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Why are you expected to be quiet in an art gallery? Thierry Dupond, Charente-Maritime, France Send new questions to [email protected]. Readers reply It’s so as not to disrupt the concentration of other patrons; who if you made a noise would find it a painter hear, grisaille about the disturbance, make encaustic remarks to the effect … Read more

Tucked into the rolling hills between Bertinoro and Cesena, Marcantonio Raimondi Malerba’s home is not just a place to live, it is a testament to the seamless fusion of art, nature and design. For the celebrated sculptor, artist and designer, whose whimsical creations have captivated the design world, this sanctuary is both a refuge and … Read more

It may be the oldest art form in the world, practised 5,000 years ago by Ötzi the iceman and his fellow copper age Europeans. But with its more recent associations with red-light entertainment and gangland crime, modern tattooing has long been shunned by the galleries that turn lines on canvas into financial assets. A new … Read more

My disabled 84-year-old mother was due to return to the UK on a Ryanair flight after visiting me in Germany. I had booked ­special assistance to help her on to the plane. After I’d checked her in, assistance staff pushed her wheelchair to the departure gate and told her they would return to help her … Read more

Packing is a fine art. No one wants to lug heavy bags around transport hubs or arrive at the other end to a chaotically stuffed bag full of creased clothes. But we all have our “essentials” to cram in. For some, that’ll be a full skincare routine or a semblance of a wardrobe; for others, … Read more

In tune with the changeable weather, dinners this week have veered between substantial winter casseroles and lighter, more uplifting dishes. A typical dinner was one of a spicy noodle dish glowing red with chilli followed by a pale and gently flavoured panna cotta. A sort of whip-and-kiss effect that followed that of the week’s see-saw … Read more

Barceló Málaga You might think the location is the best thing about this hotel – slap bang next to María Zambrano station – the ideal starting point for a tour of Andalucía’s trio of spectacular cities: Seville, Córdoba and Granada. But the roof terrace is an unexpected win, too, with a sleek outdoor pool, alfresco … Read more

Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar established his international reputation with ‘raucous farces’ such as What Have I Done to Deserve This? And Women On the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, writes Robert Chalmers in the Observer Magazine on 5 June 1994. His new film, Kika, features a porn star, a lesbian maid, a serial killer and … Read more

It has been nearly 14 years since a chance encounter with a stranger in a post office changed Bernadette Russell’s life forever. The date was Thursday 18 August 2011. For weeks, on the news, as a series of riots broke out across cities in England, Russell had been inundated with images of young people in … Read more

A recent Apple update saw people waking up to their emails summarised for efficiency, thus creating light uproar, amusement and a series of small domestic mysteries to be untangled on the bus. A man in America shared a message from his mum, who’d told him, “That hike almost killed me.” Unfortunately, he’d read the summary … Read more