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Although all the rooms of the Rone - Empire installation exhibition are amazing for many different reasons, there are two major standouts. The Study is one of them. It features walls of books covered with a portrait of Lily Sullivan, and the entire room is partially submerged in a lake of black water with the occasional red oak leaf floating across its glassy surface.
Melbourne based street artist Rone (Tyrone Wright) used the decaying glory of the 1933 Harry Norris designed Streamline Moderne mansion, Burnham Beeches in the Dandenong Ranges' Sherbrooke, between March the 6th and April 22nd to create an immersive hybrid art space for his latest installation exhibition; "Empire".
"Empire" combined a mixture of many different elements including art, sound, light, scent, found objects, botanic designs, objects from nature and music especially composed for the project by Nick Batterham. The Burnham Beeches project re-imagines and re-interprets the spirit of one of Victoria’s landmark mansions, seldom seen by the public and not accessed since the mid 1980s. According to Rone - Empire website; "viewers are invited to consider what remains - the unseen cultural, social, artistic and spiritual heritage which produces intangible meaning."
Rone was invited by the current owner of Burnham Beeches, restaurateur Shannon Bennett, to exhibit "Empire" during a six week interim period before renovations commence to convert the heritage listed mansion into a select six star hotel.
Rone initially imagined the mansion to be in a state of dereliction, but found instead that it was a stripped back blank canvas for him to create his own version of how he thought it should look. Therefore, almost all the decay is in fact of Rone's creation from grasses in the Games Room which 'grow' next to a rotting billiards table, to the damp patches, water staining and smoke damage on the ceilings. Nests of leaves fill some spaces, whilst tree branches and in one case an entire avenue of boughs sprout from walls and ceilings. Especially designed Art Deco wallpaper created in Rone's studio has been installed on the walls before being distressed and damaged. The rooms have been adorned with furnishings and objects that might once have graced the twelve original rooms of Burnham Beeches: bulbulous club sofas, half round Art Deco tables, tarnished silverware and their canteen, mirrored smoke stands of chrome and Bakelite, glass lamps, English dinner services, a glass drinks trolley, photos of people long forgotten in time, walnut veneer dressing tables reflecting the installation sometimes in triplicate, old wire beadsteads, luggage, shelves of books, an Underwood typewriter, a John Broadwood and Sons of London grand piano and even a Kriesler radiogramme. All these objects were then covered in a thick sheet or light sprinkling of 'dust' made of many different things including coffee grinds and talcum powder, creating a sensation for the senses. Burnham Beeches resonated with a ghostly sense of its former grandeur, with a whiff of bittersweet romance.
Throughout the twelve rooms, magnificent and beautifully haunting floor-to-ceiling and wall-to-wall portraits of Australian actress Lily Sullivan, star of the Foxtel re-make of Picnic at Hanging Rock, appear. Larger than life, each portrait is created in different colours, helping to create seasonal shifts as you move from room to room.
Although all the rooms are amazing for many different reasons, there are two major standouts. The Study is one. The Dining Room features two long tables covered in a Miss Havisham like feast of a trove of dinner table objects from silverware and glassware to empty oyster shells and vases of grasses and feathers.
The Dining Room installation I found especially confronting. In 1982, I visited Burnham Beeches when it was a smart and select hotel and had Devonshire tea in the dining room at a table alongside the full length windows overlooking the terraces below. I was shocked to see a room I remember appointed with thick carpets and tables covered in gleaming silver and white napery, strewn with dust and leaves, and adorned with Miss Havisham's feast of found dining objects.
I feel very honoured and privileged to be amongst the far too few people fortunate enough to have seen Rone's "Empire", as like the seasons, it is ephemeral, and it will already have been dismantled. Rone's idea is that, like his street art, things he creates don't last forever, and that made the project exciting. I hope that my photographs do justice to, and adequately share as much as is possible of this amazing installation with you.
LA TURCHIA RIDE
Ramize ERER - Mehmet ÇAGÇAG - Tuncay AKGÜN - Güneri IÇOGLU
8 -16 Settembre 2007
Mole Vanvitelliana - Ancona
Gian Mario Spacca Presidente Regione Marche
L’iniziativa Adriatico-Mediterraneo, è un progetto di durata triennale ideato dalla Regione Marche in collaborazione con la Provincia e il Comune di Ancona, per sviluppare un confronto istituzionale e uno scambio culturale “diffuso”, che sottolinei il ruolo di primo piano delle Marche nello stabilire nuovi e profondi legami di pace e sviluppo tra le comunità dell’Adriatico e del Mediterraneo.
Il richiamo a questi mari che, nel corso della Storia, hanno consentito l’incontro, non sempre facile, di differenti culture (cristianesimo cattolico ed ortodosso, islam ed ebraismo), diventa elemento fondamentale e rappresenta il valore identitario dell’Iniziativa. In questo quadro, la mostra “La Turchia ride” rappresenta uno dei momenti più significativi dell’iniziativa Adriatico-Mediterraneo, perché non si tratta di una semplice mostra di fumetti, ma di un efficace strumento per conoscere l’odierna Turchia e per riflettere sulle questioni della modernità, della politica, della tolleranza in un Paese che attualmente vive tra isolamento e integrazione.
La Regione Marche, attraverso la realizzazione di questo evento, dà concretezza al modello di cooperazione internazionale costruito in questi anni, un modello capace di far crescere e sviluppare le comunità locali costruendo concreti percorsi di democrazia contro tentazioni integraliste e nazionaliste che sono sempre portatrici di violenza.
E’ questo un punto centrale del programma di governo della Regione Marche: la cooperazione è lo strumento insostituibile di quella politica di pace a cui la nostra regione è particolarmente chiamata.
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Patrizia Casagrande Esposto Presidente Provincia di Ancona
Carlo Maria Pesaresi Assessore alla Cultura Provincia di Ancona
“Chi fa satira vede sempre più avanti rispetto agli altri”.
Lo dice Mehmet Çagçag, uno dei fondatori e condirettore di LeMan, la rivista di satira più famosa della Turchia, un vero e proprio settimanale di attualità politica completamente a fumetti, i cui personaggi sono ormai punti di riferimento
per tutta la società turca.
Con “La Turchia Ride” ci è offerta l’occasione di ospitare ad Ancona le opere di alcuni suoi autori. È un evento importante, parte integrante e significativa di “Adriatico Mediterraneo Klezmer 2007”, manifestazione ambiziosa e innovativa.
Alla Mole Vanvitelliana, circondati da un mare che deve saper unire popoli e culture, gli autori di LeMan ci aprono gli occhi - e la mente - su un grande Paese che attraversa ora una fase delicata, fatta di grandi cambiamenti sociali e di una controversa candidatura europea, al quale forse ci lega un’immagine carica di troppi luoghi comuni.
La mostra offre molti spunti di riflessione: sul possibile concetto di modernità, sulla politica, sullo scontro religioso e sul conflitto tra uomini e donne. Il quotidiano turco viene letto e desacralizzato, le abitudini comportamentali e politiche messe in discussione.
È lo spazio della libertà quello in cui si muovono gli artisti di LeMan ed è un dovere, ancor prima che un grande piacere, ospitarli nella nostra Provincia.
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Fabio Sturani Sindaco Comune di Ancona
Questo catalogo è un documento importante per gli esperti e per gli appassionati del mondo della satira e del fumetto. “La Turchia ride” è, infatti, una mostra dedicata alla tradizione vignettistica e satirica turca, che, come noto agli esperti, è di grande qualità e ampiezza. E i disegnatori della rivista LeMan, protagonisti in prima persona dell’evento anconetano, sono conosciuti, non solo in patria, come intellettuali liberi e impegnati nella politica e nella società.
Per Ancona, però, questo volume ha una valenza in più: è, e sarà ricordato in futuro, anche come uno dei primi documenti di questo nuovo percorso che, con il festival “adriatico Mediterraneo Klezmer”, che ospita la mostra e che quest’anno è alla sua prima edizione, vuole alimentare il circolo virtuoso di idee, di scambi e di esperienze tra popoli accomunati dallo stesso mare.
L’Amministrazione comunale crede in questa formula, che rispecchia profondamente la natura di Ancona: centro dell’Adriatico e del Mediterraneo, porta dell’Est, punto di passaggio e di compenetrazione di culture e tradizioni diverse.
E la Turchia si pone, in questo contesto, come Paese centrale nell’ottica di allargamento a Oriente dell’Europa, per il quale anche la nostra città e il mare Adriatico sono sempre più strategici.
La nostra ambizione è quella di dar vita a un appuntamento stabile, a un’occasione per approfondire, anno dopo anno, la nostra storia e il nostro presente.
L’auspicio, dunque, è che il lavoro che ha portato a realizzare la mostra e, poi, queste pagine, prosegua nel tempo, contribuendo
a far crescere questa grande e composita comunità del Mediterraneo, le cui frontiere, come afferma lo scrittore Predrag Matvejevic, “non sono né statali, né nazionali”.
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Andrea Nobili Presidente A.M. Adriatico/Mediterraneo
Qualcosa di più di una semplice mostra di fumetti: un modo diverso e originale per tentare di conoscere l’odierna Turchia.
La satira è uno strumento straordinario per riflettere sulle questioni della modernità, della politica, dello scontro religioso e del conflitto tra uomini e donne. In questo caso ci viene offerto un vero e proprio spaccato sociale di un Paese in bilico tra isolamento e integrazione.
Guardando questo vignette si scopre una realtà nascosta all’Occidente. Idee in movimento per una Turchia in grado di tollerare le diversità, senza discriminazioni sessuali, per una Turchia in cui i conservatori islamici non possano costringere la parte di popolazione più moderna a fare ciò che non vuole, per una Turchia in cui ci siano soldi a sufficienza per tutti e più sicurezza per i bambini.
Sappiamo che la miopia dell’Europa rischia di consegnare la Turchia al fondamentalismo islamico. Perché le strade a disposizione di quel Paese sono solo due: da una parte l’aggancio con l’Unione Europea e con quegli ordinamenti liberali che governano le nostre nazioni, dall’altra l’isolamento
nazionalista che precede la vittoria del fondamentalismo.
Quest’ultima ipotesi sarebbe una sconfitta storica. La Turchia, ad oggi, rappresenta una delle poche incarnazioni geopolitiche di quell’Islam moderato e democratico di cui tutti a parole diciamo di avere un gran bisogno.
Nel nostro piccolo abbiamo deciso da che parte stare, credendo nel processo di integrazione europea della Turchia e nella possibilità di una nazione insieme islamica e democratica. Per questo sosteniamo con convinzione l’impegno di chi, anche con disegni e caricature, si batte per la libertà, l’emancipazione sociale e la democrazia.
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Elettra Stamboulis Associazione Culturale MIRADA
Nel nostro immaginario la Turchia è un Paese in cui si portano ostinatamente i baffi, si fuma liberamente il narghilé, la mattina ti sveglia il muezzin e il caffè ha un fondo denso che per noi diventa un problema quando lo beviamo velocemente come un espresso… La Turchia ha però molte facce, molte identità e una storia fatta di molti incontri. Incontri tra culture, lingue, etnie diverse.
Il nostro incontro ha avuto luogo, come spesso accade, in un bazar, quello di Bursa. Vagando tra le bancarelle di piccola oggettistica e spezie ci siamo imbattuti in un venditore di libri usati, una delle nostre passioni, anche se non conosciamo neanche una parola di turco. E oh! Sorpresa! In mezzo a tante copertine decorate, spiccavano moltissimi fumetti. Ma non riviste di fumetti con personaggi tradotti, per bambini o ragazzini che amano l’avventura, come succede da noi. Riviste che si capiva erano per adulti, con scene evidentemente hard: la forza comunicativa del disegno sta proprio in questo. Anche se non capivamo le parole, era chiarissimo qual era l’impostazione generale di queste storie. Parlavano della contemporaneità, della vita di tutti i giorni, satireggiando e ironizzando su tutto, senza paura. Ne abbiamo comprate dieci, costavano 50 centesimi l’una. Il giorno dopo abbiamo scritto alla redazione, dicendo che ci sarebbe piaciuto conoscere gli autori. E così è stato.
Leman è una rivista che esce dal 1985 anni in Turchia ogni settimana: si tratta di un fenomeno editoriale inesplorato in Europa. Nessuno dei nostri amici amanti del fumetto lo conosceva, e questo la dice lunga sulla distanza che ancora ci separa da questo Paese che aspira ad entrare in Europa. Ogni settimana Leman analizza e critica e ironizza quanto avviene a livello politico e sociale nel Paese. L’avventura di Leman ha costituito il seguito della rivista storica Girgir, il cui animatore Oguz Aral è morto 2 anni fa. Questo disegnatore è considerato il maestro sia da Mehmet ÇaGçaG che dall’altro co – fondatore Tuncay Akgün, ma è un maestro un po’ per tutti coloro che hanno spirito critico nel Paese della mezzaluna. Oltre a Leman, il gruppo edita anche libri che raccolgono le strisce dei personaggi fissi della rivista, stampano altre due riviste (una mensile sempre solo a fumetti e un mensile di politica con articoli e foto), gestiscono un café che si trova vicino alla centrale piazza Taksim e hanno anche il tempo di perdere tempo bevendo thé nel locale sotto gli uffici della redazione. A volte penso che siano clonati.
È molto divertente osservare chi legge Leman per strada o sul tram: innanzitutto chi lo compra lo mette bene in vista. È come una sorta di passaporto identitario. Per leggerlo lo spiega davanti a sé come un lenzuolo, così anche i vicini possono dargli un’occhiata. E ovviamente ride. Non con la risata a squarciagola, ma con la risata dell’intelligenza. Inoltre la buona educazione prevede che, se finisce di leggerlo prima di scendere dal mezzo, lo lasci sul sedile, così qualcun altro lo potrà leggere.
Questa pratica di lasciare le copie sulle panchine, nei bar, sugli autobus, è molto comune: tanto che le copie lette sono stimate essere molto di più di quelle vendute. E comunque le copie distribuite sono 100.000, con una media di venduto di 50/60.000 copie. Certo, l’epoca di Girgir che vendeva 500.000 copie è finita, spazzata via dalla velocità di Internet.
Ma è anche vero che questa rivista era molto più soft di Leman, doveva piacere a tutti, e quindi la satira in un certo senso si autocensurava. Inoltre era molto legata all’opposizione alla giunta militare: finita la giunta, sembrava che fosse finita la sua ragion d’essere, mentre Leman è critica non solo contro i fascismi, ma anche verso gli islamici radicali, i taboo, le feudalità, la cultura della conservazione…
L’impianto è molto caricaturista. I personaggi rappresentano una sintesi eccessiva della società turca: il militante lento e sempre a riposo Bekir, il rivoltante tassista Kozalak, non sono altro che macchiette di personaggi effettivamente esistenti. Difatti i nomi dei personaggi a fumetti sono diventati
aggettivi utilizzati in modo popolare per definire un certo modo di essere e di comportarsi.
LeMan è anche una fucina per le nuove leve: l’ultima pagina è sempre dedicata agli autori in erba e alle vignette dei lettori. La redazione riceve proposte anche dai villaggi sperduti dell’Anatolia, e questo è molto importante per comprendere quanto la rivista è trasversale socialmente nel Paese.
Recentemente Tayyip Erdogan, il Primo Ministro turco, ha avviato un azione legale contro il direttore della rivista in cui chiede 26.000 euro di risarcimento per la sua caricatura.
Ma il mondo del disegno turco è ormai allenato al boicottaggio e alle aule dei tribunali: Tuncay è vissuto come fuggitivo per 15 anni, mentre Guneri è stato imprigionato per il suo lavoro. Il potere non ama mai che si rida di lui ed attua le tattiche che meglio conosce per emarginare la critica. Nell’occidente “civilizzato” si usa l’arma della morte commerciale, in Turchia dove l’autoritarismo è più a briglia sciolta, si usa l’arma legale, in Paesi come l’Algeria dove c’era una guerra civile si usava l’estinzione fisica, l’omicidio.
I disegnatori algerini sopravvissuti sono quelli espatriati in Francia.
L’importante è sapere che nel Paese dei muezzin e del caffè turco, c’è chi ancora resiste, usando l’intelligenza e la matita, per raccontare una versione della realtà che non è quella edulcorata dei canali del potere. Scusate se è poco.
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Peronaggi in mostra:
Bezgin Bekir:
Personaggio creato da Tuncay Akgün.
È lento, calmo. È sempre seduto o steso sui cuscini con i suoi gatti e il suo narghilé. È un buontempone, un conforto per chi si sente vinto dalla velocità dei nostri tempi. È anche un attivista politico, ma forse il termine “attivista” è poco adeguato ai suoi tempi lunghi. È un intellettuale, ma questo lo percepiamo non dalle sue parole, ma dalle sue azioni e dalla sua attitudine verso gli eventi.
“Bezgin Bekir” è diventato oggi un aggettivo nel linguaggio parlato per descrivere un certo tipo di persone, quelli che sono molto lenti nel fare le cose, che vogliono cambiare il mondo seduti sul loro sofà.
Daral & Timsah:
Personaggi creati da Mehmet ÇaGçaG.
Anche il nome di questi personaggi è usato come aggettivo nel linguaggio quotidiano.
Daral è il figlio di un padre molto ricco che cerca il senso della vita. Sua madre è morta quando era bambino, l’ha allevato suo padre. Ha un grande buco nell’anima, non può riempirlo, si annoia e non sa cosa fare.
Timsah invece è un fallito, ma per saltare in una classe sociale più alta, vive come un borghese. Non è un intellettuale,
il suo mondo si basa sulle marche, il lusso e il sesso. È un Casanova.
Quando Daral e Timsah si incontrano, anche se non hanno nulla in comune, Daral si lega a Timsah moltissimo. Timsah
è diventato uno dei personaggio più popolari tra i giovani. Nei primi anni di creazione, era un po’ estremo e immaginario.
Ma oggi questo personaggio non è per niente originale, perché milioni di giovani sono di fatto come lui.
Kozalak:
Personaggio creato da Mehmet Çagçag.
È un tassista. È ignorante, rude, volgare ma anche coraggioso e aggressivo. Viene da un villaggio e insiste nel vivere in città seguendo le sue regole. È immorale, ma è molto moralista. Ha una ragazza, ?ehriye che porta il capo coperto dal velo e ha anche un amante travestito, Fethi. Ogni settimana ha un’avventura differente. È uno dei personaggi più divertenti.
Gönül Adami:
Personaggio creato da Güneri Içoglu.
È un vecchio gentleman di Istanbul, un musicista, un “neyzen” (un suonatore di flauto ad ancia). Vive in un vecchio quartiere di Istanbul sul Bosforo, attorniato di vecchie case di legno.. Gönül Adam? e il suo amico francese Jean Pierre litigano sempre su Occidente e Oriente. Getta del simit (pane tondo turco con il sesamo) ai gabbiani mentre viaggio sul Bosforo in vaporetto, aiuta i pescatori vecchio stile, corre al salvataggio se c’è una vecchia casa in legno che va a fuoco...
C’è sempre una lacrima sul suo viso perché non può sopportare i grandi edifici che crescono uno dopo l’altro accanto alle vecchie case.
Anche Gönül Adam è diventato un aggettivo nel linguaggio comune per descrivere le persone che vivono sempre nella nostalgia del fascinoso passato di Istanbul, che cercano i luoghi “veri” e un po’ rattoppati, emozionandosi di fronte a catapecchie e lacerti di passato.
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Autori in mostra:
Ramize Erer è nata nel 1963. Si è diplomata all’Accademia di Belle Arti di Istanbul, ma ha cominciato a realizzare fumetti già dalle Scuole Superiori. Il suo primo fumetto è stato pubblicato sulla più prestigiosa rivista di comics turca ovvero GirGir! e, insieme ad altre fumettiste donne, ha creato una striscia a fumetti chiamata Senza baffi. Il suo personaggio Partner Nadide è stato all’inizio pubblicato sulla rivista, fondata da lei e da altri amici, Hibir, nata dopo che avevano deciso di chiudere GirGir!. Più tardi ha cominciato a disegnare per molte riviste, tra cui la rivista femminista Paravfesi e Leman. Per dieci anni ha disegnato la striscia giornaliera per uno dei principali quotidiani turchi, Radikal. Il titolo della striscia era Dangerous liaisons e veniva disegnato dal lunedì al venerdì, mentre sabato e domenica usciva la striscia chiamata Cattiva ragazza. I libri a fumetti da lei pubblicati includono Senza baffi, Partner Nadide, Dangerous liaisons, Cattiva ragazza e Matrimoni. Quest’ultimo raccoglie una serie di strisce ironiche e disincantate sui matrimoni turchi, laici e non: una sorta di spaccato sociale dell’odierna turchia osservata dal punto di vista della camera da letto.
Ramize Erer è sposata con Tuncay Akgin, anch’egli fumettista e fondatore della rivista Le man. Vivono ad Istanbul
Güneri Içoglu è nato nel 1965. Da bambino, ha cominciato a disegnare fumetti come allievo di Ouz Aral, fondatore della famosa rivista GirGir. Ha lavorato in numerose riviste tra cui Girgir, Firt, Limon, Leman, Lemanyak.
È stato incarcerato nel 1989: uno dei suoi fumetti è stato considerato “un insulto per la tradizione turca” ed è stato condannato a dieci mesi di prigione. Dopo un mese è stato rilasciato grazie ad un’amnistia generale.
Al momento è un disegnatore e scrittore fisso di Leman. In questo periodo il suo personaggio più noto è Gönül Adam? e Dumur. Il suo personaggio
Gönül Adami è un musicista classico turco ed un suonatore di strumenti musicali mistici tradizionali: egli rimpiange tutto ciò che è passato e cerca continuamente nella modernità tracce di retrò. Gli fa da spalla l’amico francese Jean Pierre, che lo prende continuamente in giro per questa sua inguaribile nostalgia.
È di fatto un alter ego dell’autore, che oltre a disegnare, suona e canta anche canzoni tradizionali greche e turche.
Mehmet ÇaGçaG co – fondatore della rivista LeMan, è la vera anima editoriale di questa importante realtà turca. Considerato lui stesso un personaggio della cultura critica della Turchia, segue da vicino tutti i progetti (quattro riviste editate, una serie di libri, un bar caffè a due piani nell’antica Pera…e molte altre cose) senza perdere mai la bussola. Il suo personaggio più famoso è Kozalak: è un tassista ignorante, rude, volgare, tanto da diventare a volte aggressivo. Viene da un villaggio e insiste nel vivere in città seguendo le sue regole. La sua vita è immorale, ma lui al contrario è molto moralista. Difatti ha una ragazza, ?ehriye che porta il capo coperto dal velo e con la quale è molto moralista, ma ha anche un amante travestito, Fethi. Ogni settimana ha un’avventura differente e rappresenta tutto quanto Mehmet non ama nel suo Paese. È ovviamente un personaggio molto divertente.
Tuncay Akgun è uno dei fondatori della rivista Le man. Di carattere schivo, non ama stare sotto i riflettori e continua la sua vita lenta di quartiere frequentando assiduamente il “cafenion”: questo aspetto del suo carattere, si riflette nel suo personaggio più famoso, Bezgin Bekir, che è sempre seduto o steso sui cuscini con i suoi gatti e il suo narghilé. È un buontempone, un conforto per chi si sente vinto dalla velocità dei nostri tempi. È anche un attivista e un intellettuale, elemento che non emerge dalle parole, ma dalle azioni del personaggio. “Bezgin Bekir” è un personaggio paradigmatico, diventato oggi un aggettivo nel linguaggio parlato per descrivere un certo tipo di persone.
Tuncay è stato considerato persona non grata durante gli anni della giunta militare, in cui è vissuto senza passaporto in semi clandestinità.
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LA TURCHIA RIDE
Ramize ERER - Mehmet ÇAGÇAG - Tuncay AKGÜN - Güneri IÇOGLU
8 -16 Settembre 2007 Mole Vanvitelliana - Ancona
Coordinamento organizzativo e progetto a cura di: Elettra Stamboulis e Gianluca Costantini
Collaboratori: Viola Giacometti, Barbara Colombo, Linda Landi, Leonardo Guardigli, Tania Pavirani
Traduzioni: Aylin Attar
Ideazione grafica: Associazione Culturale Mirada
Model: Janae Fulton
Photographer: Justin Bonaparte
Different Position – Sir you are now a women 39
transgenre.silicone-breast.com/2016/12/29/different-posit...
Notice : Releasing this comic on every Monday to Thursday
A bit of a different photo, about a couple days after Key Coaches official withdrawal from service.
Most of the fleet are in this photo, however I cant remember what the fleet numbers behind were.
MX08DGY (S1) was new to Clarkes of Tenterden in 2008, and now has life at Johnstone Community Transport. As of 2026, it has been preserved at the Fife Heritage Railway.
MX58KZB (S9) was new to First Cymru as 53708 and again, is now with Johnstone Community Transport.
I'm not entirely sure what happened to the rest of the fleet, aside from S8 (MX07JNJ) which from when I last seen it in August 2024, is with Prentice Westwood.
All buses as of 2025 have been vacated from the lot.
Painting and markings:
As mentioned above, the livery is based on an official profile which I deem authentic and canonical. My aircraft depicts a different machine from VFT-127, though, since I could not (and did not really want to) 100% replicate the profile's machine from the Macross PLUS source book, "13 Red". Especially the squadron’s emblem on the fin would create massive problems.
For the two-tone wrap-around scheme I used Humbrol 72 (Khaki Drill) and 98 (Chocolate Brown), based on the printed colors in the source book where I found the scheme. The pattern is kept close to the benchmark profile, and, lacking an underside view, I just mirrored the upper scheme. The starboard side pattern was guesstimated.
As a second-line aggressor aircraft, I weathered the VF-4 with a black ink wash, some post-shading with various lighter tones (including Humbrol 160, 168, 170 and 187) and did some wet-sanding treatment for an uneven and worn look.
Interior surfaces were painted according to visual references from various sources: the landing gear and the air intakes became white, while the cockpit was painted in RAF Dark Sea Grey.
In order to add some color to the overall brown aircraft I decided to paint the missiles all around the hull in white with tan tips – in the profile, the appear to be integrated into the camouflage, what I found dubious.
Most stencils come from the OOB sheet, but I added some more from the scrap box. The grey "kite" roundels come from an 1:72 Hasegawa Macross F-14 Tomcat kit sheet, which I acquired separately for a reasonable price. Even though it took four weeks to be delivered from Asia, the investment was worthwhile, since the sheet also provided some useful low-viz stencils.
The VAT-127 “Zentraedi Busters” unique tail insignia was more complicated, because these had to be printed at home. As a side note, concerning the fin marking, I recently found a translation of the benchmark profile's text on mahq.net, which is interesting: "The Regult within the targeting reticle on the tail met with disapproval from micronized Zentraedi pilots, and so was only used for a short time." The comment also reveals that the original aircraft's modex is "713", not just "13" as depicted, so I tried to reflect these details on my build, too.
I eventually settled for a solution that was partly inspired by the kit’s OOB fin marking and the wish for more contrast for the motif: I scanned the original Regult pod illustration from the source book and printed it on white decal sheet. This was sealed with two layers of glossy acrylic varnish (applied with a rattle can) and then cut into a white field that fills the fixed part of the fin (using the WAVE kit’s OOB fin markings as reference). Once in place and dry, two black outlines were added separately (generic decal material) which help blend the decal and the surroundings. Finally, thin strips of silver decal sheet were used for the fins’ leading edges.
This design variation, compared with the original “13 Red” illustration, led to the idea of a flight leader’s machine with slightly more prominent markings. In order to take this concept further I also gave the aircraft a white stripe around the front fuselage, placed under the kite roundel and again with black outlines for a consistent look. It’s not much different from “13 Red”, but I think that it looks conclusive and, together with the white fin markings and the missiles, livens up the VF-4’s look.
The appropriate flight leader tactical code “01 Red” was puzzled together from single digits from a Begemot Su-27 sheet, the rest of the bort numbers were taken from the OOB sheet (which incidentally feature a “01” code, too).
Concerning the OOB decal sheet, there’s much light but also some deep shadow. While the register is excellent and the carrier film flexible enough to lay down smoothly, the instructions lack information where to place the zillion of stencils (“No step” and “Beware of Blast” stuff) are to be placed! You only get references for the major markings – the rest has either to be guessed, OR you are in possession of the VF-4 source book from Softbank Publishing which was (incidentally?) released in parallel with the WAVE kit. This mecha porn offers an overview of all(!) relevant stencils on the VF-4A’s hull, and ONLY with this information the exhaustive decal sheet makes some sense…
As final steps, the VF-4 received some dry-brushing with light grey around the leading edges, some chipped paint was simulated with dry-brushed aluminum and, finally, light soot stains around the vectoring nozzles all around the hull and the weapon bays were created with graphite. Then the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).
Double latrine slot. Each served a different floor and shot straight into the wet moat.
*** *** ***
Bolingbroke Castle is now a fraction of its former glory but - in its day - it was a handsome and important building. As the birthplace of Henry of Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV, it could be argued that Bolingbroke was the cradle of the so-called 'Wars of the Roses' as it was Henry who overthrew the unpopular Richard II - but his act of rebellion also established a precedent. Two generations later the House of York overthrew his equally unpopular grandson, Henry VI.
www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/albums/7215768230649... to see the full set.
The area had been fortified by the Saxons in the 6th or 7th century AD but in the 12th century the Normans built a motte and bailey castle on a nearby hill. The present castle was founded by Ranulf, Earl of Chester in 1220 shortly after he returned from the Fifth Crusade. Its imposing round towers were fashionable and he may have been inspired by castles he saw on his travels. He also chose to build without a keep although the huge gatehouse may have served a double function of both keep and gate.
The site is an irregular hexagon with round towers at the salient points and a handsome twin-towered gateway facing the present village. The moat to the main site was 90-100 feet wide with the water lapping at the base of the walls when built. Today, so much material has fallen into the moat that there is now a wide berm around the base of the exterior wall where visitors can walk. When built it was lime-washed in white and traces of this remain on some of the walls today.
Ranulf had died in 1232 without a male heir, and his titles, lands and castles passed to his sisters. Following the death of the first Duke of Lancaster in 1361 Bolingbroke passed through marriage into the ownership of John of Gaunt. His wife Blanche, daughter of Henry of Grosmont, was born at the Castle in 1345. John and Blanche's son, Henry was also born at Bolingbroke Castle in 1367 and became known as "Henry of Bolingbroke" before he took the throne in 1399.
In addition to this main castle there is a ditched outer enclosure (see aerial photo) which may have served an agricultural purpose. Within this there is a mysterious earthwork of roughly 'playing card' shape with its long side facing towards the castle. This earthwork has not been positively identified but the ditch is still deep enough to be flooded today and was clearly defensive. It is probably a siege earthwork from 1643 (its in the right position and at the right range for muskets and cannon) but the enclosure also strongly resembles the king's 'pleasaunce' which Henry IV's son, Henry V, constructed at Kenilworth Castle during his reign. At Kenilworth this functioned as a secure pleasure palace to entertain friends, and the ladies, at the far end of the huge lake and moat. Bolingbroke's may have been an earlier essay in the craft given that Henry of Bolingbroke was under constant threat when he got into dispute with Richard II. Henry snr may have needed somewhere outside the smells and claustrophobia of the castle's main walls where he could kick back and enjoy himself in relative security. The outer ditched area around would then lend itself to riding and hawking. Think of it as a 'man cave' in the garden perhaps? Of is it just a Parliamentarian siege work?
The local building material was poor in quality and by the 16th century, the castle had fallen into disrepair. Some work was carried out during the Tudors. In 1636 a survey found that all of the towers were - effectively - beyond repair.
A bad castle is better than no castle, so at the start of the English Civil War Bolingbroke was garrisoned by the Royalists. In 1643 it was damaged in a siege and the nearby Battle of Winceby. The following year, the castle was recaptured from Parliament but was lost again later. In 1652 the castle was 'slighted' (deliberately damaged) to prevent any further use. The towers and walls were torn down and dumped into the moat. The last major tower fragment collapsed in 1815.
Of course none of this collapse would have been helped by locals robbing the stone for their own buildings. Large parts of the castle are probably in the village and in surrounding farms and villages!
The site is free to visit, supported by a local friends group.It is in the care of English Heritage via a Lincolnshire heritage group.
Journalists compete in more than 50 different categories; AGAHI Awards encourages best content in print, television, radio and online journalism.
Pakistan’s most prestigious journalism “Agahi Awards 2013” celebrated today at PNCA Islamabad. The Awards have been organized in collaboration with leading press clubs, local and international media development institutions, regulatory authorities, civil society organizations, private sector and other stakeholders. Puruesh Chaudhary Founder & President, AGAHI and Amir Jahangir Chief Executive Officer, Mishal Pakistan founded these awards in 2012.
The Agahi Awards are an annual series of awards for journalism in Pakistan, developed under the umbrella of the Credibility Lab at Mishal for creating an appreciation methodology for ethical and quality content. The evaluation methodology and criteria of the awards have been designed on the pillars of Media Development Indicators of UNESCO, in collaboratiosn with the Center for International Media Ethics (CIME) and UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The Awards were inaugurated in March 2012 and have become the most prestigious awards for the journalism in Pakistan.
The Awards have created appreciation for journalism in fifty different categories including business and economy, conflict, corruption, crime, education, infotainment, the nexus between water, energy and food security, gender and governance, health, extremism and terrorism, peace, interfaith, dignity; thus creating media diversity across print, television, radio and the online media.
Among the winners for this year’s “Agahi Awards 2013, the Journalist of the Year Award” were deigned in 50 categories. The award for business and economy was won by Naveen Mangi (Bloomberg), Maliha Naz Rana from Herald in Health and Primary Education, Shakeel Ahmad (DAWN News) Higher Education and Training, Zahir Shah Sherazi (DAWN News) in Infrastructure, Abdur Rauf (Express Tribune) for Institutions, Maimoona Saeed (GEO News) forLabor Market Efficiency, Ghulam Mohiuddin (AAJ TV) for Environment,Shabina Faraz (Jang) in Climate Change, Zahid Gishkori (Express Tribune) in Flood and Disaster Reporting, Sehrish Wasif (Express Tribune) in Disaster and Catastrophe, Xari Jalil (DAWN) in Governance, A.B. Arisar (DAWN) in Corruption, Asad Kharal (Express Tribune) forLaw &Order, Hanif Samoon (DAWN.com) in Health,Din Muhammad Watanpal (Daily Qudrat, Quetta) forChild Survival, Sarwar Baloch (VSH News) in Health&Nutrition, Ali Usman (Express Tribune) forNon Communicable Diseases, Zia ur Rehman (Friday Times) for Polio Immunization, Aslam Chandio (Online News Agency) forEnergy, Water &Food Security, Sarah Munir (Express Tribune) on Media Ethics,Syed Ali Shah (DAWN News) forMedia Safety, Ashraf Javed (The Nation)for Crime Reporting, Shahzada Irfan Ahmad (The News) forCorporate Social Responsibility, Zahir Shah Sherazi (DAWN News) in Democratic Values and Dignity, Bina Shah (Blogger) in Education, Zia ur Rehman (Friday Times) for Extremism and Terrorism,Shahzada Irfan Ahmad (The News) in Gender,A.B. Arrisar (DAWN) in Gender – Economic Opportunity, Abdul Shakoor (APP) in Gender – Health and Survival, Zia Ur Rehman (Friday Times) in Gender – Political Empowerment, Aamir Saeed (Pique Magazine) forHuman Rights,Fazal Khaliq (Express Tribune) in Child Protection, Kiran Nazish (DAWN.com) forChild Rights, A.B. Arisar in Gender – Domestic Violence, Zia ur Rehman (Friday Times) in Minorities &Marginalized Communities, Mehtab Haider (The News) in Political &Regularity Environment, Jawwad Rizvi (The News) in Market Environment, Faseeh Mangi (Bloomberg) in Infotainment,Mubashar Zaidi (DAWN.com) in Journalism for Peace,Muhammad Irfan Haider (Dawn) forConflict Reporting, Asad Kharal (Express Tribune) in Judiciary,Zeeshan Anwar (Daily Express) in Court Reporting, Zahir Shah Sherazi (DAWN.com) in Photo Journalism,Aslam Chandio (Online News Agency) in sports.
The awards ceremony was presented by Osama Bin Javaid, a Pakistani journalist based in the Middle East and Razeshta Sethna, par of the editorial team at a leading English language publication in Pakistan. The Awards also have special categories including“Current Affairs Anchor of the Year” and “News Channel of the Year” in Pakistan. These categories are on the basis of people’s choice, which includes voting for these two categories by reaching out to more than 6 million Pakistanis through social media engagement and 1.5 million via SMS campaign and direct feedback.
GEO NEWS won the Peoples’ Choice Award for the “Most Favourite News Channel” second year around.
The “Current Affairs Anchor of the Year” Award was for two emerging anchors; won by Iqrar ul Hassan (ARY News) and Alia Nazki (BBC Urdu), as “the Emerging Current Affair Anchor of the Year” in the male and female categories. “Investigative Journalist of the Year” award was won by Asad Kharal (Express Tribune).
Ejaz Haider from Capital TV awarded the “Most Credible Anchor” based on the Media Credibility Index developed in collaboration with more than 10 journalism schools in Pakistan.
To ensure diversity in content and more social issues to be highlighted in media, Mishal Pakistan in collaboration with Save the Childrencreated the health category further dividing them into six sub-categories. This has not only increased the quantum of health content in media, but has also encouraged journalists to write more on the socio-economic challenges in Pakistan.
This year AGAHI Awards received an overwhelming response by the journalist community, where more than 1500 nominations were received from all over the country across more than 50 different categories in print, television, radio and online content.
Academic partners for Agahi Awards 2013 from the disciplines of journalism and mass communication included;Fatima Jinnah Women University (Rawalpindi), AllamaIqbal Open University (Islamabad), BahauddinZakariya University (Multan), International Islamic University (Islamabad), Islamia University (Bahawalpur), University of Gujrat, National University of Science and Technology (Islamabad), Roskilde University (Denmark), Center for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom atEuropean University (Italy).
Press Clubs in Lahore, Peshawar, Karachi, Multan, and the National Press Club along with the Kashmir Press Club (Mirpur) and the Tribal Union of Journalists, Center for International Media Ethics, Ethical Journalism Network, Media Helping Media, Save the Children, Devex, International Center for Journalists (ICFJ), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Press Council of Pakistan, Internews Network, Center for Investigative Journalism (Bosina-Sarajevo), Transnational Crisis Project, Hayward Black Media, MediaShift, P@sha have partnered to ensure making the journalism awards at par with international standard of journalism.
Mishal Pakistan is the country partner Institute of the Center for Global Competitiveness and Benchmarking Networks at the World Economic Forum. Established in 2003, Mishal has been engaged with key stakeholders in Pakistan to improve the state of media through good governance initiatives.
Many photographers take the same typical wide angle shot of Emirates towers, including me :p But this time I wanted to capture a different angle, and ... Click :)
Nikon D100
Sigma 70-300 F/4-5.6D
Focal length: 220mm
ISO 200
1/320 seconds at F/5.3
Hope you like it :)
While out on a walk at Frear Park in Troy, New York, USA on August 6, 2020, I happened to look up through the leaves of a sumac tree & spied this wee bug, identified as most likely being a Brown Marmorated Stink Bug by my good friend & Shield Bug expert rockwolf. What a delight are the small things of nature!
Various Artists
Wednesday 6 - Friday 8 November, Check listing for times
Various Locations
Various Locations
Street Talks is a series of quickfire public talks, part of the Re@ct: Social Change Art Technology Symposium. Rather than your typical poster session, these talks will take place on the streets of Dundee in various locations. Free speech is essential to political and social change – these artists are quite literally taking it to the streets to share their creative practices.
Luisa Charles & Elke Reinhuber –Wednesday 6th November, 2pm, Slessor Gardens
Luisa Charles – discusses the intersections of disability and design, and how novel bespoke design practices could offer a solution to designing for all needs, where universal design could not. These design ideologies, that include co-design, individual centred design, mass customisation, and mass personalisation, are exemplified by case studies from pop culture design media, such as the Fixperts and BBC’s Big Life Fix. She analyses the social, technological, and economical shifts that are required for these practices to become mainstream, and the capability of bespoke design to cause enough disruption within the design economy to create a shift in capitalism.
Elke Reinhuber – The Urban Beautician moved recently from the speckless city state of Singapore, where she already developed her retirement plans, across the South China Sea, to protest-ridden Hong Kong. There, she observed how much effort the cleaners put up to keep these megapolises scrubbed and tidy. As they are frequently overlooked, the Urban Beautician captured some of them during their relentless daily routine. While they have adapted themselves to their particular duties, their skills are hardly ever honoured or even acknowledged. Paying homage to their Sisyphean challenge, they can be positioned now anywhere through Augmented Reality and venerated as perpetualised sculptures of our everyday heroes.The Urban Beautician tries to improve neglected details in our urban environment with interventions in public space and performances to camera. Since more than a decade she cares for things most people are oblivious to.
Ibarieze Abani and Daisy Abbott & Anders Zanichkowsky – Thursday 7th November, 1:30pm, Albert Square, by McManus Gallery Steps
Ibarieze Abani and Daisy Abbott – Transmedia storytelling uses multiple delivery channels to convey a narrative in order to provide a more immersive entertainment experience (Jenkins, 2009). Transmedia activism can be very broadly defined as using storytelling to “effect social change by engaging multiple stakeholders on multiple platforms to collaborate toward appropriate, community-led social action” (Srivastava, 2009). Activism depends on participation and collaboration within a community to avoid unsustainable or inappropriate top-down interventions. A similar concept, transmedia mobilization, uses transmedia storytelling to engage “the social base of a movement in participatory media making practices across multiple platforms” (Constanza-Chock, 2013) and also requires interaction from diverse voices from within the community.
Anders Zanichkowsky –“I Am in Your Hands: Smartphones and the erotics of the future”Social media artist and queer anarchist Anders Zanichkowsky will present excerpts and reflections from his current Grindr project, “Queen of Hearts,” as well as other recent projects reading Tarot cards on hookup apps and go-go dancing for a remote audience on Instagram. During this talk, Anders will use the same social media platforms that are the subject of his presentation, inviting you into the theory behind the work, and into the work itself. Equal parts cultural criticism, performance art, and experimental public speaking, this street talk will level the hierarchy of physical presence over virtual appearance, and scandalously suggest how thirst traps and sexting with strangers can indeed point us towards a radical future of queer intimacy and counterculture.
Mohammad Namazi & Matteo Preabianca – Friday 8th November, 1:30pm, Wellgate Centre, Victoria Road entrance
Mohammad Namazi – An Archive of Audio Disobedience, intervenes into the public realm, and collaborates with individuals, to construct a live-event. The event manifests through utilising a net-based sound archive, capable of involving participants in a collective form of sound-action, -publication, -demonstration, -performance, and -play.
The archive comprises various audio effects, sound segments, words, and computer-generated speeches – to stage a critical symphony, rooted in and derived from, socio-political concerns.
Matteo Preabianca – Mantra Marx is the eighth album for the NonMiPiaceIlCirco! Project. NonMiPiaceIlCirco! is a musical project that has been on since 2004, the year of the first album. Since then, the line-up has been in a constant change, with Matteo Preabianca the only member from the beginning. So they took The Capital from the shelf to read again. But who remembers it, especially young people? Let’s get rid of guitars and songs to give a didactic approach to the music. 25 tracks, one for each of the First Book’s 25 chapters. They use the lyrics as Hinduist mantras, where repetition is the key for a deep understanding of our life, and Marx as well. Its music, besides being lo-fi and badly made, is just an excuse. The lyrics are a summarized version of the aforementioned book, spoken by 25 different Mandarin native voices, completely unaware of the reason behind the recording. Still time to die as a Marxist(?). Developed and recorded in China.
About the Artists
Daisy Abbott is an interdisciplinary researcher and research developer based in the School of Simulation and Visualisation at The Glasgow School of Art. Daisy’s current research focusses on game-based learning, 3D visualisation, and issues surrounding digital interaction, documentation, preservation, and interpretation in the arts and humanities. She also collaborates with artists on works aiming to explore the nature of digital interactivity and digital art.
Luisa Charles is an interaction designer, multidisciplinary artist, and filmmaker. Having been exhibited in the Science Museum, Science Gallery London, London Design Festival, and various film festivals, amongst others, her work spans many themes across science and technology, social politics, and personal narratives. She specialises in installation design and physical computing, experience design, fabrication, and videography, and her work often comes under the umbrella of speculative and critical design. Her work focuses heavily on research processes, and forms itself organically through investigation and experimentation.
Ibarieze Abani is a recent Masters graduate in Serious Games and Virtual Reality at the Glasgow School of Art, where she has carried out projects about cultural heritage, gender inequality, transmedia storytelling and climate policy. She is an advocate of the capabilities of interactive digital media as a tool for opening up dialogues surrounding large scale themes such as climate justice, social justice and intersectionality. She has a keen interest in working with people using digital media to make meaningful and tangible differences on a societal scale.
Mohammad Namazi (b. 1981. Tehran) is an artist, educator and researcher based in London. Mohammad works through means of de-construction, collaboration, process, unlearning, and telematics systems within social and cultural realms. The studio operates as a research-lab for inter-disciplinary projects that can span video, sound, liveevents, graphics, photography, sculptural structures, and internet-based projects. He received his doctorate from UAL research in 2019, and currently teaches as visiting lecturer at Wimbledon, and Chelsea College of Arts. Mohammad is a member of research cluster Critical Practice.
Matteo Preabianca- Music and Languages…Music and Languages? How come? Matteo starts playing violin when he was a child, but he did not like it, especially when he tried to beat it on the table. It did not make any good sound. So, better drumming, right? Meanwhile playing and spending a lot his mum’s money to buy records he realised even speaking other languages was not so bad. Especially when he invented his own. Step by step, he turned into a music and languages teacher.
Elke Reinhuber is not your average artist, because she became a specialist on choice, decision making and counterfactual thoughts in media arts. Currently, Reinhuber teaches and researches at the School of Creative Media, CityU Hing Kong and is affiliated with the School of Art, Design and Media at NTU in Singapore. In her artistic practice, she investigates on the correlation between decisions and emotions and explores different strategies of visualisation and presentation, working with immersive environments, mixed reality, imaging technologies and performance. In addition, her alter ego, the ‘Urban Beautician’ is pursuing a life which Elke didn’t follow.
Anders Zanickowsky is an American artist and activist who uses platforms like Grindr and Instagram as actual sites for performances about desire, uncertainty, and vulnerability. He is committed to José Esteban Muñoz’s concept of queer futurity in which artists refuse the oppressive confines of the present and reach instead towards what can only be imagined. He has an MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2019) and was a resident with The Arctic Circle program in Svalbard (2016). Since 2008 he has worked in movements for housing justice, prison abolition, and HIV/AIDS.
Photography Kathryn Rattray
Vatican Museums
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani; Latin: Musea Vaticana) are Christian and art museums located within the city boundaries of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by popes throughout the centuries including several of the most renowned Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. The museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display,[3] and currently employ 640 people who work in 40 different administrative, scholarly, and restoration departments.[4]
Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century.[5] The Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael, are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. In 2017, they were visited by 6 million people, which combined makes it the 4th most visited art museum in the world.[6][7]
There are 54 galleries, or sale, in total,[citation needed] with the Sistine Chapel, notably, being the very last sala within the Museum. It is one of the largest museums in the world.
In 2017, the Museum's official website and social media presence was completely redone, in accord with current standards and appearances for modern websites.[8]
History
The Vatican Museums trace their origin to one marble sculpture, purchased in the 16th century: Laocoön and His Sons was discovered on 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Pope Julius II sent Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who were working at the Vatican, to examine the discovery. On their recommendation, the pope immediately purchased the sculpture from the vineyard owner. The pope put the sculpture, which depicts the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons being attacked by giant serpents, on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery.
Benedict XIV founded the Museum Christianum, and some of the Vatican collections formed the Lateran Museum, which Pius IX founded by decree in 1854.[9]
The Museums celebrated their 500th anniversary in October 2006 by permanently opening the excavations of a Vatican Hill necropolis to the public.[10]
On 1 January 2017, Barbara Jatta became the Director of the Vatican Museums, replacing Antonio Paolucci who had been director since 2007.
Pinacoteca Vaticana
The art gallery was housed in the Borgia Apartment until Pope Pius XI ordered construction of a proper building. The new building, designed by Luca Beltrami, was inaugurated on 27 October 1932.[13] The museum has paintings including:
•Giotto's Stefaneschi Triptych
•Olivuccio di Ciccarello, Opere di Misericordia
•Raphael's Madonna of Foligno, Oddi Altarpiece and Transfiguration
•Leonardo da Vinci's St. Jerome in the Wilderness
•Caravaggio's Entombment
•Perugino's Madonna and Child with Saints and San Francesco al Prato Resurrection
•Filippo Lippi's Marsuppini Coronation
•Jan Matejko's Sobieski at Vienna
Collection of Modern Religious Art
The Collection of Modern Religious Art was added in 1973 and houses paintings and sculptures from artists like Carlo Carrà, Giorgio de Chirico, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso.[14]
Sculpture museums
The group of museums includes several sculpture museums surrounding the Cortile del Belvedere. These are the Gregoriano Profano Museum, with classical sculpture, and others as below:
Museo Pio-Clementino
A Roman naval bireme depicted in a relief from the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste (Palestrina),[15] constructed c. 120 BC;[16] exhibited in the Pius-Clementine Museum (Museo Pio-Clementino) of the Vatican.
The museum takes its name from two popes; Clement XIV, who established the museum, and Pius VI, the pope who brought the museum to completion. Clement XIV came up with the idea of creating a new museum in Innocent VIII's Belvedere Palace and started the refurbishment work.[17]
Pope Clement XIV founded the Pio-Clementino museum in 1771, and originally it contained the Renaissance and antique works. The museum and collection were enlarged by Clement's successor Pius VI. Today, the museum houses works of Greek and Roman sculpture. Some notable galleries are:
•Greek Cross Gallery: (Sala a Croce Greca): with the porphyri sarcophagi of Constance and Saint Helen, daughter and mother of Constantine the Great.
•Sala Rotonda: shaped like a miniature Pantheon, the room has impressive ancient mosaics on the floors, and ancient statues lining the perimeter, including a gilded bronze statue of Hercules.
•Gallery of the Statues (Galleria delle Statue): as its name implies, holds various important statues, including Sleeping Ariadne and the bust of Menander. It also contains the Barberini Candelabra.
•Gallery of the Busts (Galleria dei Busti): Many ancient busts are displayed.
•Cabinet of the Masks (Gabinetto delle Maschere): The name comes from the mosaic on the floor of the gallery, found in Villa Adriana, which shows ancient theater masks. Statues are displayed along the walls, including the Three Graces.
•Sala delle Muse: Houses the statue group of Apollo and the nine muses, uncovered in a Roman villa near Tivoli in 1774, as well as statues by important ancient Greek or Roman sculptors. The centerpiece is the Belvedere Torso, revered by Michelangelo and other Renaissance men.[18]
•Sala degli Animali: So named because of the many ancient statues of animals.
Museo Chiaramonti
This museum was founded in the early 19th century by Pope Pius VII, whose surname before his election as pope was Chiaramonti. The museum consists of a large arched gallery in which are exhibited several statues, sarcophagi and friezes. The New Wing, Braccio Nuovo, built by Raffaele Stern, houses statues including the Augustus of Prima Porta, the Doryphoros, and The River Nile. The Galeria Lapidaria forms part of the Museo Chiaramonti, and contains over 3,000 stone tablets and inscriptions. It is accessible only with special permission, usually for the purpose of academic study.
Museo Gregoriano Etrusco[edit]
Founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836, this museum has eight galleries and houses important Etruscan pieces, coming from archaeological excavations.[19] The pieces include: vases, sarcophagus, bronzes and the Guglielmi Collection.
Museo Gregoriano Egiziano
This museum houses a large collection of artifacts from Ancient Egypt.[20] Such material includes papyruses, the Grassi Collection, animal mummies, and reproductions of the Book of the Dead.[21]
History
The Museo Gregoriano Egiziano was inaugurated on 2 February 1839 to commemorate the anniversary of Gregory XVI's accession to the papacy. The creation of the Museo Gregoriano Egiziano was particularly close to the pope's heart as he believed the understanding of ancient Egyptian civilisation was vital in terms of its scientific importance as well as its value in understanding the Old Testament. This feeling was expressed in a paper by the museum's first curator, the physiologist and Barnabite, Father Luigi Maria Ungarelli.[17]
Vatican Historical Museum
The Vatican Historical Museum (Italian: Museo storico vaticano) was founded in 1973 at the behest of Pope Paul VI,[22] and was initially hosted in environments under the Square Garden. In 1987, it moved to the main floor of the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran where it opened in March 1991.
The Vatican Historical Museum has a unique collection of portraits of the Popes from the 16th century to date, the memorable items of the Papal Military Corps of the 16–17th centuries and old religious paraphernalia related to rituals of the papacy. Also on display on the lower floor are the papamobili (Popemobiles); carriages and motorcars of Popes and Cardinals, including the first cars used by Popes.[23]
Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris)
The black-shouldered kite (Elanus axillaris) or Australian black-shouldered kite is a small raptor found in open habitat throughout Australia and resembles similar species found in Africa, Eurasia and North America, which have in the past also been named as black-shouldered kites. Measuring 35–38 cm (14–15 in) in length with a wingspan of 80–95 cm (31–37 in), the adult black-shouldered kite is a small and graceful, predominantly pale grey and white, raptor with black shoulders and red eyes. Their primary call is a clear whistle, uttered in flight and while hovering.
Though reported across Australia, they are most common in the south-east and south-west corners of the mainland. Their preferred habitat is open grasslands with scattered trees and they are often seen hunting along roadsides. Like all the elanid kites, it is a specialist predator of rodents, which it hunts singly or in pairs by hovering in mid-air above open land.
Black-shouldered kites form monogamous pairs, breeding between August and January. The birds engage in aerial courtship displays which involve high circling flight and ritualised feeding mid-air. Three or four eggs are laid and incubated for around thirty days. Chicks are fully fledged within five weeks of hatching and can hunt for mice within a week of leaving the nest. Juveniles disperse widely from the home territory.
Taxonomy
The black-shouldered kite was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in 1802, as Falco axillaris. Its specific name is derived from the Latin axilla, meaning "shoulder".
The name "black-shouldered kite" was formerly used for a Eurasian and African species, Elanus caeruleus, with the Australian species, Elanus axillaris, and the North American species, the white-tailed kite Elanus leucurus, treated as subspecies of this. These three Elanus species have comparable plumage patterns and sizes, however, they are now regarded as distinct, and the name black-winged kite is used for E. caeruleus. Modern references to the black-shouldered kite should therefore unambiguously mean the Australian species, E. axillaris. The Australian black-shouldered kite was formerly called E. notatus, but it was not clear that the name applied to this species alone.
In 1851, British zoologist Edward Blyth described Elaninae, the "smooth clawed kites" as a formal subfamily of Accipitridae. However, they are also grouped in Accipitrinae, the broader subfamily of hawks and eagles described by French ornithologist Louis Jean Pierre Vieillot in 1816.
A taxonomic proposal based on DNA studies has recommended classifying Elanus kites as a separate family (Elanidae). A 2004 molecular study of cytochrome-b DNA sequences shows them to have split off from typical hawks and eagles at an earlier date than the Osprey, which has been classified in its own family.
Description
Black-shouldered kites are around 35 to 38 cm (14 to 15 in) in length and have a wingspan of between 80 and 95 cm (31 and 37 in) and an average weight of 291 g (10.3 oz). Adults are a very pale grey with a white head and white underparts. The leading edge of the inner wing is black. When perched, this gives them their prominent black "shoulders". They have red eyes, with a black 'comma' that extends behind the eyes. They have a squared tail and a streamlined aerodynamic body. The bill is short with a sharp, hooked tip to the upper mandible. Their nostrils and the cere are bright yellow and the bill is black. The legs and feet are also yellow, and the feet have three toes facing forwards and one toe facing backwards. The sexes are similar, with females only just larger than males, although they can be up to 15% heavier.
The juveniles’ markings follow a similar pattern to adult birds, but they are washed with a rusty brown on the head and upper breast, and the back and wings are mottled buff or brown with prominent white tips. The young birds’ eyes are brown.
The black-shouldered kite is very similar to the related raptor species, the letter-winged kite (E. scriptus) but has the black mark above and behind the eye, a white rather than grey crown, and shows all-white underparts in flight except for the black patch at the shoulder and dark wingtips.
Vocalizations
Black-shouldered kites are generally silent, except in the breeding season when their calls, though weak, can be persistent. They primarily utter clear whistled 'chee, chee, chee' calls in flight and while hovering, or a hoarse wheezing 'skree-ah' when perched. The call has been confused with that of a silver gull. A short high whistle is the primary contact call between a pair, while a harsh scraping call is the most common call used by females and large young, and brooding females call to their young with a deep, soft, frog-like croak.
A variety of different calls have been recorded from captive birds, including harsh, harmonic, chatter and whistle vocalisations. Harsh calls were made when a bird was alarmed or agitated, whistle-type calls were emitted in general contexts, sometimes monotonously, and shorter duration 'chatter' calls were given when a bird sighted a human near the enclosure.
Distribution and habitat
Although reported from almost all parts of Australia, they are most common in the relatively fertile south-east and south-west corners of the mainland, and in south-east Queensland. They are rare in the deep desert and appear to be only accidental visitors to northern Tasmania and the Torres Strait islands. As the species has an extremely large range and the population is increasing, it has been listed as "Least Concern" on the IUCN Red List of Threatened species. Although they are rare vagrants on the islands of Bass Strait and in northern Tasmania, on the Australian mainland they vary from uncommon to common, appearing almost anywhere following rain or the movement of flood waters. In southwestern Australia, they are now one of the most commonly recorded raptors in the wheatbelt.
They are sedentary, or nomadic following food sources. Their numbers fluctuate during drought and floods, and can be irruptive in response to sudden increases in mouse populations. The most distant banding recovery was from South Australia to eastern New South Wales, a distance of 1,000 km (620 mi).
Although found in timbered country, they are mainly birds of the grasslands. They prefer open areas with scattered clumps of trees, including tree-lined watercourses through open country. In urban areas they are found on the edge of towns on wasteland or irregularly mown areas. They also hunt over coastal dunes and drier marshland, and farmland. Black-shouldered kites are most often seen hunting over grassy roadside verges.
European occupation of Australia has, on the whole, benefited black-shouldered kites through land clearing and irrigation for agriculture and grain harvesting and storage practices which provide suitable conditions for much larger numbers of mice. According to raptor researcher Dr Stephen Debus, this species did not suffer from eggshell thinning during the period of DDT use in Australia, though he believes it is possible that secondary poisoning may occur from rodenticides used during mouse plagues or from pesticides used during locust plagues. Populations in areas with high sheep and rabbit numbers may decline, as these animals compact the soil and reduce the available habitat for mice.
Behaviour
Sociality
Black-shouldered kites usually hunt singly or in pairs, though where food is plentiful they occur in small family groups and can be loosely gregarious at times of irruptions, with up to 70 birds reported feeding together during a mouse plague. They roost communally, like other Elanus species.
They are territorial when food is not abundant. The practise of "tail flicking" where, on landing, the tail is flicked up and lowered and the movement repeated persistently is thought to be a possible territorial display. Black-shouldered kites have been observed in aerial combat at the margins of territories, locking talons in a behaviour described as "grappling".
Food and hunting
Black-shouldered kites live almost exclusively on mice, and have become a specialist predator of house mice, often following outbreaks of mouse plagues in rural areas. They take other suitably sized creatures when available, including grasshoppers, rats, small reptiles, birds, and even (very rarely) rabbits, but mice and other mouse-sized mammals account for over 90% of their diet. Their influence on mouse populations is probably significant: adults take two or three mice a day each if they can, around a thousand mice a year. On one occasion, a male was observed bringing no less than 14 mice to a nest of well-advanced fledglings within an hour. In another study, a female kite was seen to struggle back to fledglings in the nest with a three-quarters grown rabbit, a heavy load for such a small bird.
Like other elanid kites, black-shouldered kites hunt by quartering grasslands for small creatures. This can be from a perch, but more often by hovering in mid-air. When hunting the kite hovers with its body hanging almost vertically, and its head into the wind. Unlike the Australian kestrel, the black-winged kite shows no obvious sideways movement, even in a strong breeze. One study of a nesting pair noted that the male searched aerially for 82% of the search time. Typically, a kite will hover 10 to 12 m (33 to 39 ft) above a particular spot, peering down intently, sometimes for only a few seconds, often for a minute or more, then glide swiftly to a new vantage point and hover again. When hunting from a perch, a dead tree is the preferred platform. Like other Elanus kites, The black-shouldered kite grips a vertical branch with a foot on either side, each one above the other and turned inwards, which enables them to maintain a secure footing on relatively small branches. Though hovering is the most common hunting method, the kites have been observed searching the ground beneath a vantage point for periods of up to an hour.
When a mouse or other prey is spotted, the kite drops silently onto it, feet-first with wings raised high; sometimes in one long drop to ground level, more often in two or more stages, with hovering pauses at intermediate heights. Prey is seized in the talons and about 75% of attacks are successful. Prey can either be eaten in flight or carried back to a perch. Birds will have a favoured feeding perch, beneath which accumulate piles of pellets or castings.
They are diurnal, preferring to hunt during the day, particularly in the early morning and mid to late afternoon, and will occasionally hunt in pairs. Their hunting patterns, outside breeding periods and periods of abundant prey, have distinct crepuscular peaks, perhaps corresponding to mouse activity.
Flight
Black-shouldered kites spiral into the wind like a kestrel. They soar with v-shaped up-curved wings, the primaries slightly spread and the tail widely fanned. In level flight progress is rather indirect. Their flight pattern has been described as 'winnowing' with soft steady beats interspersed with long glides on angled wings. They can most often be seen hovering with wings curved and tail pointing down.
Breeding
Aerial courtship displays involve single and mutual high circling flight, and the male may fly around slowly with stiff exaggerated flaps, commonly known as butterfly-flight. Courting males dive at the female, feeding her in mid-flight. The female grabs food from the male's talons with hers while flipping upside-down. They may lock talons and tumble downwards in a ritualised version of grappling, but release just before landing. All courtship displays are accompanied by constant calling.
Black-shouldered kites form monogamous pairs. The breeding season is usually August to January, but is responsive to mice populations, and some pairs breed twice in a good season. Both sexes are involved in building the nest, which is a large untidy shallow cup of sticks usually in the foliage near the top of trees, taking about two weeks to complete the nest-building. The flat nest is built of thin twigs and is around 28 to 38 cm (11 to 15 in) across when newly built, but growing to around 78 cm (31 in) across and 58 cm (23 in) deep after repeated use. The nest is lined with green leaves and felted fur, though linings of grass and cow dung have also been reported.[10] It is generally located in the canopy of an isolated or exposed tree in open country, elevated 5 to 20 m (16 to 66 ft) or more above the ground. Black-shouldered kites have been known to use old Australian magpie, crow or raven nests.
Females perform most of the care of eggs and nestlings, though males take a minor share of incubation and brooding. The clutch consists of three to four dull white eggs of a tapered oval shape measuring 42 mm × 31 mm (1.7 in × 1.2 in) and with red-brown blotches that are often heavier around the larger end of the egg. The female incubates the eggs for 30 days and when the eggs hatch the chicks are helpless but have soft down covering their body. For the first two weeks or so the female broods the chicks constantly, both day and night. The female does no hunting at all for the first three weeks after hatching, but calls to the male from the nest, and he generally responds by bringing food. The female feeds the chicks with the mice brought back to the nest by the male, feeding them in tiny pieces for the first week or two, at which time the chicks are capable of swallowing a mouse whole. The nestling period lasts around 36 days, and the post-fledging period at least 36 days with parental feeding for at least 22 days. When the chicks are older both parents take it in turns to feed them. Black feathers start to appear along the chicks' wings when they are about a fortnight old, and they are fully fledged and are ready to fly in five weeks. Within a week of leaving the nest the young birds are capable of hunting for mice on their own.
Juveniles disperse widely, taking up territory that can be as far as 1,000 km (620 mi) from the nest site.
[Credit: en.wikipedia.org]
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