 75 million records worldwide.
Black Sabbath, initially called Earth, emerged from a “vibrant music scene” in 1960s Birmingham according to their first manager Jim Simpson.
Setting up Big Bear Records in 1968, he had invited the foursome to play at Henry’s Blueshouse at The Crown pub on Hill Street, where they were an instant hit with punters.
‘A horrendous racket’
“There was much more attention paid to them than the average band,” he recalls.
The four started out playing blues, before turning their attention to writing their own material.
The band had initially made a “horrendous racket,” adds guitarist Iommi, “but it worked out in the end, it was great.”
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The four original members will play one last gig together at Villa Park
They were a “product of the time and a product of the city” says Jez Collins, founder of Birmingham Music Archive.
“I don’t think it would have happened from any area other than Aston with all of those foundries and factories and the smelts and the bomb sites,” he adds.
Slipknot’s Taylor agrees.
“One hundred percent Iowa is the reason why Slipknot was Slipknot and the Midlands are absolutely the reason Sabbath was Sabbath,” he says.
“You are where you come from.”
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The four friends grew up in the Aston area of Birmingham
The band’s distinctive sound, which helped propel them to worldwide success, was partially down to Iommi’s earlier job at a steel factory.
Planning to leave work in order to take up a place with another band, he had lost the tips of two fingers on a steel-cutting machine.
“After the accident I went to various doctors and they said ‘you’d better pack up really, you’re not going to be able to play,’” he says.
“But I wouldn’t accept that,” he adds, describing how he had fashioned new fingertips from a melted down Fairy Liquid bottle and parts of a leather jacket.
Start of the magic
Judas Priest lead singer Rob Halford, who grew up a few miles away in Walsall, picks up the legendary story.
“When Tony had his accident, and had to detune some of the strings, things started to get lower and heavier, and that’s when the magic really started,” he says.
“And certainly for me and for all of us in Priest, from day one, those bands and more were a tremendous influence to us all.”
Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple were also forefathers of the movement, but it was Sabbath that “cemented it,” adds Taylor.
He and other artists have been speaking to BBC Radio WM for a new documentary, Forging Metal, looking at the history of the genre.
Barney Greenway, lead singer of Napalm Death, also from Birmingham, says the “density and the depth of the music they were making was completely new”.
“There were bands doing darkly heavy music at the time, but arguably nothing like Black Sabbath.
“Heaviness and musical extremity before that was even thought of,” he says.
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Guitarist Tony Iommi (left) fashioned his own finger tips from a Fairy Liquid bottle after losing them while working in a steel factory as a teenager
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Black Sabbath attracted huge audiences worldwide
The eyes of the world will be on Birmingham for the Villa Park gig which is a “profoundly important centre for metal,” says city academic Dr David Gange, author of the Why Metal Matters project.
But, he adds, “metal was global from its origins, with indigenous Americans such as [guitarist and songwriter] Link Wray, and others, particularly from Latin America, being crucial to it’s emergence”.
Crusty, dirty and glorious
The genre had spawned “literally hundreds of sub genres, probably thousands,” he explains, with some now being used to promote social and environmental activism, in far flung corners of the globe.
“There’s an absolutely wonderful band in the very, very far north of Finland, called Unearthly Rites, who are as heavy as can be,” he says.
“They are crusty, they are dirty, they are just glorious, their key thing is protesting open-pit mining, and their musical heritage runs directly back to Birmingham bands like Napalm Death and Bolt Thrower”.
Dr David Gange
The musical heritage of global bands can be traced back to Birmingham bands such as Napalm Death, says Dr David Gange
Many of the “most interesting” artists taking metal forward are currently women or non-binary people, the Birmingham University history lecturer added.
Birmingham’s Debbie Gough, who fronts metal band Heriot, says the scene is “the most diverse space” she has ever known it to be.
Heriot has just completed its second headline tour of the UK and are about to embark on a 32-date tour of North America supporting “super influential” Trivium.
“I feel very welcome and feel like it’s a very accepting space and a very informed space as well which has allowed for lots of different people in bands to experience music,” she says.
Dr David Gange
Debbie Gough says the metal scene is now an accepting and informed space
There had been a marked change since the Covid-19 pandemic, she claimed.
“Before that I could maybe count on one hand the amount of times there had been female crew, or other bands with females on the line-up, and now nobody even flinches, which is super cool.
“I’m just overjoyed about the blueprint of who gets to be in a metal band has just been completely destroyed and anybody can be in any band now – and that’s really amazing to see,” she added.
Ziggy Ella Bagley
All-female band Cherrydead will perform at the BBC Radio WM event on 2 July
Emily Drummond, vocalist for the all-female Birmingham band, Cherrydead says she is also “absolutely buzzing” about the future of metal.
“Not just in the West Midlands, all across the UK and it’s something that we are so glad to be a part of,” she adds.
Cherrydead are among acts playing a BBC Radio WM celebration gig Metal in the Midlands.
She says there had been a “real shift” for women within the scene.
Although not perfect, she added, “there is a transformation coming and I feel things have really moved in that sense”.
Mosh pit freedom
The metal scene faces “all kinds of crises”, Dr Gange says, with many music venues under threat.
“But metal thrives off crisis, metal is the music for how we process crisis and the bands are doing it in such exciting ways,” he adds.
“It’s a profoundly supportive community, the mosh pit itself is an allegory for all the best things in life – you give yourself total, total freedom, let yourself fall over, let anything happen with the complete knowledge that someone is going to reach out and pick you up if you go down.”
BBC Radio WM’s Forging Metal will be available on BBC Sounds from Friday 4 July.
Actors Cate Blanchett and Adrian Dunbar will receive the Freedom of the City of London for their work in the arts.
The 56-year-old Australian, who won Oscars for her roles in The Aviator and Blue Jasmine, has long been an advocate for action on climate change and a range of humanitarian issues.
Northern Irishman Dunbar, 66, is best known for his time as Supt Ted Hastings in the award-winning TV series Line of Duty and has written and directed plays.
Both have performed at the Barbican over the past year, and Mr Dunbar is an alumnus of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.
One of the City of London’s ancient traditions, freedoms are believed to have been handed out since 1237.
They give thanks to individuals for their contribution to London or public life – or to celebrate a very significant achievement, the City of London Corporation (CLC) says.
Ms Blanchett’s and Mr Dunbar’s names were included on a list of more than 50 people nominated to receive the Freedom, which was approved at a Court of Common Council.
Alderman Russell, chair of the CLC’s Freedom applications committee, said Freedom is “offered as a way of paying tribute to their outstanding contribution to London or public life, or to celebrate a very significant achievement”.
Representatives for Blanchett and Dunbar have been approached for comment.
Gary Crowley has fond memories of his 1994 interview with a soon-to-be-famous Liam and Noel Gallagher
It’s June 1994 and a relatively unknown band from Manchester are about to play London’s Marquee Club. In a small guitar shop in London’s West End, two brothers sit down for their first national TV interview together. The presenter waiting for them is Gary Crowley.
“It just felt like a tornado had just blown in from Denmark Street,” he says of Noel and Liam Gallagher. “They just both exuded this energy.”
Oasis are about to embark on their long-awaited reunion tour, and the presenter admits he couldn’t have predicted the meteoric rise the band would enjoy – although there were signs of their potential for stardom.
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Noel and Liam announced last summer they would be reuniting for Oasis’s UK-wide tour
Crowley landed what turned out to be the first of many interviews with the Gallagher brothers when presenting Carlton Television’s The Beat, which he describes as a “grown-up music magazine TV programme”.
“In 1994, it was such an exciting year for music,” says Crowley.
“It felt like there were more intrinsically British bands who were beginning to come to the fore. Whether it was Saint Etienne, Pulp or Elastica, or of course five young gunslingers from Manchester called Oasis.”
Crowley first came across Oasis through their radio promoter, who sent The Beat team a copy of Columbia – a song that would be on their debut album Definitely Maybe – which he says he and his producer “fell in love with”.
“There seemed to be a kind of punky-ness to them, which I loved,” the BBC Radio London presenter says.
‘The Beat’ Fuji Television, 1994
Gary Crowley describes the Gallagher brothers as being very comfortable in front of the camera
“Liam was like a squirrel on a washing line. He was here, there, everywhere… sort of doing that Liam walk, that swagger that he has,” Crowley recalls. “He was very charming. When he focused on you, you couldn’t help but be sort of charmed by him.
“Noel, it felt to me, had written all the books about what you had to do to become a pop star. He was very funny and very irreverent as well – slagging off a lot of the other bands we’d had on the programme.”
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Oasis playing London’s Splash club in early 1994
What strikes Crowley most looking back at the interview – apart from what he now sees as a questionable taste in fashion in his younger self – is how comfortable the brothers were in front of the camera.
“They could not wait to see the red light go on,” he says. “They were not shy, wilting flowers.”
The Gallagher brothers had the production crew in fits of laughter – “behind the camera, and everybody’s got their hand over their mouth”, Crowley recalls.
The presenter quickly realised how compelling the brothers were as a double act, although he says “Liam did a lot of the talking” during the interview.
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Oasis released their first album, Definitely Maybe, in August 1994
At one point, Noel interrupts his brother to say: “Can I say something now? My name’s Noel. I write the songs.”
Liam later speaks of his ambition to “be a star” and “have a big house somewhere”, with Noel quipping: “Preferably not anywhere near my big house.”
Crowley says the dynamic between the pair in 1994 felt like the sort of thing you’d see between any two brothers working together. The rancour that would ultimately cause Oasis’s 16-year hiatus had yet to develop.
“They were taking the mickey out of each other,” he says. “You could see that affection.”
After the interview, Crowley says Noel took him aside.
“He said: ‘Look, you should come [to the gig] this evening.’ And I said: ‘Well, I’ve got to go and see this movie and review it.’”
The film was Shopping. “It was freaking awful. In fact, I think my review called it ‘shocking’,” Crowley laughs. “I stayed for about a third of the film, and then I hotfooted it over to the Marquee – and it was the best decision that I made that year.”
Looking back now, what stands out to Crowley is not just the charisma but the assuredness.
“Where did that self-confidence come from?” he says. “They looked to me like they’d been doing it for years. They seemed incredibly relaxed.”
While other bands often preferred to “let the music do the talking”, Crowley says Oasis embraced the attention.
“They absolutely grabbed the bull by the horns and ran out of that guitar shop with it.”
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Oasis’s line-up has undergone several changes over the years – in 1995 Alan White (left) was the first of them, replacing drummer Tony McCarroll
The interview would prove to be the first of many Crowley did with the Gallagher brothers.
Asked why he thought they kept asking him back as their success grew, he jokes: “Because I’m cheap.”
Crowley says watching the tape puts a “big dopey smile” on his face. “It’s a lovely snapshot of where they were at that time.
“I didn’t foresee it,” the presenter says of Oasis’s global success. “But I left that interview feeling better for having met them.”
Senior palace aide drops new update on King Charles’ health
A senior palace aide has dropped an update on King Charles health as he praised the monarch for still fulfilling royal duties while undergoing cancer treatment.
Even though the Buckingham Palace has kept details about the monarch’s health private, an official revealed that Charles is responding well to treatment.
At the annual Sovereign Grant briefing, James Chalmers, the monarch’s new Keeper of the Privy Purse, revealed that the King has managed to keep up with many constitutional duties, including regular meetings and state responsibilities.
“The King demonstrated remarkable resilience by undertaking a wide programme of public and state duties at home and overseas while continuing to receive treatment,” Chalmers said.
He further described the past financial year as “something of a return to normal business after the health challenges faced by members of the family in the previous fiscal year.”
“Indeed, by happenstance, the period to which this Sovereign Grant Report relates correlates almost exactly with His Majesty’s return to public-facing duties, in April of 2024,” he added.
Charles approach demonstrated “not only His Majesty’s personal commitment to duty but also the adaptability and resilience of the Royal Household in ensuring continuity of service, no matter the personal circumstances,” Chalmers further shared.
He noted how the public was very supportive of Charles and Kate Middleton, who was also diagnosed with cancer last year.
“The profound connection the royal family maintains with people across the country and indeed the world.”
“No metric can fully capture the scale of this connection,” he said, highlighting that the royal websites attracted a record 4.2 million new visitors, while the royal family’s videos reached nearly 400 million views and their social media content generated 1.3 billion impressions.
According to David Koma, his menswear line is a “selfish” project. “I wanted to have new experiences and to have something to enjoy on top of working hard,” he tells me. “It’s the first time I’ve had myself in mind as a customer, so there have been nice surprises along the way.”
Even though the London-based designer has been designing menswear for three seasons now, he’s only just felt ready to put on a menswear show — and what appears to have been the perfect opportunity presented itself. Koma is showing as part of Berlin Fashion Week (BFW) organiser Fashion Council Germany’s primary talent scheme, Berlin Contemporary, which offers a €25,000 grant to put towards a show. The invitation to show in Berlin came a few months ago through one of his PR agencies, Reference Studios, which is based in Berlin with offices in Milan, Paris and London, and has been working with Fashion Council Germany to invite buzzy designers to the schedule as part of its showcase, Intervention. GmbH and Ottolinger are also taking part.
It’s early summer in the Georg Jensen workshop in Copenhagen, and the young apprentices and masters – all known as smithies – are at work. It is here, in a lofty warehouse space that has been the company’s headquarters since 2004, that all of the handmade and bespoke items are beaten, polished and hand-carved.
Melanie Larsen, an apprentice, is working on a silver cup, her iteration of a project with which students are presented in their first trial weeks. Her second attempt at making a perfect vessel, her work is already accomplished, symmetrical and neat.
Christian Arndt Armbrecht is working on a set of silver medals. Georg Jensen has a royal warrant and makes the orders and medals with which Danish citizens are honoured: these medals are imprinted with the likeness of King Frederik X, who was crowned last year. Timur Muharemovic is making a cigarette case – considered a technical milestone in the apprentice’s journey despite its obsolescence in the real world. He was formerly a catwalk model. Well, we are in Denmark after all.
Georg Jensen was founded in 1904 by the Danish designer and entrepreneur of the same name. He started the business from a cabinet of silverware in Copenhagen’s city centre and was its creative director until his death in 1935, having made the brand famous throughout the world. Following different ownerships, it was acquired in 2023 by Fiskars – the Finnish group that owns the brand behind the orange-handled scissors – for €151mn. (In 2022 it declared revenues of DKr1.2bn, about £130mn, a six per cent growth on the previous year.) Georg Jensen joined an illustrious design stable; Fiskars also owns the Danish porcelain maker Royal Copenhagen and Wedgwood, the fine bone china company. But while the brand has the lustre of an important heritage, it has suffered from a certain blandness and product saturation in recent years.
“We acquired the brand because of our conviction in its potential as Denmark’s definitive luxury house,” says Jacob Siboni, the senior vice president since 2023. “[It has] a potential much greater than its current reach.” Future plans include “new ranges of products and a return to categories that reflect the richness of our history. In parallel, we are aiming to expand our distribution footprint, including the opening of new retail stores.”
In charge of this design focus is Paula Gerbase, the Brazilian designer appointed creative director in 2024. A multidisciplinary creative, she arrived last September having worked previously on her own tailoring, clothing and jewellery labels, as well as at Sunspel and at the Hermès-owned shoemaker John Lobb. “With a background in craft through her training on Savile Row, Paula was the obvious choice,” says Siboni. “She’s someone who can appreciate the breadth of Georg Jensen’s artistic expression, looking beyond its current brand image and product lines. She is an innovator who is an uncompromising guardian of quality and a champion of design.”
Gerbase is not a smithy. Her apprenticeship lasted only about six days. Her attempt at a cup now sits, wonky and abandoned, on a counter in the workshop, a sweet reminder that she still has much to learn. Nevertheless, she has fallen hard for silver (and gold, an important but less conspicuous feature of the house). Moreover, she wants to test Georg Jensen’s reputation as a maker of minimalist things. “When I arrived, I thought I was taking over a lovely Danish brand that had a kind of minimalist expression with some art nouveau pieces in its heritage,” she says. “But what has unfolded is that this brand is not a brand, it’s a house, and it was a luxury house from 1904 until 1979.”
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Silver has enjoyed a mixed popularity in recent years, but since Covid-19 a new generation is popularising it again. “In terms of investment, obviously the recent rise of the price of silver (and gold) has generated some interest from clients,” says Isabelle Cartier-Stone, silver specialist at Christie’s. When asked about Georg Jensen, she points to the “period 1904-1925 or ‘the Pregnant Duck’” as being the pieces of most interest. Also known colloquially as “the Swan”, the Henning Koppel Pitcher 1052 was first designed in 1952. It is made in the Copenhagen workshop from two identical flat pieces of silver that are raised and then hammered to make smooth. The Swan is iconic, beautiful to look at, and costs £28,000. However, it sits at the apex of a vast proliferation of cheaper versions, including one in electric-blue stainless steel, priced at £210.
Gerbase wants to prove the brand “can still be expansive” while “remaining pure”. Her role is to elevate the offering – and protect the core. “I feel like Scandinavian design just got completely ambushed at some point. It became synonymous with beige. Until 1970, there was a CEO who had been a maverick thinker. And then, with his retirement – mixed with the ’80s and people becoming enamoured with the idea of serialisation and mass production – the brand became known for one specific thing. So the first step for me is really about re-establishing what this house is, to speak about what the designers were doing throughout its history and, of course, doing something new.”
On a moodboard on one wall of her office sits an assortment of images: a series of silver teapots, vintage bangles and pictures from the interiors of the 1950s New York store. Gerbase is currently interested in the brand’s art nouveau era – “the very beginning, 1904 to 1915”. But she is also enamoured of the midcentury experiments she has found in the archive, located in the eaves of the headquarters: a trove of objets, sketches, prototypes and “lost” designs. Here you can find the original catalogues for Jensen’s jewellery, pieces of sculpture, lipstick holders and funky sunglasses with silver star-burst frames. “When you see a brand that is quite pure,” she says, “you can overlook its range.”
In keeping with this ethos, Gerbase’s first offering was a series of bag charms, each drawn from different eras at the house. These included the art nouveau Bud motif by Jensen, first created in 1904; the Oak, originally designed by Danish silversmith Harald Nielsen and the Facet, a rounded stud by Kim Naver, the 84-year-old Danish textile turned jewellery designer whose first collection for Georg Jensen appeared in 1973. Artists rarely had contracts that stipulated deliverables, says Gerbase, but were instead invited in to “play”. The freestyle mood is something she would like to reinvigorate, although she’s keen to nurture the spirit within the workshop rather than via talents from outside.
This spring, in a viral re-entry to the design world, Gerbase took an ice-cream store to Salone del Mobile in Milan: guests at Gelateria Danese were served cardamom-infused gelato in silver “paper” cups with tiny silver spoons. Of the 105 spoons delivered to the design fair, some 25 went missing. “In fact, hardly any were stolen,” Gerbase says. “It was more that people would forget that they were silver and throw them in the bin.”
Her next act, The Collector, is a curation of high jewellery that will also showcase the artistic traditions of the house. A magnifying glass pendant and chain are recrafted replicas of pieces by the legendary silversmith Vivianna Torun Bülow-Hübe, known as Torun. A stone-encrusted bangle is a reissue of a Nanna Ditzel design, based on a very rudimentary prototype found in the archive.
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The collection of reissued pieces could be described as couture, but it’s a word that Gerbase resists. “Georg Jensen always wanted his pieces to be of high quality but he would have never called himself a jeweller or a maker of high jewellery. It’s also why he did not use diamonds or sapphires; he was naturally drawn to far less precious stones. Plus, it’s silver – even though he worked with gold, silver was his preference. And I think that there’s a real beauty in the way he saw beyond what is meant by high jewellery or fine.”
Today, there are between 23 and 26 employees in the workshop; a further 13 people work in Gerbase’s own creative team. Bespoke pieces are still handmade in Copenhagen but most of the industrial production is elsewhere. The main jewellery line is made in Thailand, says Gerbase, “because they have better tools”. Glassware is often made in Portugal. Slovakia mainly does the wood. “It’s really [about] where the specialism is,” says Gerbase, “rather than saying we only produce in X,Y, Z.”
Back in the workshop we meet Stella Birkefeldt, a fourth-generation silversmith who now works on the bench alongside her father, Michael, a master silversmith and wood carver. What’s it like to work with far? “I love it, actually,” says Stella, an apple-cheeked twentysomething who looks like an advert for the wholesome smithy life.
Across the room, Adnan Hadzihasanovic, the master cutlery-smith, works on a set of Blossom spoons – he estimates that he has made some 25,000 in his career. Opposite him is Beatriz Santos, a young chaser working with malleable metal: she shares a book in which she has made exquisitely handwritten notes.
Michael also has a smaller private workshop, in which sits a Pyramid coffee pot held together with a wooden vice. First designed in 1930, the pot is part of the art deco offering, with sweeping curves, geometric contours and a handle in darkest ebony. The shiny metal adds another touch of magic to a room that feels like something in a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale – the workstation is arranged with hundreds of utensils, each tool handmade by every worker to meet their individual needs.
Next door, in the hammering room, a drawing of “the Pregnant Duck” is taped to a locker stacked with hammers and other tools. If Gerbase’s plan comes to fruition, this long-standing hero of the workshop is poised to sit within a broader portfolio. It’s easy to see why she’s become so passionate about this atelier and the change she hopes to bring. Thanks to the less-known treasures hiding in the archive, the duck should become just one of many icons allowed to soar.
Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Kareninais a masterpiece. It has never been out of print. Luminaries from William Faulkner to Jilly Cooper have remarked on its brilliance. It is usually within the top 10 of any list of the “100 books you simply must read before you die”. However, I would argue that it’s a singularly poor choice of a book to bring with you for 10 days on the beach in Tenerife. Especially in hardback.
I really tried. Every day, I’d read two or three pages before realising I’d read the same pages the day before, and it simply hadn’t stuck. I kept drifting off during the more complex descriptions of 19th-century property law. I simply couldn’t see what Anna saw in Vronsky; he seemed dreadful, just a slightly different kind of dreadful from her husband, Karenin. My arms ached, the sand seemed unusually gritty, and on day four, as children shrieked and splashed around me, their parents read Jack Reacher books while I failed to understand the significance of Levin scything his fields, I thought, ‘No more!’ My luggage allowance was about 20kg. Tolstoy had taken up more than a tenth of it, and 100% of my headspace. I couldn’t relax. I wasn’t enjoying myself. When I found a Sophie Kinsella novel in the hotel gift shop, I almost wept with relief. It didn’t matter that I’d already read The Undomestic Goddess – my aching brain craved comfort and joy, and it simply wasn’t finding it on Russian railway lines.
As an author and a reader, it makes me sad that “beach read” has become a pejorative term. In my book Read Yourself Happy, I investigate the enormous positive impact that reading has on our wellbeing – and I discover that we can only experience the benefits of books if we’re enjoying what we’re reading. I believe that any reading we do is good for us, if it captures our attention and stimulates our imagination. The results of a 2016 Yale University study demonstrated that readers of books tend to live longer; another, published by the National Library of Medicine in 2020, showed that reading wards off cognitive decline.
But studies also show that fewer children and adults are reading for pleasure. A 2024 survey from the Reading Agency found that 35% of us used to read for fun, but we’ve let the habit lapse. It’s understandable, because it’s incredibly difficult to cultivate a reading habit in the 21st century. We all think we “should” read, in the way we think we “should” do more exercise. We put it off. We pick up our phones and wish we could put them down again. It’s very hard for books to compete with our phones, because books don’t tend to light up, or vibrate, or flash with notifications. Books haven’t been designed to be addictive.
We plan to read when we have some free time. Eventually we go on holiday and promise ourselves that we’ll tackle some serious Russian literature, or we bring the Booker winner with us. And we struggle to concentrate and connect with the story because we’re not used to using our reading muscles. We long to pick up our phones and scroll instead. We feel angry with ourselves, and we resent the books. Reading feels like a chore, and we don’t feel as though we’re having the relaxing, reviving, nourishing holiday that we need.
After my failed attempt to read Anna Karenina, I vowed to prioritise pleasure when choosing my holiday reading, jettisoning anything that felt too much like holiday homework. And I started to notice some surprising changes. First, I started to relax much more quickly. I didn’t waste the first two days in a state of anxious agitation, struggling to switch off. In the past, I’d felt fidgety and restless when I was lying by the pool. However, when I found a book I loved, I lay with purpose.
Daisy Buchanan on the beach. Photograph: Courtesy of Daisy Buchanan
My sleep seemed to improve. I felt calmer and more grounded. It changed my focus, too. When I wasn’t reading, I felt more present – I was better at listening to conversations and paying attention. During day trips, I didn’t have the urge to scroll through my phone seeking out recommendations for better restaurant options or nicer beaches. I didn’t have the same irritable holiday squabbles with my husband. This was partly because I felt happy and relaxed, and partly because most of those squabbles are about missing phone chargers and power adaptors. Reading was reducing my screen time, and I wasn’t draining my phone battery.
Most importantly, reading for pleasure made me feel that I’d benefited from the holiday. We go away because we need to relax and recharge. A holiday is supposed to have health benefits. And reading might be the magical secret that ensures we feel those benefits. It’s one way to truly get away from it all. It’s easy to dismiss “fun” summer books: because they are so easy to read, critics (wrongly) assume that they must be easy to write. But in a world where everything can feel very difficult, easy books are more valid and valuable than ever. They bring us lasting, nourishing pleasure.
Sarah Maxwell, the founder of the UK’s first romance-only bookstore, Saucy Books, says that this summer the shop will be celebrating and focusing on beach reads. She says: “A so-called ‘beach read’ can often reach places a serious book can’t – especially when we’re craving ease, escape or a dose of delight. Summer is a time to recharge, and reading for pleasure is one of the simplest, most nourishing ways to reconnect with yourself.”
So when you’re packing for your holiday, and fretting about reading the books that will impress your friends and intimidate your enemies, why not try to give yourself “a dose of delight”? If you’d like to get the most from your time away, and read yourself happy, here are some suggestions.
It sounds counterintuitive, but it might be worth bringing a book that you’ve already read. When I’m especially stressed, or struggling with anxiety, I bring one that I know I love. I find rereading very comforting, and sometimes I need to warm up with something familiar and remind myself that sitting down with a book feels good. It takes the pressure off the reading experience – and it feels like being reunited with old, beloved friends. If the idea of rereading an old book doesn’t appeal, look for a book by a writer you’ve enjoyed before, or something from a series of books. (You can’t go wrong with Poirot or Miss Marple.)
Sometimes I start my holiday reading before I go on holiday. In the run-up to a trip, it feels as though there’s never enough time to pack, clear my desk and do my laundry – but if I try to read a few pages every day, I feel the benefits as soon as I arrive. It can take a couple of chapters to get into a book, and it’s difficult to focus in a new environment, even if it’s supposed to be a relaxing space. But if I’m already invested in the narrative, I’m excited about picking it up as soon as I arrive. (And if I have been reading on the plane or train, I find the arrival process – waiting for luggage and going through passport control – a lot less stressful.)
A Quiet Moment by Rowland Wheelwright Photograph: Mary Evans Picture Library
If I’m going on holiday with friends or family, I’ll suggest we share and swap our books. That way, we can maximise our luggage allowance, and avoid a situation in which we have eight copies of We Solve Murders and All Foursbetween us. One of my favourite holidays was a trip to France with my sisters, where we all took it in turns to read The Disaster Artist – Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell’s wild account of working with Tommy Wiseau on The Room (“the greatest bad movie ever made”). Of course, remember not to bring a prized first edition. Take a book that can be replaced if the worst happens. When books are being read and thoroughly enjoyed on holiday, they risk being dropped in the pool or covered in sun cream.
Perhaps the most important piece of holiday advice is this: if you don’t like the book you’re reading, you don’t have to finish it. Be fair to yourself, and fair to the book. Holidays are supposed to be relaxing and enjoyable. For example, if you work for Nasa and you’re taking a break from a stressful workplace, you might feel tense and triggered after three chapters of Atmosphere, Taylor Jenkins Reid’s new astronaut novel. Reading is a subjective experience. I will rarely give up on a book – but I often pick up a book and put it down again, realising I need to be in a better mood to get the best from it. And sometimes, changing to a more fun book is all it takes to put me in that better mood.
I returned to Anna Karenina eventually. It took me a few years to do so – and I spent that time building up my reading muscles. I read it for pleasure, and by the time I was ready, my appetite for pleasure had become much broader. I didn’t need to learn how to read; I needed to learn to love to read again. It was that Sophie Kinsella book that reminded me of the power of brilliant storytelling. The experience of losing myself in the novel was delicious, and it made me greedy for more. Reading for the sheer fun of it fills up my emotional tank and gives me the strength to attempt “challenging” books. Maybe even more importantly, they also give me the strength to deal with challenging real-life situations. When I’m cheerfully immersing myself in a series of happily-ever-afters, I feel more optimistic and positive. I see the best in people, and I’m kinder and more patient. Life starts to imitate art.
Reading always leaves me feeling better and calmer. I never regret picking up a book, and I’m so grateful to have discovered a hobby that makes me happy, as well as making me feel as though I’m on holiday. It’s good to keep the holiday vibes alive and kicking on a dark, rainy Saturday afternoon in November. And I’m confident that reading for pleasure this summer will ensure you have a better time on the beach. But I suspect the benefits will outlast the trip, too. My holiday reading romance has been going on for years, and rediscovering my passion for romcoms made me realise that books had been my true love all along.
Books for reading yourself happy on holiday
Book Boyfriend by Lucy Vine Simon & Schuster Jenna is a reader, and a dreamer. When a secret admirer starts leaving her letters in her favourite book, she’s reluctant to take the relationship off the page. But her chaotic twin, Clara, is determined to solve the mystery. This classic romcom is utterly charming – a gorgeous dollop of escapist fun.
Tiny Daggers by Caroline Corcoran Thomas & Mercer British expat Holly has built herself a perfect life in Miami – but when her old schoolfriend, also called Holly, turns up, she might have the power to pull the thread and destroy it all. But which one is Good Holly, and which one is Bad Holly? This twisty thriller is a perfect poolside read.
How To Make A Killing by Kate Weston Headline When Bella, the star agent at Harrington Estates, is murdered, people start to ask just how far her colleagues will go to make a sale. It’s a riotous comedy with a body count. If you’ve ever harboured murderous thoughts about estate agents, this is the book for you.
Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez Little, Brown Samantha falls for the hot and improbably named vet Xavier Rush almost instantly – and so do we. But, of course, they can’t be together. Can they? Completely captivating and instantly addictive, if you want to remember the sheer, giddy fun of falling in love, this is the one to read.
Can’t Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan Piatkus Hendrix Barry is glamorous, fabulous and successful – but behind the scenes, life isn’t so easy, as she has to take care of her ageing mother. She certainly doesn’t have time for love. Until tech mogul Maverick Bell shows up. Ryan is Jackie Collins for the BookTok crowd – her romcoms are smartly written, laced with spice and so much fun to read.
Read Yourself Happy by Daisy Buchanan (DK Red, £16.99). To support the Guardian, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery charges may apply.
The new series of Daisy Buchanan’s podcast, You’re Booked, will be recommending summer reads for every different mood, destination and suitcase.
Veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah faced backlash on social media after he came forward to defend actor Diljit Dosanjh, supporting his decision to work with Pakistani actor Hania Aamir in Sardaar Ji 3. However, the controversy led to Naseeruddin deleting his Facebook post, seemingly in response to the negative reaction. Also read: Sardaar Ji 3: Diljit Dosanjh shares public response in Pakistan amid row over Hania Aamir’s casting
Naseeruddin Shah has posted a cryptic note on Facebook after deleting the post.
Naseeruddin Shah deletes post after backlash
Naseeruddin posted a supportive message for Diljit on Facebook on Monday, but it appears to have been deleted as it’s no longer visible on his timeline. It seems to be a reaction to the backlash he was getting for his comments.
The actor has posted a cryptic note on Facebook after deleting the post where he posted a quote by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg.
Naseeruddin wrote, “It is almost impossible to carry the torch of truth through a crowd without singeing somebody’s beard. -Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, scientist and philosopher.”
The comments section of Naseeruddin’s latest post reveals a divided opinion, with some users defending his right to free speech and others criticising him for supporting Diljit’s collaboration with a Pakistani actor.
What did Naseeruddin write on Facebook?
Earlier this week, Naseeruddin used Facebook to write words to show support to Diljit amid the backlash he is getting for working with Pakistani actor in Sardaar Ji 3.
Defending Diljit, Naseeruddin wrote, “I STAND FIRMLY WITH DILJIT. The dirty tricks deptt of Jumla Party has been awaiting a chance to attack him. They think they’ve got it at last. He was not responsible for the casting of the film, the director was.”
He added, “But no one knows who he is whereas Diljit is known the world over, and he agreed to the cast because his mind is not poisoned. What these goons want is to put an end to personal interaction between the people of India and Pakistan. I have close relatives and some dear friends there and no one can stop me from meeting them or sending them love whenever I feel like it. And my response to those who will say “Go to Pakistan” is ‘GO TO KAILASA’.”
Diljit in spotlight for Sardaar Ji 3
Over the last few days, Diljit has been getting hate for his latest film Sardaar Ji 3 including Pakistani actor Hania Aamir. The film also stars Neeru Bajwa. Amid the drama, the movie opened overseas on June 27. It didn’t release in India.
After the launch of the trailer, there have been calls to ban Diljit and his future work in India. The All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA) and Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) have called for a ban on Diljit and all his upcoming projects. Singer Mika Singh has shared that Diljit should apologise. The stir comes in the wake of the recent Pahalgam terror attack on April 22, followed by India’s Operation Sindoor on May 7, in which air strikes were carried out on terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
