Tag: Art

This artist is painstakingly recreating mysterious ancient rock art

academic thought has shifted to see southern African rock art as more often reflecting spiritually and culturally significant images and motifs, according to the British Museum. Some images have been understood to reflect visions seen by shamans when they entered trance-like states to perform communal tasks like healing the sick. “When they painted, they were not just… Read More This artist is painstakingly recreating mysterious ancient rock art

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Hagia Sophia: Secrets of the 1,600-year-old megastructure that has survived the collapse of empires

Hagia Sophia was built as a church over a Roman temple, and was subsequently converted into a mosque and then a museum. Since 2020 it is used as a mosque once more By Ali Halit Diker, CNN Whether you’re a believer or not, visiting Hagia Sophia is a spiritual experience. The architectural genius of this… Read More Hagia Sophia: Secrets of the 1,600-year-old megastructure that has survived the collapse of empires

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Aboriginal Dreamtime

The Dreamtime is a commonly used term for describing important features of Aboriginal spiritual beliefs and existence. It is not generally well understood by non-indigenous people. First Nations Peoples believe that the Dreamtime was way back, at the very beginning. The land and the people were created by the Spirits. They made the rivers, streams,… Read More Aboriginal Dreamtime

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Walter Benjamin and The Angel of History

Paul Klee, Angelus Novus (1920) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Klee%2C_Angelus_novus.png?20130120065947 Paul Klee, Angelus Novus Walter Benjamin: Thesis 9 in The Concept of History (1940) My wing is ready to fly / I would rather turn backFor had I stayed mortal time / I would have had little luck Gerhard Scholem, Angelic Greetings There is a painting by Klee called… Read More Walter Benjamin and The Angel of History

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An artist made scathing sculptures of Mao over a decade ago. Now, he’s detained for slandering China’s heroes, family says

Under Xi, the ruling Communist Party has vowed to eradicate “historical nihilism” — or any views that question or challenge its official version of history, including glorified images of sanctified national heroes.China passed a law in 2018 banning any insult or slander of national “heroes and martyrs,” including military personnel. The offense was added to… Read More An artist made scathing sculptures of Mao over a decade ago. Now, he’s detained for slandering China’s heroes, family says

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René Magritte: Empire of Light

Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Venice, 1976 © 2023 C. Herscovici, London/ARS, New York René Magritte; 1898 – 1967, Brussels, Belgium; Empire of Light; 1953–54 In Empire of Light, numerous versions of which exist (see, for example, those at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and the Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique,… Read More René Magritte: Empire of Light

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Paul Daley: Myall Creek, Australia. Here, in 1838, a crime that would not be forgotten took place / Rock art as record of imperialism

Remembering is central to healing the pain of injustice and atrocity.  Indigenous Australians have a way of remembering, the good and the bad, through oral history and art that passes memories down through the generations. I know of parts of central west New South Wales where the Indigenous women still talk in vivid detail about their… Read More Paul Daley: Myall Creek, Australia. Here, in 1838, a crime that would not be forgotten took place / Rock art as record of imperialism

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Raphael: A Portrait review – lengthy but illuminating study of Renaissance master

 there’s something admirable about Burton’s diligence and essay-like style; there are no curatorial talking heads involved, still less swooping travelling shots inside well-appointed art galleries Andrew Pulver Source: Universal Images Here is a mammoth 148-minute documentary about the Renaissance painter Raphael, which in its sheer length and detail is an impressive achievement in itself by… Read More Raphael: A Portrait review – lengthy but illuminating study of Renaissance master

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Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging

NB: The Iranian regime is a tyrannical theocracy, which permits no criticism, no deviation from so-called divinely sanctioned modes of behaviour. To punish people with flogging and imprisonment for speaking truth about corruption is itself a criminal act. It should never be forgotten that the regime’s leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, issued a fatwa for the execution… Read More Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof sentenced to eight years in prison and flogging

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‘Very totemic and very Aboriginal’: A family tree going back 65,000 years

Archie Moore’s meticulous genealogy, kith and kin, is a memorial to Indigenous lives lost – but it’s also about global common humanity Australia’s entry at Venice Biennale is a family tree going back 65,000 years For the past two months, in the quiet, darkened room of the Australia pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Bigambul-Kamilaroi artist Archie… Read More ‘Very totemic and very Aboriginal’: A family tree going back 65,000 years

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