Category: Asia
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Dance of Death
My usual order of confronting a visual art object: first I look and, in this case at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale, I see a collection of hanging light bulbs. If the work permits it I walk around it and try to make sense of what I see. Then I read the legend on the wall, often an…
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The Annunciation
The mysterious moment when Maria is informed that she is chosen to carry the son of God inside her womb and to bring him into the world, has inspired many a painter to exceptional works of art. All great painters of the Renaissance will have an ‘Annunciazione’ to their name. A very beautiful example is the…
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Holland in Kochi
One of the first things I saw at the 3rd edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale was a little painting of a Dutch landscape. Holland in Kochi! I immediately felt at home again. Daniele Galliano, an Italian artist, likes combing flea markets in search of paintings by anonymous Sunday painters. He dusts them off and then…
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Ambrosia
According to one creation myth of ancient Mesopotamia, the gods created humankind because they were fed up of having to look after their own food. Yes, gods also need food to survive, and they want man to provide it. As we can see here, man, religious man, still acquits himself faithfully of his task. This…
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The joy of sex …
… is of all time. This lovely scene was immortalized in stone 1000 years ago. It is part of hundreds of erotic sculptures that adorn the ancient temples of Khajuraho (India), a Unesco World Heritage Site. Rightly so! Photo of the week: Lakshmana temple, c. 1000 AD, Khajuraho, India 2007
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Living doll
Apart from the phallus shrine that I showed you in last week’s post, I also came across – at the same flea market – this exquisite Geisha doll. The doll almost seems alive, radiating the modesty of a real Geisha. A masterly example of true Japanese craftsmanship! Photo of the week: Geisha doll at the…
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Phallus shrine
A wooden phallus in a small wooden shrine. How did this piece end up at the flea market of Kitano-Tenman-gu? Has it figured on someone’s house altar – or bedside table – and fallen out of favour? We can only fantasize about it and think up vivid stories, but we don’t know. It is likely…
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Kinkaku-ji
Again three, and well placed, like in last weeks picture! In an earlier post with the title What shall I wear today? I have speculated on the question of ‘intention or coincidence’ in relation to a photo taken – as it happens – in the same Kinkaku-ji park. In the former case I didn’t rule…
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Two or three
Sometimes I can be perfectly happy with two, at other times it has to be three. So it seems. If it had been two I would not have annoyed you with this picture, would not have taken it in the first place. Three makes all the difference here. See how beautifully they occupy the space!…
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A child is born
every quarter of a second. Happy Christmas. Photo of the week: Christmas, Mumbai, India 2014
καιρός remembered 