Monocle Weekend
Edition: Saturday

As if architect Andra Matin’s Colosseum façade of Bali’s Potato Head Beach Club wasn’t impressive enough, it’s now also host to a sky-high art installation. Acclaimed Indonesian artist Eko Nugroho collected 300kg of waste from around the region to create his 10m by 7m artwork, designed to draw attention to environmental issues. Ironically titled “Bouquet of Love”, it’s a colourful collage of trash that builds on Matin’s structure, which is made from thousands of recycled antique wooden window shutters. With Indonesia’s tourist numbers set to climb from 12 to 20 million by 2019, the artist’s message couldn’t be more topical. “My love for Indonesia inspired me to create ‘Bouquet of Love’,” says Nugroho. “I was deeply drawn to this project because environmental damage and pollution will have an effect on all aspects of life, not just art.”

Today’s the last day of Switzerland’s 70th annual Locarno Festival on the shores of Lake Maggiore and that means one thing: awards. The Golden Leopard prize for best film is the most desired trophy at Locarno, one of the longest-running film festivals in the world. Over the past 10 days numerous movies lit up screens (and the faces of cinephiles) across the city and now it’s time to crown the winning title. Will it be US director Travis Wilkerson’s murder documentary Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun? or perhaps F J Ossang’s French noir-thriller 9 Doigts? The handpicked jury, led by French director Olivier Assayas, will decide today. Until then, it’s worth looking back at a festival that drew crowds despite changeable weather and whose central screening site, the Piazza Grande, even made it onto the nation’s new 20-franc banknote.

We’ve made no secret of our admiration for Singapore’s pre-eminent independent publisher Math Paper Press. Run from a small shop on Yong Siak Street in Tiong Bahru, the small imprint has created a big impression with its powerful poetry, prose and photography books that offer an invaluable glimpse into the city-state’s budding art scene. Its latest release showcases the work of photographer Elephnt, who hones in on the myriad windows and walkways (shaped variously like diamonds, peonies, portholes, fans and chevrons) of the city’s public-housing blocks. Each image offers a glimpse – of stairways, storerooms, slumbering workers and unsuspecting residents – into the shared life and spaces of citizens in these densely populated up-high homes. It’s an intimate but never twee portrait of a nation that’s finally embracing its artistic clout.

Italy has been making valiant moves to better care for its cultural heritage. In March it hosted the first G7 culture summit in Florence and this week the country appointed the somewhat divisive Antonio Lampis as director general of Italy’s museums. As a former head of the department of Italian culture for Bolzano, it’s a big step up in responsibility for Lampis – but this is a man with bold ideas. In 2008 he chose to exhibit Martin Kippenberger’s irreverent statue of a crucified frog, titled “Zuerst die Füsse” (Feet First), in Bolzano’s Museion, much to the ire of Catholic leaders. The question now is: can he apply the same forward thinking to the country’s museums at a time when many cultural sites increasingly rely on the goodwill of private entities?

Writer and director David Lowery discusses his extraordinary new film starring Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara and we tell you why, despite appearances, it might be one of the most unexpectedly moving films you’re ever likely to see.

The property sector is growing and it’s no longer business as usual. Will we see London reinvent flat rentals or Copenhagen up the quality of housing? The property market is ready for a shake-up.