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My office on a cold, very cold tuesday afternoon. The street below is Leiden's busiest shopping street: Haarlemmerstraat. Even though my office (a.k.a. bedroom) is not that well isolated with just one, thin layer of glass, I can hardly hear the people walking by below...
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. Built between 1879 and 1881, the railway is about 78 kilometres) long. Its elevation level varies from about 100 metres at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 metres at Darjeeling. Four modern diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled services; however the daily Kurseong-Darjeeling return service and the daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum (India's highest railway station) are handled by the vintage British-built B Class steam locomotives. The railway, along with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway, is listed as the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site. The headquarters of the railway is in the town of Kurseong. Operations between Siliguri and Kurseong have been temporarily suspended since 2010 following a Landslide at Tindharia.
HISTORY
A broad gauge railway connected Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Siliguri in 1878. Siliguri, at the base of the Himalayas, was connected to Darjeeling by a cart road (the present day Hill Cart Road) on which "Tonga services" (carriage services) were available. Franklin Prestage, an agent of Eastern Bengal Railway Company approached the government with a proposal of laying a steam tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling. The proposal was accepted in 1879 following the positive report of a committee formed by Sir Ashley Eden, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. Construction started the same year.
Gillanders Arbuthnot & Co. constructed the railway. The stretch from Siliguri to Kurseong was opened on 23 August 1880, while the official opening of the line up to Darjeeling was on 4 July 1881. Several engineering adjustments were made later in order to ease the gradient of the rails. Despite natural calamities, such as an earthquake in 1897 and a major cyclone in 1899, the DHR continued to improve with new extension lines being built in response to growing passenger and freight traffic. However, the DHR started to face competition from bus services that started operating over the Hill Cart Road, offering a shorter journey time. During World War II, the DHR played a vital role transporting military personnel and supplies to the numerous camps around Ghum and Darjeeling.
After the independence of India, the DHR was absorbed into Indian Railways and became a part of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone in 1958. In 1962, the line was realigned at Siliguri and extended by nearly 6 km to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to meet the new broad gauge line there. DHR remained closed for 18 months during the hostile period of Gorkhaland Movement in 1988-89.
The line closed in 2011 due to a 6.8 Magnitude earthquake. The line is currently loss-making and in 2015, Rajah Banerjee, a local tea estate owner, has called for privatisation to encourage investment, which was fiercely resisted by unions.
WORLD HERITAGE SITE
DHR was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1999, only the second railway to have this honour bestowed upon it, the first one being Semmering Railway of Austria in 1998. To be nominated as World Heritage site on the World Heritage List, the particular site or property needs to fulfill a certain set of criteria, which are expressed in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and its corresponding Operational Guidelines. The site must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also important considerations.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
The DHR is justified by the following criteria:
Criterion ii The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is an outstanding example of the influence of an innovative transportation system on the social and economic development of a multi-cultural region, which was to serve as a model for similar developments in many parts of the world.
Criterion iv The development of railways in the 19th century had a profound influence on social and economic developments in many parts of the world. This process is illustrated in an exceptional and seminal fashion by the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGITY
Since 1881, the original route has been retained in a remarkable condition. Only minimal interventions of an evolutionary nature, such as the reduction of loops, have been carried out. Most of the original steam locomotives are still in use. Like Tea and the Ghurka culture, the DHR has become not only an essential feature of the landscape but also an enduring part of the identity of Darjeeling.
MANAGEMENT AND LEGAL STATUS
The DHR and all its movable and immovable assets, including the authentic railway stations, the line, and the track vehicles, belong to the Government of India entrusted to the Ministry of Railways. The Northeast Frontier Railway documented all the elements of the DHR in a comprehensive register. Apart from that, it handles the day-to-day maintenance and management. But moreover, several programs, divisions and departments of the Indian Railways are responsible for operating, maintaining and repairing the DHR. This includes technical as well as non-technical work. In principle, the only two legal protection mechanisms that apply to the conservation of the DHR are the provisions of the 1989 Railway Act and that it is a public property which is state-owned and therefore protected
THE ROUTE
The railway line basically follows the Hill Cart Road which is partially the same as National Highway 55. Usually, the track is simply on the road side. In case of landslides both track and road might be affected. As long parts of the road are flanked with buildings, the railway line often rather resembles urban tramway tracks than an overland line.
To warn residents and car drivers about the approaching train, engines are equipped with very loud horns that even drown horns of Indian trucks and buses. Trains honk almost without pause.
LOOPS AND Z-REVERSE
One of the main difficulties faced by the DHR was the steepness of the climb. Features called loops and Z-Reverses were designed as an integral part of the system at different points along the route to achieve a comfortable gradient for the stretches in between them. When the train moves forwards, reverses and then moves forward again, climbing a slope each time while doing so, it gains height along the side of the hill.
LOCOMOTIVES
CURRENT
STEAM
All the steam locomotives currently in use on the railway are of the "B" Class, a design built by Sharp, Stewart and Company and later the North British Locomotive Company, between 1889 and 1925. A total of 34 were built, but by 2005 only 12 remained on the railway and in use (or under repair).
In 2002, No. 787 was rebuilt with oil firing. This was originally installed to work on the same principle as that used on Nilgiri Mountain Railway No.37395. A diesel-powered generator was fitted to operate the oil burner and an electrically-driven feed pump, and a diesel-powered compressor was fitted to power the braking system. Additionally, the locomotive was fitted with a feedwater heater. The overall result was a dramatic change in the appearance of the locomotive. However, the trials of the locomotive were disappointing and it never entered regular service. In early 2011, it was in Tindharia Works awaiting reconversion to coal-firing.
In March 2001, No.794 was transferred to the Matheran Hill Railway to allow a "Joy Train" (steam-hauled tourist train) to be operated on that railway. It did not, however, enter service there until May 2002.
DIESEL
Four diesel locomotives are in use: Nos. 601-2, 604 and 605 of the NDM6 class transferred from the Matheran Hill Railway.
Past
In 1910 the railway purchased the third Garratt locomotive built, a D Class 0-4-0+0-4-0.
Only one DHR steam locomotive has been taken out of India, No.778 (originally No.19). After many years out of use at the Hesston Steam Railway, it was sold to an enthusiast in the UK and restored to working order. It is now based on a private railway (The Beeches Light Railway) in Oxfordshire but has run on the Ffestiniog Railway, the Launceston Steam Railway and the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway.
IN POPULAR CULTURE
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has long been viewed with affection and enthusiasm by travellers to the region and the Earl of Ronaldshay gave the following description of a journey in the early 1920s:
"Siliguri is palpably a place of meeting... The discovery that here the metre gauge system ends and the two foot gauge of the Darjeeling-Himalayan railway begins, confirms what all these things hint at... One steps into a railway carriage which might easily be mistaken for a toy, and the whimsical idea seizes hold of one that one has accidentally stumbled into Lilliput. With a noisy fuss out of all proportion to its size the engine gives a jerk - and starts... No special mechanical device such as a rack is employed - unless, indeed, one can so describe the squat and stolid hill-man who sits perched over the forward buffers of the engine and scatters sand on the rails when the wheels of the engine lose their grip of the metals and race, with the noise of a giant spring running down when the control has been removed. Sometimes we cross our own track after completing the circuit of a cone, at others we zigzag backwards and forwards; but always we climb at a steady gradient - so steady that if one embarks in a trolley at Ghum, the highest point on the line, the initial push supplies all the energy necessary to carry one to the bottom."
The trip up to Darjeeling on railway has changed little since that time, and continues to delight travellers and rail enthusiasts, so much so that it has its own preservation and support group, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society.
Several films have portrayed the railway. Especially popular was the song Mere sapno ki rani from the film Aradhana where the protagonist Rajesh Khanna tries to woo heroine Sharmila Tagore who was riding in the train. Other notable films include Barfi!, Parineeta and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. The Darjeeling Limited, a film directed by Wes Anderson, features a trip by three brothers on a fictional long-distance train based loosely on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
TELEVISION
The BBC made a series of three documentaries dealing with Indian Hill Railways, shown in February 2010. The first film covers the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway, the second the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the third the Kalka-Shimla Railway. The films were directed by Tarun Bhartiya, Hugo Smith and Nick Mattingly and produced by Gerry Troyna. The series won the UK Royal Television Society Award in June 2010. Wes Anderson's film The Darjeeling Limited also showcases three brothers riding the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
WIKIPEDIA
The fate of the earthquake damaged Christchurch Cathedral is likely to be demolition, though there may be a compromise in that a section of the remaining structure could be preserved.
Meanwhile the safety barrier provides opportunity for up-lifting street-art.
Here it must be. Will they let me in to take a picture? Temporary basis of the Swiss Army in Buriet, Switzerland, Apr 28, 2008.
To celebrate International Archives Day 2015, we asked a representative from our offices to explain their role & select their favourite record. You can see the selections on our Flickr account and check our Twitter account for further International Archives Day celebrations. For more information on International Archives Day check out the International Council on Archives website www.ica.org/1561/international-archives-day/about-the-int...
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Historical Life Imitating Art – HBO’s Deadwood and Eleanor Catton’s The Luminaries come to life in Archives New Zealand’s holdings
Kia ora tātou. My name is Geordy Muir. I’m an archivist at Archives New Zealand’s Dunedin Regional Office.
I love gritty historical drama in any medium, be it television, literature, film, or best of all, real life. I’m fascinated by historical examples of vitriolic ranting. Ned Kelly’s Jerilderie Letter, held by the National Museum of Australia, is a really fantastic example. For me, it’s the language Kelly uses that’s so captivating. His anger is so raw that it oozes out of all 50 pages. But, we hold some gems too.
For the last few years, I’ve spent a lot of time with records generated by the various Wardens’ Courts that were set up throughout the Goldfields of Otago and Southland during the rushes of the 1860s and 70s. These are frontier records. The majority are made up of various mining applications, plaint files and licences. Often only a page or two in length and spattered with mud and who knowns what else, occasionally crinkled and tattered from spending the first phase of their lives in a miner’s back pocket, these scraps of paper are artefacts – time travellers travelling towards us at a speed of one day at a time.
But, while the content of the mining applications illustrates the industriousness of the men and women that worked the fields, and their physical condition occasionally gives us clues about the nature of life on those fields, generally, they’re literally gritty, not figuratively gritty. What I really love is plaint and criminal files, where you can stumble across a succinct and complete gritty little narrative – something that takes you all the way back to the muddy streets of these frontier (and sometimes temporary) gold towns. We witness drunks cussing at each other under a veranda as a fight spills out of one of the countless pubs and into the street as a local eccentric exposes himself within. Many of the stories are violent and harrowing, some of them are funny, and the best are both.
Criminal File – Police v William Maclarn- 1879
Archives Ref: AEPG 20967 D568/51 66 68
Transcript:
"You bloody lowe (sic) life son of a whore,
you bloody son of a bitch,
you god damn bugger of hell I will
do for you"
"’Morton you bloody low thief you son of a whores bitch
you god damned bugger of hell I will do for you yet’
and continued making use of that language in the hearing of
several children on the public road at 4:30pm on 5.8.79
E. Morton
Sergeant of Constabulary”
Material from Archives New Zealand
No. 160 sits in a biologist's lap. March 24, 2012
Camp Blanding bear cubs examined by FWC biologists
Their official names are “160” and “161.” But the words used most frequently to describe them were “too cute.”
They are two 6-pound, male black bear cubs born about eight weeks ago. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) biologists examined the cubs Sunday at the Camp Blanding Joint Training Center in Clay County.
Biologists Walt McCown and Brian Scheick, along with FWC Chairman Kathy Barco, went to the den to retrieve the cubs. According to McCown, who has been studying bears for 15 years, the female will generally leave the cubs temporarily when humans approach.
“During the time the females are nursing their cubs, they are usually very lethargic and not aware of their surroundings,” McCown said. “However, each bear is an individual, and we have to be ready for anything once we get to the den.”
And being prepared this time was a good idea. This time, Mama Bear didn’t want to cooperate.
“We came up on the den, and she refused to leave,” Scheick said. “We made noise and got extremely close to her before she left her cubs.”
McCown and Barco carried the cubs out to where they could be examined and fitted with their own radio collars. The cubs were also measured, weighed and injected with a microchip.
“The collars are designed to ‘grow’ with the cubs and will eventually fall off in six to eight months,” McCown said. “During this timeframe, we will be able to gather quite a bit of information about their movements with their mother.”
McCown follows a very strict time schedule when dealing with bear cubs, and the animals were returned to their mother within 45 minutes.
“Mom was waiting. She went back to the cubs,” McCown said.
The cubs and their 180-pound mother, “154,” are part of a bear project on the Florida National Guard base, according to McCown. In January, No. 154 gave birth to the two males, the first documented bears born on the base.
The project is gathering data about the bears on Camp Blanding, the 72,000-acre training center between two large bear populations in the Ocala National Forest and the Osceola National Forest. Seven bears have been caught and fitted with radio collars since June 2011.
“We want to see how the bears are using Camp Blanding as a part of the corridor between the two national forests,” McCown said.
On September 26, 2012, we had a temporary house guest--a sweet little female Goldfinch who got disoriented and flew into the slider door between my deck & my sunroom. She flew off, into the yard, but Duane saw her take a hard landing on the grass under the apple tree. We followed her into the yard, where we found her sitting quietly in the grass--not a very safe place to recover, since we have neighborhood cats and foxes. Duane gently scooped her into his hands & she flew out, but lit again on the grass. We decided she was, probably, in shock. To give her some time & a safe place to recover, I went to get our emergency bird box. We bedded her down & left her to herself in the covered box for about ten minutes. Then, Duane took the cover off. She was sitting up, with her wings in proper position. When she saw me approach to take her picture, she looked at me and flexed her muscles. She gave me one shot & then flew off, through the deck railing and into the back woods. I love happy endings!
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, also known as the "Toy Train", is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow gauge railway that runs between New Jalpaiguri and Darjeeling in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. Built between 1879 and 1881, the railway is about 78 kilometres) long. Its elevation level varies from about 100 metres at New Jalpaiguri to about 2,200 metres at Darjeeling. Four modern diesel locomotives handle most of the scheduled services; however the daily Kurseong-Darjeeling return service and the daily tourist trains from Darjeeling to Ghum (India's highest railway station) are handled by the vintage British-built B Class steam locomotives. The railway, along with the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the Kalka-Shimla Railway, is listed as the Mountain Railways of India World Heritage Site. The headquarters of the railway is in the town of Kurseong. Operations between Siliguri and Kurseong have been temporarily suspended since 2010 following a Landslide at Tindharia.
HISTORY
A broad gauge railway connected Calcutta (now Kolkata) and Siliguri in 1878. Siliguri, at the base of the Himalayas, was connected to Darjeeling by a cart road (the present day Hill Cart Road) on which "Tonga services" (carriage services) were available. Franklin Prestage, an agent of Eastern Bengal Railway Company approached the government with a proposal of laying a steam tramway from Siliguri to Darjeeling. The proposal was accepted in 1879 following the positive report of a committee formed by Sir Ashley Eden, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. Construction started the same year.
Gillanders Arbuthnot & Co. constructed the railway. The stretch from Siliguri to Kurseong was opened on 23 August 1880, while the official opening of the line up to Darjeeling was on 4 July 1881. Several engineering adjustments were made later in order to ease the gradient of the rails. Despite natural calamities, such as an earthquake in 1897 and a major cyclone in 1899, the DHR continued to improve with new extension lines being built in response to growing passenger and freight traffic. However, the DHR started to face competition from bus services that started operating over the Hill Cart Road, offering a shorter journey time. During World War II, the DHR played a vital role transporting military personnel and supplies to the numerous camps around Ghum and Darjeeling.
After the independence of India, the DHR was absorbed into Indian Railways and became a part of the Northeast Frontier Railway zone in 1958. In 1962, the line was realigned at Siliguri and extended by nearly 6 km to New Jalpaiguri (NJP) to meet the new broad gauge line there. DHR remained closed for 18 months during the hostile period of Gorkhaland Movement in 1988-89.
The line closed in 2011 due to a 6.8 Magnitude earthquake. The line is currently loss-making and in 2015, Rajah Banerjee, a local tea estate owner, has called for privatisation to encourage investment, which was fiercely resisted by unions.
WORLD HERITAGE SITE
DHR was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1999, only the second railway to have this honour bestowed upon it, the first one being Semmering Railway of Austria in 1998. To be nominated as World Heritage site on the World Heritage List, the particular site or property needs to fulfill a certain set of criteria, which are expressed in the UNESCO World Heritage Convention and its corresponding Operational Guidelines. The site must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. The protection, management, authenticity and integrity of properties are also important considerations.
CRITERIA FOR SELECTION
The DHR is justified by the following criteria:
Criterion ii The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is an outstanding example of the influence of an innovative transportation system on the social and economic development of a multi-cultural region, which was to serve as a model for similar developments in many parts of the world.
Criterion iv The development of railways in the 19th century had a profound influence on social and economic developments in many parts of the world. This process is illustrated in an exceptional and seminal fashion by the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
AUTHENTICITY AND INTEGITY
Since 1881, the original route has been retained in a remarkable condition. Only minimal interventions of an evolutionary nature, such as the reduction of loops, have been carried out. Most of the original steam locomotives are still in use. Like Tea and the Ghurka culture, the DHR has become not only an essential feature of the landscape but also an enduring part of the identity of Darjeeling.
MANAGEMENT AND LEGAL STATUS
The DHR and all its movable and immovable assets, including the authentic railway stations, the line, and the track vehicles, belong to the Government of India entrusted to the Ministry of Railways. The Northeast Frontier Railway documented all the elements of the DHR in a comprehensive register. Apart from that, it handles the day-to-day maintenance and management. But moreover, several programs, divisions and departments of the Indian Railways are responsible for operating, maintaining and repairing the DHR. This includes technical as well as non-technical work. In principle, the only two legal protection mechanisms that apply to the conservation of the DHR are the provisions of the 1989 Railway Act and that it is a public property which is state-owned and therefore protected
THE ROUTE
The railway line basically follows the Hill Cart Road which is partially the same as National Highway 55. Usually, the track is simply on the road side. In case of landslides both track and road might be affected. As long parts of the road are flanked with buildings, the railway line often rather resembles urban tramway tracks than an overland line.
To warn residents and car drivers about the approaching train, engines are equipped with very loud horns that even drown horns of Indian trucks and buses. Trains honk almost without pause.
LOOPS AND Z-REVERSE
One of the main difficulties faced by the DHR was the steepness of the climb. Features called loops and Z-Reverses were designed as an integral part of the system at different points along the route to achieve a comfortable gradient for the stretches in between them. When the train moves forwards, reverses and then moves forward again, climbing a slope each time while doing so, it gains height along the side of the hill.
LOCOMOTIVES
CURRENT
STEAM
All the steam locomotives currently in use on the railway are of the "B" Class, a design built by Sharp, Stewart and Company and later the North British Locomotive Company, between 1889 and 1925. A total of 34 were built, but by 2005 only 12 remained on the railway and in use (or under repair).
In 2002, No. 787 was rebuilt with oil firing. This was originally installed to work on the same principle as that used on Nilgiri Mountain Railway No.37395. A diesel-powered generator was fitted to operate the oil burner and an electrically-driven feed pump, and a diesel-powered compressor was fitted to power the braking system. Additionally, the locomotive was fitted with a feedwater heater. The overall result was a dramatic change in the appearance of the locomotive. However, the trials of the locomotive were disappointing and it never entered regular service. In early 2011, it was in Tindharia Works awaiting reconversion to coal-firing.
In March 2001, No.794 was transferred to the Matheran Hill Railway to allow a "Joy Train" (steam-hauled tourist train) to be operated on that railway. It did not, however, enter service there until May 2002.
DIESEL
Four diesel locomotives are in use: Nos. 601-2, 604 and 605 of the NDM6 class transferred from the Matheran Hill Railway.
Past
In 1910 the railway purchased the third Garratt locomotive built, a D Class 0-4-0+0-4-0.
Only one DHR steam locomotive has been taken out of India, No.778 (originally No.19). After many years out of use at the Hesston Steam Railway, it was sold to an enthusiast in the UK and restored to working order. It is now based on a private railway (The Beeches Light Railway) in Oxfordshire but has run on the Ffestiniog Railway, the Launceston Steam Railway and the Leighton Buzzard Light Railway.
IN POPULAR CULTURE
The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway has long been viewed with affection and enthusiasm by travellers to the region and the Earl of Ronaldshay gave the following description of a journey in the early 1920s:
"Siliguri is palpably a place of meeting... The discovery that here the metre gauge system ends and the two foot gauge of the Darjeeling-Himalayan railway begins, confirms what all these things hint at... One steps into a railway carriage which might easily be mistaken for a toy, and the whimsical idea seizes hold of one that one has accidentally stumbled into Lilliput. With a noisy fuss out of all proportion to its size the engine gives a jerk - and starts... No special mechanical device such as a rack is employed - unless, indeed, one can so describe the squat and stolid hill-man who sits perched over the forward buffers of the engine and scatters sand on the rails when the wheels of the engine lose their grip of the metals and race, with the noise of a giant spring running down when the control has been removed. Sometimes we cross our own track after completing the circuit of a cone, at others we zigzag backwards and forwards; but always we climb at a steady gradient - so steady that if one embarks in a trolley at Ghum, the highest point on the line, the initial push supplies all the energy necessary to carry one to the bottom."
The trip up to Darjeeling on railway has changed little since that time, and continues to delight travellers and rail enthusiasts, so much so that it has its own preservation and support group, the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway Society.
Several films have portrayed the railway. Especially popular was the song Mere sapno ki rani from the film Aradhana where the protagonist Rajesh Khanna tries to woo heroine Sharmila Tagore who was riding in the train. Other notable films include Barfi!, Parineeta and Raju Ban Gaya Gentleman. The Darjeeling Limited, a film directed by Wes Anderson, features a trip by three brothers on a fictional long-distance train based loosely on the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
TELEVISION
The BBC made a series of three documentaries dealing with Indian Hill Railways, shown in February 2010. The first film covers the Darjeeling-Himalayan Railway, the second the Nilgiri Mountain Railway and the third the Kalka-Shimla Railway. The films were directed by Tarun Bhartiya, Hugo Smith and Nick Mattingly and produced by Gerry Troyna. The series won the UK Royal Television Society Award in June 2010. Wes Anderson's film The Darjeeling Limited also showcases three brothers riding the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway.
WIKIPEDIA
Temporary roads are constructed for logging truck haul routes. After logging is complete, roads are decommissioned so the area can heal.
About the Exhibition
Tatzu Nishi (b. 1960, Nagoya, Japan) is known internationally for his temporary works of art that transform our experience of monuments, statues, and architectural details. His installations give the public intimate access to aspects of our urban environment and at the same time radically alter our perceptions. For his first public project in the United States, Nishi has chosen to focus on the historic statue of Christopher Columbus.
The marble statue, which rises to more than 75 feet atop a granite column, was designed by the Italian sculptor Gaetano Russo. It was unveiled in 1892 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’s first voyage to the Americas. Despite its prominent public location, the statue itself is little known, visible only as a silhouette against the sky or at a distance from surrounding buildings.
Nishi’s project re-imagines the colossal 13-foot-tall statue of Columbus standing in a fully furnished, modern living room. Featuring tables, chairs, couch, rug, and flat-screen television, the décor reflects the artist’s interpretation of contemporary New York style. He even designed wallpaper inspired by memories of American popular culture, having watched Hollywood movies and television as a child in Japan. Discovering Columbus offers both a unique perspective on a historical monument and a surreal experience of the sculpture in a new context. Allowing us to take a journey up six flights of stairs to a fictional living room, Tatzu Nishi invites us to discover for ourselves where the imagination may lead.
About the Monument
Erected in 1892, this monument was designed by the Italian artist Gaetano Russo to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ first voyage to the Americas. Atop the monument is a larger-than-life marble statue of explorer Christopher Columbus, who surveys the City from his perch some 75 feet above the street. He stands on a granite column featuring bronze ships’ prows and anchors that refer to his famous voyage with the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Supporting the column is a base adorned with bas relief plaques portraying Columbus’s journey in addition to an American bald eagle, and an allegorical figure titled the “Genius of Discovery.” The monument was sponsored by Il Progresso Italo-Americano, a New York City-based Italian-language newspaper.
The monument is located in the center of Columbus Circle at the intersection of Eighth Avenue, Broadway, Central Park South (West 59 Street), and Central Park West. It is the point from which all official distances from New York City are measured.
For more information on these monuments or Central Park, please visit www.nycgovparks.org or www.centralparknyc.org.
Conservation
In conjunction with Tatzu Nishi: Discovering Columbus, Public Art Fund will oversee the conservation of the Columbus Monument in cooperation with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.
In 2005 Columbus Circle was improved with the goal of making it a more hospitable destination for visitors. The roadways were reconfigured and the pedestrian walkways and crosswalks enhanced. Surrounding the monument, a new granite plaza was installed with specially designed benches and rimmed with seasonal planting beds, to create an oasis in the middle of the Circle. The interior fountain was removed, permitting seating at the base of the monument, and was replaced with perimeter fountains that soften the sounds of this busy crossroads.
The monument was unveiled in 1892, and in the hundred years since, its marble and original materials have been ravaged by time, weather, and other factors. The current conservation includes cleaning and pointing of granite and marble features, stone repair and consolidation, and bronze surface treatment.
As a non-profit organization, Public Art Fund has fundraised extensively to present this exhibition. Primary support comes from corporations, private individuals, and foundations.
Because the monument to Christopher Columbus is being conserved in conjunction with the exhibition, the Department of Cultural Affairs has provided funds to cover some of the conservation costs.
Lead Sponsors: Time Warner Inc.; Related Companies; Bloomberg
Additional funding is provided by The Bloomingdale’s Fund of the Macy’s Foundation; Charina Endowment Fund; Lauren & Martin Geller; The Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation; Kraus Family Foundation; Nancy & Duncan MacMillan; Marc Haas Foundation; David Rockefeller; The Secunda Family Foundation Inc.; Patty & Howard Silverstein; The Silverweed Foundation; Billie Tsien & Tod Williams; Vital Projects Fund, Inc.; Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP; David Wine & Michael P. MacElhenny; The Zegar Family Foundation; and anonymous donors. Supported in part by The ABNY Foundation; Elise & Andrew Brownstein; Mickey Cartin; Joan Ganz Cooney & Peter G. Peterson; Marcia Dunn & Jonathan Sobel Foundation; Wendy Fisher; Linda Lennon & Stuart Baskin; Holly & Jonathan Lipton; The Moore Charitable Foundation; Nancy & Morris W. Offit; Red Crane Foundation; The Rudin Foundation, Inc.; Linda & Andrew Safran; Trump International Hotel and Tower; and Young & Rubicam.
Support for the conservation of the Columbus Monument provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation
Construction Partner: Tishman Construction, an AECOM Company
Special thanks to Bloomingdale’s and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams for providing furnishings; Bouchon Bakery and Café for event catering; FLOR, an Interface company, for modular floor covering; Samsung Electronics America for electronics; The Shops at Columbus Circle for hosting our information desk; Tender Creative for design services; Trove for producing custom wall coverings; and Artex Fine Art Services for conservation assistance.
Public Art Fund gratefully acknowledges the partnership of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg; First Deputy Mayor Patricia E. Harris; Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Veronica White; Central Park Conservancy President Douglas Blonsky; Department of Design and Construction Commissioner David J. Burney; and Department of Cultural Affairs Commissioner Kate D. Levin
Temporary shelter constructed using a timber frame and CGI roofing. The material for the temporary shelter has been supplied by Danish Aid. The household has received the first tranche of the GoN housing reconstruction grant.
Dated; 26 February 2018.
Copyright © John G. Lidstone, all rights reserved.
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If you do, and I find out, you will be reported for copyright infringement action to the host platform and/or group applicable and you will be barred by me from social media platforms I use.
The same applies to all of my images.
My ownership & copyright is also embedded in the image metadata.
Over the 2013 Christmas period and in to the new year, a period of persistent heavy rain and strong winds combined to cause widespread flooding and countless landslips. One such landslip undermined the carriageway on the approach to Alum Bay, thus curtailing route 7 at Totland over the Christmas period. By the 5th January 2014 when this photo of recently repainted 1102 (HW08 AOR) was taken, a temporary terminus had been established a few hundred yards along the road with buses turning in the entrance to Headon Hall.
Use a "C" Clamp to temporarily hold the antenna mast in place for testing. Move around for the best signal while listening to ATIS for a particular airport. Then "C" Clamp antenna in place.
Welcome to my “studio” (Son’s old room) - please excuse the mess.
Although being able to leave it a mess is part of the joy of a studio!
Yes, I miss the lovely reflective hardwood of my Kitchen studio, but we hope to renovate in the near(?) future and this room will lose its carpet then.
The anti-reflector (black) is usually turned silver side out and the bare flash on the right is usually positioned somewhat centrally behind the umbrella - but this was the setup for today.
Taken with the iPhone’s wide-angle lens.
Our Daily Challenge - HOBBIES is the topic for Wed Jan 31 2024
The only thing missing is a dog!
I just can't stand the default brazilian keyboard layout (ABNT2), so I remapped my keys.
The stickers are temporary, I'm trying to figure out a way to do this the right way.
Update: New keyboard stickers
Donation Information:
If you would like to help those affected by Wednesday's storms, the American Red Cross is accepting donations in a couple of ways.
Make out your check to "American Red Cross - Neighbors in Need", and mail it to:
American Red Cross - Neighbors in Need
300 Chase Park South
Hoover Alabama 35244
If you prefer to make a donation on-line, please click here to visit alredcross.org
-To apply for federal disaster assistance online, go to www.disasterassistance.gov
-To apply over the phone, call 1-800-621-3362 between the hours of 7am and 10 pm.
-The United Way has set up a hotline to help victims find low cost temporary housing. Call 211 for more details.
Volunteer Information:
-United Way's Hands on Birmingham - www.handsonbirmingham.org
-Volunteers in Tuscaloosa are asked to register at St. Matthias Episcopal Church on Skyland Boulevard
-Volunteers in Calhoun County must register at the Ohatchee Police Department
-Volunteers in Concord must register at the YMCA on 4th Avenue South
-Webster's Chapel leaders are looking for volunteers with vehicles who can distribute supplies to tornado victims. Volunteers should go to the Webster's Chapel Fire Station
Drop off Locations:
-Harvest Church in Northport is accepting donations for tornado survivors
-Christian Service Mission at 3600 3rd Ave South is accepting personal care items, baby supplies, and other items of basic need
-First Baptist Church Trussville is a drop off point for donations Monday through Friday 8am to 6pm
-Church of the Highlands on Grants Mill Road is accepting items of basic need
-Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Alexandria is collecting donations of bathing supplies
-Clear Branch United Methodist Church in Argo is a drop off location from 8am to 4pm Monday through Friday
-Mark Ferrier Ministries has a drop off point at 97.7 Fox FM radio in Jasper
-Alabaster First United Methodist Church accepting donations for storm survivors at Restore Building behind the church
-Holy Faith Temple is accepting donations for tornado survivors in Childersburg
-Central Baptist Church of Jasper is collecting supplies for victims in Cordova.
-McAlpine Recreation Center at 1115 Avenue F in Ensley is now a drop off point
-108 Haynes Street in Talladega is collecting donations for survivors in East Alabama
-East Birmingham Church of God on First Avenue North is collecting supplies
-All Books-A-Million stores are collecing monetary donations for the Salvation Army
-East Birmingham Church of God in Christ on 1st Avenue is collecting supplies
-Aldrich Assembly of God is collecting relief supplies at Lucky's Market in Montevallo and Sammy's Fresh Market in Wilsonville.
-Vance town community center is collecting donations for survivors in Vance
-Helena Cumberland Presbyterian Church is accepting donations all week from 9am until 6pm.
-Donations in Calhoun County may be dropped off at Eagle Point Baptist Church in Jacksonville and Word Alive Church in Coldwater.
-Jasper Jaycees are accepting donated items at the fairgrounds on Airport Road. Cash donations can be made at Bank of Walker County. Call 205-221-3928 for more info.
-Hardin's Chapel Church in Ragland is an official EMA site
-Cullman county donation locations: Eagle Point Church, Isaiah 58-Word Alive Church, Piedmont Benevolence and Salvation Army
-UAB is holding blood drives at the North Pavillion from 10am to 5pm Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday. 7am to 2pm Tuesday and Friday
Places to pick up items or get help:
-People with disabilities who have lost medication or equipment can call 205-251-2223 ext 102
-United Way has set up a hotline to help victims find low cost temporary housing - call 211
-There will be a physician on site and medicine available at Scott School through Saturday from 7am to 7pm
-Tornado survivors in Hale and Greene counties can get help at Springfield United Methodist Church in Eutaw and at Johnson Hill United Methodist Church in Union
-Toiletries and clothing are available for pick up at Plum Grove Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa. If you need transportation, call 205-292-5836
-Food and water stations for victims are set up at the Leland Shopping Center, Forest Lake Baptist relief center and Skyland Elementary.
-Aldridge Community Missionary Baptist Church in Parrish has food, formula, clothes and water for any storm survivors who need help.
-Victims in St. Clair County can get food, water and other supplies at the Shoal Creek Community Center.
-Tarps available in St. Clair County at Odenville Fire Department, Pell City Fire Station One, Reiverside Fire Department
-The Salvation Army has set up mobile canteen operations in Forest Lake, Holt High School and on 15th Street in Alberta City.
-Tornado victims in Hale and Greene Counties can get help at Springfield United Methodist Church in Eutaw and at Johnson Hill United Methodist Church in Union.
-The Masonic Lodge in Pleasant Grove is serving meals and distributing supplies to tornado victims.
-Bethel Baptist Church in Pratt City is providing food and shelter to tornado survivors in that community
-Food, water and other supplies are available at Pleasant Ridge Baptist Church in Hueytown.
-The Red Cross has opened feeding stations at Oak Grove Baptist Church, Knighten's Volunteer Fire Department, Webster's Chapel Volunteer Fire Department, First Baptist Church of Williams, Mt. Olive Volunteer Fire Department in Ohatchee and the Ellis Community Fire Department.
-Hardin's Chapel Church in Ragland is an official EMA site
-Free first aid station is open in Pleasant Grove from 9am to 6pm at 615 Pleasant Grove Road Monday through Friday
-Free medical clinic at Scott School in Pratt City 7am to 7pm
Shelters:
-Bethel Baptist Church in Pratt City is providing food and shelter to tornado victims in that community.
-The American Red Cross has set up shelters at the Belk Center in Tuscaloosa, First Baptist Church in Hanceville, the Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham, the Civic Center in Cullman and First United Methodist Church in Springville.
-American Red Cross shelter in St. Clair County is at Greensport Baptist Church in Ashville
Insurance office locations:
-Allstate Insurance has mobile claims centers set up at the Lowe's in Bessemer, the Winn-Dixie at River Square Plaza in Hueytown and the K-Mart on Skyland Boulevard in Tuscaloosa.
-State Farm has centers set up at Lowe's in Cullman, Tuscaloosa, Bessemer and Fultondale.
-ALFA has centers at the Save-a-Lot in Cullman and the ALFA Service Center in Gadsden.
-Farmers Insurance has centers at Home Depot in Tuscaloosa, the Forest Square Shopping Center in Forestdale, and the Farmers district offices in Vestavia Hills and Pell City.
Misc:
-A battery charging station is set up at the Walmart in Tuscaloosa. Flash lights are also being given away while supplies last.
-If you have loved ones who are still missing in the Birmingham area, call 205-787-1487 or 205-787-1488.
-Greater Birmingham Humane Society lost and found pet hotline open 8am to 5pm daily: 205-397-8534. Hotline is for Jefferson and Tuscaloosa counties
-Official FEMA mobile disaster recovery center in Sumter county: Geiger Town Hall 201 Broadway
-Victims in Pratt City are in need of trash bags and baskets to help collect their personal belongings
-Calhoun County needs rope, tools, gloves, masks, tarps, first aid supplies and baby supplies
-Some local contractors in Tuscaloosa are offering free debris removal. Call 205-248-5800.
-Samaritan's Purse in Tuscaloosa is providing free debris removal and free tarps. Call 205-345-7554.
-The McWane Center in Birmingham is offering free admission to anyone who brings supplies for tornado victims.
-A dusk to dawn curfew is in effect for all of Cullman County.
-An 8pm to 6am curfew is in effect in the city of Tuscaloosa.
Wild Turkey and Red Headed Woodpecker
Wild Turkey and American Robin
Athos Menaboni (Italan 1895 - 1990)
Athos Menaboni (1895 – 1990) was born in 1895 in the Italian port city of Livorno. As a result of his ship-supplier father's bringing home exotic animals from clients around the world, young Athos developed the lifelong fascination with birds and other animals, which later became the subjects of his paintings.
He arrived in Georgia in the late 1920s and remained active until his death at the age of ninety-four. His early career focused primarily on painting murals and creating other decorative features for clients in Atlanta and elsewhere in the state. He then turned to painting birds from life, usually in pairs and in their natural habitats. Today Menaboni is best known for his numerous paintings of more than 150 different species of birds.
Menaboni’s artistic talent was evident in childhood, and at the age of nine he began art lessons with Ugo Manaresi, an Italian marine painter. He later became an apprentice to Charles Doudelet, a Belgian artist who specialized in painting murals. He also studied with the sculptor Pietro Gori and later attended the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, Italy, until the outbreak in 1914 of World War I in Europe. During the war, Menaboni served in the Italian army for four years.
Loath to join the family business after the war, Menaboni joined the crew of the U.S. vessel S.S. Colthraps under Master John Hashagen, a friend of the family who sponsored Menaboni upon his arrival in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1921. This sponsorship allowed Menaboni to stay in the country, and he later became a citizen in 1939. He initally lived in New York City, where he struggled financially and socially because he barely spoke English. In 1924 he left New York to serve as art director for a new real estate development on Davis Island in Tampa, Florida, remaining there until it went bankrupt in 1926.
After leaving Florida, Menaboni settled in Atlanta, where he remained for the rest of his long life. At first Menaboni lived in a downtown boarding house, where he fortuitously met Sara Regina Arnold, the niece of his landlords and a student at Shorter College (later Shorter University) in her hometown of Rome. After a one-year courtship, the couple married on August 14, 1928, and Sara soon began juggling multiple roles as Menaboni’s social secretary, allowing him the solitude he craved as an artist; as his agent, sending his work to galleries and actively seeking clients for him; as his collaborator, supplying text to accompany his ornithological drawings; and as his partner in making their home a sanctuary for wildlife.
The couple settled into a small apartment and survived financially through commissions acquired through the prominent Atlanta architect Philip Trammell Shutze. Menaboni designed murals for Swan House, the home of Emily and Edward Inman that is now part of the Atlanta History Center. That work led to additional commissions for private homes, public buildings, and places of worship. Though they lived in a building with thirty-six apartments in midtown Atlanta, the couple developed a reputation for rehabilitating injured and abandoned animals, particularly birds.
The childless couple longed for a place of their own, surrounded by nature. In 1939 the couple purchased a six-acre parcel of land in Sandy Springs, where they built first an aviary and then, in 1942, a house. Their property was known as Valle Ombrosa (“Shady Valley”), after the village Vallombrosa, located southeast of Florence, Italy, where Menaboni had spent summers as a child.
In 1937, during a lull in commissioned work, Menaboni had time to paint from memory a cardinal, which was inspired by the work of John James Audubon and Menaboni’s own careful observations of the bird in nature. This single painting opened a new avenue of work for Menaboni when Molly Aeck, a visiting interior decorator and friend, saw the painting and sold it to a client. Menaboni eventually obtained federal and state permits to capture rare and protected species in the aviary at Valle Ombrosa in order to study them. In his pursuit of accuracy Menaboni occasionally studied carcasses of birds and specimens in museum collections, but he preferred to capture an animal’s distinct personality by observing it in nature. He was meticulous in painting both the birds and the flora of their habitat. Using thin layers of oil paints to create a translucent quality—a technique he referred to as his “undercoat method”—he painted on wood, silk, canvas, and glass.
The height of Menaboni’s career occurred during the 1940s and 1950s, when he created yearly Christmas cards for Robert Woodruff, president of the Coca-Cola Company. His work appeared in advertisements and magazines, which led to the publication in 1950 of the book Menaboni’s Birds, with illustrations by Menaboni and text by his wife. He also illustrated the American bird article in The World Book Encyclopedia in 1957, and his work was exhibited widely during this time. His lithograph American Bald Eagle is included in Georgia’s State Art Collection.
Menaboni died on July 18, 1990, from complications of a stroke. His wife died on August 10, 1993. The couple left their estate to Callaway Gardens. The largest archive of Menaboni papers and possessions is located in the Troup County Archives in LaGrange, and Menaboni collections are also found at both the Stuart A. Rose Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library at Emory University in Atlanta, and the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Exhibitions honoring Menaboni’s life and art continue to be mounted across Georgia.The Zuckerman Museum of Art at Kennesaw State University, a frequent exhibitor, has one of the largest collections of Menaboni’s work in the country. Other recent exhibitions have been held at the Albany Museum of Art, Berry College in Rome, and on Jekyll Island. In 2016 a permanent exhibition, Athos Menaboni: Nature in its Transcendent Detail, opened at Callaway Gardens.
www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/athos-m...
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On January 2, 2017, the AMA was hit by hurricane-force straight-line winds that devastated much of Albany and Southwest Georgia. The 90 mph-plus winds tore away large sections of the roof from the building, allowing rain into offices, galleries, and vaults on the second floor. The AMA worked tirelessly during those critical first days to ensure the collection was stabilized and moved to suitable storage or sent to professionals for conservation. None of the works in the museum collection or on loan were destroyed as a result of the storms. All works were secure when a second major storm, including tornadoes, hit the area three weeks later.
The first 2017 storm forced the Museum to close for nearly nine months while repairs were made. In August 2017, it reopened its three downstairs galleries, where it has continually hosted a series of temporary exhibitions. In April 2022, the remainder of the AMA's permanent collection returned from the Conservation Center in Chicago, where the artworks damaged in the 2017 storm had been restored and kept. To celebrate this homecoming of the full collection, the AMA opened a "collection takeover" exhibition starting May 12, with all AMA galleries devoted to showing works of art from the collection.
"The Albany Museum of Art brings the art of the South to the world and the art of the world to the South. We build connections with individuals and communities to inspire curiosity, appreciation, understanding, and passion for art. We engage diverse experiences and perspectives in our audiences through relevant exhibitions, events, collection preservation, research, and educational programming.
The Albany Museum of Art has its origins in the early 1960s when Albany, Georgia residents formed the Southwest Georgia Art Association. That organization obtained its not-for-profit status in March 1964. Relying on volunteer staff and the donation of space in a defunct hosiery mill, the group established a program of exhibitions, lectures, and art instruction."
Nikon FE2 Fuji Reala |
As I tried to get the best angle to take this, for once waiting for the sun to go in, a guy leaned out of a window on the fourth floor above, curious about what I was doing. This is a frequent occurrence, especially in places where the ordinary is the fabric of every day life, where unusual details become the accepted norm. Passers by will look towards the direction the camera's pointed in, and I'll smile and try not to impose too much; on occasion we'll have a chat in my disjointed Slavic Esperanto. It's a fine line to try to capture something, but not be seen as taking advantage. People will often treat me as if I'm local i.e. I'll be asked for directions (or that could be down to the rarity of foreigners), so there's a hope that I don't stand out too much.