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Statement by H.E. Ambassador Rosa Batoréu, Permanent Representative of the Portuguese Republic to the OPCW at the 24th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

 

The Conference is held at the World Forum, The Hague, the Netherlands, from 25-29 November 2019.

 

My desktop. Featured font is Coolvetica. Apologies to those who saw (and were bored by) the previous incarnation. I just like how conky and the desktop icons blend in now. :)

A99 + Sony CZ Vario-Sonnar 24-70/2.8

Three Hills Sports Park: Freedom Leisure

One video still from each "Life is Drag" video portrait (performance documentation).

 

lifeisdrag.com

  

ARTIST STATEMENT:

 

I create bodies of work that explore subjects such as gender, artifice, and spectacle. Utilizing processes ranging from directorial to curatorial to anthropological, I showcase exuberantly irrepressible personalities who revel in challenging clichés associated with constructs such "masculinity" and "femininity". A sampling of subjects include Girls Girls Girls (the world's first and only all-female Mötley Crüe tribute band), Tazzie Colomb (the world's longest competing female bodybuilder), and LACTIC Incorporated (an avant-garde clothing brand that takes the detritus of corporate life and reinterprets it into one-of-a-kind structural garments that challenge the polarization of gender).

  

With this current and ongoing project "Life is Drag", I am documenting the most innovative and singular performers of the currently exploding international alt-drag and neo-burlesque scenes. I am 3 years into this project, and so far have created 250+ portraits. These are created in my studio as well as during residencies - in New York City (The Cell Theater, Bushwig), Pittsburgh (The Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Blue Moon Bar, Bloomfield Garden Club), and New England (3S Artspace).

  

This project began in early 2019 in my studio in Brooklyn, when I collaborated with a local visual artist by the name of Untitled Queen - a deeply beloved, highly respected, and uniquely visionary performer and conduit within the NYC drag scene who uses drag as a part and extension of her artistic process. I then worked with selected performers from Ohio and Kentucky in conjunction with a mid-career retrospective in my hometown of Cincinnati in the spring of 2019, and in January and February of 2020, I worked with 20+ New England-based drag artists as part of a residency and exhibition at 3S Artspace in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

  

From the autumn of 2020 until the summer of 2021, I was an artist in residence at The Cell Theatre in the Chelsea neighborhood of NYC, where I expanded the project in the midst of the pandemic to also include neo-burlesque performers and performance artists whose work deals specifically with gender performativity. Most recently was a residency in my hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio - which included creating video portraits of performers from the drag haus ODD Presents, members of the neo-burlesque troop Smoke & Queers, and other alt-drag and burlesque artists from the tri-state area. This residency also included an exhibition featuring this ever-growing archive, as well as multiple live performance events.

  

My long-term goal is to continue to do a series of such residencies nationally and internationally, which will allow me to create a comprehensive archive of video portraits of drag, burlesque and performance artists from a wide range of locations, backgrounds, cultures, and ages. Each portrait includes video of the artist performing (lip-synching, singing, telling stories, reciting monologues, dancing, etc.) in addition to interview documentation, and will live online as well as in galleries and unexpected places in between. "Life is Drag" has so far been exhibited at such venues as the the Carnegie Museum of Art and Bunker Projects (PA), Satellite Art Club, Bushwig and The Cell (NYC), 3S Artspace (NH), and the Weston Art Gallery (OH).

  

I believe this project is innovative and important in that it is treating and respecting "drag" (defined as broadly and inclusively as possible) as a proper art form – recognizing it as an extremely vital and valid style of performance art, and every bit as deserving of the deference reserved for more traditional classical art forms like painting and sculpture. Drag is painting and sculpture and performance all at once - and quite often also activism, education, protest, therapy, resistance, catharsis, comedy, tragedy, enlightenment, inspiration - or some combination of the above - to those who practice it, and also to those who experience it as an observer. This project is about celebrating this experimental and expansive form of art and its wide range of practitioners and manifestations. It is about creating a record - an archive - of these brilliant but ephemeral performances, from dive bars to art galleries, city streets to grand theater stages. It is about trying to properly document and share these wildly diverse acts and profound stories that will surely open minds and capture hearts.

This template contains 3 tabs: Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow. Its flexible design allows you to arrange the lines and columns that you want to display in your Financial Statement using Readme and Data sheets. Its PSW version allows you to publish your Financial Statement online easily.

 

Download from:

 

spreadsheetzone.com/templateview.aspx?i=47

Melbourne Central Activities District (CAD) Conservation Study 1984-5 survey images: approx 1200 Kodak colour negatives

See librarysearch.melbourne.vic.gov.au/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/FUL...

 

GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDY

Statement of Significance

History

On the site of a 19th Century orderly room, this Royal Australian Army Medical Corps Training Depot was new nomenclature for the building it replaced in 1938. At its creation, it accompanied another similar, but more modish, installation at 99 - 53 Victoria Street (qv), in the city and a wealth of others in the metropolis - all gearing for the onset of World War Two. Internally they were, as of the 19th Century, a large drill hall(s), mess rooms and offices.

 

Description

Broad volumes and planes of red and cream brickwork characterise the building and concur with the terracotta on the exposed roof. Cemented elements, both divide the colours and contribute a formal Neo Grecian colonnade, to William Street. Less formal, and more contemporary is the entrance porch at A'Beckett Street. Here, traditional facade elements are hinted at whilst Modern massing is also attended to. The formal William Street colonnade collides with a stripped 'vertical feature, which marks the commencement of the more relaxed A'Beckett Street character. Metal details of wall or gateway grilles are both refined and stylish. Despite the dated use of the Neo Grecian stylism, the total concept of mixed Moderne and revivalist elements is peculiar to this commonwealth architectural department, possessing some parallels with Percy Everett's state government designs. Inside there were two drill halls, either side of the lobby. Such things as a Hygiene Office, harness rooms, the sergeants' mess and conventional offices were located at either end of the building.

 

External Integrity

High external integrity.

 

Streetscape

A corner building and prominent but isolated except for commonality of wall materials to the A'Beckett Street neighbours.

 

Significance

A superior and original example from a distinctive government design group which successfully combined the European Modern influences with the formal revivalist solemnity desired for public architecture.

  

GRAEME BUTLER 1985 MELBOURNE CENTRAL ACTIVITIES DISTRICT CONSERVATION STUDY

Statement of Significance

History

On the site of a 19th Century orderly room, this Royal Australian Army Medical Corps Training Depot was new nomenclature for the building it replaced in 1938. At its creation, it accompanied another similar, but more modish, installation at 99 - 53 Victoria Street (qv), in the city and a wealth of others in the metropolis - all gearing for the onset of World War Two. Internally they were, as of the 19th Century, a large drill hall(s), mess rooms and offices.

 

Description

Broad volumes and planes of red and cream brickwork characterise the building and concur with the terracotta on the exposed roof. Cemented elements, both divide the colours and contribute a formal Neo Grecian colonnade, to William Street. Less formal, and more contemporary is the entrance porch at A'Beckett Street. Here, traditional facade elements are hinted at whilst Modern massing is also attended to. The formal William Street colonnade collides with a stripped 'vertical feature, which marks the commencement of the more relaxed A'Beckett Street character. Metal details of wall or gateway grilles are both refined and stylish. Despite the dated use of the Neo Grecian stylism, the total concept of mixed Moderne and revivalist elements is peculiar to this commonwealth architectural department, possessing some parallels with Percy Everett's state government designs. Inside there were two drill halls, either side of the lobby. Such things as a Hygiene Office, harness rooms, the sergeants' mess and conventional offices were located at either end of the building.

 

External Integrity

High external integrity.

 

Streetscape

A corner building and prominent but isolated except for commonality of wall materials to the A'Beckett Street neighbours.

 

Significance

A superior and original example from a distinctive government design group which successfully combined the European Modern influences with the formal revivalist solemnity desired for public architecture.

 

Policy Statements - ITU PP-18

 

Mr Ruddy Flores Monterre, Deputy Permanent Representative, Charge D'Affars a.i., Permanent Mission of Bolivia to Internartional Organization in Geneva, Bolivia

 

©ITU/P.Barrera

updating site with new drawings. trying to finish through december's statements.

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Former Foreign Secretary William Hague makes a statement on Libya, 23 February 2011.

 

www.fco.gov.uk/en/news/latest-news/?view=PressS&id=55...

“Stories My Mother Never Told”

Artist Statement

By artist Jenny Ashby

 

This installation based exhibition is an informed response to my research into the institutionalisation and the forced removal of aboriginal children from their families and their homelands and the often untold truths regarding this accepted practice by government and religious organisations up until the early 1970's. My work responds to my learning of the cruelty and inhumane treatment of these children within institutional care throughout Australia. My work is a personal response to the stories told to me by my children’s aboriginal family, friends, and people that I have interviewed as well as research into these issues. My artwork is a comparative reflection on my own childhood memories, and the freedom that I lived with as a child while growing up in a white Christian, farming family, as opposed to aboriginal children forced to grow up within the same period of the 60's and the 70's, behind the walls of institutions such as the Cootamundra, Parramatta,La Perouse Girls Training Homes, and the Hay Women's Jail and "the stories we were never told".

  

The drawings and prints act as a visual narrative and are laden with text and marks in the form of graffiti and inscriptions, similar to those found on surfaces within institutions. The text also takes on the appearance of letter writing to my mother as a conversation, a personal reflection of my own childhood and my own responses to this research as a type of diary entry. The text which is layered and often unreadable onto paper which has been embossed and treated to mimic the brick walls of institutions hopefully encourages inquiry on closer examination of the narrative within.

  

The use of shadows within my work act as a metaphor of presence and absence within the space. The shadows of the little girl on the swing are significant within my work acting as a universal symbol of freedom and at the same time lost freedom when used in context of the cell wall drawings.

The video projections of the little girl’s shadows swinging and laughing were filmed as a site specific installation within the Hay Women’s Jail. This video installation is superimposed with sound of the harsh locking of cell doors which echoe within the confinement of the institution where many girls spent part of their childhood.

  

By subjecting the viewer to a multi sensory experience within the environment of the gallery, through the incorporation of projected images laden with relative sound, combined with universal icons of objects and image, I hope to encourage memory recall of the viewers own childhood using associated experience as a conduit to the narrative. Hopefully through this association the viewer becomes actively involved within the space and therefore he or she becomes personally involved with the work as the narrator in their own right.

 

Top 10, Artprize 2013

Artist's statement: "Taking Flight" is a 13 foot, lighted, winged figure, woven from recycled aluminum wire. For me, the piece is about uplifting the human spirit. Illuminated from within, she drifts above, representing our hopes, dreams, and feelings. The piece will be suspended from the ceiling at the DeVos Center. Prior to hanging the piece I floated her around Grand Rapids on a giant helium balloon. It was an extraordinary experience, and as far as I know the first such art event. Floating changes my sculptures and gives them new life. I look forward to meeting as many art lovers as possible in the coming weeks. I weave wire by first creating a sculpture in clay, then using molds to reproduce it in wax. I then hand-weave wire stitch-by-stitch around the wax form. The wax is melted away leaving a light but rigid sculpture. This piece is by far my most ambitious, representing at least 2000 hours of work. Come see her if you can, especially at night. And of course, I'd love to get your vote at 55411.

Arguments against Populism

For the Guess Where Aberdeen group

Keffiyeh love red (detail)

A statement

 

Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Herb Salad topped with some organic cheese :) )))

It's as good as a bowl of candy. I'm totally serious, here.

I took this picture in Tagaytay, Philippines.

Floor lamp at Jimmie Martin & McCoy, interior designers, Kensington.

Statement by H.E. Ambassador Haymandoyal Dillum, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Mauritius to the OPCW at the 24th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

 

The Conference is held at the World Forum, The Hague, the Netherlands, from 25-29 November 2019.

 

The monthly series

According to the statements of the Venetian historian Carlo Ridolfi (1648), a series of paintings representing the twelve months was sent to Rudolf in Prague: It is very likely that the works exhibited here are just those which belonged to the Emperor. The paintings correspond to the refined taste of an aristocratic authority: The high decorative value, the grandiosity of the iconographic program and sizeable dimensions suggest that they were intended for a great room.

In the inventory of the Archduke Leopold Wilhelm are to be found the twelve paintings recorded as works of the young Bassano: almost all are signed and have been created by Leandro towards the end of the nineties of the 16th century. The series has been preserved almost completely, and so we can still enjoy the unity of style and content. September and October are located in Prague, December is not yet reappeared. The image representing July was cut into two parts, probably for decorative considerations, but both fragments are preserved in Vienna.

The lovely hills surrounding Bassano provides the ambience in which take place the field works characterizing the respective month. The winter months of January, February and March, however - they represent a break in the rural task list - show other subjects: the return from the hunt, the carnival and a market scene. Each month is also provided with the corresponding sign of the zodiac, which appears in the middle of the clouds. The composition, wrapped in a dusky light, develops as parallel image into the landscape: the horizon forms the bluish massive of the mountain - probably the Monte Grappa - where the eye can rest.

Leandro describes the activities of the figures with great precision and carefulness in the reproduction of the details, from the working tools, en passant, the objects up to the clothes, so that the paintings in addition also represent a considerable documentary value. The artist intends to entertain the viewer in a pleasant manner and to dispel. Probably recognized some people themselves in the episodes again: for instance, in the richly-dressed lady who had served herself crops, or in the landlord who controls with his steward the works and the harvest. The monthly cycle, which has its roots in the fertile iconographic tradition of the Middle Ages, acquires in the interpretation of Leandros the character of a lively illustrated calendar, which is aimed at an aristocratic clientele.

 

The family of painters Bassano

Bassano, a small city, situated on the slopes of Monte Grappa in the northern Veneto, gave the family of painters Da Ponte not only the nickname, but also the fundamental inspirations for the art of the head of family Jacopo and his sons.

Jacopo Bassano was primarily active in the province, far away from the urban artists' centers, and is now considered one of the great masters of Venetian painting of the Cinquecento to the side of Titian, Veronese and Tintoretto. His fame he owes, i.a., the invention of a subject type, linking the pastoral scenes with biblical or allegorical motifs: for this reason he realized completely new and original compositions, enjoying such great popularity that the heirs of Jacopo continued to produce such paintings until the middle of the Seicento and beyond. Leandro, after Francesco the most gifted of the sons, was an irreplaceable support for the father in the workshop operation. With its vibrant and brilliant colors, he continued the fame of the Bassano family into the new century and has been, as a consequence, very successful, especially in the field of portraiture.

 

Die Malerfamilie Bassano

Bassano, eine kleine, an den Hängen des Monte Grappa im nördlichen Veneto gelegene Stadt, gab der Malerfamilie Da Ponte nicht nur den Beinamen, sondern auch grundlegende Anregungen für die Kunst des Familienoberhauptes Jacopo und seiner Söhne.

Jacopo Bassano war vornehmlich in der Provinz aktiv, weit entfernt von den städtischen Künstlerzentren, und gilt heute als einer der großen Meister der venezianischen Malerei des Cinquecento an der Seite von Tizian, Veronese und Tintoretto. Seinen Ruhm verdankt er unter anderem der Erfindung eines Sujettypus, der die Pastoralszenen mit biblischen oder allegorischen Motiven verknüpfte: Er realisierte damit völlig neuartige und originelle Kompositionen, die so große Beliebtheit genossen, dass die Erben Jacopos derartige Gemälde bis über die Mitte des Seicento hinaus weiterproduzierten. Leandro, nach Francesco der begabteste der Söhne, war für den Vater im Werkstattbetrieb eine unersetzliche Stütze. Mit seiner lebendigen und brillanten Farbgebung setzte er den Ruhm der Familie Bassano bis ins neue Jahrhundert fort und war in der Folge vor allem auf dem Gebiet der Portraitmalerei sehr erfolgreich.

 

Die Monatsserie

Gemäß den Aussagen des venezianischen Historikers Carlo Ridolfi (1648) wurde eine die zwölf Monate darstellende Gemäldeserie an Rudolf II. nach Prag gesandt: Es ist sehr wahrscheinlich, dass die hier ausgestellten Werke eben jene sind, die dem Kaiser gehörten. Die Gemälde entsprechen dem raffinierten Geschmack eines aristokratischen Auftraggebers: Der hohe dekorative Wert, die Grandiosität des ikonographischen Programms und die ansehnlichen Dimensionen lassen vermuten, dass sie für einen großen Raum gedacht waren.

Im Inventar des Erzherzogs Leopold Wilhelm finden sich die zwölf Gemälde als Werke des jungen Bassano verzeichnet: Fast alle sind signiert und wurden von Leandro gegen Ende der neunziger Jahre des 16. Jahrhunderts geschaffen. Die Serie ist fast zur Gänze erhalten geblieben, und so können wir uns auch heute noch an der Einheit von Stil und Inhalt erfreuen. Der September und der Oktober befinden sich in Prag; der Dezember ist noch nicht wieder aufgetaucht. Das Bild, das den Juli darstellt, wurde in zwei Teile geschnitten, wohl aus dekorativen Überlegungen, aber beide Fragmente sind in Wien erhalten.

Die liebliche Hügellandschaft um Bassano liefert das Ambiente, in dem sich die den jeweiligen Monat charakterisierenden Landarbeiten abspielen. Die Wintermonate Januar, Februar und März hingegen - sie stellen eine Ruhepause in der ländlichen Arbeit dar - zeigen andere Sujets: die Rückkehr von der Jagd, den Karneval und eine Marktszene. Jeder Monat ist zudem mit dem entsprechenden Tierkreiszeichen versehen, das inmitten der Wolken erscheint. Die Komposition, in ein dämmriges Licht gehüllt, entwickelt sich bildparallel in die Landschaft hinein: Den Horizont bildet das bläuliche Massive des Gebirges - wahrscheinlich der Monte Grappa -, wo das Auge Ruhe findet.

Leandro beschreibt die Tätigkeiten der Figuren mit großer Präzision und Sorgfalt in der Wiedergabe der Details, von den Arbeitswerkzeugen über die Gegenstände bis hin zur Kleidung, sodaß die Gemälde zusätzlich auch einen beträchtlichen dokumentarischen Wert repräsentieren. Der Künstler beabsichtigt, den Betrachter in angenehmer Weise zu unterhalten und zu zerstreuen. Wahrscheinlich erkannte sich so mancher in den Episoden wieder: Etwa in der reich gekleideten Dame, die sich Feldfrüchte vorlegen läßt, oder im Grundherrn, der zusammen mit seinem Gutsverwalter die Arbeiten und die Ernte kontrolliert. Der Monatszyklus, der seine Wurzeln in der fruchtbaren ikonographischen Tradition des Mittelalters hat, nimmt in der Interpretation Leandros den Charakter eines lebendig illustrierten Kalenders an, der sich an ein aristokratisches Publikum richtet.

Below is a statement supplied to Snapperjack Media London by ( British Egyptians )

  

*********************************************************************************************

  

Today 22nd of February 2015

  

We handed a Petition to 10 Downing Street and we Held a Demontration at Marble Arch and infront of Quatar Embassy .

We distribute a flyer with the petition and the photo of the Slaughter of our brothers in Lybia

  

“We Will Conquer Rome”

“ A Message Signed with Blood to the Nations of the Cross.”

  

Another Wake-up Call by the Terrorist Jihadists

  

The grotesque video which was released by the terrorist group Islamic State (ISIS) of the slaughter of 21 Egyptian workers in Libya, who had been kidnaped in the costal town of Sirte and subsequently beheaded on the15th of February 2015.

  

There is a sense of “ déjà vu ” for us here in the UK. In 2007 there was a plot to behead a British Muslim Soldier and in 2013 the shock of the beheading of Lee Rigby in the streets of Woolwich in broad daylight was evident for all to see. In addition, the recent plot to behead a British soldier by a teenager has featured in the press. The terrorist attacks of 7/7 and others are potent reminders of this evil.

  

On 8th of February 2015, Muslim Action Forum’s protesters in Whitehall held Al-Qaeda flags at the door steps of Downing Street .

  

Mr.Cameron, all British Egyptians appreciate your noble gesture for expressing your personal and official condolences for the murder of the Egyptian guest workers during your phone call to Bishop Angelos of the Coptic Church , as they were Coptic Christians. You rightly stated that these actions are unacceptable by the principles we live by in this country.

Although they were Christians, there is no difference between them and all of the other Egyptians killed by the Muslim Brotherhood ranging from the Police, Army Soldiers and Civilians : Christian and Muslim as we consider them all equal Egyptian martyrs.

  

During the rampage of terror by the Brotherhood and it’s terrorist offspring which include Al-Queda, Hamas, Boco Haram and ISIS where the killing and rape of innocents, destruction of property and livelihoods, places of worship; mosques and 80 churches in Egypt and yet their Headquarters reside here in London .

  

Although these people call themselves Muslims, they have nothing to do with any religion, they are ,maniacs. A lot of people all over the world are now fear these terrorists who are everywhere and have been supported directly and indirectly by many countries.

  

There is an urgent call for the World to wake up and unite .

  

We are not fighting a physical invasion but a rapidly spreading jihadist ideology among all ages. They are brain washed and blind folded and every one of them is ready to die as a suicide bomber by a press of a button. They are everywhere in the world spreading like cancer.

  

What we have seen till now is only the tip of the iceberg. We are pleading that the UK join all the forces of the world to jointly fight terrorism with Egypt, otherwise it will be a disaster for all of us.

  

Signed : British Egyptians.

   

See how to make this necklace on my blog! www.starsforstreetlights.com

cute & little blog | olive wool blazer, buffalo plaid scarf, vince camuto bedina over the knee boots, statement necklace outfit

Please see the attached current credit balance a statement will be forwarded to you shortly by post.

 

Regards

 

Paul

 

Paul Barnett

Credit Agent

 

0208 781 2891 (Direct)

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PRIVILEGE AND CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: The information contained in and/or attached to this e-mail message is intended solely for the use of the addressee and may contain information that is legally privileged, confidential or exempt from disclosure. If you think you received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by replying to the email and then delete it from your computer. Do not disclose the contents to anyone. Thank you.

See more on my blog! www.starsforstreetlights.com This necklace is from my February 2013 For the Makers box.

If does not mater if you're pro-life or pro-choice, this is a profound statement

My private statement of opposition to Prop. 8

The Metéora (Greek: Μετέωρα, pronounced [mɛˈtɛoɾɐ], lit. "middle of the sky", "suspended in the air" or "in the heavens above" — etymologically related to meteorology) is one of the largest and most important complexes of Greek Orthodoxmonasteries in Greece, second only to Mount Athos.[1] The six monasteries are built on natural sandstone rock pillars, at the northwestern edge of the Plain of Thessaly near the Pineios river and Pindus Mountains, in central Greece. The nearest town is Kalambaka. The Metéora is included on the UNESCO World Heritage List under criteria[2]I, II, IV, V and VII

 

The Theopetra caves 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) south of Meteora had inhabitants fifty millennia ago.[4] The oldest known example of a man-made structure was found within a prehistoric cave in central Greece, according to the Greek culture ministry. The structure is a stone wall that blocked two-thirds of the entrance to the Theopetra cave near Kalambaka on the north edge of the Thessalian plain. It was constructed 23,000 years ago, probably as a barrier to cold winds. “An optical dating test, known as Optically Stimulated Luminescence, was applied on quartz grains nested within the stones. We dated four different samples from the sediment and soil materials, and all provided identical dates,” Nikolaos Zacharias, director of the laboratory of archaeometry at the University of Peloponnese, told Discovery News. According to a statement by the ministry of culture, “the dating matches the coldest period of the most recent ice age, indicating that the cavern’s inhabitants built the stone wall to protect themselves from the cold.” Excavated since 1987, the Theopetra cave is well known to palaeontologists as it was used and inhabited continuously from the Palaeolithic period onwards (50,000 to 5,000 years ago).[5]

 

In the 9th century, an ascetic group of hermit monks moved up to the ancient pinnacles.

 

They were the first people to inhabit Metéora. They lived in hollows and fissures in the rock towers, some of which reach 1800 ft (550m) above the plain. This great height, combined with the sheerness of the cliff walls, kept away all but the most determined visitors. Initially the hermits led a life of solitude, meeting only on Sundays and special days to worship and pray in a chapel built at the foot of a rock known as Dhoupiani. As early as the 11th century AD hermit monks were believed to be living among the caves and cutouts in the rocks.[1]

 

The exact date of the establishment of the monasteries is unknown. By the late 11th and early 12th centuries, a rudimentary monastic state had formed called the Skete of Stagoiand was centered around the still-standing church of Theotokos (mother of God).[1] By the end of the 12th century, an ascetic community had flocked to Metéora.

 

In 1344, Athanasios Koinovitis from Mount Athos brought a group of followers to Metéora. From 1356 to 1372, he founded the great Meteoron monastery on Broad Rock, which were perfect for the monks; they were safe from political upheaval and had complete control of the entry to the monastery. The only means of reaching it was by climbing a long ladder, which was drawn up whenever the monks felt threatened.

 

At the end of the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire's 800-year reign over northern Greecewas being increasingly threatened by Turkish raiders who wanted control over the fertile plain of Thessaly. The hermit monks, seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation, found the inaccessible rock pillars of Meteora to be an ideal refuge. More than 20 monasteries were built, beginning in the 14th century.[1] Six remain today.

 

In 1517, Nectarios and Theophanes built the monastery of Varlaám, which was reputed to house the finger of St John and the shoulder blade of St Andrew.

 

Access to the monasteries was originally (and deliberately) difficult, requiring either long ladders lashed together or large nets used to haul up both goods and people. This required quite a leap of faith – the ropes were replaced, so the story goes, only "when the Lord let them break".[6] In the words of UNESCO, "The net in which intrepid pilgrims were hoisted up vertically alongside the 373 metres (1,224 ft) cliff where the Varlaam monastery dominates the valley symbolizes the fragility of a traditional way of life that is threatened with extinction."[7]

 

In 1921, Queen Marie of Romania visited Meteora, becoming the first woman ever allowed to enter the Great Meteoron monastery.[8] In the 1920s there was an improvement in the arrangements. Steps were cut into the rock, making the complex accessible via a bridge from the nearby plateau. During World War II the site was bombed.[citation needed] Many art treasures were stolen.[citation needed]

 

Until the 17th century, the primary means of conveying goods and people from these eyries was by means of baskets and ropes.[9]

 

Six of the monasteries remain today.[7] Of these six, four were inhabited by men, and two by women. Each monastery has fewer than 10 inhabitants. The monasteries are now tourist attractions

Statement by H.E. Mrs Katri Viinikka, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Finland to the OPCW at the 21st session of the Conference of the States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention. Held at the World Forum Conference Centre The Hague, the Netherlands. 29th November 2016. Photograph: CSP20161100 by HA-533

Former Foreign Secretary William Hague makes a statement on Libya to the media in London, 27 July 2011.

 

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Geschäftspartner.ch Networking Event

Statement by Mr Gabriel Tanimu Aduda, Chairman, National Authority on Chemical and Biological Weapons Conventions, Abuja, at the 24th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention.

 

The Conference is held at the World Forum, The Hague, the Netherlands, from 25-29 November 2019.

 

Definitely not for the faint-hearted !

 

This pair of Asymmetric earrings is hammered out of 12 gauge brass wires, and then augmented by fire, sanded and polished to bring out its texture. Attached to one side of the hoop is a leather handcut flower with stained fibers and a piece of milky Petrified Wood bead. A variety of brass chains and Variscite rondelles make the luscious chain drop.

 

* the hoops are approx. 2 inches in diameter

 

* the Featured side of the earring is 8.5 inches in length including earwires. It will drop below shoulder line.

 

* the earwires are 18 gauge brass wires handformed and also augmented by fire

 

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