Travels with Zen-Aida » Museums

Estonia: a frightening experience in Tallinn’s KUMU museum

zda — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 16:35:22 +0000

The KUMU contemporary art museum in Tallinn, Estonia, is one of those iconic buildings you don’t forget: clean lines, generous spaces, windows that catch as much light as possible. No wonder Finnish architect Pekka Vapaavuori’s design won the prestigious European Museum of the Year Award in 2008. So whenever I visit Tallinn, I always make a point of visiting the KUMU.

As part of this year’s European Capital of Culture program, I was especially intrigued with the “Gateways – Art & Network Culture” exhibit (until September 15, 2011, with the support of the Goethe-Institut). But I had no idea I would be frightened by some of the exhibits I saw: Not frightened in the sense of fear of my life, but in the sense of being met face to face with digital realities of today. Of course I use the internet, can’t think of life without it. Of course I am “careful” and think that I adhere to safety and privacy rules, but after seeing these exhibits, I realized that privacy as we knew it back in the 70s or even 80s is long gone. Big Brother is here to stay. Let me explain by describing the one “artwork” that really did it for me, and I quote its creator and artist, the Estonian Timo Toots:

“Memopol-II (click on the link for a virtual tour) is a social machine that maps the visitor’s information field. By inserting an identification document such as a national ID card or EU passport into the machine, it starts collecting information about the visitor from (inter)national databases and the Internet. The data is then visualized on a large‐scale custom display. The collection panel also shows the portraits of the visitors from their ID card.

The Cyrillic spelling of the installation’s name refers to George Orwell's concept of Big Brother from his 1949 dystopian novel 1984. Over the past decades, technological means have transformed the surveillance of society. When surfing on the Internet, paying with an ATM card, or using an ID card, people leave their digital traces everywhere. Internet and social networks gather and provide a great deal of personal information, and a person’s profile is no longer constituted by his or her physical being alone, but also by the person’s digital information, over which he or she sometimes has little control. Background checks through Internet search engines and social network sites have become routine when we meet somebody new or apply for a job. Memopol-II enables us to make a thorough background check of ourselves, mirroring back to us all the data about us that is accessible via the Internet.

Estonia is well ahead of other countries in governmental data collecting, storing citizen information online and making it accessible to different degrees to an individual person and to government agencies. It is a convenient means for electronic identification and for making various transactions by inserting it in to the different ID‐card readers. The harmless looking electronic card readers seldom bring to mind thoughts about malevolent third parties who might have unauthorized access to the protected information. By means of Memopol-II, Timo Toots tests either our trust or paranoia toward the machines that read the information.” A German friend of mine introduced his German driver’s licence into the Memopol. While not all the fields came up with information, it was astonishing that his Facebook connections and University records came up, along with basic information such as age, address, etc. Most surprising and disturbing: his projected date of death (using statistical averages for males of his age and country of origin). He was not pleased – he had 23 years to beat the odds.

Moving right along, there was the lovely digital Miss Maya Brush, a “homo virtualis”, a digital sculpture, right down to her virtual DNA, born February 4, 2011, the product of German artist Kirsten Geisler. Her pose and features are reminiscent of Botticelli’s Venus. Maya has a Facebook page and, to date, almost 900 fans: a fictional character who has stepped out of her digital world to interact with the media.

The artists Spanish Clara Boj and Diego Diaz have created the installation “Observatorio”, which visualizes the increasing density of wireless networks in urban spaces. In this case, wireless networks are registered within a ten-kilometer radius around the Kumu Art Museum and will be realized as a real-time projection in the museum. The otherwise invisible stream of communication is made visible. And it turns out to be very dense. Just because we don’t see something, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

On the lighter side, there is “Real Snail Mail”, where real snails are outfitted with an RFID chip containing a message. Should the snail come close to an RFID reader, the message is sent. It is up to chance and to the appetite of the snail if it wants to eat the salad leaf on the reader and thus have the mail sent. A subtle bit of whimsy by the British group boredomresearch.

A visit to KUMU is always worth it, you never know what you may find. And if for no other reason, a visit to the room with the “chatting heads” is always fun!

Japan: Incense as a game

zda — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:40:58 +0000

Does incense bring up memories of flower power dresses and, hey man, being sooo laid back in groovy psychedelic pads? Or of the strict rites of the Catholic Church and young altar server swaying the thurible to the monotonous rhythm of the priest’s lithurgy? Not so in Japan.

From about the 14th century onwards, a culture developed based on the use of fragrances because of their calming effect on the senses and refreshing the spririt. In particular, aromatic woods were burned, singularly and in combination. Pastimes were created based on the enjoyment of incense. The utensils used for these pastimes were often intricately fashioned and carved.

A popular pastime was “Kumiko”, a game based on guessing which aromatics were being burned and in what combination. The game used figures which were playful in appearance, often dolls, everyday items or flowers. This involved not only the simple burning of fragrant woods and resins, but also moving intricately carved figurines and accessories on a board according to the game’s rules, depending on the players guessing the incense combinations correctly and determining the winner. Thus “Kumiko” game sets came to be delicate miniature models.

The lacquered stand with its criss-cross sticks was used to drape textiles over it, while the box underneath held the incense and thus the cloth absorbed the fragrance.

The pictures were taken at a special exhibit of the Tokyo National Museum.

It certainly sounds like sophisticated games that involved all the senses! Maybe it is time for a revival?

Japan: Tokyo National Museum

zda — Wed, 09 Feb 2011 01:31:09 +0000

The Tokyo National Museum in Ueno Park is housed in an impressive building from the early 1930’s featuring elements of what is called the “emperor’s crown style” – a mix of Western Art Deco and Eastern sweeping forms. Two stories of well displayed and lit materials, with plenty of opportunities for resting, this museum was a pleasure to visit. Although the collection is made up of more than 87,000 items, thus making it the largest museum of Japan, only a selected number of items is always on display, never overwhelming visitors.

A few steps away is the Gallery of Horyuji Treasures, which consist of over 300 valuable objects, mainly bronze Buddhist statuettes from Nara from the 7th - 8th century, donated to the Imperial Household by Horyuji Temple in 1878. The Gallery, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi, is a beautiful example of understated, clean-lined architecture, perfect for displaying often very ornate artwork.

Nice: Where queens and artists meet

zda — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 16:07:54 +0000

Have you ever wondered where Queen Victoria went on vacation? Well, starting in 1882, she often travelled with her entourage of over one hundred persons to the French Riviera. Menton and Nice became favorite spots. And, of course, a Queen does not just stay anywhere. So, way up the hill in Nice, the Excelsior Hotel Régina was built with her needs in mind. That was the Belle Époque era of palace-like structures, grand entrance halls and magnificent staircases, turrets and wrought iron balconies! Today the imposing building has been turned into prime property condominiums.

Close by is the Henri Matisse Museum and not far from it is the Cimiez cemetery where he is buried (and the French Fauvist painter Raoul Dufy, also). Unfortunately, the museum shows few of the spectacular paintings Matisse is known for, just some of his early works and later cutouts.

More interesting is the Marc Chagall Museum, also in the same neighborhood. Officially called the “National biblical messages Marc Chagall museum” it is the home for the cycle of paintings based on the Old Testament “Song of Songs”, which he created between 1960 and 1966.

The third museum in the area won me over the minute we walked in – a real live cat was sitting on a bench and keeping an eye out on things: the Museum of Naïve Art Anatole Jakovsky, the art critic and collector whose perseverance was largely responsible for Naïve Art gaining respectability. The collection even includes a portrait of the most famous of naïve artists, Henri Rousseau.

Malaysia: Blue Mansion Hotel in Penang

zda — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:27:15 +0000

Stepping inside the cool front hall of the Cheong Fatt Tze Blue Mansion is like stepping into a bygone era. It is easy to imagine the soft padded footsteps of wives, concubines, children, relatives, servants, and hangers-on scurrying in long silk gowns through the high-ceilinged rooms, most likely whispering intrigues behind intricately carved ivory fans.

The sounds of modern Georgetown fade away behind the thick walls of this flamboyant 38-room mansion built by the leading entrepreneur of South East Asia in the late 19th century, Cheong Fatt Tze - nicknamed “the Rockefeller of the East” - for his favorite (seventh) wife. She bore him a son, whom he doted on and made universal heir, much to the chagrin of the other wives and children he had sired. One of the stipulations of his will was that this house would not be sold until the last son died. By the time he passed away, the vast inherited fortune had been squandered and this house had fallen into desperate disrepair. 37 families were actually squatting in the rooms, rent being collected by an aged daughter in law. When she passed away and the completely dilapadated mansion came upon the market in 1990, it was bought by Penang-born architect Laurence Loh, his wife Lin Lee Loh-Lim and a group of local conservationists with the purpose of restoring it using as much of the original fabric as possible. The Lohs, along with a team of artisan experts, dedicated the next years to painstaiking restoration, going to great lengths to retain the original integrity of the construction.

The Mansion had been built keeping strictly to traditional geomantic or Feng Shui rules. During the process of restoration, the house revealed its secrets, such as the back part of the house being raised by one stair in order to give the impression of being on a hill, several gold coins being buried in auspicious corners to attract wealth, and certainly using flowing water in ways that bring harmony to its inhabitants. The restoration efforts of the new owners were rewarded by receiving the UNESCO “Most Excellent Project” Award 2000 as well as many others. In 1992, the Mansion was used as a main setting for the movie “Indochine” with Catherine Deneuve. Currently it a most lovely hotel to stay in.

Interestingly, symmetry seems to be of equally strong importance for buildings built according to Feng Shui principles as it was to Antonio Palladio, the Italian master architect of the 17^th century. But that is just an aside...

If/when I return to Georgetown, I will certainly make sure to stay there again – not only was it a wonderful experience to spend the night with the overhead fan gently swaying the mosquito netting, but also in sipping a drink in the quiet of the central courtyard and being visited by the resident cat, who deigned to sprawl – most unladylike – next to me on the cool marble floor.

China: Beijing’s Song Tang Zhai Museum, a taste of hutong history

zda — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 08:59:47 +0000

Everywhere, including Beijing, the saying “one man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure” is true. Li Songtang, now in his 60s, started collecting architectural details of houses being torn down mainly during the 70s modernisation push. He now has a collection of over 10,000 items of carved lintels, gates, screens, garden statuary, etc., of which about 5,000 are on view at a courtyard home he owns right next to the Confucius Temple and which he has turned into China’s first privately owned museum. It is truly like stepping into a treasure trove: dimly lit rooms overflow with statuettes, stone carvings fill the wall space, one on top of another, with barely room between them to identify them (mostly in Chinese, some in rudimentary English).

It is said that by the middle of the 20^th century, Beijing had about 920,000 private residences, most of them set out in hutongs or neighborhoods accessible through small alleyways. Nowadays, 90% of these homes are gone, mostly replaced by skyscrapers, commercial buildings and shopping centers.

But if you want to find a few remnants of what architectural jewels were to be found on some of the houses, visit this small museum. You will not be disappointed.

China: The eternal Forbidden City

zda — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 11:01:25 +0000

As disenchanted as I was with the visit to the Great Wall, the thrill of visiting the Forbidden City for the umpteenth time is always there. For all its vastness, there is always a nook or cranny that can be discovered anew; always an around-the-corner detail that enchants the eye.

Especially this time, after the Olympics and the celebrations for the 60^th anniversary of the PRC, when so much restoration work has been completed. There is still much left to do: most of the structures are made of wood (and have thus succumbed to fire time and again over the centuries) and as such, are subject to deterioration over time. However, there has also been strong criticism voiced that the restoriation process has been overdone. Personally, I think the patina of age and effects of air pollution will kick in all too soon, so let us enjoy the shine of the gilt and the intensity of the colors as long as they last.

A few quick facts: Initially built on the order of Emperor Zhu Di when he moved back to Beijing, the Forbidden City took 15 years to complete, from 1406 to 1420. . Between 1420 and 1912, it was been the home for 10 Ming Dynasty and 14 Qing Dynasty emperors and their respective courts.

The complex covers 72 ha (720,000 square metres or 7,800,000 square feet) and consists of 980 surviving buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and. It is said that over one million workers were actively involved during its construction. Precious woods and marbles from all over China were used. The layout of the Forbidden City follows ancient and specific rules as set forth in the Confucian Book of Rites. Thus the ceremonial and ancestral temples (Outer Court) are in the front, with the residential complex (Inner Court) in the rear.

Symbols in ancient China were ubiquitous:

- The color yellow was reserved for all things imperial. Thus the yellow-glazed roof tiles of the Forbidden City are indicative of its occupant.

- The figurines on the roof are not mere decorations: They show what kind of ceremonies can be performed in that building. A minor building might have only 3 or 5 statuettes. The Palace of Supreme Harmony has the maximum number of 10: The procession is led by a man riding a phoenix, followed by nine mythical beasts and lastly followed by the imperial dragon, representing the authority of the state.

The various mythical beasts (evil-dispelling bull, wind- and storm-summoning fish, auspicious seahorse, courageous goat-bull, etc.) are set to pounce upon man and devour him, should he not perform his duties with faithfulness and rectitude. Would that today’s politicians the world over be under the influence of the mythical beasts!

- The color red was a symbol of happiness and auspiciousness, thus the use of this color on all the walls and structures.

Before you know it, what with all the walking, climbing up and down stairs, around buildings, several hours have passed and you are exhausted – and maybe even not wishing to live in such a vast home, but happy for a more relaxed and intimate abode.

Australia: Paronella Park – a Spaniard’s dream

zda — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 13:12:54 +0000

Hearing of my Spanish (well, Argentine) roots, my friends decided that I must see how one Spaniard fulfilled his dream...

Off we drove away from Innisfail, Queensland, through a landscape of alternating banana and sugar cane plantations. I commented on the many small railway tracks we were crossing: these are for the sugar cane trains that collect the cut canes and transport them to be processed. Sugar and bananas are the area’s top crops, that is easy to see.

After what seemed quite a meandering tour onto ever smaller roads, we arrived at Mena Creek and there, in the midst of jungle vegetation, rose the ruins of Paronella Park. Now a tourist attraction, Paronella Park was the fulfillment of José Paronella’s dream. A baker’s son from a village in northern Catalunya, José Paronella set out to Australia to make his fortune in 1913. By working hard at buying and selling sugar cane farms, he made his fortune in only 11 years. José then returned to Spain to marry his fiancée Matilda, only to discover that she had married another man. However, there was a younger sister, Margarita, whom José proposed to, married and took back with him to Australia.

By 1929 he had purchased the land at Mena Creek and was ready to start building his dream castle, inspired by the architecture of his homeland. With only a small crew of workmen and with the crudest of building instruments and rudimentary concrete, José built a 47-step staircase, a large ballroom -which also was used as a movie-theater, complete with revolving mirror-type disco ball hanging from the ceiling – refreshment and changing rooms and a turret. In order to provide the power for the castle and the lighting for the 5 hectar (13 acre) park, he had North Queensland’s first hydro-electric power plant built in 1933. In addition, over 7000 trees were planted, including an avenue of Kauris (which now tower like cathedral spires in a sacred forest), and many rare plants.

By 1935 the grounds were ready to be opened to the public: movies on Saturday nights, picnic grounds and swimming in the lake formed by the waterfall, tennis courts, dancing or just walking down the lover’s lane...

José Paronella died in 1948. His widow and then his sons looked after the place until it was sold in 1977. In 1979, a fire badly damaged the castle, followed by more damage in 1986 by a cyclone. By the time the current owners rediscovered the place in 1993, it was in a very bad state of disrepair. Now, slowly, it is being lovingly brought back to life, even though cyclone Larry buffeted it badly in 2006. Today, Paronella Park offers many nature walks (day and night) and it has been used as a location for several films as well as a wedding and party venue.

It was a most interesting visit and one that, once again, showed what a dream – some may even call it obsession – and perseverance are able to accomplish.

Sydney: Museums

zda — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:22:50 +0000

Being a museum mouse, I do try to visit at least a few representative ones in each city. In Sydney, it has been the Museum of Contemporary Art, centrally located right next door to Circular Quay, in the building from 1952 formerly occupied by the Maritime Services Board.

The MCA came into existence in 1991 and usually has six different exhibits at any one time. I was most taken with the “international pairing project” work of Australian Louisa Bufardeci and Japanese Zon Ito. Bufardeci interprets statistical data into art. An example is her wall covering “Ground plan” showing the world’s population as the ground plan of a world house. Australia, having a small number of inhabitants in comparison to the area it occupies, is depicted as a tiny room; Japan, on the other hand, is a very large room, and so forth. Zon Ito creates intricate embroidered canvases, many entirely abstract and all quite unconventional.

The much larger and important museum is the Art Gallery of NSW. The original building dates back to 1896 and 1909, very much in the tradition of the grand European art galleries. The latest extensions to the gallery date to 1994 and they make use of a downhill slope, so instead of taking the elevator up, you go down. It has fine collections of European, Australian, Asian and Aborginal art as well as commodious spaces for temporary exhibits. I saw a small but very fine selection of silk Ikats of Central Asia from the Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (until 11 October 2009). Definitely a museum worth a wander through.

Santiago: Palacio Cousiño – grand living for a grand family

zda — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 14:33:14 +0000

As with so much of society in South America, fashions in European culture and art set the tone in the 19^th century. This very strong influence and orientation is seen just as much in Santiago as in other capitals of the continents on the Southern Hemisphere. The Palacio Cousiño is no exception. It was built between 1870 and 1878 by the French architect Paul Lathaoud for one of the first families of Chile: The Cousiño Goyenechea family owned the important mines of Lota (coal) and Chañarcillo (silver) as well as the vineyard of Viña Cousiño-Macul (still in belonging to the family today).

Luis Cousiño Squella (1835 - 1873) never saw the palace finished, since he died from tuberculosis at the age of 38 in Perú. His young and beautiful widow, Isidora Goyenechea, then only 37 and mother of seven children, took on the running of the family enterprises. Not only did she take over, but she expanded the business empire, including having the South American first hydroelectric installed by Thomas A. Edison's company. She never remarried and, like Queen Victoria, wore black until her own death in Paris in 1897 at the age of 61. Her remains were transferred with great pomp and homage to be buried in Chile. Her will set apart a substantial part of her fortune for the construction of several churches, schools and homes for disabled miners, as well as a hospital close to the mines with generous facilities for women and children.

Only the finest building materials and furnishings were used and since the family business also had a shipping fleet, these materials could be easily brought from Europe: Italian marbles and majolica tiles, parquet flooring and custom designed and hand-carved furniture in exotic woods such as American oak, ebony, mahagony, walnut, French Sèvres and Limoges as well as German Meissen porcelaines, French and Italian silks and velvets, Belgian crystal chandeliers, and so forth. The first elevator in Chile was even installed. It is indicative of the contemporary fashion of the time that the representative portraits hanging in the central hall of Don Luís show him in a pose akin to King Ludwig II of Bavaria and Doña Isidora painted in the style reminiscent of the German painter Franz Xaver Winterhalter (who portrayed Empress Sissi of Austria amongst other royalty and society notables).

Built around a central atrium hall, there were twelve salons on the main floor, each for a different use: the grand dining room, a golden hall for formal events and balls, a music room with a grand piano, a tea room, an arms room, a Pinacoteca where the most important paintings and library were displayed. The private bedrooms and sitting rooms were on the second floor. The third floor housed rooms for governesses and tutors. Amazingly, this vast domestic home was only ever occupied by seven family members at one time - and about thirty sevice staff.

Times, family structures and needs changed, as well as upkeep costs escalating. In 1940 the palace including contents was put on auction. At the last minute, an agreement was reached between the Municipality of Santiago and the family: for a symbolic sum, the palace was sold to the city, who used it to put up high dignitaries visiting the city until 1982. A fire completely destroyed the second and third floor during that year, thus making it impossible for Queen Elizabeth II to stay there on her official state visit to Chile that year. The second floor was rebuilt and the palace reopened as a museum and declared a national monument in 1981.

Today, it is very sad to see this really very lovely residence, with its adjoining park, be located in an area of town that clearly shows signs of decay. I misjudged the distance from the central metro station, therefore walked about a kilometer along Calle Dieciocho leading to the museum - nowdays lined with some new, but mostly historic old buildings housing schools and institutes of all kinds. Many of these edifices still show vestiges of by-gone architectural embellishments. It is no wonder that I was married to an architect, my heart goes out to these buildings and I would love to see them all refurbished. By the way, when I finished my visit and asked the friendly concierge how to get back, I was directed to "just across the park" to the closest metro station.