VOYAGES OF THE MIND

You will have to leave Paris to see the exhibition “Terra Bruna” (Espace Julio Gonzalez, 21 av. Paul Doumer 94110 Arcueil; tel.: 01 46 15 09 75; RER: Laplace), featuring the work of Paris-based Chilean artist Emma Malig, but it is worth it, especially if you go on Sat., March 13, the show’s last day, between 4pm and 7pm to meet the artist. For this exhibition, Malig painted on, tore up and otherwise reworked old maps to create beautiful and delicate yet strongly evocative works that speak poetically about voyages of the mind.

ANTIQUES AND HAM

Here’s an unusual idea for a weekend outing: take a trip just outside of Paris to the island of Chatou, where the Impressionists used to hang out and paint, for the 80th edition of the Foire Nationale aux Antiquités, à la Brocante et aux Jambons. That’s right: antiques and ham. Over 800 antique and bric-a-brac dealers from all over France will show their wares and, in addition to ham and other pork products, you’ll find a number of regional products, including wine, foie gras, cassoulet, oysters, cheese and more. March 12-21. Take RER line A1 to Rueil Malmaison or Chatou-Croissy. Visit the Web site for more information.

CENSORSHIP ALIVE AND
WELL IN FRANCE

An ad for a DVD of “Sarkoland,” comedian Gérald Dahan’s stage show satirizing French President Nicolas Sarkozy, has been turned down by the advertising department of national broadcaster France Télévisions because the ad shows a caricature of Sarkozy by famed political cartoonist Cabu. As one reader of nouvelobs.com noted on its Web site: “Caricatures of Mohammed are allowed, but not of Sarkozy,” a reference to the same cartoonist’s controversial caricatures of the Muslim prophet.

And, on April 21, the exhibition “Our Body: The Universe Within,” which has already been shown in many countries, was ordered to shut down by a French judge, who termed it “indecent.” The exhibition uses real corpses preserved by polymer impregnation to provide lessons on human anatomy. The organizers will appeal the ruling.

Believe it or not, the clunky Minitel, the forerunner of the Internet introduced by France Telecom 26 years ago, lives on. A million of the networked boxes, now used mainly as telephone directories, are still in use, appreciated for their sturdiness, simplicity of use and lack of viruses. France Telecom, which planned to decommission the Minitel this month, has given it a reprieve and decided to keep it in use.