french nudist exhibition

Cannes bans nudists after yacht club complains


PARIS (Reuters) - Authorities in Cannes have banned naturists from a public beach after the southern French town's yacht club complained the naked bathers had begun to get out of hand.

Naturists have been tolerated for years on Palm Beach, which lies directly in front of the exclusive club.

But the yacht club said they had recently begun exposing themselves more visibly to club members, particularly in front of the restaurant's windows.

"We organize sailing for children, we have a restaurant, but when the naturists get up from bathing they walk around naked," a spokeswoman for the club said.

"Until now they were tolerated, they were quite discreet, but the problem that triggered the decision was that recently their behavior became more questionable."

The town hall issued the order Monday banning naturism on Palm Beach.

"Naturists have been coming to the beach for years and this had provoked complaints, notably from the yacht club," a Cannes town hall spokeswoman said.

First time offenders will now face a fine of 11 euros ($15), with more serious cases possibly earning a prison sentence and a fine of 15,000 euros.

Naked couple surprises diners in stroll

Jan 28, 2009 7:33PM UTC

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A couple treated open air diners to a 15-minute naked parade in Singapore, triggering both embarrassment and applause for a scene almost unheard of in the conservative city-state.

Pub manager Terence Chia told the Straits Times newspaper he saw the couple taking off their clothes Saturday night at a staircase in a block of flats in Holland Village, known for its popular nightspots.

"Then, clothes in hand, they coolly walked in their flip-flops toward the market," he said, adding when the couple did a U-turn a sea of spectators was ready and poised with cameras.

"There were more than 200 people and everyone was taking pictures," the newspaper Wednesday quoted Chia as saying. "Even women were busy clicking and people were cheering, whistling and applauding like crazy."

Police said the couple, a Caucasian man and an ethnic Chinese woman in their 20s, had been arrested and released on bail. If convicted under Singapore law, they could face a fine of maximum fine of S$2000 ($1,330), up to 3 months in jail, or both.

Protests are rare in Singapore and only made legal last year in a designated area called "Speakers' Corner," modeled on London's Hyde Park.

"They looked really comfortable walking down the street, which led to many curious stares," wrote blogger Leonard Tan. "Singapore is getting more and more exciting."

Hundreds strip naked in Vienna

from http://reuters.com

Hundreds strip naked in Vienna for artist Tunick

Sunday, May 11, 2008 By Paul Bolding

VIENNA (Reuters) - About 1,800 people stripped naked on Sunday for U.S. photographer Spencer Tunick at the stadium that will host the Euro 2008 soccer final.

Tunick, who regularly stages such mass nude events, arranged his subjects in the coloured seats of the venue, having been told by organizers the grass was too precious.

"It will be fun. Austria is very conservative. This might bring more openness," said Michael, a 20-year-old Austrian who drove for two hours to take part. Others came from Germany and elsewhere.

Tunick spoke to his models over the public address system, telling the men and women to spread out in sections of the stands and strike different poses. He told them not to smile or laugh and to remove sunglasses.

The stadium stages seven matches of the Euro 2008 soccer championship, being jointly hosted by Switzerland and Austria next month, including the final on June 29.

"This very special ephemeral installation that we are inviting you to be part of is devised to capture and combine the spirit of sports, the grand sweeping waves of stadium architecture and the abstract relation of the human form to modern structures," Tunick said on his website.

One of Tunick's latest stunts was on a Swiss glacier, where 600 people stripped off in temperatures of about 10 Celsius (50 F) last August.

His biggest was last year in Mexico City with 18,000 people. The next after Vienna are planned for Cork, Ireland, on June 17 and Dublin on June 21.

Sponsors of Tunick's latest event included a body promoting the soccer festival and Austrian railways, which gave participants free tickets.

Those taking part were volunteers who were offered a limited edition copy of the photo.

Tunick told a news conference in Vienna last week that rules in the United States made it hard to organize his photo shoots there. "My work is a little edgy. It is tough for me to get permission to do things in the U.S.," he said.

(Editing by Charles Dick)