Latest news with #common
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Hidden signs in your home that scream you're 'common': Socialite Nicky Haslam reveals artwork that says your tastes are lower-class - and takes a pop at Kate Moss
Socialite and arbiter of all things posh Nicky Haslam has released his annual controversial list of all things 'common' - and it will certainly ruffle some feathers. The furniture designer, 85, began releasing his tea towels, titled 'The Latest Things Nicky Haslam Finds Common', in 2018 usually just in time for Christmas, but he has put one on the market early this year in collaboration with Saatchi Yates, a London-based art gallery. He has titled his £50 tea towel 'Art Things Nicky Haslam Finds Common' and the list contains 36 places and people who are lower class and concepts, words and phrases that he believes are used by 'commoners'. This year, Haslam, who is based in the Cotswolds, has aimed his infamous tea towel at art snobs and says that silent auctions, selling art and 'artsplaining' are low-brow. He also took aim at supermodel Kate Moss, who is on the list of averageness, despite modelling some of the world's most famous art in the form of fashion, strutting down the catwalk clad in Gucci, Versace, Calvin Klein and Vivienne Westwood. She even designed her own sell-out collections with Topshop and Zara. The 51-year-old grew up in Croydon with her parents, barmaid Linda and Peter, then an airline employee, and admitted that it 'wasn't easy' growing up in south east London. And despite being one of the original 'It' girls of the 90s, she has certainly been reminded of her status in the industry professionals. In 2007, US store Barney's then-creative director Simon Doonan called Moss 'a working-class s**g from a crap town, like me.' Also on Haslam's list was the colour white, The Mona Lisa, arguably Leonardo da Vinci's most famous painting which now sits proudly in the Louvre Museum in Paris. Millions of tourists descend on the French capital to catch a glimpse of the slightly smiling brunette woman, an international symbol of art. But for Haslam, the painting is basic and ringarde. Also on the list of 'common things' is Banksy, a pseudonymous England-based street artist and political activist. The anonymous artist has been painting on public streets and signs since the early noughties and is responsible for some of the most famous pieces of art in the world. Balloon Girl is one of his most recognisable displays and it is of a monochrome young girl appearing to let go of red heart shaped balloon carried away by the wind. However, during a live auction in at Sotheby's in London in 2018, the painting - which was selling for millions of pounds - was put through an automatic shredder as soon as the gavel hit the block and was later known as 'Love is in the Bin' and became almost instantly more valuable. Banksy also went on a painting spree in the summer of 2024, creating a whopping nine new murals spanning across London, which could have contributed to Haslam believing that he has become somewhat 'common' and overhyped. While putting together his list of 'common' things for 2025, Haslam spared no one and nothing in the realm of art; targeting hanging photographs, the Sistine Chapel, oversized garden art and even the colour white. The only designer brand on the list was French fashion house Saint Laurent which is currently being managed by Belgian-Italian creative, Anthony Vaccarello. He has held this position since 2016 and the brand is owned by the French holding company Kering, which is also responsible for other renowned brands such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen. Saint Laurent has been good enough for the likes of Nicole Kidman, Jane Fonda, Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga to wear at red carpet events, but it appears it is too 'low class' for Haslam. Full list of 'art things Nicky Haslam finds common' Selling art Artsplaining Sistine Chapel Christie's Downlit art 'Art is subjective' Silent auctions Children by Renoir Symbolism Hanging photographs 'Can't see what you see in that' David Hockney can't paint for toffee but can draw like a god Francis Bacon is the campest artist since Gustav Moreau Waldemar Januszczak's real name Giverny The Mona Lisa Oil paintings of big game Oversized garden art Studio visits Philistine Genres Frieze White Trauma Interpreted Banksy Validation 'Have you got anything to fit this space?' Meaningful 'I'm afraid it's reserved' Kate Moss Tapestry wall hangings Have you noticed there is no 'school' of Lucien Freud Saint Laurent Buying art at weekends The Biennale Tapestry wall hangings, Christie's art gallery, the word trauma, and the phrase 'art is subjective' also made the notorious tea towel of 2025. Haslam said the exclusive one-off tea towel collaboration was to celebrate Saatchi Yates's 'incredible exhibition' called Once Upon a Time in London. Last November, he released his 2024 tea towel just in time for Christmas and declared that his controversial list should be varied enough to upset everyone in some capacity as he took aim at dairy free alternatives, destination weddings and yellow bags (in which the products will be sold by Selfridges). Although he appeared to take a veiled aim at Prince William through one of the 'common' things on his list, Haslam praised Meghan Markle for giving Prince Harry a 'nice life' as the pair mingle with A-listers in Montecito - away from what Haslam says are Harry's 'ghastly' family. He declared the Duchess too, was 'ghastly' but added she has 'got guts'; referring to the Duke and Duchess's move to California in 2020 when they stepped down as working royals. 'Who'd want to live in a damn cottage in Frogmore and open boring things and have to be part of that ghastly family, all of whom hate each other? Much more fun to be with movie stars and tycoons in California and flying about. Much nicer life, and she's given it to Harry,' he said. Despite his apparently sharp barbs towards the royals, Haslam is friends with Queen Camilla and was once a decorator for King Charles. He was even associated with Wallis Simpson during the Swinging Sixties. While putting together his list of 'common' things for 2024, Haslam spared no one and nothing; taking aim at people who get married abroad, people who have fire pits in their garden, people who drink almond milk and people who hold gender reveal parties. He even put Vogue's editor-in-chief Anna Wintour on the list for her daily routine, which she has shared on a number of occasions and involves her going to the gym and getting her hair done. Among those considered lower class by Haslam are people who rescue dogs; suggesting an adopted pooch is now akin to a 'Birkin bag'. He revealed his method for devising the tea towel each year is by jotting down 'common' things throughout the year that have irritated him.
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Business Standard
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Business Standard
Pope Francis leaves tough legacy behind, key challenges await successor
While Pope Francis accomplished a lot in his 12-year papacy, he left much unfinished business and many challenges for his successor from the Vatican's disastrous finances to the wars raging on multiple continents and discontent among traditionalists about his crackdown on the old Latin Mass. When the conclave's cardinals finish casting their ballots under Michelangelo's frescoed ceilings of the Sistine Chapel, the 267th pope will have to decide whether to continue Francis' policies, tweak them, or abandon them altogether. Will he prioritize migrants, the environment and the social justice policies that Francis championed, or give precedence to other issues? Among the challenges facing the new pope: The role of women Francis did more to promote women to leadership positions in the Vatican than any pope before him, and his successor will have to decide whether to continue that legacy, accelerate it or back down and change course. The issue isn't minor. Catholic women do much of the church's work in schools and hospitals and are usually responsible for passing the faith to the next generation. But they have long complained of second-class status in an institution that reserves the priesthood for men. Some are voting with their feet. Nuns are leaving in droves, either through attrition or simply quitting, leading to questions about the future of female religious orders. The Vatican says the number of nuns globally has been hemorrhaging about 10,000 per year for over a decade, with their numbers at 599,229 at the end of 2022, the last year for which there are statistics. In 2012, there were 702,529 nuns globally. The new pope will have to address women's expectations for not only a greater say in church governance, but greater recognition. We are the great majority of the people of God, said Maria Lia Zerbino, an Argentine named by Francis to advise the Vatican on bishop nominations, a first for a woman. It's a matter of justice. It's not an achievement of feminism, it's in the church's interest. Women's Ordination Conference, which advocates for female priests, goes further. The exclusion of women from the conclave, and from ordained ministry, is a sin and a scandal, it said. Gervase Ndyanabo, a prominent lay leader in Uganda, said there should be more participation of the laity and women in the administration of parishes and decision-making at all levels. Progress, he said, has come at a snail's speed. Polarisation of progressives and traditionalists An anonymous letter circulated among Vatican officials in 2022, highlighting what it called Francis' disastrous pontificate and what a new pope must do correct the catastrophe he had wrought. Its author was Australian Cardinal George Pell, but that fact emerged only after his death in 2023. Once a close adviser to Francis but always conservative, Pell grew increasingly disillusioned with his papacy, signing the letter with the pen name, Demos the common people. Last year, a screed by another anonymous cardinal circulated, signed by Demos II. It resumed where Pell left off, denouncing what it called Francis' autocratic, at times seemingly vindictive style of governance; a carelessness in matters of law; an intolerance for even respectful disagreement; and most seriously a pattern of ambiguity in matters of faith and morals causing confusion among the faithful. It blamed polarisation in the church on the confusion Francis had sown and urged the next pope to focus on recovery and reestablishment of truths that have been slowly obscured or lost among many Christians. Those letters underscored the age-old divisions between traditionalists and progressives in the Catholic Church that were exacerbated during Francis' pontificate. He emphasized inclusion and synodality," or listening to the faithful, and cracked down on traditionalists by restricting their celebration of the old Latin Mass. While the conservatives may not have enough votes to elect one of their own, a new pope will have to try to restore unity. The polarisation is keenly felt in the United States, where anyone using social media can challenge the Vatican or even the local church's perspective, said professor Steven Millies of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. Such forms of communications "can have a narrative of what Catholicism is that doesn't come from any ordained minister, from any bishop, and can, night after night, the world over, suggest that the pope is wrong, he said. Clergy sexual abuse While many church leaders would like to think clergy sexual abuse scandals are in the past, survivors and their advocates want the new pope to address it as a top priority. Francis and Pope Benedict XVI took steps to end decades of abuse and cover-ups, changing church laws to punish abusers and their clerical superiors who hid their wrongdoing. But a culture of impunity still reigns, and church authorities have barely begun to deal with other forms of spiritual and psychological abuse that have traumatized generations of faithful. Twenty years after the sex abuse scandal first erupted in the US, there is still no transparency from the Vatican about the depth of the problem or how cases have been handled. The new pope must deal with not only the existing caseload but continued outrage from rank-and-file Catholics and ongoing revelations in parts of the world where the scandal hasn't yet emerged. Ahead of the conclave, groups of survivors and their advocates held news conferences in Rome to publicize the problem. They created online databases to call out cardinals who botched cases and demanded the Vatican finally adopt a zero-tolerance policy to bar any abuser from priestly ministry. Peter Isely of the U.S. group SNAP said it was crazy and bizarre that the church doesn't apply the same rigor to abusers that it does to establishing criteria for ordination. You can't be a married man and a priest, he said. You can't be a woman and a priest. But you can be a child molester and a priest. LGBTQ+ outreach Francis famously said, Who am I to judge? when asked in 2013 about a purportedly gay monsignor at the Vatican. Francis sought to assure gay people that God loves them as they are, that being homosexual is not a crime, and that everyone is welcome in the church. His successor must decide whether to follow in that outreach or pull back. There's plenty of support for rolling it back. In 2024, African bishops issued a continent-wide dissent from Francis' decision allowing priests to bless same-sex couples, and bishops from around the world attending his synod on the church's future backed off language explicitly accepting LGBTQ+ people. We want a united Catholic Church, but we must stay with the fundamentals, said Ndyanabo, the Ugandan lay leader. The gospel should not change at all because of our own human weakness. The Rev. James Martin, who seeks to build bridges with LGBTQ+ Catholics, knows the degree of opposition but remains hopeful. The challenge for the new pope is to continue Francis' legacy of reaching out to a group who has felt excluded from their own church, Martin said. Based on the synod, I would say that many cardinals feel that there needs to be welcome of LGBTQ+ people because they know their dioceses. But how far that goes is up in the air.
