Hear the Sun Sing...

Have you ever wondered what the Sun would sound like if you could hear it?
Our Sun lies 93,000,000 miles away, surrounded by the vacuum of space.
Sound won't travel through space, of course. But with the right
instrument, scientists can "hear" pulsations from the Sun.
The entire Sun vibrates from a complex pattern of acoustical waves,
much like a bell. If your eyes were sharp enough, you could see a
bell's surface jiggle in complex patterns as the waves bounced around
within it.

Likewise, astronomers at Stanford University can record acoustical
pressure waves in the Sun by carefully tracking movements on the Sun's
surface. To do this, they use an instrument called a Michelson Doppler
Imager (MDI), mounted on the SOHO spacecraft, circling the Sun
1,000,000 miles from Earth.

The Sun's acoustical waves bounce from one side of the Sun to the
other in about two hours, causing the Sun's surface to oscillate, or
wiggle up and down. Because these sound waves travel underneath the
Sun's surface, they are influenced by conditions inside the Sun. So
scientists can use the oscillations to learn more about how the
structure of the Sun's interior shapes its surface.

The Sun's sound waves are normally at frequencies too low for the
human ear to hear. To be able to hear them, the scientists sped up the
waves 42,000 times -- and compressed 40 days of vibrations into a few
seconds. What you'll be hearing are just a few dozen of the 10 million
resonances echoing inside the Sun.
http://solar-center.stanford.edu/singing/

Monastery brewhouses...

The Trappist order originated in the Cistercian monastery of La Trappe, France. Various Cistercian congregations existed for many years, and by 1664 the Abbot of La Trappe felt that the Cistercians were becoming too liberal. He introduced strict new rules in the abbey and the Strict Observance was born. Since this time, many of the rules have been relaxed. However, a fundamental tenet, that monasteries should be self-supporting, is still maintained by these groups.

Monastery brewhouses, from different religious orders, existed all over Europe, since the Middle Ages. From the very beginning, beer was brewed in French cistercian monasteries following the Strict Observance. For example, the monastery of La Trappe in Soligny, already had its own brewery in 1685. Breweries were only later introduced in monasteries of other countries, following the extension of the trappist order from France to the rest of Europe.

The Trappists, like many other religious people, originally brewed beer as to feed the community, in a perspective of self-sufficiency. Nowadays, trappist breweries also brew beer to fund their works and for good causes. Many of the trappist monasteries and breweries were destroyed during the French Revolution and the World Wars. Among the monastic breweries, the Trappists were certainly the most active brewers: in the last 300 years, there were at least nine Trappist breweries in France, six in Belgium, two in the Netherlands, one in Germany, one in Austria, one in Bosnia and possibly other countries.

Today, seven trappist breweries remain active, 6 in Belgium and 1 just over the Belgian border, in the Netherlands.

In the twentieth century, the growing popularity of Trappist beers led some brewers with no connection to the order to label their beers "Trappist". After unsuccessful trials, monks finally sued one such brewer in 1962 in Ghent, Belgium.

Pôle Muséal Lausanne

Allied Works was named one of eighteen international finalists to create the Pôle Muséal Lausanne, which encompasses transforming an historic train shed and industrial site into a new cultural district. The design was developed in collaboration with an international team of designers, including Latz+Partner for Landscape, Resnicow Schroeder Associates for Cultural Planning, and Nicolet Chartrand Knoll for Structural and Civil.

The forms and spaces of the new museum are both monumental and transparent. The building’s geologic form is fractured by activity, providing glimpses into and through the heart of the building. Ideal gallery proportions establish a rhythm of space and structure along the Arts Walk and rail lines. Between galleries, structure, circulation and light form fissures of transparency – filtering and diffusing light into the galleries, providing views to the landscape and city while connecting the building vertically.

Located at the critical intersection of landscape and infrastructure and adjacent Lausanne’s main train station, Allied Works’ proposal builds upon what exists to create a beacon and powerful new urban gateway, signifying the city’s social and cultural center and growth into an international city. The site becomes one interwoven precinct for the arts, engaging the principles of unity and celebrating the unique combination of cultural, public and landscaped space.

e Volo

for Kunst in Denmark

The Danish national gallery - Statens Museum for Kunst - is the only place in Denmark which features more than 700 years of Western art and cultural history under one roof. The museum houses a large collection of Danish and international paintings, sculptures, drawings, and installations.

Collections inside...

Room with a collection with Religious art – The Lydian Plain (Turkey) - Painting by Harald Jerichau 1851 – This masterwork was given to National Gallery by Brewer Carl Jacobsen in 1878.

The Crusader – Sketch for The Knight with the Falcon – a genuine Rembrandt – from 1659-61. 

Marvellous paintings in various categories of old famous and foreign masters from 1300-1800.

Broad collection with famous painters
The collection includes works by the Italian renaissance painters Tizian and Mantegna, the 17th century masters Rubens and Rembrandt, 19th century painters of the Danish Golden Age such as Eckersberg and Købke, and 20th century artists such as Henri Matisse, Edvard Munch, and Emil Nolde as well as the Danish artists Asger Jorn, Per Kirkeby and many more.


Collection with Danish painters – Scientific impressions.

Collection with Danish work of art – People and Nature.

Collection of masterpieces from the Danish Golden Age 1880-1900 – Paintings from famous Danish artists like C. W. Eckersberg – Michael Ancher - Christen Købke – P. S. Krøyer and many more. 

Grand entrance into the museum collections
The old museum building dates back to 1896 and was designed by the architect Wilhelm Dahlerup. The imposing building reflect several historical styles with a richly decorated facade and the impressive entrance, which makes for a solemn transition from the outside world into the museum collections.

Focus Gallery with modern art by Per Kirkeby – displaying nature and culture. 
The extension of the museum in 1998 has created significant exhibition space.

New modernist extension building
The 1998 extension has provided the museum with a significant - and much-needed - increase in the exhibition space available. The magnificent, modernist extension building is situated in parallel with Dahlerup's old museum building, opening the house up towards the surrounding parkland.
Location
The National Gallery is located beside the Botanical Gardens - Rosenborg Castle and near Nørreport Station.

Address
Statens Museum for Kunst
Sølvgade 48-50
1307 Copenhagen K

the Perfect Storm

Ήταν η καταιγίδα του αιώνα. Με κύματα πάνω από είκοσι μέτρα και άνεμο έντασης έντεκα μποφόρ. Οι μετεωρολόγοι την ονόμασαν απόλυτη καταιγίδα, γιατί απλώς δεν μπορούσε να γίνει χειρότερη. Ξέσπασε απροειδοποίητα τον Οκτώβριο του 1991 έξω από τις ακτές της Νέας Σκοτίας και στην καρδιά της βρέθηκε το αλιευτικό Αντρεα Γκέιλ: "Έρχεται, παιδιά, κι έρχεται φορτσάτη", ήταν τα τελευταία λόγια του καπετάνιου, προτού ο ασύρματος σιγήσει για πάντα...

...Και είδε το πόδι του Θεού στο πέλμα του αργαλειού,
και το είπε.
Και οι άλλοι ναύτες τον είπανε τρελλό...

Μια αληθινή ιστορία, όπου πρωταγωνιστεί ο σκληρός όσο και γοητευτικός κόσμος της αλιείας, αλλά και η ίδια η θάλασσα με το πιο σκοτεινό της πρόσωπο.

Η απόλυτη καταιγίδα

Η Απόλυτη καταιγίδα (1997), πρώτο βιβλίο του Αμερικανού δημοσιογράφου Σεμπάστιαν Γιούνγκερ, γνώρισε τεράστια εκδοτική επιτυχία στις ΗΠΑ, με πωλήσεις που ξεπερνούν τα τρία εκατομμύρια αντίτυπα, ενώ παρέμεινε επί 42 εβδομάδες στις λίστες με τα μπεστ-σέλερ των New York Times κι έχει ήδη μεταφραστεί σε 16 γλώσσες.

Με φόντο το ψαράδικο λιμάνι του Γκλόστερ στη Μασαχουσέτη, ο Σεμπάστιαν Γιούνγκερ αναπλάθει αριστοτεχνικά, με τρομακτική ζωντάνια, την αληθινή ιστορία των έξι ναυτικών του ΄Αντρεα Γκέιλ.
 

στην Ανάσα της Θάλασσας...

"Οι μεγάλοι ζωγράφοι, από τον Απελλή της αρχαιότητας ώσμε τον Picasso είπανε κουταμάρες.
Τα σωστά πράματα για τα χρώματα τα 'πανε κάτι έμποροι που τους τριγύριζαν.
Οι καλύτεροι δάσκαλοι είναι οι ζωγράφοι δίχως προσωπικότητα.
Η θάλασσα ...
Ο Turner ζωγράφισε την ανάσα της.
Πώς φαντάζεσαι το πράσινο χρώμα ρώτησα ένα κορίτσι τυφλό.
Πήρε ένα φύλλο ελιάς και το δάγκωσε.
Στυφό μου 'πε. Στυφό ...
Το κόκκινο, ρώτησα δειλά.
Το κόκκινο μου αποκρίθηκε το βλέπω. Μονάχα το κόκκινο.
Ο βλάκας εγώ νόμιζα πως γνωρίζει μοναχά το μαύρο.
Δύσκολο χρώμα το μαύρο.
Ο Δημήτρης λατρεύει το μαύρο. Κι εγώ. ..."

Απόσπασμα από γράμμα του Ν. Καββαδία στη Νίκη Καραγάτση, ζωγράφο και σύζυγο του αγαπημένου του φίλου Δημήτρη Καραγάτση (Μίτια)  στις 5/6/1953

Στον Σ.Μ με ευχές για πολλά Α και Χρόνια Πολλά
Μ.

in the Turkish Literature

The time that can be called contemporary in Turkish literature falls in the period between the middle of the 20th century and the first years of the new millennium. Throughout this period many changes in literary discourse have occurred. Together with the fall of the Ottoman Empire and foundation of the Turkish Republic brought a different way to Turkish literature together with the effect of Westernization on Turkish writers. The literature of the new republic emerged largely from the pre-independence National Literature movement, with its roots simultaneously in the Turkish folk tradition and in the Western notion of progress. One important change to Turkish literature was enacted in 1928, when Mustafa Kemal initiated the creation and dissemination of a modified version of the Latin alphabet to replace the Arabic-based Ottoman script. Over time, this change—together with changes in Turkey's system of education— would lead to more widespread literacy in the country. In 1950s, Turkish authors started to write in the tone of their western contemporaries bringing a new sense of literature to the country.

All of the salient aspects of Turkish life, politics and culture have found their direct or indirect expression in poetry, fiction, and drama, as well as in critical and scholarly writing. The themes and concerns have included nationalism, social justice, search for modernity. Westernization, revival of folk culture, economic and technological progress, human dignity, mysticism, pluralistic society, human rights and fundamental freedoms, democratic ideals, Ataturkism, Turanism, Marxist-Lenist ideology, revival of Islam, humanism in fact all aspect and components of contemporary culture found a voice in literature.

All stages of modern Turkish history (reforms under Atatürk, 1923-38; consolidation under Inonu, 1938-59; democracy under Menderes, 1950-60) have been marked by the thrust of literary modernization. Since the mid-nineteenth century, the most vital debate of Turkish literature has been between the proponents of art for art's sake and the advocates of commitment to realism and social causes. Mustafa Kemal in a conversation that took place in 1921, about two years before he proclaimed the Republic, exhorted the 19 years old Nazim Hikmet, already a famous poet, who would soon embrace the communist ideology and influence the course of modern Turkish literature, particularly poetry, more profoundly than anyone else. Since 1950, there has been a massive output, in all genres, depicting the plight of the lumpen proletariat. But surrealism, neosymbolism, theater of the absurd, stream of consciousness, hermeticism, black comedy and so on have also flourished.

Manet's painterly style

Music in the Tuileries is an early example of Manet's painterly style. Inspired by Hals and Velázquez, it is a harbinger of his life-long interest in the subject of leisure.

While the picture was regarded as unfinished by some, the suggested atmosphere imparts a sense of what the Tuileries gardens were like at the time; one may imagine the music and conversation.

Α major early work is The Luncheon on the Grass (Le déjeuner sur l'herbe). The Paris Salon rejected it for exhibition in 1863 but he exhibited it at the Salon des Refusés (Salon of the Rejected) later in the year. Emperor Napoleon III had initiated The Salon des Refusés after the Paris Salon rejected more than 4,000 paintings in 1863.

The painting's juxtaposition of fully-dressed men and a nude woman was controversial, as was its abbreviated, sketch-like handling, an innovation that distinguished Manet from Courbet. At the same time, Manet's composition reveals his study of the old masters, as the disposition of the main figures is derived from Marcantonio Raimondi's engraving of the Judgement of Paris (c. 1515) based on a drawing by Raphael.

Two additional works that are cited by scholars as important precedents for Le déjeuner sur l'herbe are Pastoral Concert (c. 1510, The Louvre) and The Tempest (Gallerie dell'Accademia, Venice), both of which are attributed variously to Italian Renaissance masters Giorgione or Titian. The Tempest is an enigmatic painting that features a fully-dressed man and a nude woman in a rural setting. The man is standing to the left and gazing to the side, apparently at the woman, who is seated and is breastfeeding a baby; the relationship between the two figures is unclear.[4] In Pastoral Concert, two clothed men and a nude woman are seated on the grass, engaged in music making, while a second nude woman stands beside them.

The Hand of God

The Hand of God, modeled ca. 1896, this marble executed ca. 1907
Auguste Rodin (French, 1840–1917)
Marble
H. 29 in. (73.7 cm)
Gift of Edward D. Adams, 1908 (08.210)

Toward the end of his career, Rodin began to use giant hands in a series of original and idiosyncratic arrangements, with titles such as The Hand of God, The Hand of the Devil (1903), The Cathedral (1908), and The Secret (ca. 1910). The first of these represents divine creation expressed in terms of the sculptor's art: the rough stone is both primeval matter and the sculptor's medium; the smooth, white emerging forms held by the hand are the bodies of the first man and woman, while the great, life-giving hand itself is a symbol of the original Creator, and, perhaps quite literally, of the sculptor as well. The Hand of God was another of Rodin's works that has had wide appeal, and there are numerous versions of it, both in marble and in bronze. This marble was commissioned from Rodin in 1906 by one of the Metropolitan Museum's trustees.

Related

Source: Auguste Rodin: The Hand of God (08.210) | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art

the Best of Alaska to the World

The Anchorage Museum brings the best of Alaska to the world and the best of the world to Alaska.

Through a combination of art, history and science the Anchorage Museum creates a rich, deep understanding of the human experience and offers something for everyone.

Temciyusqaq
“Skeptical One”Giinaquq (Like A Face):
Sugpiaq Masks of the Kodiak Archipelago
Concluded Jan. 4, 2009

In the winter of 1872 a young French anthropologist named Alphonse Pinart traveled the Kodiak archipelago by kayak, assembling one of the most extensive collections of Alutiiq ceremonial masks in the world. In May, masks from Pinart’s collection returned to Alaska for the first time in 136 years to tell the Alutiiq story and inspire Alaskans to explore the rich culture of Kodiak’s Native people. Giinaquq features 34 wood masks and a bird-shaped feast bowl collected from villages around the Kodiak archipelago. The exhibition, six years in planning, will highlight the cultural meaning of these historic carvings as well as their beauty.

Courtesy National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institution Yuungnaqpiallerput (The Way We Genuinely Live)
Masterworks of Yup'ik Science and Survival
Concluded Oct. 26, 2008
The Way We Genuinely Live is a joint project of the Anchorage Museum and the Calista Elders Council, developed with the guidance of Yup'ik elders and educators and with major support from the National Science Foundation.

This exhibition presents more than 200 remarkable 19th and early 20th century tools, containers, weapons, watercraft and clothing in an exploration of the scientific principles and processes that allowed these people to survive in the sub-arctic tundra of the Bering Sea coast.

Sponsors of this exhibition include the National Science Foundation, Totem Ocean Trailer Express, Northern Air Cargo, Alaska Airlines, BP, ConocoPhillips Alaska, Calista Corporation and the Anchorage Museum Association.


LOCATION
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
625 C Street, Anchorage, Alaska 99501
(907) 929-9200 tel
(907) 929-9290 fax

WINTER HOURS
Mid-Sept through mid-May
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday
Noon to 6 p.m. Sunday
Closed Monday

SUMMER HOURS
Mid-May through mid-Sept
9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day

Ethnology in Vietnam

The Vietnam Museum of Ethnology (Vietnamese: Bảo tàng Dân tộc học Việt Nam) is a museum in Hanoi, Vietnam, which focuses on the 54 officially recognized ethnic groups in Vietnam. It is located on a 3.27-acre (13,200 m2) property in the Cầu Giấy District, about 8 km from the city center.

It is widely considered to be the finest modern museum in Vietnam and a tourist attraction in Hanoi.

The proposal for the museum was officially approved on December 14, 1987. Construction lasted from 1987 to 1995, and it was opened to the public on November 12, 1997.

The exhibition building was designed by the architect Hà Đức Lịnh, a member of the Tày ethnic group, in the shape of a Dong Son drum, and the interior architecture was designed by the French architect Véronique Dollfus.

Opening hours is 8:30am to 5:30pm Tuesday to Sunday

Don't cry for me Argentina...

Argentine National Historical Museum (Spanish: Museo Histórico Nacional) is located in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and is a museum dedicated to the history of Argentina, exhibiting objects relating to the May Revolution and the Argentine War of Independence.
The institution was established as the Museo Histórico de la Capital (Historical Museum of the Capital) by Mayor Francisco Seeber on May 24, 1889.

The museum resulted from a proposal by historian Adolfo Carranza, who was designated director of the museum upon its inauguration on February 15, 1891. The museum was initially located on government property located at 3951 Santa Fe Avenue (now occupied by the Buenos Aires Botanical Garden). It was relocated to its present location in the San Telmo ward after the land's purchase by the Municipality of Buenos Aires in 1897. The land later occupied by the Botanical Garden was thus transferred to the municipal government, and the museum to the national government.

The mansion was originally built for English Argentine businessman Charles Ridgley Horne in 1846. Allied to the paramount Governor of Buenos Aires, Juan Manuel de Rosas, Ridgley Horne was forced into exile after the strongman's 1852 overthrow, and the land was sold to José Gregorio Lezama. Following his 1894 death, his widow, Ángela Álzaga de Lezama sold the property to the city, which converted the mansion into the museum, and most of the surrounding land into Lezama Park.

The museum houses over 50,000 items. Portions of the collection were gathered from donations of relatives of important figures in the May Revolution and the wars of independence. Other objects were part of the collection of the Public Museum (Museo Público) created in 1822 by Bernardino Rivadavia. Its displays include regalia, belongings, furnishings and documents belonging to José de San Martín, María de los Remedios de Escalada, Manuel Belgrano, William Carr Beresford, Juan Manuel de Rosas, Bartolomé Mitre, Juan and Eva Perón, and other Argentine, as well as foreign, statesmen, lawmakers, and military figures who played key roles in the nation's history. Its collection of history paintings includes works by Esteban Echeverría, Cándido López and Prilidiano Pueyrredón, among others.

Re-imagining

Διεθνές συνέδριο με τίτλο "Re-imagining the Past: Antiquity and Modern Greek Culture" διοργανώνει το Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity και το Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies του Πανεπιστημίου του Birmingham, στις 27 και 28 Ιουνίου 2011. Προθεσμία υποβολής περιλήψεων: 30 Ιουνίου 2010.

Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες:
http://www.iaa.bham.ac.uk/news/conferences/reimaginingthepast/in...
 

into Mongolian History

National Museum of Mongolian History is one of the national museums of Mongolia located in the capital Ulan Bator. The National Museum of Mongolian History is a cultural, scientific, and educational organization, which is responsible for the collection, care and interpretation of the objects.
The first museum in Mongolia, which was called the Mongolian National Museum, was established in 1924 and became the basis for other museums, including the National Museum of Mongolian History. Russian scholars, such as P.K.Kozlov, V.I.Lisovskii, A.D.Simukov, and the American researcher C.Andrews contributed in the collection and display of the first museum in Mongolia.
The modern National Museum of Mongolian History was established after the merger of historical, archeological and ethnographical departments of the State Central Museum and the Museum of the Revolution in 1991. It is now located in the facility built for the Museum of the Revolution, which was founded in 1971. The National Museum of Mongolian History is currently recognized as one of the leading museums in Mongolia. A significant responsibility for preserving Mongolian cultural heritage therefore lies with the museum.

Snow Storm...on a Steam Boat

Dreadful catastrophe was a common theme in English romantic art period. The romantics had taken a liking to natural phenomena and shipwreck became a popular subject. 19th century Britain specifically was very familiar with shipwreck as it was a period of great English shipping. The Navigation Acts, the skill in English shipbuilding and the use of English oak made such trade possible. Still, the craftsmanship of these ships did not deter the fact that the man made vessel was still at the mercy of the wind.

Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth shows a ship off the English coast struggling to persevere through a storm. Rumor has that Turner actually had himself tied to the mast of a ship during the storm to get a better account of the wind and ocean and what the ship must've felt like in the midst of it. There is no way to test the validity of this rumor, however it is clear that unlike any other artist, Turner grasped the nature of the storm better than any other artist. This story, located in Harwich, was most likely invented but shows a striking proof of Turner's lifetime of experience on the sea.

The steam-boat resides in the center of the vortex. Turner once again shows the effects of the environment over mankind's inabilities.

Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth Inspirations for the WorkTopWilliam Turner drew his greatest inspiration from nature itself. He found great inspiration by studying the work of fellow landscapists and from studying the work of other artists on his a trip to the Louvre in 1802. He analyzed Dutch storm paintings that were on exhibition studying them closely and critiqued them carefully.

The power of the storm versus man's inabilities was a main theme in Turner's work. His love for the sea and natural elements was ongoing. He painted themes of shipwreck a number of times throughout his life. Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth is said to have been inspired by a storm he had seen in Harwich, in which he had himself tied to the mast of the ship to fully experience the storm.

Throughout his lifetime, the activities of the sea captivated William Turner. He made a career of channeling this fascination of nature and putting it to the canvas. In Snow Storm - Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth his untamed brushwork creates a swirling composition of chaotic colors and lighting. Once again he shows the frailty of man and man-made objects against the merciless forces of nature.

Composition:

The swirling storm creates a composition that leaves the eye to circle around the canvas repeatedly. The black of the wind and the waves of the sea create a circle around the doomed ship. Through the windy peephole, the viewer can see the helpless ship at the mercy of nature's violent motion. One can imagine the ship swaying to and fro as its crew desperately tries to take control of the sail and stay afloat.
 

Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României

The National Museum of Art of Romania (Romanian: Muzeul Naţional de Artă al României) is located in the former royal palace in Revolution Square, central Bucharest, Romania, completed in 1937. It features notable collections of medieval and modern Romanian art, as well as the international collection assembled by the Romanian royal family.

The museum was damaged during the 1989 Romanian Revolution that led to the downfall of Nicolae Ceauşescu. In 2000, part of the museum reopened to the public, housing the modern Romanian collection and the international collection; the comprehensive Medieval art collection, which now features works salvaged from monasteries destroyed during the Ceauşescu era, reopened in spring 2002. There are also two halls that house temporary exhibits.

The modern Romanian collection features sculptures by Constantin Brâncuşi and Dimitrie Paciurea, as well as paintings by Theodor Aman, Nicolae Grigorescu, Theodor Pallady, Gheorghe Petraşcu, and Gheorghe Tattarescu.

The international collection includes works by Old Masters such as Domenico Veneziano, El Greco, Tintoretto, Jan van Eyck, Jan Brueghel the Elder, Peter Paul Rubens, and Rembrandt, plus a smattering of works by impressionists such as Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley. Among the most famous Old Master works in the collection are Jacopo Amigoni's portrait of the singer Farinelli, a Crucifixion by Antonello da Messina, and Alonso Cano's Christ at the Column.
 

Matisse, Matisse

Musée Matisse: créé par Henri Matisse de son vivant dans sa ville natale , réouvert depuis le 8 novembre 2002 après trois années de travaux, plus de 170 oeuvres de celui que tous s'accordent à reconnaître comme un des plus grands peintres du XXe siècle vous sont proposées.

Installé dans l’ancien palais Fénelon depuis 1982, il offre un superbe panorama de l’œuvre de cet artiste, un des plus grands du XXème siècle: Dix-sept salles d'exposition ont été aménagées dans le musée Matisse rénové. - La collection Matisse est installée dans le corps du Palais Fénelon. Dix salles qui, en dix étapes, racontent la vie et l'œuvre d'Henri Matisse La collection d'Auguste Herbin est agencée dans le nouveau bâtiment, en cinq salles retraçant le parcours de l'artiste né à Quiévy en 1882 . - La salle Tériade présente la donation du célèbre éditeur : 27 livres et quelque 500 gravures réalisées par les plus grands artistes : Chagall, Léger, Rouault, Miro, Matisse, Le Corbusier... - Une salle d'exposition temporaire de 500 m2 : la première exposition est consacrée à la donation d'Alice Tériade : Tériade et le livre de peintre.

Musée départemental Matisse, Palais Fénelon, 59360 Le Cateau-Cambrésis, T. 33 (0)3 27 84 64 50/ F. 33 (0)3 27 84 64 54 museematisse@cg59.fr
 

Sorolla in Portraits

Joaquim Sorolla i Bastida (Valencian: [dʒuaˈkim soˈɾoʎa], Spanish: [xoˈakin soˈɾoʎa]) (27 February 1863 – 10 August 1923) was a Valencian Spanish painter. Sorolla excelled in the painting of portraits, landscapes, and monumental works of social and historical themes. His most typical works are characterized by a dexterous representation of the people and landscape under the sunlight of his native land.

Sorolla painted in 1897 two masterpieces linking art and science: Portrait of Dr. Simarro at the microscope (seen at right) and A Research. These paintings were presented at the National Exhibition of Fine Arts held in Madrid in that year and Sorolla won the Prize of Honor. Here, he presents his friend Simarro as a man of science who transmits his wisdom investigating and, in addition, it is the triumph of naturalism, as it recreates the indoor environment of the laboratory, catching the luminous atmosphere produced by the artificial reddish-yellow light of a gas burner that contrasts with the weak mauvish afternoon light that shines through the window. These paintings may be among the most outstanding world paintings of this genre.
 

Angel Of Music, The song

The song is performed in Act One after the song "Angel of Music" (The Mirror) and before "The Music of the Night" (and is reprised in Act Two at the end of the song "Notes/Twisted Every Way"). It takes place as the Phantom escorts Christine by boat to his lair beneath the Opera Garnier. It is sung as a duet by Christine and the Phantom. In this song, Christine sings her highest note in the show, an E6, at the end of the song. In different shows, Sarah Brightman sings this song in different duets with other performers Steve Harley, Antonio Banderas, Chris Thompson, Alessandro Safina and Mario Frangoulis.

What makes this particular song unique is its unusual hard rock style, while most of the songs in the musical have a more operatic style. Early in the musical's production, Andrew Lloyd Webber met Jim Steinman, who described "The Phantom of the Opera" as a rock song invading an opera house. This is what inspired the hard rock style of the song, which influenced all of the rock-based instruments in the song including drums and electric guitar.

"The Phantom of the Opera" song was also specially arranged by the show's original orchestrator, David Cullen, for a virtuoso cello version for cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, Andrew's brother, for the CD Lloyd Webber Plays Lloyd Webber.


The song "The Phantom of the Opera" was covered in 2002 by the Finnish symphonic power metal quintet Nightwish and released on the album Century Child. This particular version of the song, with Tarja Turunen (soprano) singing Christine's part and Marco Hietala (baritone/tenor) singing the part of The Phantom, is set in a different register to the original version written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. On the recorded version, the female vocalisation at the end of the song is slightly different from the original, however, when the song is performed live, the vocalisation is the same. There is also another gothic metal version released in 1999 by Austrian band Dreams of Sanity(Masquerade album)

The song was also covered by Israeli contratenor David D'Or, backed by the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, on David D’Or & the Philharmonic; Live Concert, released on April 1, 2003.

Power metal band HolyHell also covered the song, with Eric Adams of Manowar making a guest appearance singing the part of The Phantom.

The song was also covered by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes on their show-tune album, Are A Drag. Also, in Rufus Wainwright's song "Between My Legs", from the album Release the Stars, the last 30 seconds plays the main theme from this song. The song was also covered by X Factor finalist, Rhydian Roberts, for which Lord Lloyd Webber wrote a male solo version specially for the artist.

The famous opening pipe organ section is very similar to a section in Rick Wakeman's instrumental "Judas Iscariot" - a track from the album Rick Wakeman's Criminal Record, released some 9 years before Phantom Of The Opera. Wakeman mentioned this fact during his Grumpy Old Picture Show tour, indicating that Tim Rice may have been the link between the two songs.

Ray Repp sued Andrew Lloyd Webber over the main melody of Phantom, claiming that it was based on his folk song "Till You" which he recorded in 1978. Webber won the case however, with the counter-claim that the section of "Phantom" in question was actually based on Webber's "Close Every Door", which was written before Till You.

In addition, Roger Waters of Pink Floyd had asserted that Andrew Lloyd Webber had plagiarized the intro section from the Pink Floyd song "Echoes", which largely resembles it, although he decided against filing a lawsuit.

"Yeah, the beginning of that bloody Phantom song is from Echoes. *DAAAA-da-da-da-da-da* . I couldn't believe it when I heard it. It's the same time signature - it's 12/8 - and it's the same structure and it's the same notes and it's the same everything. Bastard. It probably is actionable. It really is! But I think that life's too long to bother with suing Andrew fucking Lloyd Webber."

The beginning melody for this song was also used in the Alice Cooper concert DVD Live in Montreux before the song "Department of Youth".

Richard Clayderman has also arranged a piano-orchestral version of the song; originally found in his album The Best of Andrew Lloyd Webber.
 

Deep Blue Sea

by Christina Georgina Rossetti
(1830-1894)

Why does the sea moan evermore?
Shut out from heaven it makes its moan,
It frets against the boundary shore;
All earth's full rivers cannot fill
The sea, that drinking thirsteth still.

Sheer miracles of loveliness
Lie hid in its unlooked-on bed:
Anemones, salt, passionless,
Blow flower-like; just enough alive
To blow and multiply and thrive.

Shells quaint with curve, or spot, or spike,
Encrusted live things argus-eyed,
All fair alike, yet all unlike,
Are born without a pang, and die
Without a pang, and so pass by.

Fine Arts in Seville

The Fine Arts Museum of Seville since 1839, located in the former convent of the Merced Calzada at the  Plaza del Museo.

Construction works of the convent started in 1602. It is an example of Andalusian mannerism of the 17th century, designed around three  Patios and a large stairway.

The Fine Arts museum of Seville was founded as a Museum of Paintings in 1835. It opened its doors to the public in 1841 with the works from closed down convents and monasteries. Today it is one of the best museums of fine arts in Spain.

The museum's impressive collection of Spanish art extends from the medieval to the modern, focusing on the work of Seville School artists such as Francisco de Zurbarán, Juan de Valdés Leal and  Bartolomé Esteban Murillo.

Open Words, Open Thoughts in Poetry

Καθαρά λόγια, σταράτα, ευανάγνωστα. Ανοιχτά Χαρτιά…

“Ο ποιητής πρέπει να είναι γενναιόδωρος. Το να μη θέλεις να χάσεις ούτε στιγμή απο το υποτιθέμενο ταλέντο σου, είναι σα να μη θέλεις να χάσεις ούτε δραχμή απο τούς τόκους του μικρού κεφαλαίου που σου δόθηκε. Αλλά η Ποίηση δεν είναι Τράπεζα. Είναι η αντίληψη που ίσα-ίσα αντιτίθεται στην Τράπεζα. Εάν γίνεται γραπτό κειμενο, μεταδοτό στούς άλλους, τόσο το καλύτερο. Εάν όχι, δεν πειράζει. Εκείνο που πρέπει να γίνεται και να γίνεται αδιάκοπα, ατέρμονα, χωρίς την παραμικρή διάλειψη, είναι η αντιδουλικότητα, η αδιαλλαξία, η ανεξαρτησία. Η Ποίηση είναι το άλλο πρόσωπο της Υπερηφάνειας”.

Και κάτι ακόμη :

“ Να γιατί γράφω. Γιατί η Ποίηση αρχίζει εκεί που την τελευταία λέξη δεν την έχει ο θάνατος. Είναι η λήξη μιας ζωής και η έναρξη μιας άλλης, που είναι η ίδια με την πρώτη αλλά που πάει πολύ βαθιά, ως το ακρότατο σημείο που μπόρεσε να ανιχνεύσει η ψυχή, στα σύνορα των αντιθέτων, εκεί που ο Ηλιος και ο Αδης αγγίζονται. Η ατελεύτητη φορά πρός το φώς το φυσικό που είναι ο Λόγος, και το φώς το άκτιστον που είναι ο Θεός. Γι’ αυτό γράφω. Γιατί με γοητεύει να υπακούω σ’ αυτόν που δε γνωρίζω, που είναι ο εαυτός μου ολάκερος, όχι ο μισός που ανεβοκατεβαίνει τούς δρόμους και “φέρεται εγγεγραμένος στα μητρώα αρρένων του Δήμου”.

Είναι σωστό να δίνουμε στο άγνωστο το μέρος που του ανήκει. Γιατί η Ποίηση μας ξεμαθαίνει απο τον κόσμο, τέτοιον που τον βρήκαμε. Τον κόσμο της φθοράς πού, έρχεται κάποια στιγμή να δούμε οτι είναι η μόνη οδός για να υπερβούμε τη φθορά, με την έννοια που ο θάνατος είναι η μόνη οδός για την Ανάσταση”.

Ο. Ελύτης
 

The Rahmi M. Koç Museum

The Rahmi M. Koç Museum is a private industrial museum in Istanbul, Turkey dedicated to history of transport, industry and communications. Rahmi M. Koç, member of the wealthiest dynasty in Turkey and retired boss of the Koç Group, founded the museum in 1991, which was opened on December 13, 1994. The museum is located in the suburb of Hasköy on the north shore of the Golden Horn and situated in two historical buildings connected to each other. It is open to public every day except Monday.

A sister museum, but smaller in size, the Çengelhan Rahmi M. Koç Museum opened its doors to the residents of Ankara in 2005

Most of the items exhibited in the museum are selected from Rahmi Koç's private collection. Other objects are either borrowed from or donated by various organizations and individuals. Original machines and their replicas, scientific and mechanical items make up the basis of the museum's exhibits.

Road transport: Racing cars, sports cars (between 1953 and 1986), salon/coupe and convertible cars (1898–1994), utility vehicles (1911–1963), commercial vehicles (1908–2002), motorcycles (1908–2003),

Rail transport: Old Istanbul tram (1934), Sultan’s carriage (1867), steam engine locomotive (1913), narrow-gauge steam locomotive (1930), Istanbul Tünel carriage (1876), Henschel steam locomotive (1918),

TCG Uluçalireis (S 338) moored before the museum at the Golden HornMarine: Cargo vessel, motorboat, lifeboat (1951), Bosphorus passenger ferryboat, outboard motor collection, amphibious car (1961), submarine (1944): TCG Uluçalireis (S 338) (former USS Thornback (SS-418)

Aviation: Aircraft (1941–1979), aviation parts collection, aircraft engines (1928–1979), large and small-scale aircraft models,
Engineering: Ferry boat steam engine (1911), olive oil factory, portable stationary steam engine (1872), gas engine, wood saw, marine compound steam engine (1900),

Communications: Rotary dial telephone (1920), phonograph (1903), Thomas Edison telegraph patent model (1876), valve amplifier (1936), zoetrope (1835),

Scientific instruments: Wimshurst machine, grand orrery, marine chronometer, Strassbourg turret clock,

Models and toys: Hands-on: Cutaway car, aero plane, scientific experiments and cutaway domestic goods.
..................................

Rahmi M. Koç Müzesi Türkiye'de Ulaşım, Endüstri ve İletişim tarihine adanmış ilk önemli müzedir. Haliç'in kıyısında, endüstriyel arkeolojinin önde gelen örneklerinden olan muhteşem binalar içinde yer alan koleksiyonu gramofon iğnesinden gerçek boyutlarda gemilere ve uçaklara kadar uzanan binlerce objeyi içermektedir.

Müze, konumu, bulunduğu tarihi mekan ve İstanbul'un her iki yakasına da yakın oluşuyla oldukça iddialıdır. Müzenin dünya çapındaki beğenisi, bünyesindeki yetenekli mühendisler ve zanaatkarlar tarafından yaratılmış, insanoğlunun dehasını ve çalışkanlığını yansıtan objelerden kaynaklanmaktadır.

Müzemiz her yıl onlarca, binlerce yetişkin ve öğrenciyi eğiterek, bilgi vererek eğlendirmiştir. Lütfen Web sitemizi keşfe çıkarak sergilenen objelerin tadına varın… ama en iyisi siz bizi en yakın zamanda ziyarete gelin!

http://www.rmk-museum.org.tr/turkce/index.htm

the Heritage of the European Literature

Wide-ranging and imaginative, this volume provides an incisive guide to the rich heritage of European literature. The book gives a lively account of major figures and texts as well as previously marginalised writers, assessing their relevance to the broad European tradition and the social, political and intellectual issues which shaped it.

Structured around the major literary movements of the period - Romanticism, Realism and Naturalism, Modernism, the Literature of Political Engagement and Postmodernism - the book will be invaluable to all students of modern literature and European cultural history. Each chapter concludes with a detailed chronology of the major literary texts of each movement, covering fiction, drama and poetry. A detailed, annotated bibliography also guides the student through the seminal works of critical scholarship in the field.

Martin Travers

Πατριαρχείο Αλεξάνδρειας

Η ΕΜΠΕΙΡΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΣΥΜΜΕΤΟΧΗΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΔΙΟΡΘΟΔΟΞΗ ΕΠΙΤΡΟΠΗ ΒΙΟΗΘΙΚΗΣ

του Αρχιμ.Παντελεήμονος Αραθύμου, Αρχιγραμματέως της Αγίας και Ιεράς Συνόδου του Πατριαρχείου Αλεξανδρείας, Μέλους της Διορθοδόξου Επιτροπής Βιοηθικής.


Η ραγδαία ανάπτυξη των βιολογικών επιστημών και η δυνατότητα παρέμβασης του ανθρώπου σε διάφορες βιολογικές διαδικασίες έκαναν απαραίτητη την ανάπτυξη ενός νέου γνωστικού αντικειμένου, αυτού της Βιοηθικής. Βιοηθική είναι ο κλάδος εκείνος της επιστήμης που ασχολείται με τα ηθικά προβλήματα που προέκυψαν από τις νέες ανακαλύψεις της Βιολογίας και τις εφαρμογές της Γενετικής Μηχανικής και σχετίζονται με τον χειρισμό του γενετικού υλικού.

Από τη φύση της η Βιοηθική είναι το σημείο τομής διαφορετικών επιστημονικών πεδίων της Βιολογίας που περιλαμβάνουν τη Γενετική, τη Βιοτεχνολογία, τη Βιοϊατρική ενώ εμπλέκονται και τελείως διαφορετικοί γνωστικοί τομείς όπως η Νομική και η Θεολογία. Και τούτο διότι τα νέα αυτά επιστημονικά και τεχνολογικά δεδομένα εγγίζουν την ιερότητα της ζωής και την μοναδικότητα του ανθρωπίνου προσώπου.

Υπό αυτό το πρίσμα η Σύναξη των Σεπτών Προκαθημένων των Αυτοκεφάλων Ορθοδόξων Εκκλησιών, η οποία συνεκλήθη στο Οικουμενικό Πατριαρχείο τον Οκτώβριο του έτους 2008, απεφάσισε την συγκρότηση Διορθοδόξου Επιτροπής Βιοηθικής «προς μελέτην των θεμάτων βιοηθικής, επί των οποίων ο κόσμος αναμένει και την τοποθέτησιν της Ορθοδοξίας»( Μήνυμα των Προκαθημένων).

Σε υλοποίηση αυτής της Αποφάσεως συνήλθε σε πρώτη συνεδρία η Διορθόδοξη Επιτροπή Βιοηθικής στην Ορθόδοξη Ακαδημίας Κρήτης από 23ης έως 27ης Μαΐου ε.ε., με την συμμετοχή εκπροσώπων όλων των Αυτοκεφάλων Ορθοδόξων Εκκλησιών. Των εργασιών της Διορθοδόξου Επιτροπής προήδρευσε ο Σεβ. Μητροπολίτης Περγάμου κ. Ιωάννης, Ακαδημαϊκός, εκπρόσωπος του Οικουμενικού Πατριαρχείου. Καθήκοντα Γραμματέως άσκησε ο Πανοσιολ. Αρχιμανδρίτης του Οικουμενικού Θρόνου κ. Μακάριος Γρινιεζάκης.

Η Επιτροπή, υπό την πεπνυμένη προεδρία του Σεβ.Μητροπολίτου Περγάμου κ.Ιωάννου, ασχολήθηκε με τις αρχές και τα κριτήρια που πρέπει να διέπουν την ορθόδοξη Βιοηθική, ως και με την επιλογή του θέματος και των εισηγητών που θα το θέσουν προς διαπραγμάτευση στην επόμενη συνάντηση (Ιούνιος 2012).

Επίσης αποφασίσθηκε να εξετάζεται σε κάθε συνάντηση της Επιτροπής ένα συγκεκριμένο ζήτημα βιοηθικής, το οποίο θα επιλέγεται κατά προτεραιότητα ανάλογα με τις ποιμαντικές, εκκλησιολογικές, θεολογικές και κοινωνικές ανάγκες. Τρία υπήρξαν τα κριτήρια επιλογής θέματος :

α) Η επικαιρότητα

β) Η ενδεχομένως μεγαλύτερη εμπειρία και ετοιμότητα της Ορθοδόξου Εκκλησίας σε κάποια θέματα βιοηθικής

γ) Η ποιμαντική πίεση που ασκείται στις Εκκλησίες από τις κατά τόπους ιδιαίτερες συνθήκες.

Με βάση τα προαναφερθέντα κριτήρια και δεδομένου ότι το ζήτημα της αναπαραγωγής αποτελεί ένα από τα πλέον ζωτικά και φλέγοντα θέματα, το οποίο δημιουργεί μείζονα βιοηθικά διλήμματα στην Ποιμαντική της Εκκλησίας, η Επιτροπή αποφάσισε στην επόμενη συνάντησή της να μελετήσει το πολυσύνθετο θέμα : «Η ΒΙΟΗΘΙΚΗ ΤΗΣ ΑΝΑΠΑΡΑΓΩΓΗΣ» το οποίο έχει τις εξής κύριες παραμέτρους:

α) τεχνητή γονιμοποίηση,

β) προγενετικός έλεγχος,

γ) παρενθετική μητρότητα,

δ) κλωνοποίηση και

ε) έρευνα και χρήση εμβρυϊκών βλαστικών κυττάρων.

Ουσιαστικά λοιπόν η Επιτροπή καλείται να γνωμοδοτήσει το λιγότερο επί πέντε θεμάτων σε διάστημα ενός έτους.

Κατά γενική ομολογία, η όλη οργάνωση της ενάρξεως των εργασιών της Διορθοδόξου Επιτροπής Βιοηθικής υπήρξε από πάσης απόψεως αρίστη και αξία του εξαιρέτου ιστορικού αυτού γεγονότος, όπως και της παραδόσεως του  Πανσέπτου Οικουμενικού Θρόνου, ο Οποίος ανέλαβε την ευθύνη της διοργανώσεως και φιλοξενίας της εναρκτηρίου αυτής συναντήσεως.

Ο Σεβ. Μητροπολίτης Κισάμου και Σελίνου κ. Αμφιλόχιος, Πρόεδρος της Ορθοδόξου Ακαδημίας Κρήτης, παρίστατο καθημερινώς με ευγένεια και πολλή αγάπη, παρέθεσε δε επίσημο δείπνο προς τιμή των συνέδρων, στο οποίο παρεκάθησαν ο Σεβ. Αρχιεπίσκοπος Κρήτης κ. Ειρηναίος και οι περισσότεροι συνοδικοί Μητροπολίτες της μεγαλονήσου.

Με ιδιαίτερη ευγνωμοσύνη οφείλουμε να σημειώσουμε τη σπουδαιότητα την οποία είχε για την ομαλή διεξαγωγή των εργασιών της συναντήσεως η διαρκής παρουσία και η άοκνη μέριμνα του Γραμματέως της Διορθοδόξου Επιτροπής, Πανο σ. Αρχιμ.κ. Μακαρίου Γρινιεζάκη, ως και η ολοπρόθυμη εξυπηρέτηση των διακονούντων στην Ορθόδοξη Ακαδημία Κρήτης.

Το κλίμα που επικράτησε κατά τις συνεδριάσεις χαρακτηρίσθηκε γενικά από διάθεση συνεργασίας, ενότητας, ειλικρίνειας και αμοιβαίου σεβασμού. Καμμία πλευρά δεν επιχείρησε να επιβάλλει τις απόψεις της επί της άλλης.

Ταπεινά φρονούμε ότι η πρώτη αυτή διάσκεψη της Διορθοδόξου Επιτροπής Βιοηθικής επέτυχε πλήρως. Επιπλέον, διά της πρώτης αυτής συναντήσεως, οι βάσεις που τέθηκαν για τη διεξαγωγή του διαλόγου, τόσο από άποψη θεολογικής θεματολογίας, όσο και από άποψη τρόπου διεξαγωγής του προκειμένου έργου υπήρξαν απολύτως ικανοποιητικές και γεννούν βάσιμες προσδοκίες για την λυσιτελή επίτευξη των στόχων της Επιτροπής.

Κατακλείοντες ευγνωμονούμε, μαζί με τον διακεκριμένο επιστήμονα Δρ.Γρηγόριο Λιάντα, Επίκουρο Καθηγητή της Ανωτάτης Εκκλησιαστικής Ακαδημίας Θεσσαλονίκης, τον Μακαριώτατο Πάπα και Πατριάρχη Αλεξανδρείας και πάσης Αφρικής κ.κ.Θεόδωρο Β’, τον Σεπτό Πατέρα και Ευεργέτη μας, διότι εμπιστεύθηκε στην αναξιότητά μας την εκπροσώπηση του παλαιφάτου Πατριαρχείου Αλεξανδρείας και πάσης Αφρικής στην ιστορική πρώτη συνάντηση της Διορθοδόξου Επιτροπής Βιοηθικής.

National Library, Open Books

National Library of Pakistan is a legal depository for all published literary heritage of Pakistan . It serves as top most knowledge resource centre of the nation as well as fountain head of Library developments in the country. The library strives to develop significant collection of human knowledge, comprehensive collection of national literary heritsage and deliver excellent Library services for promotion of knowledge based society in Pakistan . The Library is responsible for National bibliographic control and preserves the literary heritage of the country for the use of present as well as future generations. A vast collection of publications about Pakistan, its culture, people and books authored by Pakistanis living abroad forms a major portion of National Library of Pakistan's main collection. A significant part of collection consists on manuscripts and rare books. National Library of Pakistan is an active member of many library communities in the world such as PLA, IFLA, CDNL and CDNLAO.

National Library of Pakistan serves as depository of some international organizations like Asian development bank, International labor organization, and US department of Publications etc. The Library is National ISBN Agency for Pakistani Publications.

http://www.nlp.gov.pk/

The Art to Ispahan

Avec l’installation de la capitale à Ispahan à la fin du XVIe siècle, le kitab khana royal déménage. Se développe alors une importante activité de peinture et de calligraphie, dominée par la figure de Reza ’Abbassi (v. 1565 - v. 1635), l’un des rares artistes protégés par Shah ’Abbas. Cette école marque une rupture complète avec les œuvres produites antérieurement : à la place de grands manuscrits illustrés sont réalisées des pages d’albums (moraqqa'), destinées à être collectionnées.

De nouvelles techniques sont employées, notamment le dessin à la plume et les lavis légers. Le style est tout d’abord largement marqué par l’influence de Reza ’Abbassi : la peinture typique représente un personnage en pied, anonyme, à la silhouette élégante et longiligne. Mais dans la seconde moitié du XVIIe siècle, les artistes d’Ispahan subissent de nombreuses influences européennes et mogholes. Leur peinture évolue vers une forte européanisation, avec notamment l’arrivée de la perspective et un traitement renouvelé des volumes.

L’école de peinture d’Ispahan à l’époque qajare est parfois considérée comme la meilleure d’Iran et la ville est un grand centre de production de qalamdān (boîtes laquées en papier mâché, généralement destinées à contenir des calames).

Meggie's Theme

THE THORN BIRDS

Music by Henry Mancini
Lyrics by Will Jennings

You know I will follow
Anywhere the heart goes
I will go until I know
All life can be

Love can hurt when you go
Anywhere the heart goes
Don't you know it isn't easy
Being me
I hold you inside where my love never dies
And you will always live somewhere in me

If you want to follow
Anywhere the heart goes
I will be here when you want me
Any way you want me
And good years bad years
Would all fall away
If I knew that your heart
Would follow my heart
Someday...

M.

Out Of Africa

Karen Blixen Museum was once the centre piece of a farm at the foot of the Ngong Hills owned by Danish Author Karen and her Swedish Husband, Baron Bror von Blixen Fincke. Located 10km from the city centre, the Museum belongs to a different time period in the history of Kenya. The farm house gained international fame with the release of the movie ‘Out of Africa’ an Oscar winning film based on Karen’s an autobiography by the same title.

The Museum is open to the Public every day (9.30 am to 6pm) including weekends and public holidays. Visitors are encouraged to be at the Museum by 5.30.  Guided tours are offered continuously.  A museum shop offers handicrafts, posters and postcards, the Movie ‘Out of Africa’, books and other Kenyan souvenirs.  The grounds may be rented for wedding receptions, corporate functions and other events.

Baroness Karen BlixenThe Museum was built in 1912 by Swedish Engineer Ake Sjogren. Karen and her husband bought the Museum house in 1917 and it become the farm house for their 4500 acre farm, of which 600 acres was used for coffee farming.  The house was sporadically occupied until purchased in 1964 by the Danish government and given to the Kenyan government as an independence gift.

The government set up a college of nutrition and the Museum was initially used as the principal’s house. In 1985 the shooting of a movie based on Karen’s autobiography began and the National Museums of Kenya expressed acquired the house for the purpose of establishing a Museum. The Museum was opened in 1986.

Distant View of Karen BlixenKaren also known by her pen name Isak Dinesen was born at Rungstedlund in Denmark on 17th of April 1885 as the second child of Wilhelm and Ingeborg Dinesen’s five children. She came to Africa in 1914 to marry her half cousin and carry out dairy farming in the then British Colony of Kenya. Her husband had however changed his mind and wanted to farm coffee. Her uncle Aage Westenholz financed the farm and members of both families were share holders. The coffee farm did not do well, suffering various tragedies including factory fire and continuous bad harvest. After her divorce, Karen was left to run the financially troubled farm on her own, a daunting task for a woman of that generation. She fell in love with an English man, Denis Finch Hatton, and his death in Tsavo in 1930 coupled with the failed farming left Karen little choice but to return to Denmark. She turned to writing as a career following her departure from Africa and published to increasing acclaim such works as Seven Gothic Tales(1934) Out of Africa(1937) and Babette Feat (1950).  She died on her family estate, Rungsted, in 1962 at the age of 77.

The Karen Blixen house meets three of thecustomary criteria for  historical significance.  First, it isassociated with the broad historical pattern of European settlement andcultivation of East Africa. Second, it is associated with the life of aperson significant to our past as the home of  Baroness Karen Blixenfrom 1917 -1931.  As such, it served as the setting and basis of herwell known book Out of Africa, written under the pseudonym Isak Dinesenand as a gathering place for other well known personalities of theperiod.  Third, the building embodies the distinctive characteristicsof its type, period and method of construction.  The house'sarchitecture is typical of late 19th century bungalow architecture,including the spacious rooms, horizontal layout verandas, tile roof andstone construction typical of scores of residences built throughoutEuropean suburbs of Nairobi in early decades.

Thechronology of the house begins with its construction in 1912 by thewealthy Swedish civil engineer, later honorary Swedish consul to Kenya, Ake Sjogren.  It served as the main residence on his Swedo-Africancoffee company , an estate of over 6,000 acres.  The house was soonvisited while on safari by the Danish count Mojen Frijs, who upon hisreturn to Denmark persuaded his cousin to seek their fortune in Kenya.Baron Blixen acquired part of the estate in 1913 and the remainder in1916.    Karen Blixen called the house "Bogani" or "Mbogani" meaning ahouse in the woods, and occupied it until 1931.


By 1985, with renewed interest in Karen Blixen occasioned by the filmproduction of Out of Africa, an agreement was reach with the collagefor the house to become part of the National Museums of Kenya. Manypieces of furniture that Karen Blixen sold to Lady McMillan on herdeparture were acquired back and constitute part of the exhibition inthe Museum. The Museum house remains a serene environment that seems tobelong to the past, surrounded by a tranquil garden and indigenousforest, with a splendid view of Karen’s beloved Ngong Hills. Shehonours the hills with the phrase ‘I had a farm in Africa at the footof the Ngong Hills’.


For further information contact.
The Curator (Ms. Damaris Rotich)
Karen Blixen Museum
P.O Box 40658- 00100 GPO, Nairobi.
Tel: 020- 8002139


 

In Gjirokastër...In this City

Without a doubt, this is the best book by an Albanian author that I’ve ever read. Is that trivially because it was my first? Only time will tell…

Ismail Kadare’s ‘Chronicle in Stone’ is the tale of a city, more than anything else. The city, Gjirokastër, is a city whose buildings are constructed primarily of stone. Living in this city is a strange fellow named Xivo Gavo, who keeps a chronicle of everything that happens in (and to) the city. Thus, we have the “chronicle” “in” “stone” (get it?).

Fortunately, we’re not subjected entirely to the point of view of the chronicler, whose work, appearing in snippets between chapters, is uninteresting, at best. In his place, we learn of the fate of hoary Gjirokastër through the small adventures of a young, nameless boy, likely patterned after the author himself. In this way, we get to see life amidst the horrors of World War II through the eyes of a child. If this sounds fascinating, I apologize for misleading you.

The main problem with ‘Chronicle in Stone’ is that the writing itself is rather unexciting. Kadare makes a few attempts to set up something interesting, and some of the inner musings of the narrator show promise (e.g. when, in the first chapter, he personifies the rain, imagining that each drop “plummet[s] into a deep prison”, which is the cistern below their house), but the inconsistency of these authorial in(ter?)ventions keeps them from becoming patterns the reader can latch onto. Consequently, when they reappear (such as the occasional and ultimately pointless references to Macbeth), the reader is left to wonder what meaning, if any, is to be taken away. All in all, the hand of the author is ever-present, and rarely is the reader allowed to get “lost” in the story.

The plot, by and large, moves between conversations between characters about the status of the city or the other characters. There’s nothing wrong with this, per se, but many of the characters are simply undercharacterized. For example, I dare you to read this book and say anything about the narrator’s father and mother. Do they have names? I can’t honestly say. We learn a fair bit about his grandmothers, his grandfather, his neighbors, some of his friends, and some miscellaneous characters about the town. Of the characters we’re introduced to, there are two types: those that are interesting (the narrator; Suzana, a young girl with whom the narrator begins to experiment romantically; Ilir, the narrator’s friend and coconspirator), and those that can be described as “the one that…” (e.g. Kako Pino is the one that does brides’ make-up and constantly claims it’s “the end of the world”; Javer is the one that aspires to be a radical; Nazo’s daughter-in-law is the one that’s pretty; Qani Kekezi is the one that dissects cats, etc.). The result is a mess of characters that do little to distinguish themselves tangled up with a host of mere caricatures.

So, the big question is this: What are we left with? Oddly enough, what you get is a surprisingly realistic–and effective–portrayal of an ancient city at the mercy of foreign powers. In a way, the relative lack of literary devices lends authenticity to some of the more bizarre and disturbing moments in the book. When, for example, an English plane is shot down, and the crowd parades through the streets with the pilot’s severed arm, as a reader, I didn’t think, “Wow, what a bizarre episode this author has created”: that happened. The townspeople’s varied reactions to being occupied first by the Italians, then by the Greeks (and then the Italians, and then the Greeks, and then the Italians, ad infinitum), and finally the Germans, are too realistic to be treated as merely fiction. What we have, then, in ‘Chronicle in Stone’, is an account of a little-discussed society ravaged by war.

The last six decades have supplied us with innumerable stories of the second World War from France, Germany, Japan, the US, Italy, North Africa, China–but Albania? Who outside of Albania even knew they were in it! As such, ‘Chronicle in Stone’ fills a void, and is a worthy addition to the rich literary landscape of World War II–and, for that reason, worth reading.

David Peterson

Cocoon, in Ice

Ghostly Illumination designed by Sofia Borges and Danika Voorhees enhances the sensory potentials of the Orthodox church through the strategic alignment of spatial boundaries. Through a series of pulls and pinches, spaces that once maintained rigid edge conditions begin to erode. This spatial erosion provides for a more dynamic and engaged experience for the user as sight lines collapse and extend and programmatic hierarchy dissolves, allowing for wider range of opportunities to intermingle between the priests and their patrons.

Inspired by the meandering nature of traditional Orthodox services, Ghostly Illumination heightens the fluidity of the interior through increased spatial and visual connectivity. The dynamic surfaces of the church negotiate between abstraction and figure, channeling the Orthodox onion dome (or eternal flame) as a central yet illusory figure. Appearing in both interior and exterior surface conditions, the figure emerges, flickers, and fades in an ongoing dialogue between icon and the ephemeral.

e Volo

Hals in Rijksmuseum Amsterdam

Hals is best known for his portraits, mainly of wealthy citizens, like Pieter van den Broecke and Isaac Massa, whom he painted three times. He also painted large group portraits, many of which showed civil guards. He was a Baroque painter who practiced an intimate realism with a radically free approach. His pictures illustrate the various strata of society; banquets or meetings of officers, sharpshooters, guildsmen, admirals, generals, burgomasters, merchants, lawyers, and clerks, itinerant players and singers, gentlefolk, fishwives and tavern heroes.

In group portraits, such as the Archers of St. Hadrian, Hals captures each character in a different manner. The faces are not idealized and are clearly distinguishable, with their personalities revealed in a variety of poses and facial expressions.

He studied under the painter and historian Karel van Mander (Hals owned some paintings by van Mander that were amongst the items sold to pay his bakery debt in 1652).

Hals was fond of daylight and silvery sheen, while Rembrandt used golden glow effects based upon artificial contrasts of low light in immeasurable gloom. Both men were painters of touch, but of touch on different keys — Rembrandt was the bass, Hals the treble. Hals seized, with rare intuition, a moment in the life of his subjects. What nature displayed in that moment he reproduced thoroughly in a delicate scale of color, and with mastery over every form of expression. He became so clever that exact tone, light and shade, and modeling were obtained with a few marked and fluid strokes of the brush.

Open Minds to Art

Established in 2003 with the aid of a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Research Forum is located at the heart of the Courtauld. The Research Forum offers an extensive programme of lectures, conferences, workshops and seminars supporting advanced inquiry in the history of art, conservation and museum studies.

Committed to inspiring dialogue and collaboration between sections of the Institute, the Research Forum has also created links with a wide range of national and international partners through jointly organised events and through its invitations to visiting professors, curators and conservators. Building contacts among researchers of all generations, the Forum seeks to enrich their experience of art history by facilitating debate and discussion. The Research Forum offers an extensive programme of lectures, conferences, workshops and seminars supporting advanced inquiry in the history of art, conservation and museum studies. Details of the Research Forum’s activities, fellowships and grants can be found by following the links below. You can also subscribe to the Research Forum’s email list by sending an email to researchforum@courtauld.ac.uk.




 

Φιλολογία στο Ταράς Σεβτσένκο

Το Ινστιτούτο Φιλολογίας του Εθνικού Πανεπιστημίου Κιέβου «Ταράς Σεβτσένκο» από κοινού με το Ινστιτούτο της Ουκρανικής Γλώσσας της Εθνικής Ακαδημίας Επιστημών της Ουκρανίας και την Ελληνική Πρεσβεία στην Ουκρανία διοργανώνει Διεθνές Επιστημονικό Συνέδριο με θέμα «Η πνευματική κληρονομιά του καθηγητή Α. Ο. Μπιλέτσκυ στο φως των νεώτερων εξελίξεων της επιστημονικής γνώσεως» με αφορμή τη συμπλήρωση εκατό χρόνων από τη γέννησή του. Το Συνέδριο θα πραγματοποιηθεί στις 21 Οκτωβρίου 2011.

Στις 20 Μαΐου 1999 στο πλαίσιο του Ινστιτούτου Φιλολογίας του Εθνικού Πανεπιστημίου «Ταράς Σεβτσένκο» του Κιέβου ιδρύθηκε η Έδρα Ελληνικών Σπουδών για την κατάρτιση φιλόλογων-ελληνιστών και διερμηνέων.

Είναι γεγονός ότι στο Πανεπιστήμιο αυτό η εκμάθηση της νέας ελληνικής ως δεύτερης ξένης γλώσσας ξεκίνησε το 1958 από τους επιφανείς ελληνιστές – καθηγητή Ανδρέα Μπιλέτσκυ και υφηγήτρια Τετιάνα Τσερνισόβα στο πλαίσιο της Έδρας Κλασικών Σπουδών. Με την πρωτοβουλία των σπουδαίων αυτών φιλολόγων ξεκίνησε και η μετάφραση έργων των Ελλήνων συγγραφέων στα ουκρανικά και των έργων του Ταράς Σεβτσένκο, της Λέσια Ουκραΐνκα και του Ιβάν Φρανκό στα νέα ελληνικά.

Τώρα οι φοιτητές του Τμήματος Δυτικής Φιλολογίας μαθαίνουν τα νέα ελληνικά ως πρώτη ή δεύτερη ξένη γλώσσα. Η Διευθύντρια της Έδρας είναι καθηγήτρια Νίνα Κλιμένκο, η γλωσσολόγος και ουκρανολόγος που επί πολλά χρόνια μελετά τις ελληνο-ουκρανικές γλωσσικές επαφές, μεταφράζει από τα νέα ελληνικά. Την ελληνική διδάσκουν επίσης ο γλωσσολόγος, συγγραφέας και μεταφραστής καθηγητής Αλέξανδρος Πονομαρίβ, ο υφηγητής Ευγένιος Τσερνούχιν, οι λέκτορες Ιρήνα Τιταρένκο, Ταράς Μπόΐκο, Ανδρέας Σαβένκο και Σβετλάνα Περεπλιότσικοβα.

Οι καθηγητές της Έδρας παραδίδουν τα κάτωθι μαθήματα: πρακτική εξάσκηση, θεωρητική γραμματική, θεωρητική φωνητική, λεξικολογία, υφολογία, συγκριτική γραμματική της νέας ελληνικής και της ουκρανικής γλώσσας, οι αρχές της ειδικότητας, χωρογραφία, επιχειρηματική ορολογία, γνωστικές επιστήμες, συγκριτική λεξικολογία της ουκρανικής και της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας κ.α.

Οι καθηγητές της Έδρας μελετούν τα εξής θέματα: ελληνο-ουκρανικές γλωσσικές επαφές (καθηγητής Πονομαρίβ Α.Δ.), συγκριτικές έρευνες της ελληνικής και της ουκρανικής γλώσσας, λειτουργική και δομική γραμματική (καθηγήτρια Κλιμένκο Ν.Θ.), θεωρία και πρακτική μετάφρασης (διδάσκοντες Περεπλιότσικοβα Σ.Ε., Σαβένκο Α.Α., Τιταρένκο Ι.Β., Μπόΐκο Τ.Α.). Ο υφηγητής Ευγένιος Τσερνούχιν μελετά τα ελληνικά χειρόγραφα που διατηρούνται στην Εθνική Βιβλιοθήκη «Βλαδίμηρος Βερνάτσκυ» της Εθνικής Ακαδημίας Επιστημών της Ουκρανίας.

greece.kiev.ua

Museum of Nature in Canada

The Canadian Museum of Nature (French: Musée Canadien de la nature) is a natural history museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its collections, which were started by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1856, include all aspects of the intersection of human society and nature, from gardening to gene-splicing.The Museum is affiliated with the Canadian Museums Association, the Canadian Heritage Information Network, and the Virtual Museum of Canada.

The building, known as the Victoria Memorial Museum Building, was built in former farm fields known as Appin Place, the estate of the Scottish-born merchant, William Stewart. The neighbourhood became known as Stewarton and residential development started in the area during the 1870s. The government purchased the land in 1905 hoping to develop the site as a sort of 'end piece' to complement the stone structure of the Canadian Parliament Buildings at the opposite end of Metcalfe Street, on Parliament Hill.

Nighttime view of new Queen's Lantern, built where old tower stood. This massive stone structure is an excellent example of early 20th-century architecture in Ottawa, and was built for $1,250,000 by architect David Ewart who is responsible for many similar structures around the city.The construction of the building involved the importing of 300 skilled stone masons from Scotland. The architectural style is sometimes described as Scottish baronial. Ewart was sent to Britain to study the architecture of Hampton Court and Windsor Castle, which greatly influenced his design of this building.

Unfortunately, because of the presence of unstable Leda clay in the geology of the site, a tall tower that was situated at the front of the building had to be taken down in 1915 due to settling and the concern that the foundation could not support the weight. The unstable site forced some workers to stop working, as shifting foundations in the basement shot bricks and stones out from the walls, hitting some construction workers.

A major renovation of all parts of the building began in 2004 and was completed in 2010, including a lighter-weight glass "lantern" taking the place of the tower removed in 1915. For most of the duration of the renovation, parts of the building were still open to the public, but the entire building was closed temporarily on 26 April 2010 for final changes. The newly renovated museum re-opened again on 22 May 2010, and the lantern structure was christened the "Queens' Lantern" in honour of both Elizabeth II, who visited the building on her 2010 royal tour, and Queen Victoria.

The Art of War

Κάθε πόλεμος βασίζεται στο κατά πόσον ο ένας αντίπαλος καταφέρνει να εξαπατήσει τον άλλον με μεγαλύτερη επιτυχία. Η επίδειξη αδυναμίας είναι συχνά ένα μεγάλο όπλο που τις περισσότερες φορές καταφέρνει να παραπλανήσει τους αντιπάλους και να τους κάνει να αισθανθούν υπεροχή. Όσο περισσότερο προσποιούμαστε αδυναμία και υποχωρητική διάθεση τόσο ο αντίπαλος υπερεκτιμά τις ικανότητες και τις επιτυχίες του. Στην πραγματικότητα όμως σιγά - σιγά αποδυναμώνεται και εξαντλείται με αποτέλεσμα., όταν εμείς αντεπιτεθούμε δεν είναι προετοιμασμένος γι' αυτό ούτε και το αναμένει. Η τακτική της εξαπάτησης του αντιπάλου είναι χρέος του πολεμιστή καθώς στον πόλεμο δεν ισχύει καμιά από τις συμβάσεις της ειρήνης.
Είπαν κάποιες φωνές πως η ειρήνη είναι ένα τέχνασμα της πολεμικής στρατηγικής κι ουσιαστικά δεν υπάρχει. Είπαν άλλες φωνές πάλι ότι αν θέλουμε ειρήνη πρέπει να προετοιμαζόμαστε για τον πόλεμο. Ο καλύτερος τρόπος εδραίωσης της ειρήνης είναι η καλή γνώση των πολεμικών τακτικών, όσο κι αν αυτό ακούγεται παράξενο. Όσο περισσότερο σεβόμαστε εκείνον που έχουμε απέναντί μας, τόσο πιο προσεκτικά τον αντιμετωπίζουμε. Ο σεβασμός στον αντίπαλο είναι το μυστικό κλειδί που καθορίζει τη στάση μας. Η αλαζονεία, που από τους αρχαίους Έλληνες αποκαλέστηκε «ύβρις», επισύρει αργά ή γρήγορα την καταστροφή του αλαζόνα.

Το έργο του κινέζου Σουν Τζου «Η τέχνη του πολέμου», θεωρητικού της στρατηγικής, έχει διαβαστεί από πάρα πολλές γενιές επίδοξων στρατηγών, σύγχρονων μάνατζερς και προπονητών αθλητικών ομάδων. Πρόκειται για ένα δοκίμιο περί της «τέχνης του πολέμου», που δημιουργήθηκε πριν από 2.500 χρόνια κι όμως παραμένει εξαιρετικά σύγχρονο. Σύμφωνα με τους κινέζους ερευνητές που αποκατέστησαν το έργο του Σουν Τζου, τα κείμενα αυτά βρέθηκαν το 1972 σε τάφους που χρονολογούνται γύρω στο 140 - 118 π. Χ. και ήταν γραμμένα πάνω σε λωρίδες από μπαμπού. Σύμφωνα άλλωστε και με τις πρώτες ανακοινώσεις που πραγματοποιήθηκαν, τα αποσπάσματα που βρέθηκαν δεν ανήκαν σε έναν μόνο συγγραφέα. Αναφορά στο αρχαίο αυτό δοκίμιο έγινε από την ελληνική έκδοση του έργου του B. H. Liddell Hart “Stragedy” (ΓΕΣ 1963). Το έργο της αποκατάστασης και ανασύνθεσης του έργου αυτού φαίνεται πως ολοκληρώθηκε το 1991 σε αγγλική έκδοση, σχολιασμένο από το συγγραφέα James Clavell.

Μας ξαφνιάζει ενίοτε η αναφορά στον πόλεμο, μας προβληματίζει πολύ περισσότερο η αναφορά στην τέχνη που μπορεί να τον διέπει. Έχουμε συχνά συνδεδεμένο στο νου μας τον πόλεμο με τον θάνατο, με την καταστροφή που τον διαδέχεται και με τον ανθρώπινο πόνο, που κάθε πόλεμος προκαλεί. Ο πόλεμος είναι εν γένει μια έννοια συνδεδεμένη με την κατάκτηση, με την καταπάτηση δικαιωμάτων των ανθρώπων. Διαβάζουμε στο κείμενο του Σουν Τζου: «Σε όλη την ιστορία δεν υπάρχει περίπτωση μιας χώρας που να ωφελήθηκε από έναν παρατεταμένο πόλεμο». Και πιο κάτω: «Μόνο κάποιος που γνωρίζει τα καταστροφικά αποτελέσματα ενός μακροχρόνιου πολέμου, μπορεί να κατανοήσει τη μεγάλη σπουδαιότητα της γρήγορης λήξης του.»
ΣΟΥΝ ΤΖΟΥ
Η Τέχνη του Πολέμου

Australia in Literature's Hand

The National Library of Australia is the country's largest reference library. Our role is to ensure that documentary resources of national significance relating to Australia and the Australian people, as well as significant non-Australian library materials, are collected, preserved and made accessible either through the Library itself or through collaborative arrangements with other libraries and information providers.

By offering a strong national focus in all that we do and cooperating with others who share our goals, the Library contributes to the continuing vitality of Australia’s culture and heritage.
http://www.nla.gov.au/
.

Ληστές σε παράφραση...

Ο Ντικ Τάρπιν, "κρυμμένος σε μια σπηλιά στο δάσος του Έπινγκ". Γκραβούρα του J. Smith.

Η μελέτη Bandits του Έρικ Χομπσμπάουμ, που εκδόθηκε το 1969, αποτέλεσε ένα βιβλίο-σταθμό.

Μέσα από τις σελίδες τους μια μεγάλη γκάμα κοινωνικών ληστών και των εξεγερμένων παράνομων προβάλλει ορμητικά στο προσκήνιο της ιστορικής μελέτης (από τους βαλκάνιους χαϊδούκους και τους ινδούς δακοΐτες μέχρι τους μπαντίτι του ιταλικού Νότου, τους μπαντολέρος της Ανδαλουσίας, τους ρώσους ρασμπόινικι, τους συμμορίτες της Κίνας, τους μεξικανούς και τους περουβιανούς παράνομους, τους ληστές των ταξιδιωτών στην Ευρώπη και τους ντεσπεράντος της Άγριας Δύσης, τους αυστραλούς μπουσρέιντζερς, τους βραζιλιάνους κανγκασέιρος και τους απαλλοτριωτές τραπεζών), εγκαινιάζοντας ένα νέο ρεύμα στις ιστορικές σπουδές. Το 2000 κυκλοφορεί η τέταρτη, αναθεωρημένη και επαυξημένη έκδοση του έργου, όπου ο συγγραφέας έχει λάβει υπόψη του τις νεότερες έρευνες αλλά και τις κριτικές που δέχτηκε.

Η νέα αυτή έκδοση κυκλοφόρησε στα ελληνικά από τις εκδόσεις Θεμέλιο. Αναδημοσιεύουμε σήμερα ορισμένα χαρακτηριστικά αποσπάσματα από το όγδοο κεφάλαιο του κλασικού αυτού έργου, από τα “Ενθέματα”.

O ληστής πρέπει να διαλέξει αν θα γίνει κακοποιός ή επαναστάτης. Η κοινωνική ληστεία από τη φύση της αμφισβητεί, σε επίπεδο αρχής, την καθιερωμένη τάξη πραγμάτων της ταξικής κοινωνίας και την πολιτική της λειτουργία, όποιοι και να ‘ναι οι συμβιβασμοί της με αυτά στην πράξη. Στο βαθμό που αποτελεί φαινόμενο κοινωνικής διαμαρτυρίας, μπορεί να θεωρηθεί προάγγελος ή εν δυνάμει υποκινητής της εξέγερσης.

Ως προς αυτό διαφέρει ριζικά από το συνηθισμένο υπόκοσμο του εγκλήματος, απέναντι στον οποίο είχαμε ήδη κάποιες ευκαιρίες να τον αντιπαραβάλλουμε. Ο υπόκοσμος (όπως υποδηλώνει και η ονομασία του) είναι μια αντι-κοινωνία, που υφίσταται αντιστρέφοντας τις αξίες του «φυσιολογικού» κόσμου, κατά τα άλλα όμως παρασιτεί σε βάρος του. Ένας επαναστατικός κόσμος είναι κι αυτός «φυσιολογικός» κόσμος, με εξαίρεση ίσως κάποιες ιδιαίτερα αποκαλυψιακές στιγμές, οπότε ακόμα και οι αντικοινωνικοί κακοποιοί παρουσιάζουν παροξυσμό πατριωτισμού ή επαναστατική έξαψη. Επομένως, για τον αληθινό υπόκοσμο, οι επαναστάσεις δεν είναι τίποτε άλλο παρά ασυνήθιστα καλές ευκαιρίες για εγκλήματα. Δεν υπάρχουν εν­δείξεις ότι ο ιδιαίτερα πλούσιος υπόκοσμος του Παρισιού προ­μήθευσε αγωνιστές ή οπαδούς στις γαλλικές επαναστάσεις του 18ου και του 19ου αιώνα, μολονότι το 1871 οι πόρνες ήταν σα­φώς υπέρ της Κομμούνας: αλλά, ως τάξη, ήταν μάλλον θύματα εκμετάλλευσης παρά εγκληματίες. Οι εγκληματικές συμμορίες που μάστιζαν την ύπαιθρο της Γαλλίας και της Ρηνανίας μετά το 1790 δεν ήταν επαναστατικά φαινόμενα αλλά συμπτώματα κοινωνικής αταξίας. Ο υπόκοσμος μπαίνει στην ιστορία των ε­παναστάσεων μόνο στο βαθμό που οι classes dangereuses ζουν πλάι στις classes laborieuses, ιδιαίτερα σε μερικές συνοικίες της πόλης, και επειδή οι αρχές αντιμετωπίζουν τους εξεγερμένους ως εγκληματίες και παράνομους — σε επίπεδο αρχής, όμως, η διάκριση είναι ξεκάθαρη.

Οι ληστές, από την άλλη, μοιράζονται τις αξίες και τις επι­διώξεις του αγροτικού κόσμου και, σαν παράνομοι και στασια­στές, είναι συνήθως ευαίσθητοι στα επαναστατικά του ξεσπά­σματα. Ως άνθρωποι που έχουν ήδη κερδίσει την ελευθερία τους μπορεί να περιφρονούν συνήθως την αδρανή και παθητική μά­ζα, ακριβώς όμως σε στιγμές επανάστασης αυτή η παθητικότη­τα εξαφανίζεται. Πολυάριθμοι χωρικοί γίνονται, ληστές. Στους ουκρανικούς ξεσηκωμούς του 16ου και 17ου αιώνα, οι αγρότες δήλωναν κοζάκοι. Το 1860-1861 οι αγροτικές αντάρτικες μονά­δες συγκροτήθηκαν γύρω από ληστρικές συμμορίες, και με α­νάλογο τρόπο: οι τοπικοί αρχηγοί συμμοριών τράβηξαν κοντά τους, μαζικά, αποστρατευμένους στρατιώτες των Βουρβώνων, λιποτάχτες, όσους ήθελαν ν’ αποφύγουν τη στρατιωτική θητεία, δραπέτες φυλακών, ανθρώπους που φοβούνταν διώξεις για πράξεις κοινωνικής διαμαρτυρίας κατά τη γαριβαλδινή απε­λευθέρωση, χωρικούς και ορεσίβιους που γύρευαν ελευθερία, εκδίκηση, λάφυρα, ή έναν συνδυασμό όλων αυτών. Όπως η συ­νηθισμένη παράνομη συμμορία, οι μονάδες αυτές προσπάθησαν αρχικά να συγκροτηθούν στα περίχωρα των οικισμών απ’ όπου αντλούσαν τα μέλη τους, να εγκαταστήσουν μια βάση στα κοντινά βουνά ή δάση, και ξεκίνησαν τη δράση τους με ενέργειες που δύσκολα ξεχώριζαν από τις πράξεις των κοινών ληστών. Μόνο που το κοινωνικό πλαίσιο ήταν τώρα διαφορετικό. Στη μειοψηφία των ανυπόταχτων είχε προσχωρήσει τώρα και η πλειοψηφία. Κοντολογίς, για να παραθέσουμε έναν ολλανδό μελετητή της Ινδονησίας, σε τέτοιες στιγμές «η ληστρική συμμορία συσχετίζεται με άλλες ομάδες και εκδηλώνεται με αυτό το προσωπείο, ενώ ομάδες που ξεκίνησαν με πιο έντιμα ιδανικά παίρνουν ληστρικό χαρακτήρα». [...]

Είναι ασυνήθιστο να γίνει η ληστεία επαναστατι­κό κίνημα και να κυριαρχήσει σε αυτό. Όπως έχουμε δει, υπάρχουν τέτοιοι περιορισμοί, και τεχνικοί και ιδεολογικοί, που την κάνουν ακατάλληλη για κάτι παραπάνω από πρόσκαιρες ενέργειες λίγων δεκάδων ενόπλων, και η εσωτερική της οργάνωση δεν προσφέρει κανένα πρότυπο που να μπορεί να γενικευτεί σε ολόκληρη την κοινωνία. Ακόμα και οι κοζάκοι, που ανέπτυξαν αρκετά μεγάλες και δομημένες μόνιμες κοινό­τητες, και πολύ σημαντικές κινητοποιήσεις για τις εκστρατείες τους, πρόσφεραν μόνο ηγέτες και όχι μοντέλα στις μεγάλες α­γροτικές εξεγέρσεις: τις καθοδήγησαν σαν «τσάροι του λαού», όχι σαν αταμάνοι. Η ληστεία είναι λοιπόν πιθανότερο να προ­σχωρήσει σε αγροτικές επαναστάσεις απλώς σαν μια όψη μιας πολύμορφης κινητοποίησης, και έχοντας συνείδηση ότι αποτε­λεί υποδεέστερη μορφή, με εξαίρεση ένα σημείο: προμηθεύει πολεμιστές και πολέμαρχους. Πριν την επανάσταση μπορεί να είναι, για να παραθέσω τα λόγια ενός άξιου ιστορικού της α­γροτικής αναταραχής στην Ινδονησία, «ένα χωνευτήρι απ’ όπου αναδύονται η θρησκευτική αναβίωση από τη μία και η εξέγερση από την άλλη». Όταν ξεσπάει η επανάσταση, οι ληστές μπορεί να σμίξουν με το γενικό χιλιαστικό ξεσηκωμό: «Οι ομάδες των Rampok ξεφύτρωναν σαν τα μανιτάρια, και γρήγορα τις ακο­λουθούσαν περιπλανώμενες ομάδες του πληθυσμού, κυριευμέ­νες από την προσδοκία ενός Μαχντί ή της χιλιετίας». (Πρόκει­ται για περιγραφή του γιαβανέζικου κινήματος μετά την ήττα των Γιαπωνέζων στα 1945). Ωστόσο, χωρίς τον αναμενόμενο Μεσσία, το χαρισματικό ηγέτη ή το «δίκαιο βασιλιά» (ή οποι­ονδήποτε που να διεκδικεί το στέμμα του), ή -για να παραμεί­νουμε στο ινδονησιακό παράδειγμα- τους εθνικιστές διανοού­μενους πίσω από τον Σουκάρνο, που προσκολλήθηκαν σ’ αυτό το κίνημα, τέτοια φαινόμενα είναι πιθανότερο να υποχωρήσουν αφήνοντας πίσω τους, το πολύ, κάποιες ενέργειες οπισθοφυλα­κής από ξεκομμένους αντάρτες.

Οι ληστές δυσκολεύονται περισσότερο να αφομοιωθούν σε σύγχρονα κινήματα κοινωνικής και πολιτικής επανάστασης που δε στρέφονται, κατά κύριο λόγο, ενάντια σε ξένους. Όχι πάντως επειδή έχουν μεγαλύτερη δυσκολία να κατανοήσουν, τουλάχιστον καταρχήν, τα συνθήματα για ελευθερία, ισότητα, αδελφοσύνη, για γη και ελευθερία, για δημοκρατία και κομμουνισμό, αν αυτά διατυπωθούν σε γλώσσα που να τους είναι οικεία. Απεναντίας, αυτά τους φαίνονταν προφανείς αλήθειες και το μόνο που τους εντυπωσίαζε ήταν ότι υπήρχαν άνθρωποι που μπορούσαν να τις εκφράσουν με τις σωστές λέξεις. «Η αλήθεια γαργαλάει του καθενός τα ρουθούνια», λέει ο Σουρόβκοφ, ο άγριος κοζάκος, μόλις ακούει τον Ισαάκ Μπαμπέλ να διαβάζει κάποιο λόγο του Λένιν απ’ την Πράβδα. «Το θέμα είναι πώς να την ξεδιαλέξεις απ’ το σωρό. Τούτος όμως πάει κατευθείαν απάνω της, σαν την κότα που τσιμπάει το σπυρί». Το πρόβλημα είναι ότι αυτές οι προφανείς αλήθειες συνδυάζονται με ανθρώπους της πόλης, μορφωμένους, μικροευγενείς, με την αντίθεση στο Θεό και στον τσάρο, δηλαδή με δυνάμεις συνήθως εχθρικές ή ακατανόητες για τους καθυστερημένους χωρικούς.

Ωστόσο, η σύνδεση μπορεί να γίνει. 0 μεγάλος Πάντσο Βίλλα στρατολογήθηκε από τους ανθρώπους του Μαδέρο στη Μεξι­κάνικη Επανάσταση κι έγινε ένας θαυμάσιος στρατηγός του ε­παναστατικού στρατού. Από όλους τους επαγγελματίες ληστές του δυτικού κόσμου, είναι ίσως εκείνος που είχε την πιο αξιο­πρόσεχτη επαναστατική σταδιοδρομία. Όταν τον επισκέφτη­καν οι απεσταλμένοι του Μαδέρο πείστηκε αμέσως, καθώς μά­λιστα ήταν ο μόνος τοπικός ληστής που εκείνοι ήθελαν να στρα­τολογήσουν στην υπόθεση, παρόλο που δεν είχε δείξει προηγου­μένως κάποιο ενδιαφέρον για την πολιτική. Ο Μαδέρο ήταν άν­θρωπος πλούσιος και μορφωμένος. Αν αυτός ήταν με τη μεριά του λαού, αυτό αποδείκνυε ότι ήταν ανιδιοτελής και η υπόθεση του αγνή. Άνθρωπος του λαού ο ίδιος κι άνθρωπος της τιμής, και καθώς μια τέτοια πρόσκληση τιμούσε την υπόληψή του στο χώρο της ληστείας, πώς μπορούσε να διστάσει να θέσει τους ά­ντρες του και τα όπλα τους στη διάθεση της επανάστασης;

Λιγότερο γνωστοί ληστές μπορεί να προσχώρησαν στην υ­πόθεση της επανάστασης για παρόμοιους λόγους. Όχι επειδή κατανοούσαν τις περιπλοκές της δημοκρατικής, σοσιαλιστικής ή αναρχικής θεωρίας (αν και η τελευταία έχει λίγες περιπλο­κές), αλλά επειδή η υπόθεση του λαού και των φτωχών ήταν αυτονόητα δίκαιη, και οι επαναστάτες αποδείκνυαν την αξιο­πιστία τους με την ανιδιοτέλεια, την αυτοθυσία και την αφοσίωσή τους — με άλλα λόγια με την προσωπική τους συμπερι­φορά. Να γιατί η στρατιωτική θητεία και η φυλακή, οι χώροι ό­που είναι πιο πιθανό να συναντηθούν σε συνθήκες ισότητας και αμοιβαίας εμπιστοσύνης ληστές και σύγχρονοι επαναστάτες, είδαν πολλές πολιτικές μεταστροφές. Τα χρονικά της σύγχρο­νης σαρδηνικής ληστείας παρουσιάζουν πολλά παραδείγματα.

Και να γιατί εκείνοι που το 1861 έγιναν αρχηγοί των υπέρ των Βουρβώνων συμμοριών ήταν συχνά οι ίδιοι άνθρωποι που είχαν ακολουθήσει το λάβαρο του Γαριβάλδη, που έμοιαζε, μιλούσε και έπραττε σαν «αληθινός απελευθερωτής του λαού»...

Ε.Η

Les Misérables Hugo

...Valjean manages to escape, only to be recaptured and sentenced to death. This was commuted by the king to penal servitude for life. While being sent to the prison at Toulon, a military port, Valjean saves a sailor about to fall from the ship's rigging. The crowd begins to call "This man must be pardoned!" but when the authorities reject the crowd's pleas, Valjean fakes a slip and falls into the ocean to escape, relying on the belief that he has drowned.

Valjean arrives at Montfermeil on Christmas Eve. He finds Cosette fetching water in the woods alone and walks with her to the inn. After ordering a meal, he observes the Thénardiers’ abusive treatment of her. He also witnesses their pampered daughters Éponine and Azelma treating Cosette badly as well when they tell on her to their mother for holding their abandoned doll. Upon seeing this, Valjean goes out and returns a moment later holding an expensive new doll. He offers it to Cosette. At first, she is unable to comprehend that the doll really is for her, but then happily takes it. This results in Mme. Thénardier becoming furious with Valjean, while Thénardier dismisses it, informing her that he can do as he wishes as long as he pays them. It also causes Éponine and Azelma to become envious of Cosette.

The next morning on Christmas Day, Valjean informs the Thénardiers that he wants to take Cosette with him. Mme. Thénardier immediately accepts, while Thénardier pretends to have love and concern for Cosette and how reluctant he is to give her up. Valjean pays 1,500 francs to them, and he and Cosette leave the inn. However, Thénardier, hoping to swindle more out of Valjean, runs after them, holding the 1,500 francs, and tells Valjean he wants Cosette back. He informs Valjean that he cannot release Cosette without a note from the mother. Valjean hands Thénardier a letter, which is signed by Fantine. Thénardier then orders Valjean to pay a thousand crowns, but Valjean and Cosette leave. Thénardier regrets to himself that he did not bring his gun, and turns back toward home.

Valjean and Cosette flee to Paris. Valjean rents new lodgings at Gorbeau House, and he and Cosette live there happily. However, Javert discovers Valjean's lodgings there a few months later.
Valjean takes Cosette and they try to escape from Javert. They soon successfully find shelter in the Petit-Picpus convent with the help of Fauchelevent, the man whom Valjean rescued and who is a gardener for the convent. Valjean also becomes a gardener and Cosette becomes a student.

RiverSide Museum of Transport

Zaha Hadid Architects announced the completion of the Glasgow Riverside Museum of Transport. The building has received instant praise by architecture critics and the press.

The historical development of the Clyde and the city is a unique legacy; with the site situated where the Kelvin flows into the Clyde the building can flow from the city to the river. In doing so it can symbolise a dynamic relationship where the museum is the voice of both, linking the two sides and allowing the museum to be the transition from one to the other. By doing so the museum places itself in the very context of its origin and encourages connectivity between its exhibits and their wider context.

The building would be a tunnel-like shed, which is open at opposite ends to the city and the Clyde. In doing so it becomes porous to its context on either side. However, the connection from one to the other is where the building diverts to create a journey away from the external context into the world of the exhibits. Here the interior path becomes a mediator between the city and the river which can either be hermetic or porous depending on the exhibition layout. Thus the museum positions itself symbolically and functionally as open and fluid with its engagement of context and content.

e Volo
 

Persian Letters, Persian Manners

INTRODUCTION
1721

I am not about to write a dedication, nor do I solicit protection for this work. It will be read, if it is good; and if it is bad, I am not anxious that it should be read.

I have issued these first letters in order to gauge the public taste; in my portfolio I have a goodly number more which I may hereafter publish.

This, however, depends upon my remaining unknown: let my name once be published and I cease to write. I know a lady who walks well enough, but who limps if she is watched.Surely the blemishes of my book are sufficient to make it needless that I should submit those of my person to the critics. Were I known, it would be said, “His book is at odds with his character; he might have employed his time to better purpose; it is not worthy of a serious man.” Critics are never at a loss for such remarks, because there goes no great expense of brains to the making of them.

The Persians who wrote those letters lodged at my house, and we spent our time together: they looked upon me as a man belonging to another world, and so they concealed nothing from me.  Indeed, people so far from home could hardly be said to have secrets. They showed me most of their letters, and I copied them.  I also intercepted some, mortifying to Persian vanity and jealously, which they had been particularly careful to conceal from me.

I am therefore nothing more than a translator: all my endeavor has been to adapt the work to our taste and manners.  I have relieved the reader as much as possible of Asiatic phraseology, and have spared him an infinitude of sublime expressions which would have driven him wild.

Nor does my service to him end there. I have curtailed those tedious compliments of which the Orientals are lavish as ourselves; and I have omitted a great many trifling matters which barely survive exposure to the light, and ought never to emerge from the obscurity proper to “small beer.”

Had most of those who have given the world collections of letters done likewise, their words would have disappeared in the editing.  One thing has often astonished me, and that is, that these Persians seemed often to have as intimate an acquaintance as I myself with the manners and customs of our nation, an acquaintance extending to the most minute particulars and not un-possessed of many points which have escaped the observation of more than one German traveler in France.  This I attribute to the long stay which they made, without taking it into consideration how much easier it is for an Asiatic to become acquainted with the manners and customs of The French in one year, than it would be for a Frenchman to become acquainted with the manners and customs of the Asiatics in four, the former being as communicative as the latter are reserved.

Use and wont permits every translator, and even the most illiterate commentator, to adorn the beginning of his version, or of his parody, with a panegyric on the original, and to extol its usefulness, its merit, and its excellence.  It should not be very difficult to divine why I have not done so. One very excellent reason may be given: it would simply be adding tediousness to what is in itself necessarily tedious, namely, a preface.

M.

Με τη ματιά της Θεολογικής του Πρέσοβ...

Συνέδριο με θέμα "ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΗ ΓΛΩΣΣΑ ΚΑΙ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΣΜΟΣ" θα οργανώσει η Ορθόδοξη Θεολογική Σχολή του Πανεπιστημίου Πρέσοβ στη Σλοβακία, από 26 μέχρι 30 Ιουνίου 2011.

Τα θέματα του συνεδρίου είναι:

•Ο καθορισμός μεθόδων στη διδασκαλία Ελληνικής Γλώσσας ως δεύτερης (ξένης) γλώσσας
•Η λειτουργία των Εδρών Νεοελληνικής Γλώσσας και Πολιτισμού και των Κέντρων Ελληνικών Σπουδών (εκτός Ελλάδας) και τα Προγράμματα Ελληνικών Σπουδών (προοπτικές – προτάσεις)
•Το Βυζάντιο και οι Σλάβοι, αφετηρία ελληνοσλοβακικής προσέγγισης
•Η Ελληνική Γλώσσα στην Αγία Γραφή και στα έργα των Πατέρων της Εκκλησίας

http://www.eens.org/?page_id=68&event_id=18

Prešov has a long-established tradition of education and academic excellence.The University of Prešov has been a stabile constituent of the Slovak higher education space for a longer period of time. Some of its faculties have been here for more than a half of a century, other for several decades and in case of the younger ones – just several years. A wide time horizon of its presence at the Slovak intellectual scene has been a proof of a deep necessity to take care of education and the intellectual cultivation of young people generations who present not only the strength of traditions and beliefs of our ancestors but also a hope facing the future. From its very beginnings, the University of Prešov has provided the highest standards of academic education to both Slovak and foreign students across a wide range of studies in the fields of humanities, natural, theological, and managerial sciences, health and sports.

Street address: Námestie legionárov 3, 080 01 Prešov, Slovakia
Telephone: 421 (0) 51 756 3110
Fax: 421 (0) 51 756 3147
E-mail: zelink@unipo.sk
Website: http:/­/­www.unipo.sk
Proprietor: Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic - Directorate General of Higher Education
Contact: Professor Dr René Matlovič Rector
Telephone: 421 (0) 51 773 2054
 

1802, René

René, a desperately unhappy young Frenchman, seeks refuge among the Natchez people of Louisiana. It is a long time before he is persuaded to reveal the cause of his melancholy. He tells of his lonely childhood in his father's castle in Brittany. His mother died giving birth to him and since his father is a remote, forbidding figure, René takes refuge in an intense friendship with his sister Amélie and in long, solitary walks in the countryside around the castle.

When René's father dies and his brother inherits the family home, he decides to travel. He visits the ruins of ancient Greece and Rome which inspire him with melancholy reflections. He travels to Scotland to view the places mentioned by the bard Ossian and to the famous sights of Italy. Nothing satisfies him: "The ancient world had no certainty, the modern world had no beauty." He returns to France and finds society corrupt and irreligious. His sister Amélie inexplicably seems to avoid him too. As René explains:

"I soon found myself more isolated in my own land, than I had been in a foreign country. For a while I wanted to fling myself into a world which said nothing to me and which did not understand me. My soul, not yet worn out by any passion, sought an object to which it might be attached; but I realised I was giving more than I received. It was not elevated language or deep feelings that were asked of me. My only task was to shrink my soul and bring it down to society's level."

Disgusted, René withdraws from society and lives in an obscure part of the city. But this reclusive life soon bores him too. He decides to move to the countryside but he finds no happiness there: "Alas, I was alone, alone on the earth. A secret languor was taking hold of my body. The disgust for life I had felt since childhood came back with renewed force. Soon my heart no longer provided food for my mind, and the only thing I felt in my existence was a deep ennui."

René decides to kill himself, but when his sister learns of his plan, the two are joyfully reunited. But there is no happy ending. Amélie seems to be pining for something. One day, René finds she has gone, leaving a letter saying she wants to become a nun but giving no explanation why. René goes to witness her initiation ceremony where she reveals she has joined the convent because she wants to overcome her incestuous love for him. Devastated by this confession, René decides to leave Europe forever and travel to America. After spending some time with the Indians, he receives a letter announcing his sister's death. The novella concludes by revealing shortly after René told his tale, he was killed in a battle between the Natchez and the French.

in Chateaubriand's Mind

Μαγγελιανά Σύννεφα Λεκτικής Ενέργειας

Το 1935, κυκλοφόρησε στην Αργεντινή το βιβλίο που θα αποδεικνυόταν το δημοφιλέστερο απ' όλα όσα είχε ή έμελλε να εκδώσει ως το θάνατό του ο Χόρχε Λουίς Μπόρχες: η "Παγκόσμια ιστορία της ατιμίας" ("Historia universal de la infamia"), βασικός κορμός της οποίας ήταν επτά κείμενα, δημοσιευμένα στην εφημερίδα "Critica" μεταξύ 1933 και 1934, τα οποία πραγματεύονταν τον βίο και την πολιτεία επτά διαβόητων κακούργων της Ιστορίας.

Το 2004, ο Ουαλός συγγραφέας Ρις Χιουζ, αποφάσισε να... συμπληρώσει την πινακοθήκη του Μπόρχες, εν είδει κινηματογραφικού sequel, με άλλα επτά κακόφημα πορτρέτα και να τα εκδώσει υπό τον τίτλο "Νέα παγκόσμια ιστορία της ατιμίας" ("A New Universal History of Infamy"), συμπληρώνοντάς τα, κατά το καθαγιασμένο πρότυπο, με διηγήματα, παραβολές και παρωδίες με τον τρόπο του Μπόρχες.

Οικουμενική συνταγή για την Ιστορία τα Μαθηματικά και τη Λογική στην απύθμενη χύτρα του μεταμοντέρνου.

"Ο Χιουζ δίνει την εντύπωση πως είναι ευεπίφορος στη μετάλλαξη του έργου του, αφού κάτι ανάλογο έχει γίνει με την πορτογαλική μετάφραση-έκδοση δύο έργων του. Ισως αυτό να αποτελεί μέρος του παιχνιδιού του με τη λογοτεχνία, αλλά μάλλον αποκαλύπτει μια επιλογή θεωρητικής τάξεως: τη διαδικασία της συγκρότησης μιας μυθοπλασίας στη βάση ενός προϋπάρχοντος αφηγηματικού δεδομένου δεν την περιορίζει στο πλαίσιο των διακειμενικών σχέσεων ανάμεσα σε έργα που έχουν γραφεί από διαφορετικούς συγγραφείς, αλλά την επεκτείνει και σε ένα πλαίσιο σχέσεων που το έργο αναπτύσσει με αυτό το ίδιο - είτε μέσω της μετάφρασής του σε μια γλώσσα που αντιπροσωπεύει μια διαφορετική κουλτούρα από εκείνη του πρωτοτύπου είτε και μέσω μιας πιθανής επανέκδοσής του", enet.gr


ΝΕΑ ΠΑΓΚΟΣΜΙΑ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑ ΤΗΣ ΑΤΙΜΙΑΣ
Κύριος Συγγραφέας: ΧΙΟΥΖ ΡΙΣ- HUGHES RHYS Εκδοτικός Οίκος: ΠΟΛΙΣ
Έτος έκδοσης: 2007

O' Keeffe in a Painting

Georgia Totto O'Keeffe was born in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin on November 15, 1887, the second child and first daughter in a family that would eventually include two sons and five daughters.  Her parents were dairy farmers, but Georgia knew she was going to be an artist from early on.

Georgia graduated in 1905, and  continued her art studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she received top honors for her first year, but could not return for the second year, due to a serious bout with typhoid fever.  It wasn't until September 1907, that she was able to resume her studies, this time choosing New York's Art Student League, where she earned a scholarship for still life in the class of  William Merritt Chase.  During her time at the Art Student League, Georgia posed for classmate Eugene Speicher, who told her she might as well pose for him, as she would no doubt amount to nothing more than a teaching job at a girl's school. Despite the insulting remark, Georgia did pose for the portrait, and for many others by fellow students afterwards.  In the summer of 1908, on her  scholarship, she attended the Art Student League’s Outdoor School at Lake George, New York.

Georgia didn't return to the Art Student League in the fall.  She moved in with her aunt and uncle in Chicago, finding work as a commercial artist.  In 1912, Georgia was struck with Measles, and returns to Virginia to be with her family.  She later took a teaching job, replacing  Elizabeth Willis at the Chatham Episcopal Institute. The following summer, she resumed her studies, this time taking drawing classes at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville.  That same year, Georgia heard of an available teaching position as drawing supervisor, in Amarillo, Texas, so she applied and was hired for the fall semester. 

She stayed in Texas until 1914, making frequent trips to Charlottesville to spend time with her family, and to continue teaching summer classes at the University of Virginia.  She later enrolled at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she stayed until she was offered a teaching position at Columbia College in South Carolina. She sends the drawings to a friend, Anita Pollitzer, who in turn takes them to Alfred Stieglitz's 291 gallery in Chicago.  Stieglitz is very impressed, and he decided to show the drawings without first consulting Georgia, which somewhat angered her, so she traveled to New York to have him take down the artwork, but following a brief confrontation, she agreed to let Stieglitz show her work, and thus began a relationship that was to result in her marrying the art curator and photographer.

Alfred Stieglitz was an important figure in the art world, He had studied engineering and photography in Berlin before returning to the U.S. to open the 291 gallery in 1902.  He is credited has having introduced America to the works of Rodin, Matisse, and Picasso.  For years, he fought to gain the acceptance of photography as an art form, publishing  "Camera Works" magazine.  It wasn't until 1917 that Stieglitz put on a solo showing of  Georgia O'Keeffe's watercolors at his 291 gallery, shortly afterwards, 291 closed, but Stieglitz was nonetheless satisfied.  In April, on her way back to Texas from a vacation in Colorado, she stopped by Santa Fe and found great inspiration in New Mexico’s vast skies and alien landscapes.

Stieglitz loved Georgia O'Keeffe, and had admiration for her talent. He more or less became her agent, selling her works to collectors at high prices, earning her the respect she deserved as a gifted artist.  Everybody wanted an O'Keeffe...  In 1923, Stieglitz held a major exhibit of Georgia O'Keeffe's work at the Anderson Galleries, over 100 paintings in various mediums were shown, in what was to be the first of many annual showings of her work.... She referred to landscape as "the faraway", and would travel its dusty roads in a Model A Ford, with the back seat removed so she could stop and set up her canvas to paint.