Stars, Stripes & Celebration – America’s Big 250th Birthday

Every year on 4th July, people across the United States celebrate Independence Day. The day marks the moment in 1776 when the American colonies declared their independence from Great Britain by adopting the Declaration of Independence. It is one of the country’s most important national holidays and celebrates freedom, unity and the nation’s history. The Declaration of Independence was […]

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CEPIC Valencia 2026

UIG will be well-represented at this year’s CEPIC Congress in Valencia, Spain.  The conference, running from May 6 through May 9 at the Hotel Melia in Spain’s third-largest city.  With the futuristic buildings of the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias, great museums, peaceful green spaces and a thriving cultural scene, Valencia is the perfect place […]

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April 23rd is a cultural two for one hit in England!

St George’s Day and Shakespeare’s birthday  On 23 April each year, England celebrates its patron saint, Saint George, a figure whose story blends legend and history. Believed to have lived in the 3rd century in what is now Turkey, George was a Roman soldier who refused to give up his Christian faith and was executed for it. Over […]

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James Farmer: Civil Rights Hero

“I don’t see any future for the nation without integration. Our lives are intertwined, our work is intertwined, our education is intertwined.” – James Farmer During February in the United States, we recall the countless contributions to our country by African-Americans.  First established by President Gerald Ford in 1976, Black History Month aims to celebrate the […]

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The Mysterious and Scary Krampus

By Francesca Lungarotti During November and December each year Krampus parades and festivals are enjoyed across the countries of Europe’s eastern Alpine arc.  These cultural events take place in Austria, Bavaria, Switzerland, Slovenia, and two Italian regions, Trentino-Alto Adige and Friuli Venezia Giulia, and some parades are also held in Veneto. The word Krampus is derived […]

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UIG Acquires Loop Images

We’re delighted to announce that, as of November 1, Loop Images is now a part of Universal Images Group.  For more than twenty years Loop Images has built a collection illustrating the natural beauty and culture of the United Kingdom and beyond.  This tightly curated, highly aesthetic stills and video collection adds both depth and quality to […]

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Art for the Spooky Season

By Francesca Lungarotti Art has long supported themes of the macabre, supernatural, death, hell and fear. Many famous artists conceptualized and illustrated the various facets of the ‘terrifying’, the ‘disturbing’, the ‘fear’ and the ‘horror’.  Francisco Goya and his black figures, Edward Munch and the fear of the inexplicable that is also in oneself, William Blake’s illustrations […]

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The Second Italo-Ethiopian War

October 3, 2025, will mark 90 years since Italy invaded Ethiopia.  The second Italo-Ethiopian War that followed lasted until May, 1936 and resulted in Ethiopia’s subjection to Italian rule. Benito Mussolini, Italy’s fascist dictator, sought vengeance from Italy’s humiliating defeat in Ethiopia forty years earlier.  More importantly, Ethiopia provided Italy a critical link between its other East African territories – […]

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The astonishing evacuation of Dunkirk in WW2 and the ‘Little Ships’ that helped

Operation Dynamo – 26 May to 4 June 1940 saw the evacuation of allied soldiers from Dunkirk to the UK. Vice-Admiral Bertram Ramsay masterminded Operation Dynamo from a bunker deep within the Dover cliffs. In addition to the navy’s vessels about 850 small private boats (hence the term ‘little ships’) of all shapes and sizes sailed […]

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Return of the Lion

By Francesca Lungarotti When newly elected pope Robert Francis Prevost selected Leo XIV as his papal name, he paid homage to several papal giants that claimed the name Leo in Roman Catholic history.  Leo is not just a name. It honors the lion, a powerful symbol that appears frequently in the Bible.  The lion has long represented […]

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