Arts and Culture

A literary festival that reminds us of the healing power of words

Yes, it’s amusing - but Steve Coogan is no Sellers and this can’t match the Kubrick classic

A London exhibition featuring Joseph Beuys and two more key conceptual artists feels dated if occasionally thrilling

Textured and monumental, Blitz is the work of a great British director at the height of his powers

What he saw as the blandness of tradition bore little or no resemblance to the world he knew and the art he wanted to create

What links Philip Glass, Volodymyr Zelensky and Giuseppe Verdi?

The water is beloved thanks to its saltiness and the fact that it is a distinctly natural alternative to booze

The Feargal Sharkey-approved hip hop trio are tearing up the world with message-based rap that’s neither hectoring nor earnest

From James Joyce and Jerome K Jerome to Eliot and Alice Oswald, a personal pick of the greatest writing about rivers

Humanity’s profound physical and spiritual link with water

The art school embodied a renewed liberal spirit in the Weimar Republic but also had complex intersections with the Nazi Party

A new production of Oedipus shows how it should be done

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books

A good show first time round is back for an ill-advised encore

The photographer’s extraordinary images of ordinary lives get a new showing in her centenary year

Graham was one of the most high-profile critics of Reagan’s visit to Bitburg. It was personal

Contronyms – words like ‘sanction’ and ‘cleave’ – are a puzzling phenomenon in English, in that they have two opposite meanings

In the high season Alba is a frenetic, whirling fungal infection of a time

Thomas Vinterberg founded Dogma 95 and changed the movie industry for ever. Is another revolution possible – and what would it look like?

In a tense year, a new Athens exhibition celebrates our precious freedom to vote

Across the US, the authorities are banning books. If Trump gets into the White House, the censorship could get even worse

Our editor-at-large’s rundown of the pick of the week’s streaming, cinema, theatre and books

A play that’s as light and refreshing as a glass of champagne

Europe's greatest ever treasure hunt is over, leaving thousands bereft

The word repechage was heard regularly at this summer’s Olympics, but its modern usage bears little relation to its original meaning

Joker: Folie à Deux takes music and makes it a medium for deception, pain and lethal misunderstanding

Constable’s painting has become an icon of Englishness. But its first cheerleaders were French

After co-writing The Thick of It and Veep, Ian Martin channels his most absurd politician yet – Boris Johnson

The male film director who puts powerful females first