Word: french
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...years that he ran the kitchen at La Colombe, the award-winning French restaurant on Cape Town's Constantia Uitsig wine estate, Franck Dangereux was hailed by many as the best chef in Africa. An émigré from Provence, Dangereux blended traditional French cuisine with South African ingredients to such perfection that he earned a spot on Restaurant Magazine's list of the world's 50 best restaurants in 2006. Then he quit...
Despite France's jealously protective stance toward the nation's artistic reputation, contemporary French art has been streaming out of the country and into the hands of foreign buyers at an alarming rate in recent years. The government of President Nicolas Sarkozy was already on the case - even before nude photos of First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy were auctioned in London last week to a Chinese investor for $91,000. France's Culture Ministry has announced measures aimed at reversing the general lack of interest among the French in buying art - a deficiency some fear is slowly bleeding an enormous...
...Addressing concerns about the decline of French culture and economic interests, French Culture Minister Christine Albanel unveiled a series of proposals earlier this month to stimulate spending on art works by French buyers. She wants to change exisiting laws so that the sale and auction of modern art can become as simple in France as it is in booming American and British markets. She has also proposed tax breaks and no-interest loans to induce small businesses and individuals to begin investing and collecting contemporary works that many now feel are beyond their financial range. In reality, Albanel noted...
...Without such measures, Albanel warned, France's art will continue to be snapped up by buyers abroad, while deep-pocketed French collectors will keep preferring to purchase the classic, often foreign-origin works they consider more valuable in terms of status and potential profit. "For every work that is imported, two works are exported," Albanel lamented...
...clearance. First, the plan is nearly pain-free for the state: commercial banks, not the government, would provide the zero-interest loans to purchasing clients in exchange for tax breaks for supporting the arts. Complex rules and restrictions that have limited corporate investment in art to only the largest French companies are also to be relaxed and simplified to encourage smaller businesses to get involved. Similarly, loosening tight regulations on large art auction houses would aim to stimulate that trade, and in doing so increase tax revenues...