Cool Japan Festival in India

Mumbai. As part of the 'Cool Japan' project, the Japanese government through METI (Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry) will be hosting 'Cool Japan Festival' in India, where one will be able to experience and interact with Japanese food culture and merchandise. India's biggest Japan fair starts on 16 March and continues till 18 March, 2012.

The year 2012 marks the 60th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between Japan and India. In this event many Japanese companies are planned to attend. Workshops are also planned where one can experience Japanese culture through 'Origami' and 'Karuta'.

First Museum Exhibition Dedicated to Edgar Degas's Nudes

Boston. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA) presented the first museum exhibition devoted entirely to the amazing range of nudes by French artist Edgar Degas (1834-1917). The show titled, Degas and the Nude, started on October 9, 2011, and will be on view till February 5, 2012. The show offers an assessment of Degas's concept of the human body during the course of 50 years. Put together from the collections of more than 50 lenders from around the world are 160 works including paintings, pastels, drawings, monotypes, etchings, lithographs, and sculptures, many of which have never been on view in the United States.

This exhibition focuses entirely on his nudes, illustrating the transformation of Degas's treatment of the human form throughout half a century.

The exhibition features masterpieces such as Young Spartans Exercising, The Tub, Study of Michelangelo's Bound Slave, Peasant Girls Bathing in the Sea at Dusk, The Serious Client, Two Women, Woman in a Bathtub, Woman in Her Bath, Sponging her Leg, After the Bath and others.

New Delhi Railway Station to Have Art Gallery

New Delhi. The New Delhi Railway Station will soon have India's first of its kind rail art gallery, which will showcase the rich heritage of India including the iconic stations, steam engines, the scenic beauty of hill railways and the royal rail salons used by the English princess and Indian royalty. The railway art gallery is coming up at Platform number 1 of the railway station and entry will be free for authorised railway passengers.

A senior northern railways officer said that the art gallery will open by February 29 and will have photographs, painting and prints of Indian Railways.

Jewellery Stolen from Mctear's Safe

Glasgow. Jewellery worth about £430,000 has been stolen during a break-in at an auction house in Glasgow.

Police said more than 300 items, mainly ladies rings, earrings, bracelets and necklaces, were taken from McTear's Auctioneers on 17th January, 2012.

A man was captured on CCTV entering the premises in Meiklewood Road and leaving 20 minutes later. A member of staff arrived afterwards to find the auction house unlocked, the alarm deactivated and the safe open. Det Sgt Jane Lawson, from Strathclyde Police said that they have been checking CCTV as well as making extensive inquiries to trace those responsible for the theft of this jewellery.

Yoko Ono's Art in India

New Delhi. Conceptual artist Yoko Ono is exhibiting her art at the Vadehra Art Gallery in New Delhi. This is her maiden exhibition in India.

From the "world's most famous unknown artist" to the "woman who broke up the Beatles", Yoko Ono has had her share of bouquets and brickbats. The conceptual artist says her work is an extension of her "karmic love affair" with late Beatles icon John Lennon.

The show, titled Our Beautiful Daughters, started on 13 January and will be on till 10 March, 2012.

Ultra-rare Jaguar XJ220 at Auction

Arizona. Only six Jaguar XJ220 super cars ever built will be offered for sale at an RM Auction event this month.

As one of the best '80s supercar, the XJ220 is a very rare and collectible item. Built by Tim Walkinshaw Racing (TWR), the car is largely made of carbon fiber panels which have replaced the original aluminum parts. It has a race car look with front air splitter, wider sills, extra air intakes, and a massive rear wing.

The car was then repainted in Lamborghini Reventon gray, and fitted with new leather interior and new wheels. The car features a twin-turbo V8 developing 680 hp. It has many bespoke parts, including a TWR titanium exhaust system which alone costs a whopping $20,000.

RM expects it to fetch something between $225,000-$300,000 in the auction.

Titanic Artefacts to be Auctioned

New York. On the 100th anniversary of the Titanic disaster more than 5,500 items, worth an estimated $189 million, will be auctioned in April at Guernsey's Auctioneers & Brokers, New York.

The collection includes some intellectual property alongside items like china, parts of the ship's hull and ship fittings, which were salvaged during the course of seven visits to the wreck by the court-approved salvage company, RMS Titanic.

The wreckage of the Titanic was located in 1985. It lies more than two miles below the surface, 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada.

Iconic 'Great Wave' at the British Museum

London. Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai's Great Wave was displayed at The British Museum. The show began on 3 November 2011 and continued till 8 January 2012. The Great Wave, also known as Under the Wave, off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami-ura), is a very famous Japanese print. It was designed by Hokusai in around 1831and issued as a popular colour woodblock print.

Katsushika Hokusai (September 23, 1760  May 10, 1849) was a Japanese artist, ukiyo-e painter and printmaker of the Edo period. Born in Edo (now Tokyo), Hokusai is best known as author of the woodblock print series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji which includes the internationally recognized print, The Great Wave off Kanagawa.

The Great Wave influenced Western artists such as Whistler, van Gogh and Monet.

Calcutta Art Forum Protests Against Fake Paintings

Kolkata. The declaration of the Calcutta High Court verdict based on the findings of the Archeological of Survey of India that twenty paintings of Rabindranath Tagore displayed in the exhibition at Government College of Art & Craft were fake has vindicated the stand taken by pursuers of this case. To further advocate the cause people from the field of arts had gathered at the Esplanade Metro Channel Kolkata on the 10th of January, organized by the Calcutta Art Forum, a group formed to spearhead this issue. Eminent artists like Shuvaprasanna, Ganesh Haloi, Partha Pratim Deb, Rabin Mondal, Ashit Paul, art critic Nanak Ganguly, dramatist Rudraprasad Sengupta along with newspersons were present at the meet. Everyone demanded to seek a thorough investigation into the case and find out the persons involved. It was also suggested that a national policy has to be developed with regard to authorization or authentication where a central committee must be formed to verify the genuineness of artworks. The case is lying in the Calcutta High Court, awaiting for the next verdict.