Nigeria ‘saddened’ over sale of ‘stolen’ African artefacts in Paris

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday.⁣ ⁣

An Algerian woman uses upcycled coffee capsules that she collects from cafes to create her jewellery. She also distributes coffee grounds to farmers for compost.

Here are a few reasons to pick up a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday⁣. Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Wednesday.⁣

 

The Hlanzoun riparian swamp forest in southern Benin, one of the last of its kind in the country, is home to unparallelled flora and fauna. Yet according to ecologists its unique biodiversity is under threat from poaching, agriculture and ever-increasing human exploitation.

Governments and companies worldwide pour a lot of time and energy into projects that aim to champion diversity: a direct response to citizens demanding that their cultural and ethnic realities be reflected in the institutions that represent them. So what are the best ways to foster genuine diversity, without falling into the trap of vacuous virtue signalling? We speak to British-Nigerian art historian, curator and broadcaster Aindrea Emelife about the power of art to change perceptions, as well as how to ensure that Black subjects can claim their rightful place in the art history canon.

Giant artworks adorn buildings in the German capital once again as the Berlin Mural Fest resumes after its 2020 edition was cancelled due to Covid-19. The festival has been controversial in the Berlin art scene because it is supported by the large property group Deutsche Wohnen, which plays a leading role in the German market, but in Berlin, where its housing stock is concentrated, Deutsche Wohnen suffers from an unsavoury image as a speculator that fuels rising prices.

A fascinating new book links art, the mentally ill and Adolf Hitler. It tells the story of how modern art was originally inspired by the work of psychiatric patients and how Hitler – twice rejected from art school – turned first on modern artists and later on those who had inspired them. The Nazis murdered thousands of psychiatric patients, in a chilling forerunner of the Holocaust. The book is entitled "The Gallery of Miracles and Madness: Insanity, Modernism, and Hitler's War on Art". Its author Charlie English joined us on Perspective to tell us more.

A man pelts French President Emmanuel Macron with an egg during his visit to a restaurant and hotel trade fair in the southeastern city of Lyon.

A wander through Rabat's avenues and alleyways reveals an array of freshly painted works, in which larger-than-life fantasy creatures co-inhabit with realistic portraits and scenes of daily life. Their creators flocked from across the North African kingdom and beyond to Rabat for Jidar -- Arabic for "wall" -- a festival dedicated to street art.

From an image of Hulk who suddenly leaps over your head to a painting that changes its colours, one Berlin street art exhibition offers visitors a chance to experience paintings in 3D. Called "Game Over", the exhibition inspired by video games is housed in a former casino stretching over 2,000 square metres (21,500 square feet) which is due to be torn down.

Valentina Alexandre is a history teacher and tour guide in the United States. The young woman was born in Haiti and traveled to Benin to learn more about her ancestry.