-
Cobwebs
Cobwebs In Dutch one can have a head full of cobwebs, meaning you feel woolly-headed. When your head is a mess and you can’t think clearly, it may be interesting to have a good look at the cobwebs that have taken possession of your mind. They may not only be beautiful, delicate structures worthy of…
-
Black Arch
Black Arch It happened at the 2011 biennale in Venice. For the first time Saudi Arabia was represented here in a space of its own. And, even more surprising, the work of art on show was made by two women, the sisters Shadia and Raja Alem. Modern art from Saudi Arabia made by women? It’s…
-
Witness from Baghdad
Witness from Baghdad The heads of the women are blurred and their faces hidden in veils. But their eyes see. We see eyes that see. Eyes that have seen. And now the eyes have directed their penetrating look at us, confronting us onlookers. Remember last week’s photo? REMEMBER? We shall remember, Halim Al Karim! Photos…
-
Remember
Remember REMEMBER: written in capital letters on a wall on a hill in Amman, Jordan. I saw it from the hill opposite whilst visiting two modern art galleries located there. REMEMBER: is it an artistic statement; is it connected to the artworks in the gallery spaces and buildings? That could well be the case. As…
-
Ganesha in Venice
Ganesha in Venice The Italian artist Felipe Cardena called this work of his ‘The last crisis of this crazy, crazy world’. The Hindu gods are well represented in it. Apart from the popular Ganesha, there is Vishnu and also a small Shiva. They are in the company of some iconic figures – political, religious, revolutionary,…
-
Ganesha in France
Ganesha in France We’re looking at a shop-window in which we can distinguish an image of the Hindu god Ganesha flanked by two attendants. At the same time we see the facades of French houses reflected in the windowpane. Two typical cultural images, one Indian, the other French, unexpectedly merged into one. It leaves us…
-
Reflection in the Himalayas
Reflection in the Himalayas The snow-capped mountain in the sunlight is the image reflected in the window through which I took this photograph. In reality, the snow-capped mountain, which is the Nanda Devi, is behind me. If I were to turn round, I would see it through a window opposite the one through which I…
-
Eclipse
Eclipse The sun shines through a window into a room. The rays fall onto a stainless steel water filter and are reflected on the wall behind it where they produce this intriguing image. The image, with its bright halo around a dark centre, reminds me of the solar eclipse I once observed. But there are other…
-
Painter’s palette
Painter’s palette Aboriginal artists from Arnhem Land in the north of Australia don’t really use a palette. Most of the time they work while sitting on the floor and the space around them gradually gets more and more stained with the clay paint they use for their barks. On the photo we see a worktable…
-
Clay art
Clay art Unlike the marvellous creations of the termite or the crab, which we have been able to admire in the posts over the past two weeks, human creations can sometimes be called art. This is due to humanity’s ability to think, to reflect on itself and the world. Human creative works are, to a…
καιρός remembered
… the right moment, position chosen, shoot …
καιρός remembered 