A new wave of synthetic music is emerging, with AI songwriting tools like Suno and Udio democratizing the creative process. McCann, a 37-year-old visual designer, used AI to boost his creativity and signed with independent record label Hallwood Media after one of his tracks racked up 3 million streams. This trend is exemplified by Velvet Sundown, a fictitious group that went viral despite all its songs and album art being created by AI.
David Tennant expressed concerns about the rise of AI, stating he was "terrified" about its impact on the creative industry. During a Cambridge conversation with Charlotte Moore, former BBC content chief, Tennant described AI as "horribly inevitable" and a threat to jobs. He emphasized the importance of preserving quality content, suggesting that the BBC is a benchmark for excellence and should be cherished.
The 5th Guangdong Hong Kong Macao Greater Bay Area Culture and Arts Festival opens on September 25, featuring nearly 300 performing arts institutions from 20 countries and regions. The festival showcases nearly 1,000 productions, including the Guangdong Yue Opera Theatre's "Samsui Women" and the Southern Song and Dance Troupe's "I Like You", which bridges tradition and modernity. The event is themed around the "Radiance of Arts" component, supporting the high-quality development of Guangdong's performing arts market.
Noble Panacea launches Peptide8 Night Serum at Château La Coste in Provence, France. The brand's CEO and co-creator Céline Talabaza shared her vision for the event, highlighting the importance of design and creativity in pushing boundaries. The intimate dinner featured a curated guest list of international talents, including actress Naomie Harris and model Rahi Chadda. Guests experienced private facials with Noble Panacea aestheticians, a Provencal dining experience, and conversations with Talabaza and co-creator Audrey Bois Nicolai.
This autumn, the worlds of art and luxury collide at various exhibitions and events. Dior's new creative director Jonathan Anderson is set to debut in Paris with a thrilling menswear collection, featuring a shimmering gold coat. Meanwhile, Natasha Wightman's earthy, wood-themed jewellery collection is on display at Christie's London. The Rijksmuseum will showcase a must-see doll's house, while Manolo Blahnik sponsors an exhibition about Marie Antoinette at the V&A.
The 2025 K-Traditional Culture Festival, co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Craft and Design Foundation, will take place in Seongdong District, eastern Seoul, from September 25 to 28. The festival aims to showcase the evolution of traditional Korean culture in modern life, featuring a special exhibition titled "Modern Korean Lifestyle" with works by over 30 leading Korean artists. A pop-up market will offer more than 50 brands of hanbok, hansik, and crafts for visitors to experience and purchase. The festival will also include a cultural exchange space where visitors can bring seldom-worn clothes to exchange for reimagined hanbok garments, as well as workshops on redesigning unused hanbok and knot craft-making.
Almine Rech's Upper East Side gallery features a stunning stained-glass window installation by Timothy Curtis, inspired by his native city's row houses. The artwork bears images of faces and flowers, a hallmark of Curtis's style. Nearby, a painting titled "Lost Time" hangs, marked with tally marks representing the decade he spent building his career and teaching a mural-painting program to men serving life sentences in a Pennsylvania state prison.
RF Alvarez's latest exhibition "I Remember Everything" showcases intimate and defiant moments of queer men, highlighting the charge of closeness and hesitation. Alvarez's compositions are anchored in specific, tactile moments, such as a man striking a match or leaning in a doorway. His mastery of light adds to the heightened scenes, with amber windows cutting through the night and candle glow gathering around wine glasses. The paintings draw on baroque painting and film pacing, presenting queer men in moments of vulnerability, physicality, and self-possession. The works capture connection as something continually negotiated, charged with both tenderness and strength, inviting the viewer into a lived-in world.
Palestinian artist Ruba Salameh is working on a new body of work that explores the theme of art in the face of violence and killings. Her latest piece is influenced by the spectral presence of artist Boullata, who provided Salameh with spiritual guidance during a time of grief and collapse. The artwork features Salameh's signature motif, ants, which appear throughout the piece, reflecting on the cultural heritage of earlier Palestinian generations and the accumulation of influences that shape her practice.