Jeff Koons ‘Rabbit’ sculpture sets $91.1 mln record for living artist

As Ivorian artist Aristide Kouame combs the beach dragging a trash bag of waterlogged flip-flops, he is aware other beachgoers in the commercial capital Abidjan think he is a desperate trader or a madman.

Music, spoken word and theatre are among the many artistic mediums that allow people from different backgrounds to connect. But spaces centering on the experiences of under-represented minorities can often be hard to come by, inspiring a variety of artists and activists hoping to change that. Among them is Irish-Nigerian artist Osaro Azams. She's the founder of the Fried Plantains Collective, which celebrates the voices of the LGBT and African communities in Dublin in a "cozy" and fun way. She joined us for Perspective.

With just a knife, brush and pencil, 30-year-old Egyptian sculpture artist Ibrahim Belal is a master of his tools, creating miniature sculptures of the most prominent Pharaonic and Egyptian landmarks at his home in the city of Rashid, in the Beheira Governorate, some 300 kilometres south of Cairo. He dreams of creating one of the first first museum's of miniature sculptures in the Middle East.

Our guest is known for her classical paintings of beautiful Black women from another era. Not servants, or slaves, nor fetishized or exoticised, her opulent portraits are redefining the women of colour in art history. With her latest work, "Queenie, the godmother of Harlem", the French-born, New York-based artist Elizabeth Colomba continues to rediscover and represent Black people erased by history. The book retraces the life of Martinican Mafia boss Stéphanie St. Clair in 1930s Harlem.

A Kosovar artist creates a portrait of the outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel using some 100 kilogrammes of seeds.

The sculpture, named "Pillar of Shame," mourns those who were killed by Chinese troops at Tiananmen Square in 1989. It was installed at the University of Hong Kong in 1997, when the territory was handed back to China.

In a hot and stuffy room at her house in Hanoi, Tran Thanh Thuc holds up a delicate silk scarf and begins snipping it into tiny pieces, ready to paste onto her works of art. For four decades, Thuc has been recreating Vietnamese landscapes using vibrant shades of fabric cut from scarves, traditional ao dai -- or whatever material she could find during years of poverty in the 1980s.

Hailing from the Netherlands, artist Tessa Douwstra performs under the name Luwten, which means "a place without wind" in Dutch. Her music channels traditional indie songwriting through a kaleidoscope of modern pop and experimental R&B. She recently released her second LP entitled "Draft", which features 11 complex and well-crafted tracks. She tells FRANCE 24’s Florence Villeminot about wanting to writing about the transition from introspection to a more outward-focused life.

This week, we chat to Australian jazz singer, pianist and composer Sarah McKenzie, who is currently touring France with a mini residency at the prestigious Duc des Lombards jazz club. She tells us more about the creative way in which she connected with musicians from around the world at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. We also meet young Parisian artist Yoa, whose bedroom pop-filled debut EP "Attente" has just been released.

Kfir L. is suspected of stealing millions of euros from hundreds of unsuspecting victims via a fake online trading platform.

The blockade in Gaza makes the living conditions of its 2 million residents a constant struggle, disrupting every aspect of daily life. The periodic outbreaks of war with Israel have only deepened the humanitarian crisis, leaving nearly every civilian in the enclave affected. To confront the trauma, Malak Mattar turned to painting as an outlet. A form of healing and resistance, her brightly coloured works often depict women grappling with the complex reality of life in Gaza. She joined us for Perspective.

Adorned with more than 10,000 diamonds and worth at least £1.5 million, renowned artist Debbie Wingham says her latest sparkling creation is the world's most expensive picture frame. Known as the 'World's Most Expensive' artist for her record-breaking, pricey fashion and cake creations, Wingham crafted the diamond-encrusted circular frame in the image of a clock face with Roman numerals. Revealed in Dubai for the first time on Tuesday (November 2), the frame, which was created with an eco-luxury ethos using reclaimed metal and reclaimed diamonds, holds an oil painting by Wingham of Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.