What's On at Europe's Museums

Paris Through the Eyes of Klein

Spazio Oberdan, Milan

New York-born photographer and filmmaker William Klein has been living in Paris for over 50 years and has trained his lens on all facets of the French capital. His primary focus remains the pulsating life in the metropolis and the people who inhabit it, rather than dry monuments or sightseeing spots. Klein’s use of high-grain film and wide angles shocked the established order of the photography world in the 1950s and he earned a reputation as an anti-photographer’s photographer. The Spazio Oberdan in Milan is showing some 100 images taken by 70-year-old Klein, which run the gamut of emotions from lively to ironically humorous, melancholic to devastating. Under the title "Paris+Klein," the color and black-and-white shots tell of ordinary people on the streets of Paris, offer a glimpse into the world of haute couture and document life in the subway and in teeming markets.

Daily (except Mondays) 10 a.m. to 7.30 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays until 11p.m. "Paris+Klein" runs through September 28, 2003

"Sound Systems" in Salzburg

Salzburg Kunstverein, Salzburg

An exhibition at the Salzburg Kunstverein explores how music and sound can influence design in contemporary art. Entitled, "Sound Systems," the show presents the work of eleven international artists, who use music and sound as a design and sculptural medium in their work. The exhibition covers a broad spectrum from classical music to electronic sound systems. The preoccupation with classical music and the "sound system" -- indispensable at rock and pop events --forms the two broad themes. Though the music and sound are the common threads running through all the works, each artist has a different aesthetic approach and method. For instance, Ilmars Blumbergs and Viesturs Kairiss from Latvia draw filmic parallels between Mozart’s burial in a paper's grave to the situation in contemporary Riga in their work "Magic Flute."

Tuesday to Sunday, 12 a.m. to 7 p.m. "Sound Systems" runs through October 12, 2003

Snacking in the Name of Unity

Open Air Museum Domäne Dahlem, Berlin

A gastronomic exhibition at Berlin’s Open Air Museum Domäne Dahlem pays an ode to the ubiquitous snack bar in the German capital, whether it sells the celebrated local speciality currywurst, Döner Kebab, hamburgers or Asian snacks. Called "Snack Bars - Eating without Borders," the show takes an interactive look at how fast food has caught on in Europe and explores it as a cultural phenomenon. The exhibition integrates sound elements and mouth-watering food smells with videos, photographs and even paintings of people -- from bank managers to tramps -- feasting on pizzas, sausages and kebabs at snack bars in Berlin, St.Petersburg, Helsinki and Belgium. The main message is how food, whether from Europe, Asia, the U.S. or Africa, connects people and melts borders.

Daily, except Tuesdays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. "Snack Bars - Eating without Borders" runs through December 15, 2003

Monet in Edinburgh

Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh

The Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh is hosting an exhibition on French impressionist master Claude Monet (1840-1926). "Monet: The Seine and the Sea 1878-1883" brings together around 80 paintings the French artist produced during the years he spent in Vétheuil, a small town on the River Seine near Vernon, when he was at the pinnacle of his creativity. Monet moved to Vétheuil in 1878, prompting a change in his style, from consciously modern subjects to pure landscapes. The Edinburgh show is divided into two main sections: contrasting motifs of rural Vétheuil and sublime seascapes painted on the Normandy coast. A third, smaller section focuses for the first time on a concentrated group of portraits and still-life paintings Monet made during this time and includes a small selection of paintings by French landscape painters who Monet admired -- Corot, Courbet and Daubigny.

Until August 29, daily 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday until 8 p.m., thereafter Friday and Saturday opening times change to 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., "Monet: The Seine and the Sea 1878-1883" runs through October 26, 2003