A new museum has launched in Washington DC dedicated to the love of words.
Planet Word, housed in the historic Franklin School building only blocks from the White House, explores language as a living entity.
Founded by Ann Friedman, the museum's exhibitions demonstrate the origins and etymology of words, how languages evolve, and declaim the power of words in prose, poetry, speeches and even jokes. Audiences can try out famous speeches on a teleprompter, while another installation explores synaesthesia, or the idea that you can see words as colours, allowing visitors to paint with words.
The museum has been in the works for seven years. As Friedman said in the opening ceremony, which was screened online: “If this was an idea whose time had come in 2013, it is even more relevant in 2020.”
The virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony was surprisingly political in nature, as the US heads into an election in under two weeks. Despite the difficulties in opening a museum during the pandemic, Friedman underlined her desire to open doors before the election, in the hope, she said, that a museum dedicated to the importance of words would help people to become more careful speakers and critical thinkers.
A handful of celebrity, business and political figures attended the proceedings, including former US president Barack Obama and the city's mayor, Muriel Bowser.
"As president, I used words as a way to bridge our divides, to help people make sense of the swirl of events that happen all the time," said Obama in his digital address. "Reading and writing made me who I am; even now, they’re touchstones for me. Literacy is as fundamental as ever, and it’s as important as ever to help any young boy or girl make their life into what they want it to be."
Soprano Renee Fleming also sang Joni Mitchell's Both Sides Now, which has become an anthem in many quarters for the experience of life under lockdown.
Friedman's husband Tom Friedman, the well-known New York Times columnist, extolled Friedman's commitment to the idea over the past seven years. It had come to her, he said, in the kitchen, when she realised that a museum devoted to maths had just opened – but there were none devoted to words.
The 50,000 square-foot Franklin School has been entirely refurbished to become the museum. Originally built in 1869, it served as a model for public schools in the country. Friedman serves as founder and chief executive, with Patty Isacson Sabee as executive director.
A sound installation of hundreds of languages, by the Mexican-born artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, greets viewers as they enter, setting the tone for the museum's celebration of the global family of languages. Its first exhibition, Divercities, looks at graffiti from cities across the world, such as Nairobi, Lahore, Milwaukee and Kabul, where language is marshalled as art, protest and community representation.
Planet Word Museum will also have a strong educational arm. According to literature provided by the museum, 32 million adults in the US cannot read, and a third of nine-to-10 year olds cannot pass a basic literacy test. School field trips, online programming and public events will help the museum to reach out to the variety of audience who converge in DC and also to those abroad.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Dates for the diary
To mark Bodytree’s 10th anniversary, the coming season will be filled with celebratory activities:
- September 21 Anyone interested in becoming a certified yoga instructor can sign up for a 250-hour course in Yoga Teacher Training with Jacquelene Sadek. It begins on September 21 and will take place over the course of six weekends.
- October 18 to 21 International yoga instructor, Yogi Nora, will be visiting Bodytree and offering classes.
- October 26 to November 4 International pilates instructor Courtney Miller will be on hand at the studio, offering classes.
- November 9 Bodytree is hosting a party to celebrate turning 10, and everyone is invited. Expect a day full of free classes on the grounds of the studio.
- December 11 Yogeswari, an advanced certified Jivamukti teacher, will be visiting the studio.
- February 2, 2018 Bodytree will host its 4th annual yoga market.
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Bert van Marwijk factfile
Born: May 19 1952
Place of birth: Deventer, Netherlands
Playing position: Midfielder
Teams managed:
1998-2000 Fortuna Sittard
2000-2004 Feyenoord
2004-2006 Borussia Dortmund
2007-2008 Feyenoord
2008-2012 Netherlands
2013-2014 Hamburg
2015-2017 Saudi Arabia
2018 Australia
Major honours (manager):
2001/02 Uefa Cup, Feyenoord
2007/08 KNVB Cup, Feyenoord
World Cup runner-up, Netherlands
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
The biog
Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha
Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Holiday destination: Sri Lanka
First car: VW Golf
Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters
Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars
More on Quran memorisation:
Fight card
Bantamweight
Siyovush Gulmamadov (TJK) v Rey Nacionales (PHI)
Lightweight
Alexandru Chitoran (ROM) v Hussein Fakhir Abed (SYR)
Catch 74kg
Tohir Zhuraev (TJK) v Omar Hussein (JOR)
Strawweight (Female)
Weronika Zygmunt (POL) v Seo Ye-dam (KOR)
Featherweight
Kaan Ofli (TUR) v Walid Laidi (ALG)
Lightweight
Leandro Martins (BRA) v Abdulla Al Bousheiri (KUW)
Welterweight
Ahmad Labban (LEB) v Sofiane Benchohra (ALG)
Bantamweight
Jaures Dea (CAM) v Nawras Abzakh (JOR)
Lightweight
Mohammed Yahya (UAE) v Glen Ranillo (PHI)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Aidan Aguilera (AUS)
Welterweight
Mounir Lazzez (TUN) Sasha Palatnikov (HKG)
Featherweight title bout
Romando Dy (PHI) v Lee Do-gyeom (KOR)
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8
Power: 503hp at 6,000rpm
Torque: 685Nm at 2,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Price: from Dh850,000
On sale: now
Best Foreign Language Film nominees
Capernaum (Lebanon)
Cold War (Poland)
Never Look Away (Germany)
Roma (Mexico)
Shoplifters (Japan)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Scoreline
Liverpool 3
Mane (7'), Salah (69'), Firmino (90')
Bournemouth 0
Company%20Profile
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