
Volcanic vulvas and hermaphrodite marble: Ovid’s Metamorphoses reshaped at the Rijksmuseum
Artists from Bernini to Louise Bourgeois are brought together in a new exhibition exploring the uncomfortable erotic parables of the ancient Roman poetOn three massive screens in a darkened room, snakes glide over the face of artist Juul Kraijer – covering her eyes, caressing her lips. She is the silent but terrifying snake-headed Medusa, and one of the surprises in an exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam revolving around Greek and Roman myths.While the show features rarely lent works from masters such as Caravaggio, Bernini, Rodin and Brâncuși, it marries them with modern artists who reinterpret the legends where male gods do all they can to get their wicked way and the powerless are punished. Transgender bodies, bare breasts and even a volcanic vulva appear in artworks inspired by Roman poet Ovid’s masterpiece, Metamorphoses.Taco Dibbits, general director of the Rijksmuseum, believes the 200 myths and legends from this ancient epic poem still speak to our uncertain times

Seth Meyers on Trump skipping the Super Bowl: ‘Of course he is worried about getting booed’
Late-night hosts looked into Donald Trump’s excuses for not attending a Super Bowl where he would be booed and the dubious audience scores for the Melania documentary.With the Super Bowl just days away, Seth Meyers looked into why Donald Trump, usually one for attention, does not plan to be in attendance. “Given Trump’s love of football and attention, you might have expected him to show up to the Super Bowl on Sunday, especially since he went to last year’s Super Bowl,” the Late Night host said.But Trump has told reporters that he won’t attend the game because it will be played in Santa Clara, California, outside San Francisco, which is “just too far away”, though he acknowledged that he had received “great hands [at] the Super Bowl. They like me,” he said, adding that he “would go if, you know, it was a little bit shorter”

‘One of the most stunning sights in the country’: your picks for UK town of culture
From pirates and skateboarders in Hastings to legends and locks in Devizes, from dolphins in Scarborough to the ‘artists’ town’ of Kirkcudbright, readers put forward their favourite placesCulture secretary Lisa Nandy has launched a search for the UK’s first “town of culture”, similar to the city of culture programme, which honoured Bradford last year. After the Guardian’s writers nominated theirs – including Ramsgate in Kent, Falmouth in Cornwall, Abergavenny in Monmouthshire and Portobello in Edinburgh – we asked readers which UK towns they would put forward.Culture in Hastings grows out of the shingle and the wind and the friction between past and present. You can feel it in the fishing fleet hauled up on the beach, still part of daily life, and then a short walk away in bold contemporary spaces showing work that speaks far beyond the town. It shows up in events that belong to the people who live there; Jack in the Green spilling through the streets; Pirate Day turning the whole place into a shared act of play; music competitions that quietly bring international talent into a town that never pretends to be grand

‘It’s an opportunity for bonding’ – my quest to become a Black dad who can do his daughters’ hair
For me – and many other Black men – my experience of hair begins and ends in the barbershop. But as my two daughters get older, I’m determined to make ‘salon night’ pain free – and maybe even enjoyable The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.In the basement of Larry King’s salon in Marylebone, London, stylist and curly hair advocate Jennie Roberts is giving me a much-needed pep talk

Jimmy Kimmel on Trump: ‘We are now at the women-should-smile-more stage of his presidency’
Late-night hosts dug into Donald Trump’s deflections from the Jeffrey Epstein files and the backlash to Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show.Jimmy Kimmel kept the focus on the Epstein files on Tuesday, because it’s “a story that Donald Trump wishes would go away. But it won’t just go away. It’s the kind of story that makes headlines, and he knows that. So what he does is he bombards us with a dozen other crazy things to try to flood the zone

The Guide #228: Against my better judgment, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has me back in Westeros
Just when I thought I was out … just when I thought I would no longer have that sweeping, ever so slightly irritating theme tune ringing around my head for hours on end, or feel the need to remember the difference between House Tyrell, Tully or Arryn, I suddenly find myself pulled back in to the Game of Thrones extended universe. The blame for this goes to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the likably low-key Game of Thrones spin-off series about a cloth-eared hedge knight and his shrewd child squire currently ambling through its first season on HBO/Sky Atlantic.Before its arrival, I had departed Westeros for good. My faith had first been shaken by that rushed, badly plotted final season of Game of Thrones proper, which bashed to bits six previous seasons’ worth of finely tuned political intrigue and fascinating character dynamics in a succession of endless (often badly lit) CGI-laden battles, before flambéing them in dragon fire. Worse came with House of the Dragon, a dreary, po-faced, endlessly withholding slog of a prequel series, the enjoyment of which seemed to rest entirely on whether the viewer was familiar with deep lore buried within a Westeros history book that George RR Martin wrote instead of cracking on with that sixth novel

Gordon Brown ‘deeply regrets’ bringing Peter Mandelson into his government

Police search two homes connected to Peter Mandelson over Epstein scandal

Court battle over Picasso art exposes offshore finances of Farage’s billionaire Davos sponsor

Police search properties related to Peter Mandelson investigation - as it happened

‘Pestering for a role’: how Mandelson talked his way back into the Labour fold

Boss of lobbying firm founded with Peter Mandelson quits after Epstein revelations
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