Monthly Archives: January 2009
Traditional Style
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Tagged domestic, hotels, international, photos, style, traditional
Life in Wartime and Post-Wartime
Japan’s defeat in World War II changed the country, and Tokyo in particular, in ways that are difficult to imagine for people in the West. Razed to the ground by allied firebombing, Tokyo has been rebuilt from scratch over the last 50 years, and the post-war American occupation meant that Western culture got its first real foothold in Japan since the country’s doors opened to the rest of the world at the end of the 19th century. This collection of pictures and photographs drawn or taken by local people during and shortly after the war reflects a way of life that has all but vanished in just half a century.
Initiare
This exhibition forms part of the embryonic collection of the Institute of Contemporary Art that has been taking shape since 1997. The aim is to bring together a body of work that is representative of the main trends of recent years in Portugal and abroad. There is a strong Portuguese slant, but there are also many works by foreign artists, among them Jimmie Durham, Markus Ambach, Douglas Gordon, Sam Taylor-Wood and Mariko Mori.
MOMA 2000
Moma gets Millennial with this exhibition on modern art history. The first exhibition cycle, ‘ModernStarts’, covers 1880 until 1920, and consists of three parts housed on different floors, exploring ‘People’, ‘Places’ and ‘Things’. This thematic focus is a deliberate attempt to break out of the traditional chronological approach and to stress instead connections of style, medium, school and thematic concern by juxtaposing work from different eras. Selected contemporary work will be incorporated into these installations to show the influence of the traditions, themes and subject matter of the period.
Jablkon
Mixing pop and instrumentation borrowed from African chieftains, the Jablkon sound could not be mistaken for anyone else’s. These old hands on the Prague scene draw an eclectic, bookish crowd, who tend to enjoy listening more than dancing, so expect a mellow rather than manic night. The Czech-only lyrics are a challenge, but they don’t make a lot of linear sense anyway … it’s Jablkon’s vast collection of primitive drums, bells, gongs and other finds that you want to hear.
The currency of Belarus
When we were in Belorus we got a little confused about the local currency, the Belorussian rouble. The notes are worth ten times the amount printed on them, which caused some embarrassment. In a restaurant in Minsk we paid in Russian roubles and the waitress refused to give us any change. After a discussion (in Russian) she gave us some Belorussian rouble notes (small ones with animals printed on them) and told us they were worth ten times the value printed on them. We thought she was trying to deceive us, but later found out she was not.
