Arts and Culture

This play seems to want to challenge stereotypes, but inadvertently and ridiculously reinforces them

There’s no doubt that she knew how to make clothes in every sense – but the idea that she represented a spirit of rebelliousness is frankly ridiculous

A counting system used by children playing games was once used by shepherds for counting sheep in Cumbria

This pavlova is light yet soothing, and an excellent pudding to share

There are literary delights to look forward to this year – but authors won’t be getting a pay rise

The National Gallery’s failure to properly showcase female artists continues with its treatment of Eva Gonzalès

Go on, dive in. The cold water will do you a world of good – just ask Hippocrates

It looks as if it’s going to be another challenging year for theatre, but there is certainly a lot to look forward to

Europe will continue to show it is a musical powerhouse this year

The riptide of 20th century politics had pulled him from his homeland and set him adrift. A tumultuous period that soon defined his work

Spielberg, Mendes and a year of film nostalgia

Three works which will require room on your shelves

This will be the year Scottish artists put IndyRef2 on their setlists

The game of football, and the world, has lost one of its very finest

Welcome to your new, continental playlist

Charity shops are for the most part either full of dismal tat; or, are like Oxfam’s specialist bookshops: stocked with the crème of the haute bourgeoisie’s discarded… crème

In death as well as in life, the Rasputin story is shrouded in an awed mythology

Jesus and his disciples would have spoken a Galilean dialect of Aramaic, the language of the area at the time

Christmas will be along soon. Celebrate it with this brilliant venison Welly recipe

Sri Lankan ghosts, queer love and a fictional nation all made for riveting reading this year

After three years of renovation, Piero della Francesca’s masterpiece is back on show at the National Gallery in time for Christmas

Anne de Henning left a career in Paris fashion to become a photo-journalist – and ended up recording ‘history in the making’ at the birth of Bangladesh

We have to go far north, to the lands most closely identified with snowy festiveness, to find nations truly invested in Christmas music and embracing songs in their own language

How did an obscure British comedy sketch become a New Year tradition for Germans?

Gianni Infantino ignores the evidence that footballers’ bodies need to rest like any other athletes

Sint-Nicolaas will be visiting children in the Netherlands as usual this year – but Zwarte Piet won’t be going with him

Christmas markets defy the logic of “seen one, seen them all”. They just have one thing in common: the magic of the festive season

From the moment Qatar got the World Cup they rejected convention and turned on Fifa and its stated values

There isn’t a member of the cast who isn’t firing on all cylinders but, at two-and-a-half-hours, this portrayal of telesales women feels much too long

The play divides critics, but this production will convert any punters

A Storm for Christmas fails to deliver more than the usual festive tropes… but perhaps it doesn’t need to

A backlash against looking perfect on social media has led to “goblin mode” becoming the word of the year