Category: Italy
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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 nice to…
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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, terrorist, … –…
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Bathing in paint
We’re back at the Italian pavilion of the Venice Biennale in 2011. In an earlier post I had called it a sort of junk art shop. The larger than life portraits of a man and a woman bathing are impressive. Look how true-to-life the water is flowing in plenty over their heads! The open mouths, looking…
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Bird’s-eye view (3)
Like in last two posts, we’re again looking down at paving stones, this time on the main historic square in Siena, Italy. But now the bird’s-eye is so high above the ground that we can perceive the people down below only as tiny little puppets. They are too small to notice any remarkable, distinguishing features.…
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Ah … Holidays!
Sometimes you receive a picture postcard – although less and less in this digital age – that arouses deep inside you an instant longing to be there; to see the scenery with your own eyes; to take it in with all your senses. That is of course the whole purpose of a postcard, to pull…
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Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
Popular belief or the folklore of faith is, in general, what religion means to the common man. It is its most widespread manifestation, not only in Catholicism, but in other religions as well. There’s a lot of suffering in the world and people are often subjected to great stress, either self imposed, or by their…
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Treasure-house Venice
One of the nice things of the Italian pavilion at the 2011 Biennale in Venice was the continuity one experienced when stepping out of the exhibition venue into the different nooks and corners of this always enchanting city. Both inside and outside one felt surrounded by the same mixture of folkloric frivolity and renaissance seriousness.…
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The art is not our thing
Art critic and politician Vittorio Sgarbi was chosen as curator of the Italian pavilion at the 54th Biennale in Venice (2011). Since he is known not to like modern art and even less its organizational “mafia”, his nomination was rather controversial. He decided not to select the works for the exhibition himself but to ask…
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Art is my thing
The experience of art in all its manifestations (literature, music, visual arts) is occupying a privileged place in my mental and intellectual life. I could say: in my spiritual life, but I always hesitate using that word since it has these strong religious connotations I’d like to avoid. With acknowledgement and approval I quote what…
καιρός remembered 