specific photos on Flickr

Slow Dance Debate @Venice Biennale 2011 . Art Format debating on Emergencies, by Biennalist by Thierry Geoffroy / Colonel : Artist

Biennalist :

Biennalist is an Art Format commenting on active biennials and managed cultural events through artworks.Biennalist takes the thematics of the biennales and similar events like festivals and conferences seriously, questioning the established structures of the staged art events in order to contribute to the debate, which they wish to generate.

-------------------------------------------

links about Biennalist :

Thierry Geoffroy/Colonel:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thierry_Geoffroy

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Room_(art)

www.emergencyrooms.org/formats.html

www.colonel.dk/

—--Biennale from wikipedia —--

The Venice International Film Festival is part of the Venice Biennale. The famous Golden Lion is awarded to the best film screening at the competition.

Biennale (Italian: [bi.enˈnaːle]), Italian for "biennial" or "every other year", is any event that happens every two years. It is most commonly used within the art world to describe large-scale international contemporary art exhibitions. As such the term was popularised by Venice Biennale, which was first held in 1895. Since the 1990s, the terms "biennale" and "biennial" have been interchangeably used in a more generic way - to signify a large-scale international survey show of contemporary art that recurs at regular intervals but not necessarily biannual (such as triennials, Documenta, Skulptur Projekte Münster).[1] The phrase has also been used for other artistic events, such as the "Biennale de Paris", "Kochi-Muziris Biennale", Berlinale (for the Berlin International Film Festival) and Viennale (for Vienna's international film festival).

Characteristics[edit]

According to author Federica Martini, what is at stake in contemporary biennales is the diplomatic/international relations potential as well as urban regeneration plans. Besides being mainly focused on the present (the “here and now” where the cultural event takes place and their effect of "spectacularisation of the everyday"), because of their site-specificity cultural events may refer back to,[who?] produce or frame the history of the site and communities' collective memory.[2]

The Great Exhibition in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, in 1851, the first attempt to condense the representation of the world within a unitary exhibition space.

A strong and influent symbol of biennales and of large-scale international exhibitions in general is the Crystal Palace, the gigantic and futuristic London architecture that hosted the Great Exhibition in 1851. According to philosopher Peter Sloterdijk,[3][page needed] the Crystal Palace is the first attempt to condense the representation of the world in a unitary exhibition space, where the main exhibit is society itself in an a-historical, spectacular condition. The Crystal Palace main motives were the affirmation of British economic and national leadership and the creation of moments of spectacle. In this respect, 19th century World fairs provided a visual crystallization of colonial culture and were, at the same time, forerunners of contemporary theme parks.

The Venice Biennale as an archetype[edit]

The structure of the Venice Biennale in 2005 with an international exhibition and the national pavilions.

The Venice Biennale, a periodical large-scale cultural event founded in 1895, served as an archetype of the biennales. Meant to become a World Fair focused on contemporary art, the Venice Biennale used as a pretext the wedding anniversary of the Italian king and followed up to several national exhibitions organised after Italy unification in 1861. The Biennale immediately put forth issues of city marketing, cultural tourism and urban regeneration, as it was meant to reposition Venice on the international cultural map after the crisis due to the end of the Grand Tour model and the weakening of the Venetian school of painting. Furthermore, the Gardens where the Biennale takes place were an abandoned city area that needed to be re-functionalised. In cultural terms, the Biennale was meant to provide on a biennial basis a platform for discussing contemporary art practices that were not represented in fine arts museums at the time. The early Biennale model already included some key points that are still constitutive of large-scale international art exhibitions today: a mix of city marketing, internationalism, gentrification issues and destination culture, and the spectacular, large scale of the event.

Biennials after the 1990s[edit]

The situation of biennials has changed in the contemporary context: while at its origin in 1895 Venice was a unique cultural event, but since the 1990s hundreds of biennials have been organized across the globe. Given the ephemeral and irregular nature of some biennials, there is little consensus on the exact number of biennials in existence at any given time.[citation needed] Furthermore, while Venice was a unique agent in the presentation of contemporary art, since the 1960s several museums devoted to contemporary art are exhibiting the contemporary scene on a regular basis. Another point of difference concerns 19th century internationalism in the arts, that was brought into question by post-colonial debates and criticism of the contemporary art “ethnic marketing”, and also challenged the Venetian and World Fair’s national representation system. As a consequence of this, Eurocentric tendency to implode the whole word in an exhibition space, which characterises both the Crystal Palace and the Venice Biennale, is affected by the expansion of the artistic geographical map to scenes traditionally considered as marginal. The birth of the Havana Biennial in 1984 is widely considered an important counterpoint to the Venetian model for its prioritization of artists working in the Global South and curatorial rejection of the national pavilion model.

International biennales[edit]

In the term's most commonly used context of major recurrent art exhibitions:

Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art, South Australia

Asian Art Biennale, in Taichung, Taiwan (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts)

Athens Biennale, in Athens, Greece

Bienal de Arte Paiz, in Guatemala City, Guatemala[4]

Arts in Marrakech (AiM) International Biennale (Arts in Marrakech Festival)

Bamako Encounters, a biennale of photography in Mali

Bat-Yam International Biennale of Landscape Urbanism

Beijing Biennale

Berlin Biennale (contemporary art biennale, to be distinguished from Berlinale, which is a film festival)

Bergen Assembly (triennial for contemporary art in Bergen, Norway)www.bergenassembly.no

Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism\Architecture, in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, China

Bienal de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico

Biënnale van België, Biennial of Belgium, Belgium

BiennaleOnline Online biennial exhibition of contemporary art from the most promising emerging artists.

Biennial of Hawaii Artists

Biennale de la Biche, the smallest biennale in the world held at deserted island near Guadeloupe, French overseas region[5][6]

Biwako Biennale [ja], in Shiga, Japan

La Biennale de Montreal

Biennale of Luanda : Pan-African Forum for the Culture of Peace,[7] Angola

Boom Festival, international music and culture festival in Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal

Bucharest Biennale in Bucharest, Romania

Bushwick Biennial, in Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York

Canakkale Biennial, in Canakkale, Turkey

Cerveira International Art Biennial, Vila Nova de Cerveira, Portugal [8]

Changwon Sculpture Biennale in Changwon, South Korea

Dakar Biennale, also called Dak'Art, biennale in Dakar, Senegal

Documenta, contemporary art exhibition held every five years in Kassel, Germany

Estuaire (biennale), biennale in Nantes and Saint-Nazaire, France

EVA International, biennial in Limerick, Republic of Ireland

Göteborg International Biennial for Contemporary Art, in Gothenburg, Sweden[9]

Greater Taipei Contemporary Art Biennial, in Taipei, Taiwan

Gwangju Biennale, Asia's first and most prestigious contemporary art biennale

Havana biennial, in Havana, Cuba

Helsinki Biennial, in Helsinki, Finland

Herzliya Biennial For Contemporary Art, in Herzliya, Israel

Incheon Women Artists' Biennale, in Incheon, South Korea

Iowa Biennial, in Iowa, USA

Istanbul Biennial, in Istanbul, Turkey

International Roaming Biennial of Tehran, in Tehran and Istanbul

Jakarta Biennale, in Jakarta, Indonesia

Jerusalem Biennale, in Jerusalem, Israel

Jogja Biennale, in Yogyakarta, Indonesia

Karachi Biennale, in Karachi, Pakistan

Keelung Harbor Biennale, in Keelung, Taiwan

Kochi-Muziris Biennale, largest art exhibition in India, in Kochi, Kerala, India

Kortrijk Design Biennale Interieur, in Kortrijk, Belgium

Kobe Biennale, in Japan

Kuandu Biennale, in Taipei, Taiwan

Lagos Biennial, in Lagos, Nigeria[10]

Light Art Biennale Austria, in Austria

Liverpool Biennial, in Liverpool, UK

Lofoten International Art Festival [no] (LIAF), on the Lofoten archipelago, Norway[11]

Manifesta, European Biennale of contemporary art in different European cities

Mediations Biennale, in Poznań, Poland

Melbourne International Biennial 1999

Mediterranean Biennale in Sakhnin 2013

MOMENTA Biennale de l'image [fr] (formerly known as Le Mois de la Photo à Montréal), in Montreal, Canada

MOMENTUM [no], in Moss, Norway[12]

Moscow Biennale, in Moscow, Russia

Munich Biennale, new opera and music-theatre in even-numbered years

Mykonos Biennale

Nakanojo Biennale[13]

NGV Triennial, contemporary art exhibition held every three years at the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia

October Salon – Belgrade Biennale [sr], organised by the Cultural Center of Belgrade [sr], in Belgrade, Serbia[14]

OSTEN Biennial of Drawing Skopje, North Macedonia[15]

Biennale de Paris

Riga International Biennial of Contemporary Art (RIBOCA), in Riga, Latvia[16]

São Paulo Art Biennial, in São Paulo, Brazil

SCAPE Public Art Christchurch Biennial in Christchurch, New Zealand[17]

Prospect New Orleans

Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism

Sequences, in Reykjavík, Iceland[18]

Shanghai Biennale

Sharjah Biennale, in Sharjah, UAE

Singapore Biennale, held in various locations across the city-state island of Singapore

Screen City Biennial, in Stavanger, Norway

Biennale of Sydney

Taipei Biennale, in Taipei, Taiwan

Taiwan Arts Biennale, in Taichung, Taiwan (National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts)

Taiwan Film Biennale, in Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

Thessaloniki Biennale of Contemporary Art [el], in Thessaloniki, Greece[19]

Dream city, produced by ART Rue Association in Tunisia

Vancouver Biennale

Visayas Islands Visual Arts Exhibition and Conference (VIVA ExCon) in the Philippines [20]

Venice Biennale, in Venice, Italy, which includes:

Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art

Venice Biennale of Architecture

Venice Film Festival

Vladivostok biennale of Visual Arts, in Vladivostok, Russia

Whitney Biennial, hosted by the Whitney Museum of American Art, in New York City, NY, USA

Web Biennial, produced with teams from Athens, Berlin and Istanbul.

West Africa Architecture Biennale,[21] Virtual in Lagos, Nigeria.

WRO Biennale, in Wrocław, Poland[22]

Music Biennale Zagreb

[SHIFT:ibpcpa] The International Biennale of Performance, Collaborative and Participatory Arts, Nomadic, International, Scotland, UK.

—---Venice Biennale from wikipedia —

The Venice Biennale (/ˌbiːɛˈnɑːleɪ, -li/; Italian: La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation.[2][3][4] The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of its kind. The main exhibition held in Castello, in the halls of the Arsenale and Biennale Gardens, alternates between art and architecture (hence the name biennale; biennial).[5][6][7] The other events hosted by the Foundation—spanning theatre, music, and dance—are held annually in various parts of Venice, whereas the Venice Film Festival takes place at the Lido.[8]

Organization[edit]

Art Biennale

International Art Exhibition

1895

Even-numbered years (since 2022)

Venice Biennale of Architecture

International Architecture Exhibition

1980

Odd-numbered years (since 2021)

Biennale Musica

International Festival of Contemporary Music

1930

Annually (Sep/Oct)

Biennale Teatro

International Theatre Festival

1934

Annually (Jul/Aug)

Venice Film Festival

Venice International Film Festival

1932

Annually (Aug/Sep)

Venice Dance Biennale

International Festival of Contemporary Dance

1999

Annually (June; biennially 2010–16)

International Kids' Carnival

2009

Annually (during Carnevale)

History

1895–1947

On April 19, 1893, the Venetian City Council passed a resolution to set up an biennial exhibition of Italian Art ("Esposizione biennale artistica nazionale") to celebrate the silver anniversary of King Umberto I and Margherita of Savoy.[11]

A year later, the council decreed "to adopt a 'by invitation' system; to reserve a section of the Exhibition for foreign artists too; to admit works by uninvited Italian artists, as selected by a jury."[12]

The first Biennale, "I Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte della Città di Venezia (1st International Art Exhibition of the City of Venice)" (although originally scheduled for April 22, 1894) was opened on April 30, 1895, by the Italian King and Queen, Umberto I and Margherita di Savoia. The first exhibition was seen by 224,000 visitors.

The event became increasingly international in the first decades of the 20th century: from 1907 on, several countries installed national pavilions at the exhibition, with the first being from Belgium. In 1910 the first internationally well-known artists were displayed: a room dedicated to Gustav Klimt, a one-man show for Renoir, a retrospective of Courbet. A work by Picasso "Family of Saltimbanques" was removed from the Spanish salon in the central Palazzo because it was feared that its novelty might shock the public. By 1914 seven pavilions had been established: Belgium (1907), Hungary (1909), Germany (1909), Great Britain (1909), France (1912), and Russia (1914).

During World War I, the 1916 and 1918 events were cancelled.[13] In 1920 the post of mayor of Venice and president of the Biennale was split. The new secretary general, Vittorio Pica brought about the first presence of avant-garde art, notably Impressionists and Post-Impressionists.

1922 saw an exhibition of sculpture by African artists. Between the two World Wars, many important modern artists had their work exhibited there. In 1928 the Istituto Storico d'Arte Contemporanea (Historical Institute of Contemporary Art) opened, which was the first nucleus of archival collections of the Biennale. In 1930 its name was changed into Historical Archive of Contemporary Art.

In 1930, the Biennale was transformed into an Ente Autonomo (Autonomous Board) by Royal Decree with law no. 33 of 13-1-1930. Subsequently, the control of the Biennale passed from the Venice city council to the national Fascist government under Benito Mussolini. This brought on a restructuring, an associated financial boost, as well as a new president, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata. Three entirely new events were established, including the Biennale Musica in 1930, also referred to as International Festival of Contemporary Music; the Venice Film Festival in 1932, which they claim as the first film festival in history,[14] also referred to as Venice International Film Festival; and the Biennale Theatro in 1934, also referred to as International Theatre Festival.

In 1933 the Biennale organized an exhibition of Italian art abroad. From 1938, Grand Prizes were awarded in the art exhibition section.

During World War II, the activities of the Biennale were interrupted: 1942 saw the last edition of the events. The Film Festival restarted in 1946, the Music and Theatre festivals were resumed in 1947, and the Art Exhibition in 1948.[15]

1948–1973[edit]

The Art Biennale was resumed in 1948 with a major exhibition of a recapitulatory nature. The Secretary General, art historian Rodolfo Pallucchini, started with the Impressionists and many protagonists of contemporary art including Chagall, Klee, Braque, Delvaux, Ensor, and Magritte, as well as a retrospective of Picasso's work. Peggy Guggenheim was invited to exhibit her collection, later to be permanently housed at Ca' Venier dei Leoni.

1949 saw the beginning of renewed attention to avant-garde movements in European—and later worldwide—movements in contemporary art. Abstract expressionism was introduced in the 1950s, and the Biennale is credited with importing Pop Art into the canon of art history by awarding the top prize to Robert Rauschenberg in 1964.[16] From 1948 to 1972, Italian architect Carlo Scarpa did a series of remarkable interventions in the Biennale's exhibition spaces.

In 1954 the island San Giorgio Maggiore provided the venue for the first Japanese Noh theatre shows in Europe. 1956 saw the selection of films following an artistic selection and no longer based upon the designation of the participating country. The 1957 Golden Lion went to Satyajit Ray's Aparajito which introduced Indian cinema to the West.

1962 included Arte Informale at the Art Exhibition with Jean Fautrier, Hans Hartung, Emilio Vedova, and Pietro Consagra. The 1964 Art Exhibition introduced continental Europe to Pop Art (The Independent Group had been founded in Britain in 1952). The American Robert Rauschenberg was the first American artist to win the Gran Premio, and the youngest to date.

The student protests of 1968 also marked a crisis for the Biennale. Student protests hindered the opening of the Biennale. A resulting period of institutional changes opened and ending with a new Statute in 1973. In 1969, following the protests, the Grand Prizes were abandoned. These resumed in 1980 for the Mostra del Cinema and in 1986 for the Art Exhibition.[17]

In 1972, for the first time, a theme was adopted by the Biennale, called "Opera o comportamento" ("Work or Behaviour").

Starting from 1973 the Music Festival was no longer held annually. During the year in which the Mostra del Cinema was not held, there was a series of "Giornate del cinema italiano" (Days of Italian Cinema) promoted by sectorial bodies in campo Santa Margherita, in Venice.[18]

1974–1998[edit]

1974 saw the start of the four-year presidency of Carlo Ripa di Meana. The International Art Exhibition was not held (until it was resumed in 1976). Theatre and cinema events were held in October 1974 and 1975 under the title Libertà per il Cile (Freedom for Chile)—a major cultural protest against the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

On 15 November 1977, the so-called Dissident Biennale (in reference to the dissident movement in the USSR) opened. Because of the ensuing controversies within the Italian left wing parties, president Ripa di Meana resigned at the end of the year.[19]

In 1979 the new presidency of Giuseppe Galasso (1979-1982) began. The principle was laid down whereby each of the artistic sectors was to have a permanent director to organise its activity.

In 1980, the Architecture section of the Biennale was set up. The director, Paolo Portoghesi, opened the Corderie dell'Arsenale to the public for the first time. At the Mostra del Cinema, the awards were brought back into being (between 1969 and 1979, the editions were non-competitive). In 1980, Achille Bonito Oliva and Harald Szeemann introduced "Aperto", a section of the exhibition designed to explore emerging art. Italian art historian Giovanni Carandente directed the 1988 and 1990 editions. A three-year gap was left afterwards to make sure that the 1995 edition would coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Biennale.[13]

The 1993 edition was directed by Achille Bonito Oliva. In 1995, Jean Clair was appointed to be the Biennale's first non-Italian director of visual arts[20] while Germano Celant served as director in 1997.

For the Centenary in 1995, the Biennale promoted events in every sector of its activity: the 34th Festival del Teatro, the 46th art exhibition, the 46th Festival di Musica, the 52nd Mostra del Cinema.[21]

1999–present[edit]

In 1999 and 2001, Harald Szeemann directed two editions in a row (48th & 49th) bringing in a larger representation of artists from Asia and Eastern Europe and more young artists than usual and expanded the show into several newly restored spaces of the Arsenale.

In 1999 a new sector was created for live shows: DMT (Dance Music Theatre).

The 50th edition, 2003, directed by Francesco Bonami, had a record number of seven co-curators involved, including Hans Ulrich Obrist, Catherine David, Igor Zabel, Hou Hanru and Massimiliano Gioni.

The 51st edition of the Biennale opened in June 2005, curated, for the first time by two women, Maria de Corral and Rosa Martinez. De Corral organized "The Experience of Art" which included 41 artists, from past masters to younger figures. Rosa Martinez took over the Arsenale with "Always a Little Further." Drawing on "the myth of the romantic traveler" her exhibition involved 49 artists, ranging from the elegant to the profane.

In 2007, Robert Storr became the first director from the United States to curate the Biennale (the 52nd), with a show entitled Think with the Senses – Feel with the Mind. Art in the Present Tense.

Swedish curator Daniel Birnbaum was artistic director of the 2009 edition entitled "Fare Mondi // Making Worlds".

The 2011 edition was curated by Swiss curator Bice Curiger entitled "ILLUMInazioni – ILLUMInations".

The Biennale in 2013 was curated by the Italian Massimiliano Gioni. His title and theme, Il Palazzo Enciclopedico / The Encyclopedic Palace, was adopted from an architectural model by the self-taught Italian-American artist Marino Auriti. Auriti's work, The Encyclopedic Palace of the World was lent by the American Folk Art Museum and exhibited in the first room of the Arsenale for the duration of the biennale. For Gioni, Auriti's work, "meant to house all worldly knowledge, bringing together the greatest discoveries of the human race, from the wheel to the satellite," provided an analogous figure for the "biennale model itself...based on the impossible desire to concentrate the infinite worlds of contemporary art in a single place: a task that now seems as dizzyingly absurd as Auriti's dream."[22]

Curator Okwui Enwezor was responsible for the 2015 edition.[23] He was the first African-born curator of the biennial. As a catalyst for imagining different ways of imagining multiple desires and futures Enwezor commissioned special projects and programs throughout the Biennale in the Giardini. This included a Creative Time Summit, e-flux journal's SUPERCOMMUNITY, Gulf Labor Coalition, The Invisible Borders Trans-African Project and Abounaddara.[24][25]

The 2017 Biennale, titled Viva Arte Viva, was directed by French curator Christine Macel who called it an "exhibition inspired by humanism".[26] German artist Franz Erhard Walter won the Golden Lion for best artist, while Carolee Schneemann was awarded a posthumous Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement.[27]

The 2019 Biennale, titled May You Live In Interesting Times, was directed by American-born curator Ralph Rugoff.[28]

The 2022 edition was curated by Italian curator Cecilia Alemani entitled "The Milk of Dreams" after a book by British-born Mexican surrealist painter Leonora Carrington.[29]

The Biennale has an attendance today of over 500,000 visitors.[30][31][32]

Role in the art market[edit]

When the Venice Biennale was founded in 1895, one of its main goals was to establish a new market for contemporary art. Between 1942 and 1968 a sales office assisted artists in finding clients and selling their work,[33] a service for which it charged 10% commission. Sales remained an intrinsic part of the biennale until 1968, when a sales ban was enacted. An important practical reason why the focus on non-commodities has failed to decouple Venice from the market is that the biennale itself lacks the funds to produce, ship and install these large-scale works. Therefore, the financial involvement of dealers is widely regarded as indispensable;[16] as they regularly front the funding for production of ambitious projects.[34] Furthermore, every other year the Venice Biennale coincides with nearby Art Basel, the world's prime commercial fair for modern and contemporary art. Numerous galleries with artists on show in Venice usually bring work by the same artists to Basel.[35]

Central Pavilion and Arsenale[edit]

The formal Biennale is based at a park, the Giardini. The Giardini includes a large exhibition hall that houses a themed exhibition curated by the Biennale's director.

Initiated in 1980, the Aperto began as a fringe event for younger artists and artists of a national origin not represented by the permanent national pavilions. This is usually staged in the Arsenale and has become part of the formal biennale programme. In 1995 there was no Aperto so a number of participating countries hired venues to show exhibitions of emerging artists. From 1999, both the international exhibition and the Aperto were held as one exhibition, held both at the Central Pavilion and the Arsenale. Also in 1999, a $1 million renovation transformed the Arsenale area into a cluster of renovated shipyards, sheds and warehouses, more than doubling the Arsenale's exhibition space of previous years.[36]

A special edition of the 54th Biennale was held at Padiglione Italia of Torino Esposizioni – Sala Nervi (December 2011 – February 2012) for the 150th Anniversary of Italian Unification. The event was directed by Vittorio Sgarbi.[37]

National pavilions[edit]

Main article: National pavilions at the Venice Biennale

The Giardini houses 30 permanent national pavilions.[13] Alongside the Central Pavilion, built in 1894 and later restructured and extended several times, the Giardini are occupied by a further 29 pavilions built at different periods by the various countries participating in the Biennale. The first nation to build a pavilion was Belgium in 1907, followed by Germany, Britain and Hungary in 1909.[13] The pavilions are the property of the individual countries and are managed by their ministries of culture.[38]

Countries not owning a pavilion in the Giardini are exhibited in other venues across Venice. The number of countries represented is still growing. In 2005, China was showing for the first time, followed by the African Pavilion and Mexico (2007), the United Arab Emirates (2009), and India (2011).[39]

The assignment of the permanent pavilions was largely dictated by the international politics of the 1930s and the Cold War. There is no single format to how each country manages their pavilion, established and emerging countries represented at the biennial maintain and fund their pavilions in different ways.[38] While pavilions are usually government-funded, private money plays an increasingly large role; in 2015, the pavilions of Iraq, Ukraine and Syria were completely privately funded.[40] The pavilion for Great Britain is always managed by the British Council[41] while the United States assigns the responsibility to a public gallery chosen by the Department of State which, since 1985, has been the Peggy Guggenheim Collection.[42] The countries at the Arsenale that request a temporary exhibition space pay a hire fee per square meter.[38]

In 2011, the countries were Albania, Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechia and Slovakia, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Haiti, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mexico, Moldova, Montenegro, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syrian Arab Republic, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Venezuela, Wales and Zimbabwe. In addition to this there are two collective pavilions: Central Asia Pavilion and Istituto Italo-Latino Americano. In 2013, eleven new participant countries developed national pavilions for the Biennale: Angola, Bosnia and Herzegowina, the Bahamas, Bahrain, the Ivory Coast, Kosovo, Kuwait, the Maldives, Paraguay, Tuvalu, and the Holy See. In 2015, five new participant countries developed pavilions for the Biennale: Grenada,[43] Republic of Mozambique, Republic of Seychelles, Mauritius and Mongolia. In 2017, three countries participated in the Art Biennale for the first time: Antigua & Barbuda, Kiribati, and Nigeria.[44] In 2019, four countries participated in the Art Biennale for the first time: Ghana, Madagascar, Malaysia, and Pakistan.[45]

As well as the national pavilions there are countless "unofficial pavilions"[46] that spring up every year. In 2009 there were pavilions such as the Gabon Pavilion and a Peckham pavilion. In 2017 The Diaspora Pavilion bought together 19 artists from complex, multinational backgrounds to challenge the prevalence of the nation state at the Biennale.[47]

The Internet Pavilion (Italian: Padiglione Internet) was founded in 2009 as a platform for activists and artists working in new media.[48][49][50] Subsequent editions were held since,[51] 2013,[51] in conjunction with the biennale.[52]

-----

وینسVenetsiya

art umjetnost umění kunst taideτέχνη művészetList ealaínarte māksla menasartiKunst sztuka artăumenie umetnost konstcelfקונסטարվեստincəsənətশিল্প艺术(yìshù)藝術 (yìshù)ხელოვნებაकलाkos duabアートಕಲೆសិល្បៈ미(misul)ສິນລະປະകലकलाအတတ်ပညာकलाකලාවகலைఆర్ట్ศิลปะ آرٹsan'atnghệ thuậtفن (fan)אומנותهنرsanat artist

venice biennale Venezia Venedig biennalen Bienal_de_Venecia Venise Venecia Bienalo Bienal Biënnale Venetië Veneza Μπιενάλε της Βενετίας ヴェネツィア・ビエンナーレ威尼斯双年展 Venedik Bienali Venetsian biennaali Wenecji biennial #venicebiennale #venicebiennial biennalism

Veneziako Venecija Venècia Venetië Veneetsia Venetsia VenedigΒ ενετία Velence Feneyjar Venice Venēcija Venezja Venezia Wenecja VenezaVeneția Venetsiya Benátky Benetke Fenisוועניס Վենետիկ ভেনি স威尼斯威尼斯 ვენეციისવે નિસवेनिसヴェネツィアವೆನಿಸ್베니스வெனிஸ்వెనిస్เวนิซوینس Venetsiya Italy italia

--------key words

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#venicebiennale #biennalist #artformat #biennale #artbiennale #biennial

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Paisley by Matthew Wells

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No. 22: Jack by Martin Band by Matthew Wells

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Morphin Transformation Through the Ages by Timothy Takemoto

1 1

When Japanese superheroes transform they do not hide their true identity. They have a human identity but it is often no secret. If there is a secret, then their transformation serves to dispel secrecy, demonstrate a continuity, and reveal their true identity.

The transformation of Japanese superheroes often involves a sort of ritual. Heroes strike a specific pose, say a specific and individual trasnsformatory phrase, and or manipulate a symbol such as brandish a special card, or insert a speaking chip into a slot into their belt. Thus, Japanese superheroes transform, ontologically (please see previous post) after manipulating symbols in a codified way. The pose, and invocation of the transformation phrase, the manipulation of a concrete symbol, is a the catalyst for the transformation.

A Typology of the mechanism of Heroic Transformation

The transformation (henshin変身) of Japanese superheroes is precipitated by the first three of the following elements or properies.

1) Transformation Pose

Japanese superheroes strike a pose to transform. Young Japanese boys often imitate these poses. Striking specific poses are popular in Japanese society. Like the "kata" of Noh performers, a "pose" often consists of a specific movement, which freezes, or almost freezes, into a specific bodily position. Japanese strike specified poses when they are having their photographs taken. Japanese baseball players strike specific poses when they come to bat (and not only Ichiro, the one legged stance of Sadaharu Oh is also immediately recognisable). Japanese comedians often have specific poses which draw laughs, such as Beat Takeshi's imitation of the attire of Nadia Comăneci , called the “Komanecchi" pose. Imagine Clark Kent, putting one fist to his chest and his other pointing up into the air.

2) Transformation Phrase

This phrase often designates the process of transformation, so the word "transform" (henshin変身) is commonly heard. Similarly, in the Tomika Rescue Fire series members all say "suits on” (chaku-sou) which is a name for the transformation itself. However, transformatory phrases are often individual and designate the being into which the hero is about to become. Thus the transformatory phrase is often sort of a self-naming. Imagine Clark Kent saying "Transform (me into) Superman."

3) Transformation Symbolic Artefact

Kamen Riders and the Tomika Rescue force used magnetic cards swiped into a reader on their belts. The Tomika Rescue fire heroes use a special megaphone which on hearing the transformatory command (2) above. Super Sentai Go-Onger heroes insert a small electronic box that speaks certain phrases (called an "engine soul") which are also inserted into their belts. These same devices are used to transform their weapons and vehicles. These objects are signs comprising a physical signifying substrate and a significant, often linguistic, meaning.

Taken together, imagine that for Clark Kent to transform into Superman, if he were Japanese, he would have to take out and present a Superman “S” sign, while performing a Superman salute, while shouting “Transform, Superman.”

4) Putting on a Super Suit

The use of symbols immediately preceding transformation into a hero is shared by Western superheroes in that Western superheroes generally don a special costume. Batman is the "Caped Crusader." Clark Kent would be a strange sort of superhero without his Superman suit. A change in appearance is de rigueur for transformation into a superhero, Western style. Japanese superheroes change their suits too. However, this super-suiting-up, is the result of the transformation rather than its catalyst. In Japan, symbolic manipulations (posing, shouting, manipulating symbols) give rise to the change in appearance, rather than the change in appearance giving rise to the change to super-hero status.

Precidents

Japanese heroes use of symbols prior to transformation is nothing new. It is also a characteristic of the immensely popular Japanese "period dramas," viewed by adults, such as "Mitokoumon," "Touyama no Kin-san" and "MomoTaroZamurai." In all of these and more, just before the climatic fight or denouement, the heroes undergo a transformation precipitated by the manipulation and presentation of symbols.

Mitokoumon appears to be a harmless old man wandering the country with his companions. At crucial points in the narrative however, he takes out his medicine chest (!well he is old) and points to the seal thereupon, exclaiming “Don't you see this seal!" ("konomondokoro ga me ni hairanu ka"この紋所が目に入らぬかぁ) The seal in question is that of the Japanese Shogun family, indicating that the humble old man is in fact the son of a Shogun. Mitokoumon and his entourage then proceed to fight and dispatch a multitude of enemies with their swords.

Momotaro Samurai is unassuming up to immediately prior to the sword-fighting scene where he strikes a pose and announces his identity with a sort of poem about his origins. It transpires that he is in fact, like Mitokoumon, related to a feudal lord. His enemies quake at his name before Momotaro dispatches them with splendid bloodless swordsmanship, and heavy handed music (itself another feature of this genre).

Touyama no Kin-san, another wandering would-be-harmless, but this time a playboy, performs a double transition. Immediately prior to cutting up all but the most powerful of his enemies, he announces himself by showing his tattoos of a cherry blossom snowstorm. At the very end of the same episode however, when the leaders of the baddies kneel to receive judgement from the local feudal lord (?), the feudal lord bears his right shoulder exclaiming "Don't say you don't remember this cherry blossom," (この桜吹雪の刺青に見覚えがねえといわせねえぜ Kono sakura fubuki ni mioboe ga nee to iwasenee ze) at which point the baddies realise that he is none other than the "playboy" that dispatched their minions earlier with his sword, and that their fate is also sealed.

These traditional period drama transformations are of the epistemological type popular in the West. These transformations are not ontological. The swordsmen are no more powerful as a result of their transformation. The transformation of Japanese period play heroes effects only what is known about them. However, in complete opposition to the cape wearing of the Caped Crusader, and the other super suits of Western superheroes, the transformation Japanese superheroes is always carried out in full view, and the symbols they use serve not to hide a secret identity but to inform enemies of their true identity, and to demonstrate its continuity.

Transformations preceded by Self-Referential Symbols in the Real Word.

Finally, in the real world, Japanese Samurai warriors were required to state their name before attacking their enemies. Before drawing their sword they said something like "I am Tanaka, a warrior retained by the enemy of your leader, Suzuki and I hereby challenge attack you." While not preceding a transformation Japanese Yakuza were required to go and state their name, in a ritual self naming (knees bent, palm outstretch) to the heads of the Yakuza in the towns through which they pass. The self-naming of “Tora san” at the beginning of the Otoko wa tsurai yo (男はつらいよ, "It's tough being a man") is related to that tradition. While again there is no transformation, Japanese businessmen to this day get down to business after first manipulating their special symbol, their "meishi" or business card.

By Way of Conclusion

I am not at all sure what is going on, but from a structuralist perspective, the differences and similarities with Western heroes and their transformations seem to be systematic. Further in conformance with the Takemoto theory, I suggest that there is a topological shift in the visual-symbolic plane: Japanese superheroes use words and symbols to transform their appearance. Western superheroes use changes of appearance to transform their status and people’s perceptions of who there are.

Back of the Lodekka Gromit by Matthew Wells

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Prince Hall 157th. Grand Communication Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge Free and Accepted Masons by antefixus21

Grand Worshipful Matron Joan Downes (OES PHA) honouring the good work done by M.W.Bro. Charles Arthur Downes.

Members of the Order are aged 18 and older; men must be Master Masons and women must have specific relationships with Masons. Originally, a woman would have to be the daughter, widow, wife, sister, or mother of a master Mason, but the Order now allows other relatives[2] as well as allowing Job's Daughters, Rainbow Girls, Members of the Organization of Triangles (NY only) and members of the Constellation of Junior Stars (NY only) to become members when of age.

The Order was created by Rob Morris in 1850 when he was teaching at the Eureka Masonic College in Richland, Mississippi. While confined by illness, he set down the principles of the order in his Rosary of the Eastern Star. By 1855, he had organized a "Supreme Constellation" in New York, which chartered chapters throughout the United States.

In 1866, Dr. Morris started working with Robert Macoy, and handed the Order over to him while Morris was traveling in the Holy Land. Macoy organized the current system of Chapters, and modified Dr. Morris' Rosary into a Ritual.

On December 1, 1874, Queen Esther Chapter No. 1 became the first Prince Hall Affiliatechapter of the Order of the Eastern Star when it was established in Washington, D.C. by Thornton Andrew Jackson.[3]

The "General Grand Chapter" was formed in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 6, 1876. Committees formed at that time created the Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star in more or less its current form.[4]

The emblem of the Order is a five-pointed star with the white ray of the star pointing downwards towards the manger. In the Chapter room, the downward-pointing white ray points to the West. The character-building lessons taught in the Order are stories inspired by Biblical figures:

Adah (Jephthah's daughter, from the Book of Judges)

Ruth, the widow from the Book of Ruth

Esther, the wife from the Book of Esther

Martha, sister of Mary and Lazarus, from the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John

Electa (the "elect lady" from II John), the mother

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Order of the Eastern Star

General Grand Chapter logo

The Order of the Eastern Star is a Freemasonicappendant body open to both men and women. It was established in 1850 by lawyer and educator Rob Morris, a noted Freemason. The order is based on teachings from the Bible,[1] but is open to people of all religious beliefs. It has approximately 10,000 chapters in twenty countries and approximately 500,000 members under its General Grand Chapter.

Members of the Order are aged 18 and older; men must be Master Masons and women must have specific relationships with Masons. Originally, a woman would have to be the daughter, widow, wife, sister, or mother of a master Mason, but the Order now allows other relatives[2] as well as allowing Job's Daughters, Rainbow Girls, Members of the Organization of Triangles (NY only) and members of the Constellation of Junior Stars (NY only) to become members when of age.

Contents

HistoryEdit

The Order was created by Rob Morris in 1850 when he was teaching at the Eureka Masonic College in Richland, Mississippi. While confined by illness, he set down the principles of the order in his Rosary of the Eastern Star. By 1855, he had organized a "Supreme Constellation" in New York, which chartered chapters throughout the United States.

In 1866, Dr. Morris started working with Robert Macoy, and handed the Order over to him while Morris was traveling in the Holy Land. Macoy organized the current system of Chapters, and modified Dr. Morris' Rosary into a Ritual.

On December 1, 1874, Queen Esther Chapter No. 1 became the first Prince Hall Affiliatechapter of the Order of the Eastern Star when it was established in Washington, D.C. by Thornton Andrew Jackson.[3]

The "General Grand Chapter" was formed in Indianapolis, Indiana on November 6, 1876. Committees formed at that time created the Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star in more or less its current form.[4]

Emblem and heroinesEdit

The emblem of the Order is a five-pointed star with the white ray of the star pointing downwards towards the manger. In the Chapter room, the downward-pointing white ray points to the West. The character-building lessons taught in the Order are stories inspired by Biblical figures:

Adah (Jephthah's daughter, from the Book of Judges)

Ruth, the widow from the Book of Ruth

Esther, the wife from the Book of Esther

Martha, sister of Mary and Lazarus, from the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of John

Electa (the "elect lady" from II John), the mother

OfficersEdit

Officers representing the heroines of the order sit around the altar in the center of the chapter room.

Eastern Star meeting room

There are 18 main officers in a full chapter:

Worthy Matron – presiding officer

Worthy Patron – a Master Mason who provides general supervision

Associate Matron – assumes the duties of the Worthy Matron in the absence of that officer

Associate Patron – assumes the duties of the Worthy Patron in the absence of that officer

Secretary – takes care of all correspondence and minutes

Treasurer – takes care of monies of the Chapter

Conductress – Leads visitors and initiations.

Associate Conductress – Prepares candidates for initiation, assists the conductress with introductions and handles the ballot box.

Chaplain – leads the Chapter in prayer

Marshal – presents the Flag and leads in all ceremonies

Organist – provides music for the meetings

Adah – Shares the lesson of Duty of Obedience to the will of God

Ruth – Shares the lesson of Honor and Justice

Esther – Shares the lesson of Loyalty to Family and Friends

Martha – Shares the lesson of Faith and Trust in God and Everlasting Life

Electa – Shares the lesson of Charity and Hospitality

Warder – Sits next to the door inside the meeting room, to make sure those that enter the chapter room are members of the Order.

Sentinel – Sits next to the door outside the chapter room, to make sure those that wish to enter are members of the Order.

Traditionally, a woman who is elected Associate Conductress will be elected to Conductress the following year, then the next year Associate Matron, and then next year as Worthy Matron. A man elected Associate Patron will usually be elected Worthy Patron the following year. Usually the woman who is elected to become Associate Matron will let it be known who she wishes to be her Associate Patron, so the next year they will both go to the East together as Worthy Matron and Worthy Patron. There is no male counterpart to the Conductress and Associate Conductress. Only women are allowed to be Matrons, Conductresses, and the Star Points (Adah, Ruth, etc.) and only men can be Patrons.

Once a member has served a term as Worthy Matron or Worthy Patron, they may use the post-nominal letters, PM or PP respectively.

HeadquartersEdit

The International Temple in Washington, D.C.

Main article: International Temple

The General Grand Chapter headquarters, the International Temple, is located in the Dupont Circleneighborhood of Washington, D.C., in the former Perry Belmont Mansion. The mansion was built in 1909 for the purpose of entertaining the guests of Perry Belmont. This included Britain's Prince of Wales in 1919. General Grand Chapter purchased the building in 1935. The secretary of General Grand Chapter lives there while serving his or her term of office. The mansion features works of art from around the world, most of which were given as gifts from various international Eastern Star chapters.

CharitiesEdit

The Order has a charitable foundation[5] and from 1986-2001 contributed $513,147 to Alzheimer's disease research, juvenile diabetes research, and juvenile asthma research. It also provides bursaries to students of theology and religious music, as well as other scholarships that differ by jurisdiction. In 2000 over $83,000 was donated. Many jurisdictions support a Masonic and/or Eastern Star retirement center or nursing home for older members; some homes are also open to the public. The Elizabeth Bentley OES Scholarship Fund was started in 1947.[6][7]

Eureka Masonic College, also known as The Little Red Schoolhouse, birthplace of the Order of the Eastern Star

Signage at the Order of the Eastern Star birthplace, the Little Red Schoolhouse

Notable membersEdit

Clara Barton[8]

J. Howell Flournoy[9]

Eva McGown[10]

James Peyton Smith[11]

Lee Emmett Thomas[12]

Laura Ingalls Wilder[13]

H. L. Willis[14]

See alsoEdit

Achoth

Omega Epsilon Sigma

ReferencesEdit

^ "Installation Ceremony". Ritual of the Order of the Eastern Star. Washington, DC: General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star. 1995 [1889]. pp. 120–121.

^ "Eastern Star Membership". General Grand Chapter. Retrieved 2010-06-03. These affiliations include: * Affiliated Master Masons in good standing, * the wives * daughters * legally adopted daughters * mothers * widows * sisters * half sisters * granddaughters * stepmothers * stepdaughters * stepsisters * daughters-in-law * grandmothers * great granddaughters * nieces * great nieces * mothers-in-law * sisters-in-law and daughters of sisters or brothers of affiliated Master Masons in good standing, or if deceased were in good standing at the time of their death

^ Ayers, Jessie Mae (1992). "Origin and History of the Adoptive Rite Among Black Women". Prince Hall Masonic Directory. Conference of Grand Masters, Prince Hall Masons. Retrieved 2007-10-25.

^ "Rob Morris". Grand Chapter of California. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-10-01.

^ "OES Charities". Retrieved 2016-04-15.

^ "Elizabeth Bentley Order Of The Eastern Star Scholarship Award". Yukon, Canada. Retrieved 2009-11-05.

^ "Eastern Star has enjoyed long history". Black Press. Retrieved 2009-11-05. The Eastern Star Bursary, later named the Elizabeth Bentley OES Scholarship Fund, was started in 1947.[dead link]

^ Clara Barton, U.S. Nurse Masonic First Day Cover

^ "Sheriff 26 Years – J. H. Flournoy Dies," Shreveport Journal, December 14, 1966, p. 1

^ by Helen L. Atkinson at ALASKA INTERNET PUBLISHERS, INC

^ "James P. Smith". The Bernice Banner, Bernice, Louisiana. Retrieved September 13,2013.

^ "Thomas, Lee Emmett". Louisiana Historical Association, A Directory of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org). Retrieved December 29, 2010.

^ Big Muddy online publications

^ "Horace Luther Willis". The Alexandria Daily Town Talk on findagrave.com. Retrieved July 25, 2015.

External linksEdit

Official website

Eastern Star Organizations at DMOZ

Pride of the North Chapter Number 61, Order of the Eastern Star Archival Collection, located at Shorefront Legacy Center, Evanston, Illinois

Kitesurf sur le Sillon by saintmalojmgsports

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Le kitesurf ou planche aérotractéeou kiteboarding est un sport de glisse consistant à évoluer avec une planche à la surface d'une étendue d'eau en étant tracté par un cerf-volant (kite en anglais) spécialement adapté, nommé aile ou voile.

Le kitesurfeur accroché à l'aile par son harnais est piloté à l'aide d'une barre où sont reliées les lignes de traction. Il est soumis dans son mode de déplacement aux lois physiques de la navigation à voile.

La planche peut être inspirée du wakeboard, symétrique, sans avant ou arrière définis, ou proche d'un surf de taille réduite.

À la fin des années 1970, plusieurs inventeurs déposent des demandes de brevets pour des voiles de traction aériennes : John Bridge pour un spinnaker aérien le 7 mai 1979, Dieter Strasilla pour une voile de traction commandée le 16 août 1979 ou British Petroleum pour une voile suspentée marine le 21 mai 1981. À la suite d'un travail d'expérimentation pour améliorer la voile, les frères Quimperois Dominique et Bruno Legaignoux déposent le brevet de l'aile courbe à structure gonflable le 16 novembre 1984.

En 1992, Laurent Ness (champion de France 1997 de char à cerf-volant) se fait tracter par un cerf-volant delta sur une planche de funboard à La Grande-Motte. Bill et Cory Roeseler inventent le Kiteski, ski nautique tracté par cerf-volant, qu'ils commercialisent en 1994.

Les Legaignoux créent la société Wipika en 1993 pour commercialiser un petit bateau gonflable accompagné d'une aile de traction. Ils l'arrêtent en 1995 mais Emmanuel Bertin teste leurs voiles à Maui avec Laird Hamilton. En février 1997, il fait la une de Wind Magazine, magazine de planche à voile tiré à 70 000 exemplaires, sur les vagues de Hawaï. Raphaël Salles utilise des petites planche de funboard en 1998-1999 avec la mise au point de Laurent Ness, puis Franz Olry a fait progresser les twin-tip qui ont démocratisé l'usage du sport.

Les Legaignoux lancent Wipika en juin 1997 pour commercialiser des barres de traction et ailes produites par NeilPryde parapente en France, fabrication transférée en 1998 chez Lam Sails, fabricant de parapente en Chine. Une licence est accordée à Naish en 1999, NeilPryde en 2000 puis Slingshot, Ricci et Bic avec Takoon en 2003. Les ventes d'ailes sont passées de 100 exemplaires en 1997 à 500 en 1998, 2 000 en 1999, 6 000 en 2000, 15 000 en 2001, environ 100 000 en 2010. Il y a 30 pratiquants en 1996 mais le nombre d'élèves passe de 500 en 1998 à 4 000 en 2001. Le premier championnat international a lieu en 2000 et le premier français, de freestyle, a lieu en 2001. Il y avait 12 000 pratiquants en France en 2010, 13000 licenciés en 2011 et entre 25000 et 30000 kitesurfers en France.

En 1998, la Fédération française de vol libre créée la formation de moniteur : il y en a 258 en 2010 dont depuis 2003 155 ayant un BPJEPS, Brevet d’État. En 2002, la Fédération française de voile envisage l'intégration du kitesurf mais le ministère de la Jeunesse et des Sports délègue la gestion du sport à la FFVL le 3 janvier 2003. En novembre 2001, L’International Kiteboarding Organisation est issu du Wipika School Network établi en 1999. Lors du développement de 2000 à 2003, quelques accidents mortels incitent la FFVL à établir une norme pour les sécurités publiée par l'Afnor en 2005 : un largueur de barre qui neutralise l'aile puis un second largueur de voile en cas extrême. Les ailes continuent à s'améliorer de 2003 à 2009 : en 2005, l’aile de type bow permet une traction plus équilibrée9. En 2008, Bruno Sroka a été le premier et le seul homme à avoir traversé le Cap Horn sur une distance de 100 miles nautiques (186 km). Il a navigué dans des conditions extrêmes de navigation pendant 9 h sans arrêter.

Des sports comparables utilisent des cerf-volants de traction avec d'autres véhicules : sur l'eau avec des embarcations plus importantes comme des canoës kayak ou des catamarans, sur neige avec le snowkite, sur terre avec un mountainboard, avec un petit char à cerf-volant où l'on est assis ou encore avec des patins à roulettes équipés de pneumatiques. Après avoir été annoncé en régate homme et femme en remplacement du windsurf pour les Jeux olympiques d'été de 2016 à Rio de Janeiro par la fédération internationale de voile le 5 mai 201210, le kitesurf a été abandonnée au profit de la planche à voile RS:X.

Kiteboarding is a surface water sport combining aspects of wakeboarding, snowboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, skateboarding and gymnastics into one extreme sport. A kiteboarder harnesses the power of the wind with a large controllable power kite to be propelled across the water on a kiteboard similar to a wakeboard or a small surfboard, with or without footstraps or bindings.

Kitesurfing is a style of kiteboarding specific to wave riding, which utilizes standard surfboards or boards shaped specifically for the purpose.

There are different styles of kiteboarding, including freestyle, freeride, downwinders, speed, course racing, wakestyle, jumping and kitesurfing in the waves.[1] In 2012, the number of kitesurfers was estimated by the ISAF and IKA at 1.5 million persons worldwide [2] (pending review). The global market for kite gear sales is worth US$250 million.

In the 1800s, George Pocock used kites of increased size to propel carts on land and ships on the water, using a four-line control system—the same system in common use today. Both carts and boats were able to turn and sail upwind. The kites could be flown for sustained periods.[4] The intention was to establish kitepower as an alternative to horsepower, partly to avoid the hated "horse tax" that was levied at that time.[5] In 1903, aviation pioneer Samuel Cody developed "man-lifting kites" and succeeded in crossing the English Channel in a small collapsible canvas boat powered by a kite

In the late 1970s, the development of Kevlar then Spectra flying lines and more controllable kites with improved efficiency contributed to practical kite traction. In 1978, Ian Day's "FlexiFoil" kite-powered Tornado catamaran exceeded 40 km/h.

In October 1977 Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise (Netherlands) received the first patent[7] for KiteSurfing. The patent covers, specifically, a water sport using a floating board of a surf board type where a pilot standing up on it is pulled by a wind catching device of a parachute type tied to his harness on a trapeze type belt. Although this patent did not result in any commercial interest, Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise could be considered as the originator of KiteSurfing.

Through the 1980s, there were occasionally successful attempts to combine kites with canoes, ice skates, snow skis, water skis and roller skates.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Dieter Strasilla from Germany developed parachute-skiing and later perfected a kiteskiing system using self made paragliders and a ball-socket swivel allowing the pilot to sail upwind and uphill but also to take off into the air at will.[9] Strasilla and his Swiss friend Andrea Kuhn used this invention also in combination with surfboards and snowboards, grasskies and selfmade buggies.One of his patents describes in 1979 the first use of an inflatable kite design for kitesurfing.

Two brothers, Bruno Legaignoux and Dominique Legaignoux, from the Atlantic coast of France, developed kites for kitesurfing in the late 1970s and early 1980s and patented an inflatable kite design in November 1984, a design that has been used by companies to develop their own products.

In 1990, practical kite buggying was pioneered by Peter Lynn at Argyle Park in Ashburton, New Zealand. Lynn coupled a three-wheeled buggy with a forerunner of the modern parafoil kite. Kite buggying proved to be very popular worldwide, with over 14,000 buggies sold up to 1999.

The development of modern-day kitesurfing by the Roeselers in the USA and the Legaignoux in France carried on in parallel to buggying. Bill Roeseler, a Boeing aerodynamicist, and his son Cory Roeseler patented the "KiteSki" system which consisted of water skis powered by a two line delta style kite controlled via a bar mounted combined winch/brake. The KiteSki was commercially available in 1994. The kite had a rudimentary water launch capability and could go upwind. In 1995, Cory Roeseler visited Peter Lynn at New Zealand's Lake Clearwater in the Ashburton Alpine Lakes area, demonstrating speed, balance and upwind angle on his 'ski'. In the late 1990s, Cory's ski evolved to a single board similar to a surfboard.

In 1996, Laird Hamilton and Manu Bertin were instrumental in demonstrating and popularising kitesurfing off the Hawaiian coast of Maui while in Florida Raphaël Baruch changed the name of the sport from flysurfing to kitesurfing.

In 1997, the Legaignoux brothers developed and sold the breakthrough "Wipika" kite design which had a structure of preformed inflatable tubes and a simple bridle system to the wingtips, both of which greatly assisted water re-launch. Bruno Legaignoux has continued to improve kite designs, including developing the bow kite design, which has been licensed to many kite manufacturers.

Kitesurfing in Fuerteventura

Kitesurfing in Tarifa, Spain

In 1997, specialized kite boards were developed by Raphaël Salles and Laurent Ness. By the end of 1998 kitesurfing had become an extreme sport, distributed and taught through a handful group of shops and schools worldwide. The first competition was held on Maui in September 1998 and won by Flash Austin.

Starting in 1999, kitesurfing became a mainstream sport with the entry of key windsurfing manufacturers namely Naish and Neil Pryde. Single direction boards derived from windsurfing and surfing designs became the dominant form of kiteboard. From 2001 onwards, twin-tip bi-directional boards became more popular for most flat water riders, with directional boards still in use for surf conditions.

In May 2012, the course racing style of kitesurfing was announced as a sport for the 2016 Rio Olympics, replacing windsurfing. However, after a vote by the General Assembly of ISAF in November 2012 (in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland) the RSX windsurfer was reinstated for both Men and Women this was an unprecedented decision when the constituent members of ISAF overthrew a decision made by the ISAF Council Kitesurfing remains therefore a non-Olympic sport until 2020 at the earliest. The ISAF mid-year meeting of May 2013 proposed seeking an eleventh medal to include kitesurfing in 2020 [14] at the same time there was a commitment made to retain the existing other 10 classes as they are for 2020 and even 2024 including the RSX windsurfer for men and women.

Kitesurfing is soon to be named as an official event at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

Adenocarcinoma of Ascending Colon Arising in Villous Adenoma by Ed Uthman

5 2

The is the same subject shown in the previous image, except that it is immersed in alcohol. Although water can also be used, alcohol is easier to work with. Since tissue has a higher specific gravity than alcohol, the subject won't float to the top of the liquid. Also, tiny bits of tissue, which would float around in water and cloud the image, sink right to the bottom and stay out of the way. This makes alcohol seem "clearer" than water.

Esthel by Ben C.K.

16 9

My hairstylist friend Weena wanted some specific pictures to add to her portfolio.

So we set up this photoshoot back in Januray with 3 models, A Stylist & 2 MUA.

Here is Esthel.

--

Mon amie coiffeuse Weena voulait quelques images particulières à ajouter à son portfolio.

Nous avons donc organisé un photoshoot avec 3 modèles, une styliste et 2 maquilleuses.

Je vous présente Esthel.

Model Esthel Racine

Styling Darragh Kílkenny-Mondoux

Makeup Louanna Rosset

Hair Weena Jérôme

Lighting info

Left image

Key Light PCB E640, in a 120cm eBay Octabox, 1/4 power lighting model from the top 12:00

Kick Light 430EX with pink gel @24mm 1/2 Power, camera right behind model @2:00

Right image
Key Light PCB E640, in a 120cm eBay Octabox, 1/4 power lighting model from the top 12:00
Kick Light AB800 1/4 Power, camera right behind model @2:00

Canon 5D MKII + EF 85MM F1.8 USM | F9 | 1/160 | Iso 100

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Your comments and favs are always appreciated!

Kathy's panties by Stories from me

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I still vividly recall the summer winding down and returning home. A specific moment stands out: I was in my best friend’s bathroom when I first peeked into their laundry hamper. I'm unsure why I did it, but when I saw a pair of yellow panties, I pulled them out and tucked them inside my pants. Later, at home, I removed them and examined them more closely.

I am an only child. Kathy, the 11-year-old sister of my best friend, was like the sibling I never had. She played a vital role in my childhood, not only feeling like a sister but also becoming my primary source for panties.

What's more, I remember seeing the tag; it said J.C. Penney and size 14. After taking a closer look and realizing I had never seen girls' panties before, I knew they had to be Kathy's, not her mother's. So, I hid them under the mattress to keep my mom from finding them.

After taking Kathy’s panties, I felt this strange sensation. Now I had no clue what to do with them. It seemed like I was the only guy who had ever done something like this, and I was sure something was wrong with me. With Kathy’s panties hidden under my mattress, I was praying my mom wouldn't find them – I had no idea what I'd say if she did. Now I needed to figure out what to do with them.

Our house features a front section that extends beyond the foundation, creating an overhang. My dad frequently kept his ladder there. To hide Kathy’s panties, I chose to conceal them by taking a plastic bag, crawling under the overhang, and moving my dad's ladder aside. I then dug a hole and buried the panties.

As I took more of Kathy’s panties, I kept hiding them in the same spot as a serial killer concealing his victims. As I got older, I stopped burying the panties because I found better hiding spots—or so I thought.

It didn't take long for her laundry hamper to become my go-to spot for her panties. The more I wanted, the more I took. I was also getting bolder, and before I knew it, I was taking her panties right from her dresser. Looking back, I'm surprised by how fearless I felt. As I write this story now, I realize Kathy’s mom, Renee, must not have suspected a thing, given how often Kathy was running low on panties and just kept buying her more.

Like many guys, I know those awkward moments when you're trying to grab panties, nervously looking over your shoulder, worried that a sister or, worse, your mom might catch you.

Every story I share is rooted in real facts, not fictional tales, despite what some might believe. From the moment I first saw Kathy’s panties to now, I have known I am addicted to panties, regardless of whose they are.

I now realize I miss Kathy’s yellow cotton panties, as they were the first I ever took. I still possess many of her and her mother’s nylon panties, likely because I found new, better hiding spots and maintained better care. When I began taking panties, they were crafted from higher-quality materials and were all made in the USA.

Her mother had now purchased her daughter her first pair of nylon panties, true to the saying 'like mother, like daughter.'

However, these were different, as you'll discover.

No. 25 - Andrew Lloyd Webbear by Matthew Wells

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Welcome fellow Paddington Bear spotter! My photostream features all 50 Paddingtons. If you would like to shortcut to a specific one, please use the links below

No. 1: Love, Paddington X (Lulu Guinness) |

Birth of the mysterious Alchemical Sentinels / Naissance de mystérieuses Sentinelles Alchimiques DDC_8490 by thierry ehrmann

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Birth of the mysterious Alchemical Sentinels

3 months working day and night with an exceptional “dream team"… a big thank you to ACS, Luc, my trusty Giant who could lift a juggernaut onto a balcony (QED Thierry Loir) Thomas Cart'1, Goin, and of course Marc for the paints.

I have managed to set up my installation of 99 raw steel sculptures with an incredibly demanding specification: none of the 3600 work on the DDC site were to be hidden… we had to think about power sources, water crossings, access for construction machinery including the telescopic booms (3m wide)… public safety, ERP museum standards, etc, ... constantly alternating between the visible and the invisible...

Are they inhabited? I don’t know. One thing is certain: each sentinel stands as a unique sculpture in terms of its alchemical elements and paintwork (either with anti-rust paint or voluntarily with paints that do not resist rust). This autumn, each sentinel will reveal – with the acid rain – different interpretations, depending on the paints and solvents used, making each one different, with stratifications that future archaeologists will decipher.

But my most perilous challenge was to create a giant (9000 m²) installation that envelops the Abode of Chaos with dozens of tons of steel, so that my visitors, from any angle, enter a dreamlike fantasy and where the world of the Abode of Chaos on the one hand and that of the 99 monumental sculptures (named "Alchemical Sentinels" during an extremely busy night ) intersect like the Inframince defined by Marcel Duchamp (or, how to build intensities by subtraction).

These 99 Alchemical Sentinels are now the guardians of the Sanctuary that the Abode of Chaos has become. I designed them as veritable quantum energy wells that we placed with patience and wisdom at different spots all over the Abode of Chaos.

There are 99 in total, made of 10mm rough steel (50 tons), welded to form perfect equilateral triangles. Each of the three sides constituting an Alchemical Sentinel is itself cut to reveal a meurtrière, again in the shape of an equilateral triangle, presenting a superb Euclidean geometry to the visitor.

These 99 Alchemical Sentinels are each placed at specific energy points on the 9000 m² of the Abode of Chaos. Some are hidden by vegetation or natural landforms or are placed in relation to existing works. Others are located in our private and professionals spaces.

In my alchemical work that began on 9 December 1999, the three gates arranged in an equilateral triangle with one vertex pointing upwards, form the luminous delta. They represent the three elements that alchemists work with. These three elements are sulphur, mercury and salt.

Note that the three elements found in the Prima Materia (or Alchemical Chaos) are very closely related. The point triangle is also the symbol of the fire philosophers.

The equilateral triangle resting on its base – like the three points – is the symbol of the fire element, one of the four elements that the alchemist works with in the laboratory.

The geometric properties of the equilateral triangle evoke absolute perfection by their spiritual strength and their age-old symbolism going back to ancient Egypt… strength, beauty and harmony.

They will remain for a thousand years as witnesses to a civilization lost through the folly of men.

thierry Ehrmann

-------------------------------------------------

3 mois de travail jour et nuit, une "dream team" hors du commun, un grand merci à ACS, Luc, mon fidèle Géant qui poserait un 38 T. sur un balcon (cqfd Thierry Loir) Thomas, Cart'1, Goin et bien sûr Marc pour les peintures.

Je suis arrivé à poser mon installation de 99 sculptures d'acier brut avec un cahier des charges de ouf, aucune des 3600 œuvres de la DDC ne devaient être occultées, penser aux sources électriques, les passages d'eau, les voies de transport pour engin de chantier, les nacelles télescopiques (3m de large), protéger le grand public, respecter les normes ERP muséales, etc… Alterner en permanence monstration et effacement…

Sont-elles habitées ? Je l'ignore. Une chose certaine est que chacune, par les éléments alchimiques et les codes peints soit à l'antirouille soit volontairement avec des peintures dégradables par la rouille avec le temps, rend chaque sentinelle comme une sculpture unique. Cet automne chaque sentinelle va laisser apparaître, avec les pluies acides, différents niveaux de lecture, selon les peintures et solvants utilisés, les rendant singulières avec des stratifications que les archéologues des temps futurs décrypteront...

Mais mon défi le plus périlleux, était de créer une installation géante de 9000 m2 qui enveloppe, par des dizaines de tonnes d'acier, la Demeure du Chaos pour que mes visiteurs sur 360 degrés, plongent dans un univers onirique et fantasmagorique où les deux univers que sont la Demeure du Chaos d'une part et d'autre part l'installation des 99 sculptures monumentales (baptisées par une nuit très agitée "Sentinelles Alchimiques") s'entrecroisent selon l'Inframince définit par Marcel Duchamp (ou comment construire des intensités par soustraction).

Ces 99 Sentinelles Alchimiques sont désormais les gardiennes du Sanctuaire que représente la Demeure du Chaos. Je les ai conçus comme de véritable puits d’énergie quantique que je pose avec patience et sagesse sur l’ensemble de la Demeure du Chaos.

Elles sont au nombre de 99, faites d’acier brut de 10 mm (50 tonnes) soudées pour former un triangle équilatéral parfait. Chacun des 3 pans constituant une Sentinelle Alchimique, est lui même découpé pour laisser entrevoir une mystérieuse meurtrière, elle même en forme de triangle équilatéral, donnant ainsi une géométrie Euclidienne au regard du visiteur.

Ces 99 Sentinelles Alchimiques sont chacune à des points d’énergie particuliers de la Demeure du Chaos sur 9000 m2. Certaines se dissimulent par la végétation ou les reliefs naturels ou bien en écho aux autres œuvres, d’autres sont dans les espaces privatifs ou professionnels.

Dans mon travail alchimique démarré le 9 décembre 1999, les trois portes disposées en triangle équilatéral, dont un sommet est dirigé vers le haut, forment le delta lumineux. Elle sont les trois corps sur lesquels l’alchimiste va œuvrer. Ces trois corps sont le soufre, le mercure et le sel.

Soulignons que les trois corps présents dans la Materia Prima ou Chaos alchimique sont étroitement mélangés. Le triangle de point est aussi la marque des philosophes par le feu.

Le triangle équilatéral reposant sur sa base, à la manière des trois points, est le symbole de l’élément feu, l’un des quatre éléments avec lequel l’alchimiste travaille au laboratoire.

Les propriétés géométriques du triangle équilatéral relèvent de la perfection absolue par sa force spirituelle, son symbolisme de la nuit des temps notamment dans l’ancienne Egypte, il est force, beauté et harmonie.

Elles resteront durant mille ans comme les témoins d’une civilisation disparue par la folie des hommes

thierry Ehrmann

RAISING AWARENESS by Nestlé

We run specific campaigns to encourage employees to reduce food waste in canteens. At our headquarters in Switzerland we succeeded in reducing food waste by one third in six months by encouraging employees to take an appropriate portion of food from the self-service buffet and by allowing them to buy leftovers and take them home.

Germany - Lüneburg Heath - 39 by Manfred Sommer

Lüneburg Heath (German: Lüneburger Heide) is a large area of heath, geest and woodland in the northeastern part of the state of Lower Saxony in northern Germany. It forms part of the hinterland for the cities of Hamburg, Hanover and Bremen and is named after the town of Lüneburg. Most of the area is a nature reserve. Northern Low Saxon is still widely spoken in the region.

Lüneburg Heath has extensive areas of heathland, typical of those that covered most of the North German countryside until about 1800, but which have almost completely disappeared in other areas. The heaths were formed after the Neolithic period by overgrazing of the once widespread forests on the poor sandy soils of the geest, as this slightly hilly and sandy terrain in northern Europe is called. The Lüneburg Heath is therefore a historic cultural landscape. The remaining areas of heath are kept clear mainly through grazing, especially by a North German breed of moorland sheep called the Heidschnucke. Due to its unique landscape, Lüneburg Heath is a popular tourist destination in North Germany.

GEOGRAPHY

LOCATION

From a geographical point of view, Lüneburg Heath is a specific natural region, that is an area distinguished by a specific combination of abiotic factors (climate, relief, water resources, soil, geology) and biotic factors (flora and fauna). Lüneburg Heath is a sub-division of the North European Plain. In the list of the major natural regions of Germany issued by the Federal Office for Nature Conservation (Bundesamt für Naturschutz) it is region number D28.

Lüneburg Heath covers an area which includes the districts (Landkreise) of Celle, Gifhorn, Heidekreis, Uelzen, Lüneburg, Lüchow-Dannenberg, southeast Rotenburg (the town of Visselhövede, Fintel, part of the municipality of Scheeßel and the eastern half of Bothel) and the rural district of Harburg. The easternmost fringes of the Stade Geest belonging to Landkreis Verden are called the Linteln Geest (Lintelner Geest) or Verden Heath (Verdener Heide) and form part of the municipality of Kirchlinteln. This region has no sharply defined boundary with the Lüneburg Heath.

Lüneburg Heath lies between the rivers Elbe to the north, the Drawehn to the east, the Aller to the south and southwest, the middle course of the Wümme to the west and the Harburg Hills (Harburger Berge) to the northwest.

On the northwestern edge of Lüneburg Heath are the Harburg Hills and south of Schneverdingen there are bogs, such as the Pietzmoor. Also of note are other smaller bogs in sinkholes, like the Grundloses Moor ("bottomless bog") near Walsrode or the Bullenkuhle near Bokel (part of Sprakensehl). The eastern boundary to the Wendland is formed by the Göhrde-Drawehn Hills (the Ostheide natural region). Parts of Lüneburg Heath are in the Südheide Nature Park, others in the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park.

HILLS

The highest elevation on Lüneburg Heath is the Wilseder Berg (169.2 metres) above NN). Other hills over 100 metres high are: Falkenberg (150 metres), near Bergen, Ahrberg (145 metres), Hakenberg (143 metres), Hoher Mechtin (142 metres), Pampower Berg (140 metres), Lüßberg (130 metres), Brunsberg, near Sprötze (129 metres), Goldbockenberg (129 metres), Hingstberg (126 metres), Staffelberg (126 metres), Hengstberg (121 metres), Höpenberg near Schneverdingen (120 metres), Haußelberg (119.1 metres), Breithorn (118 metres), Mützenberg (115 metres ), Tellmer Berg (113 metres), Wümmeberg (107.9 metres), Schiffberg (107 metres), Hummelsberg and Wulfsberg (each 106 metres), Drullberg and Thonhopsberg (each 104 metres), Kruckberg and Wietzer Berg (each 102 metres) and Höllenberg (101 metres).

Several of these hills - the Wilseder Berg, the Falkenberg, the Haußelberg and the Breithorn - were used by the mathematician, Carl Friedrich Gauss, as triangulation stations in his topographical surveys of the Kingdom of Hanover from 1821–1825.

RIVERS AND STREAMS

Rivers in the area, beside the numerous small heathland streams, include the Wümme, which rises on the western slopes of the Wilseder Berg, in the south the Lachte with its tributary the Lutter, and the Aller, the Vissel, the Böhme, the Grindau, the Meiße and the Örtze. They all belong to the Weser river system. Those flowing into the Elbe are the Aue, the Ilmenau, the Luhe and the Seeve.

GEOLOGY

The immediate subsurface layers on Lüneburg Heath are almost exclusively made up of deposits from the quaternary ice age. The landscape consists of flat plains of ground moraines, ridges of hilly terminal moraines and also of sandar - glacial outwash plains deposited at the edge of the ice sheet.

During the Saalian Stage (230,000–130,000 years ago) the area of the present-day Lüneburg Heath was covered three times by a continental ice sheet. In the last glacial period (110,000–10,000 years ago) the ice sheet no longer covered the Lüneburg Heath area; it reached only as far as the River Elbe. Due to the lack of vegetation, the much more rugged terrain at that time was heavily eroded by water, wind and by soil fluction; this resulted in valleys like the Totengrund. The material displaced by erosion, referred to as sediment (Geschiebedecksand), has a depth of 0.4 to 0.8 metres (on slopes up to 1.5 metres).

The region is mostly covered by a heathland landscape consisting of big heather and juniper areas, forests and some smaller swamps. In contrast to the areas in the north of Lüneburg Heath, the landscape is very hilly, as it is placed on a terminal moraine.

NATURAL DIVISIONS

Lüneburg Heath is divided into the following natural sub-divisions:

HIGH HEATH

The Hohe Heide ("High Heath") consists of a series of end moraines from the glaciers of the Saalian glaciation (230,000–130,000 years ago) with the Wilseder Berg at its heart. Unlike the other natural divisions of Lüneburg Heath, the terrain is quite rugged. Characteristic of the area are dry hilltops, periglacial dry valleys and hollows like the Totengrund. Heathland dominates the landscape. They are part of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park and of great importance for tourism. In addition there are also extensive pine forests.

SOUTH HEATH

The South Heath (Südheide) is dominated by expanses of gently undulating, hilly Sander plains, and sheets of ground moraine and the remains of end moraines from earlier ice ages. There are still large areas of heath on the military training areas near Bad Fallingbostel and Munster (Örtze); these are out-of-bounds to visitors however. The Osterheide near Schneverdingen also belongs to this natural subdivision. It is part of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve. Near Schneverdingen and south of Soltau there are several bogs. A large area of the Südheide is covered by pine forests.

EAST HEATH

Numerous end moraines run through the Ostheide ("East Heath") which stretches on the eastern edge of Lüneburg Heath from Lüneburg to north of Wolfsburg. In parts of this region the land is intensively cultivated. The northern area, the so-called Göhrde and the Drawehn, are by contrast mostly wooded like the southern ridge of end moraine.

UELZEN BASIN AND ILLMENAU DEPRESSION

The ground moraine landscape of the Uelzen Basin is predominantly used for agriculture. On the surrounding ridges there are also a few pine forests however. There are still large areas of heath here as well, for example the Ellerndorfer Heide ("Ellerndorf Heath") in western Uelzen district or the Klein Bünstorfer Heide ("Klein Bünstorf Heath").

LUHEHEIDE

The ridges of end moraine on the Luheheide have clearly defined slopes that fall away sharply to the Elbe Valley. The heath is deeply incised by all the rivers that drain northwards to the Elbe; rivers such as the Seeve, Aue, Luhe (Ilmenau). The ridges between them are wooded and sparsely populated. Settlements are crowded together in the valleys. There is hardly any heathland left in this area, it has been largely reforested by pines.

CLIMATE

Lüneburg Heath lies in a temperate maritime climatic region moderated by the Atlantic, with mild winters, cool summers and precipitation all-year round. The Hohe Heide, however, has a "low mountain climate" with lower temperatures and higher precipitation than in the surrounding area.

NATURE

NATURE PARKS AND NATURE RESERVES

In the northwestern part of Lüneburg Heath is the Lüneburg Heath Nature Park which covers an area of 1,130 square kilometres. At its heart, around the Wilseder Berg, is the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve (Naturschutzgebiet or NSG) founded as long ago as 1921 with 234 square kilometres of land which is roughly 58% woods and 20% heathland. Other nature parks in the Lüneburg Heath region are the Südheide Nature Park and Elbufer-Drawehn Nature Park. Right in the north of the area is the Harburg Hills Nature Park. The Lüneburg Heath NSG, together with the open heathland of the huge Munster Nord and Süd training areas and the Bergen-Hohne Training Area, is the largest single area of heathland in Central Europe. And within the former province (Regierungsbezirk) of Lüneburg there are no less than 212 individual nature reserves (as at 31 December 2006).

FORMATION OF THE HEATH LANDSCAPE

After the end of the Weichselian Ice Age (115,000 to 10,000 years ago) the first woods appeared in the area that now forms Lüneburg Heath which, following the natural ecological succession and encouraged by a gradual improvement in the climate, progressed from birch and pine forest through hazel woods to light woods of sessile oaks.

The heath and its surrounding area belong to those regions of the North German Plain in which the hunter culture of the Mesolithic era was superseded quite early on by Neolithic farmers. By about 3000 BC, during the Neolithic, large open areas appeared on the lightly undulating, sandy stretches of geest on Lüneburg Heath. This was a result of the intensive grazing of the sessile oak woods and the associated destruction of successive new stands of trees. These open areas became dominated by the common heather (Calluna vulgaris), a largely grazing-resistant species of plant. Nevertheless, oak and beech woods succeeded time and again in establishing themselves wherever man left areas of heath untended. Over a long period of time the region of Lüneburg Heath alternated between periods when the heathlands spread and dominated the scene and times when it was largely covered with forest and only small areas of heath existed. Finally, after the migration period, the wooded areas of the region increased considerably.

Not until after 1000 AD does the pollen analysis show a continuous reduction in the woodlands and a considerable increase in heather. This was brought about by a change from nomadic farming to settled farming with permanent settlements. The typical heath farming economy emerged: due to the poor soils the few available nutrients from a large area were concentrated on relatively small fields, from which grain, in particular, could be produced. This was achieved by the regular removal of the turf (a method known as Plaggen), which was used as hay for the pens of the moorland sheep, the Heidschnucken. This was then enriched with the manure and urine of the sheep – and spread over the fields as fertiliser.

By cutting the turf the regenerative capacity of the soils was exhausted. The regular removal of the top layer of soil contributed to the spreading of heathland. As heather decomposes, the pH value of the soil falls drastically, as far as the iron buffer-region at pH 3, which initiates the process of podsolisation. Soil life is severely damaged, which results in a hard layer of earth underneath the root zone on the heath at a depth of about 40 centimetres. The iron and humus particles released by the topsoil precipitate onto this impervious hardpan. The subsoil thus separates itself from the topsoil. The nutrients are largely washed out of the topsoil which leads to leaching and causes the typical grey-white coloration of the paths on the heath.

The oft-expressed view in the literature that the heath arose in the Middle Ages as a result of the demand for wood by the Lüneburg salt pans is incorrect. The Lüneburg salt ponds certainly needed firewood for the production of salt, but they did not appear until around 1000 AD, by which time the heath had already been around for 4,000 years. The amount required, even in the heyday of production, could have been continuously supplied by an area of woodland about 50 km2 in area, yet the heath covers over 7000 km2. In any case the wood certainly did not come from the heath, but via the waterways, especially from Mecklenburg up the Elbe and from the area of the Schaalsee. Transportation overland would have been far too expensive (apart from the River Ilmenau which was navigable at the time, no rivers flow from the main areas of heathland to Lüneburg), as can be seen not only from some of the delivery notes which still survive, but also from the fact that there are still large woods around Lüneburg itself, such as the Göhrde. Finally heathland has frequentely developed in areas where there are no salt pans, such as the sheep-grazing regions on the coasts of Norway to Portugal and in Scotland and Ireland.

The heath is not therefore a natural landscape, but a cultural landscape created by the intervention of man. In order to prevent its semi-open heathland from being repopulated by trees, especially pines and, to a lesser extent, silver birches, which would cause the loss of this millennia-old environment and its many inhabitants, including often very rare animal and plant species, sheep are allowed to graze it regularly; these are almost exclusively the local German moorland sheep, the Heidschnucke.

PLANT POPULATION/PHYTOCENOSIS

In the 20th century, numerous conservation measures were implemented on Lüneburg Heath; as a result, it is one of the best researched regions of central Europe.

- Heathland

Sand heaths form about 20% of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve and may be broken down into further sub-divisions, the most important being:

- Ordinary sand heath (Typische Sandheide, Genisto-Callunetum)

In addition to the common heather (Calluna vulgaris) only a few taller plants occur here, none of which can be classed as characteristic species. Amongst them are the wavy hair-grass (Deschampsia flexuosa) and common juniper (Juniperus communis). Ordinary sand heath is the most widespread of the heathland types. Its proportion has increased in recent decades at the expense of other heath habitats. This reduction in the variety of heathland types may be due to increasing nitrogen levels from the air, the increase in plant litter (Rohhumusauflagen) and the natural ageing of the heathland.

- Lichen-rich sand heath (Flechtenreiche Sandheide, Genisto-Callunetum cladonietosum)

The lichen-rich sand heaths can be told apart from the other types of heathland by the presence of various cup lichens (Cladonia), ciliated fringewort (Ptilidium ciliare) and juniper haircap (Polytrichum juniperinum). They occur frequently on dry, south-facing slopes. This type of heath is found west of Niederhaverbeck and near Sundermühlen.

- Clay heath (Lehmheide, Genisto-callunetum danthonietusum)

This can be identified by the presence of heath grass (Danthonia decumbens), pill sedge (Carex pilulifera), mat grass (Nardus stricta), fine-leaved sheep's-fescue (Festuca filiformis), mouse-ear hawkweed (Hieracium pilosella) and field wood-rush (Luzula campestris). Clay heaths have become very rare within the Lüneburg Heath. They are found on the Wilseder Berg and south of Niederhaverbeck.

- Blueberry sand heath (Heidelbeer-Sandheide, Genisto-Callunetum, Vaccinium myrtillus Rasse)

Blueberries (Vaccinium myrtillus) are the signature species of this type of heath and, more rarely, cranberries (Vaccinium vitis-idaea). Blueberry heath is the second most common type of vegetation on the heathlands and occurs especially on northern slopes, the edges of woods and thick juniper hedges. This type of heath is particularly characteristic of the northern slopes of the Wilseder Berg, as well as the Steingrund and Totengrund. In those places, cranberries have even ousted the common heather (Calluna vulgaris) in places.

- Wet sand heath (Feuchte Sandheide, Genisto-Callunetum, Molinia-Variante)

Wet sand heath is the ideal habitat for purple moor grass (Molinia caerulea), cross-leaved heath (Erica tetralix) and scirpus (Scirpus cespitosus). It occurs in places close to the water table and in the transition zone around bogs. Its primary locations are areas north of Wilsede and near the Hörpel Ponds (Hörpeler Teichen).

WOODS

The greater part (about 58%) of the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve consists of woods, primarily pine forests, which were planted in the second half of the 19th century on former heathland and drifting sand. In some cases the dunes simply became naturally overgrown, again with pines. There are only a very few old stands of sessile oaks, which stem from the logging industry during the time of the Kingdom of Hanover. In many parts of the nature reserve there are so-called Stühbüsche (a form of coppice), trees that were coppiced by repeatedly being cut short. In the meantime they have grown wild again and have a characteristic and unusual appearance with their multiple trunks. Near Wilsede there is the remnant of a Hutewald, a wood pasture with giant, multi-stemmed beech trees.

BOGS

The largest bog on Lüneburg Heath is the Pietzmoor, which lies east of Schneverdingen. It was drained however and peat was cut there until the 1960s. The Nature Park Association carried out work in the 1980s to try and turn it back to its natural waterlogged state. For example, some of the drainage ditches were filled which led to a considerable rise in the water levels of the former peat cuts. However typical bog vegetation has not yet re-established itself.[8]

ANIMALS

Many species of animal live on Lüneburg Heath, particularly birds that are at home in the wide, open landscape, some of which are seriously threatened by the intensive-farming techniques in other areas. These include the: black grouse (Tetrao tetrix), the nightjar (Caprimulgus europaeus), the woodlark (Lullula arborea), the great grey shrike (Lanius excubitor), the red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio), the northern wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe), the wryneck (Jynx torquilla), the European green woodpecker (Picus viridis), the stonechat (Saxicola torquata), the Eurasian curlew (Numenius arquata), the common quail (Coturnix coturnix) and the black stork (Ciconia nigra). In the Lüneburg Heath the population of the very rare black grouse is rising continually. In 2007 78 were counted, 13 more than in the previous year. Since 2003 the number of grouse has doubled.

Wolves, although once extinct in the area, have returned to the Lüneburg Heath.

Numerous species including European bison, moose and brown bear which once inhabited the region may be seen in the Lüneburg Heath Wildlife Park alongside more exotic animals like snow leopards and Arctic wolves.

CULTURE AND HISTORY

EARLY HISTORY

Pollen analyses show that the dry geest soils of North Germany have been cultivated since about 3000 BC. Clearance by fire and the cultivation of crops on the Pleistocene sandy soils quickly led however to soil degradation. So the land cleared by fire could only be used for a short time. The settlements moved frequently and woods elsewhere were cleared. Even at that time the first Calluna (heather) heaths appeared (see above). Evidence of relatively dense settlement is found especially in Uelzen district. On Lüneburg Heath there are numerous Megalithic sites and tumuli from the Neolithic and the early Bronze Age. The most famous are the Oldendorfer Totenstatt (Oldendorf Gravesite) and the Sieben Steinhäuser (Seven Stone Houses). But even in the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve there are more than a thousand tumuli, especially near Nieder- and Oberhaverbeck. The largest of these tumuli is the so-called Prince's Grave (Fürstengrab). Also near Wilsede there is the well-known stone and juniper group known as Hannibal's Grave (Hannibals Grab).

TRANSITION TO SETTLEMENT CULTURE

After the withdrawal of the Lombards in the migration period, from about 700 AD Lüneburg Heath belonged to the Duchy of Saxony, which was conquered by Charlemagne in the 9th century and became part of the Frankish Empire. The resulting close control of the population and the Christianization meant that the rural settlements had to stay in one place and could no longer move about freely. The land had to be farmed more intensively which led to the heathland spreading.

SETTLEMENTS

Lüneburg Heath was always relatively sparsely populated due to the poor soils in the area. The region was dominated by heath farming which was a less intensive form of land usage necessary for its large areas of barren terrain and heathland. An important economic sideline of past centuries was heathland beekeeping. The villages were usually encircled by small tracts of woodland, sometimes interrupted by fields or meadows, and merged without clear boundaries into the surrounding landscape. The farmsteads were arranged relatively arbitrarily, many stood very close to one another; others were spread out at some distance from each other. They were loose cluster villages (lockere Haufendörfer). In order to prevent cattle trampling flat the gardens attached to the houses, village roads were enclosed with wooden fences and, later, with characteristic stone walls. The typical design of farmhouse was the Fachhallenhaus, a large timber-framed single building, in which people and animals lived under a single roof. Each village had relatively few complete farms; in Wilsede there were only four, in the church village (Kirchdorf) of Undeloh there were eleven, but that was an exception. In addition there were Koten (small, single houses), sheep pens and shared bakehouses. The farms themselves, however, were very large. In Wilsede all the features of a heath village described here may still be seen. Wilsede Heath Museum (Heidemuseum Wilsede) was established in a Fachhallenhaus and it gives an insight into the working and living conditions of a heathland farm around 1850. Walsrode Heath Museum was one of the first German open air museums and also portrays the life of heathland folk. In rural parts of the region they still sometimes use today a Low German dialect called Heidjerisch. This word derives from the name given to inhabitants of the Lüneburg Heath – the Heidjer.

HEATH CONVENTS

In the Lüneburg Heath region, six nunneries from the Middle Ages survived, which became Protestant convents after the Reformation. These establishments are the abbeys of: Ebstorf, Isenhagen, Lüne, Medingen, Wienhausen and Walsrode.

THE END OF THE HEATHLAND FARMING IN THE 19TH CENTURY

From 1831 feudalism was abolished in the Kingdom of Hanover and those heathland areas that were common land for the villages were divided amongst the individual farmers. Heathland farming died out at the end of the 19th century. Many farmers sold their land to the Prussian treasury or the Hanover monastic chamber, who afforested the land with pines. As a result, the area of heath was drastically reduced.

In 1800, large parts of Northwest Germany had been covered with heaths and bog. Today, by contrast the only large, continuous areas of heath remaining are in the Lüneburg Heath Nature Reserve and on a few military training areas.

The changing perception of the heath

As late as the turn of the 18th to the 19th century, the barren and almost treeless heathlands were still perceived as hostile and threatening environments, as evinced by two travel logs of journeys between 1799 and 1804:

As I had traversed the Hanoverian dominions in so many directions, I did not expect to find nature clothed in charms, or a high degree of population, fertility, and cultivation. Next to Lauenburg, I think it is the worst tract of an equal extent that I ever met with. The soil is one vast sandy desert, which is either naturally bare, or covered with patches of heath or grass.

- Charles Gottlob Küttner: Travels through Denmark, Sweden, Austria and part of Italy, in 1798 & 1799. London 1805.

On leaving Zell we passed through a dark wood, of at least two leagues in extent; and from that city to Harburgh, in a line of nearly twenty German miles, we travelled over sandy plains and extensive heaths. At a great distance, geese, ducks and sheep of a very poor appearance, never failed to indicate the vicinity of some wretched hamlet. What habitations! Whole families, of the most wretched appearance, and covered with tattered garments, associate together, eat and sleep with their cattle. Near these real catacombs we observed growing a few stalks of rye and barley, and here and there a few tufu of buck-wheat. The straw is short and stunted, and the ears of a diminutive size. Population and agriculture must ever be dependant on each other.

- Michel Ange Mangourit: Travels in Hanover, during the years 1803 and 1804. London 1806.

The poem Der Heideknabe ("The Heath Lad") from the year 1844 by Friedrich Hebbel stresses the unearthly atmosphere and the bleak solitude of the heaths:

:(...) Out, out of the town! And there it stretches,

The heath, misty, ghostly,

The wind swishing over it,

Oh, every step here is like a thousand others!

And all so still, and all so quiet,

You look around for signs of life,

Only hungry birds dart by

Out of the clouds, to spear worms (...).

Towards the middle of the 19th century the first positive descriptions of the heath emerged, initially inspired by the romantic movement. With the Industrial Revolution in Germany, unspoilt nature became more important for people, providing a welcome contrast with the rapidly burgeoning cities. Because the heathlands of North Germany were being increasingly decimated by cultivation and reforestation, they now appeared to be worth protecting. Numerous writers and painters portrayed the beauty of the heath, particularly when it was in bloom in August and September. One important heathland artist was Eugen Bracht. The most famous heath poet was the local writer Hermann Löns (1866–1914), who spent some time living in a hunting lodge near Westenholz. He worked the heath countryside into his books and promoted the foundation of the first German nature reserve on Lüneburg Heath. His purported remains were buried in a juniper copse at Tietlingen near Walsrode in 1935. His works were a source for Heimatfilme that were shot on Lüneburg Heath, such as Grün ist die Heide ("The Heath Is Green") from 1932 and remade in 1951 and 1972, as well as Rot ist die Liebe ("Red is Love") from 1956.

HISTORY OF CONSERVATION ON LÜNEBURG HEATH

Around 1900, there were growing demands to save the heathland and bogs of northwest Germany, which were threatened by reforestation and drainage. On Lüneburg Heath, Wilhelm Bode, then the pastor at Egestorf, was particularly active in pressing for the preservation of the endangered countryside. He had learned in 1905 of plans for building weekend houses on the Totengrund. In order to prevent this, he persuaded Andreas Thomsen, a professor from Münster, to acquire the area as a nature reserve. In 1909, Pastor Bode and district administrator (Landrat) Fritz Ecker prevented the planned reforestation of the Wilseder Berg.

In the same year, an appeal by Curt Floerike appeared in Kosmos magazine, citing the establishment of national parks in the United States and calling for them in Germany. In order to realise this goal, the Nature Park Society or Verein Naturschutzpark (VNP) was founded in Munich on 23 October 1909. They planned to create national parks in the Alps, the Central Uplands and in the north German geest region. By 1913, the society had 13,000 members.

The area of Lüneburg Heath near Wilsede was selected as the location for the north German national park. Using the VNP's funds, more than 30 km² of heathland were purchased or rented by 1913. In 1921, a police ordinance placed more than 200 km² of Lüneburg Heath under protection, the first time this had been achieved in Germany. One problem that arose as early as the 1920s was the steadily increasing number of visitors. In 1924, in order to keep visitors away from sensitive areas of heathland, a volunteer Heath Guard (Heidewacht) was founded.

The Reich conservation law was passed in 1933 and Lüneburg Heath was designated as an official nature reserve. Although plans to build a motorway through the park and for the heath to be used as a military training area were stopped, in 1933 the Heidewacht was disbanded, mainly because it was made up of members of social democratic youth organisations. In 1939, a new law that granted the chairman of the VNP – now called Führer – wide-ranging powers. Jews could no longer be members of the society.

Between 1891 and the Second World War, large military training areas were established on Lüneburg Heath, including the largest one in Europe, the Bergen-Hohne Training Area on the Südheide. Here the heathland has largely been preserved, albeit no longer accessible to the general public.

A large area of the nature park belonging to the society near Schneverdingen was taken over by the British Army of the Rhine in 1945 for use as a tank training area. In the 1950s, during military exercises, British tanks even pushed forward as far as the Wilseder Berg. Not until the Soltau-Lüneburg Agreement, was signed in 1959 between the Federal Republic of Germany, the United Kingdom and Canada, were the boundaries of the tank training area fixed. Continual exercising over the area by armoured vehicles completely destroyed the vegetation on the Osterheide near Schneverdingen, forming large areas of sand dunes. In 1994, the British returned the so-called "Red Areas" of the Soltau-Lüneburg Training Area to the Nature Park Society who, with the help of money from the federal government, set about the work of renaturation. Nowadays hardly any traces of the tank training area are left. The base camp for military exercises, Reinsehlen Camp, has been turned into a nature reserve.

FOREST FIRE

In August 1975, fire broke out on the Südheide which turned out to be the biggest forest fire in West Germany to that date. Serious forest fires broke out in the southern part of the area near Stüde, Neudorf-Platendorf, Meinersen and then by Eschede near Celle, with devastating effects and fatalities.

TOURISM

Today the area is a popular tourist destination. Contributing to this are the theme park, Heidepark Soltau, the Walsrode Bird Park, the Serengeti Safari Park at Hodenhagen, Snow Dome Bispingen, and a Center Parc as well as the many farms offering holiday stays, making the Lüneburg Heath especially popular for families. Another group of tourists are the elderly on free guided bus tours (Kaffeefahrten), stopping for coffee and wool plaids at a farm before touring Lüneburg for an hour.

Kunststätte Bossard in the Nordheide near Jesteburg is an expressionist Gesamtkunstwerk open to the public.

The memorial/exhibition at the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp near the town of Bergen is also located in the Lüneburg Heath.

WIKIPEDIA

Prohibido cantar / No Singing. Jordi Colomer by Matadero Madrid

JORDI COLOMER

Prohibido Cantar / No Singing. Obra didáctica sobre la fundación de una ciudad paradisíaca.

Desde el 14 de septiembre

Precio: Entrada libre

Institución:

Abierto x Obras

Inauguración: Viernes 14 de septiembre a las 20 h.

Jordi Colomer es el encargado de esta nueva creación site specific en la antigua cámara frigorífica de Matadero. La obra de Colomer explora una singular visión de la escultura incorporando dispositivos escénicos, fotografía y videoinstalación.

'Os será más fácil sacarles el oro a los hombres que a los ríos'1

"La fundación de una ciudad no es forzosamente un acto heroico. Para las ciudades antiguas, la arqueología tantea un orden cronológico, desempolva las pruebas del suceso, mientras la Historia y la leyenda proponen sus relatos. Dice Jorge-Luis Borges: 'A mí se me hace cuento que empezó Buenos Aires: La juzgo tan eterna como el agua y como el aire'2.

Pero cada día, empiezan nuevas ciudades, construidas de agua, de hormigón, de sudor y de dinero. Algunas son -casi- pura idea. En su programa electoral el presidente Kubitschek prometió la creación de una moderna capital para Brasil y, en tres años, Brasilia se levantó entre las malezas del plano alto central, siguiendo fielmente los planes de Lucio Costa. A su vez los obreros que la pusieron en pie, venidos de todas las regiones del país, plantaron sus chamizos trémulos donde dormir y fundaron -sin saberlo- su propia ciudad. Hay ciudades de cristal que crecen en los despachos, y otras de lata y cartón que bailan al ritmo de sus propios habitantes. En una ocasión, a un grupo de forajidos a los que la policía les pisaba los talones se les estropeó el camión en pleno desierto. No podían seguir, ni ir hacia atrás. Fundaron entonces allí mismo una ciudad paradisíaca, la ciudad dorada, donde el mayor de los crímenes era no tener dinero. Esa ciudad se llama Mahagonny y Bertolt Brecht la imaginó al tiempo que Las Vegas brotaba con la forma de ciudad que hoy conocemos.

En Prohibido cantar / No Singing unos pocos personajes plantan un garito donde se ofrecen juegos de entretenimiento, trucos, amor y comida a bajo precio. La acción transcurre cerca de un camino polvoriento, en los mismos solares en los que hace un tiempo se proyectó una gran ciudad privada, con 32 casinos, llamada Gran Escala, que debía atraer a 25 millones de visitantes, pero que nunca vió la luz. Las imágenes que presentamos (en 7 pantallas) muestran cómo prospera la ciudad de Eurofarlete, bajo un sol inclemente y el cierzo soplando. Están compuestas de fragmentos de lo que allí sucedió durante dos días, y quizás ayuden a discernir una singular forma de organización por la supervivencia, donde todo está en venta, a precio de ganga y también a cualquier precio".

Jordi Colomer

1 Bertolt Brecht. Ascenso y caída de la ciudad de Mahagonny.1927-30.

2 Jorge Luis Borges. Fundación mítica de Buenos Aires in Fervor de Buenos Aires, 1923

BIOGRAFÍA

Jordi Colomer (1962) nació en Barcelona, ciudad en la que estudió Arte en EINA, Historia del Arte en la Universidad Autónoma y Arquitectura en la ETSAB. Vive y trabaja entre Barcelona y París.

Desde sus inicios el trabajo de Jordi Colomer ha ido incorporando a una singular visión de la escultura elementos de los dispositivos escénicos. Desde 1997 ha privilegiado el uso de la fotografía y la video-instalación. Sus primeros vídeos tomaban forma de micro-narraciones de raíz beckettiana, en los que los habitantes se debaten con objetos, decorados y espacios artificiales. En un segundo período estos personajes recorren la calle y el desierto con gestos y derivas que - (no exentos de cierto humor absurdo) - contagian un marcado espíritu crítico. Las obras de Colomer exploran las posibilidades de supervivencia poética que ofrece la urbe contemporánea. Así surgen obras como Anarchitekton (2002-2004), proyecto itinerante a través de cuatro ciudades (Barcelona, Bucarest, Brasilia, Osaka), No? Future! (rodada en Le Havre, 2004), Arabian stars (Yemen, 2005), Cinecito (La Habana, 2006), En la Pampa (realizada en el desierto de Atacama, Chile, 2008), Avenida Ixtapaluca (houses for México, 2009), The Istanbul Map (Istanbul, 2010), o más recientemente la trilogía What will come (Nueva York, 2010-11) donde los propios habitantes escriben el guión con sus desplazamientos en la suburbia americana ; o el proyecto Crier sur les toits (gritar a los cuatro vientos, 2011) donde se propone utilizar las azoteas como un pedestal a escala urbana, instituyendo una fiesta mundial. En l’Avenir (2011), inspirada en el Falansterio de Charles Fourier, las imágenes dan rostro a los habitantes de un proyecto utópico y son a la vez un comentario sobre sus posibilidades de materializarse. La instalación Prohibido cantar que aquí se presenta, investiga una vez más esa tensión entre proyecto y realidad, dibujando un espacio híbrido, a la vez totalmente físico y puramente mental; los proyectos de construcción de una ciudad de oro y casinos, que los medios anuncian tiene visos de precisarse y un lugar con mucho viento, contaminado por proyectos imaginarios del pasado y ahora ocupado por personas jugando a la ficción. Nótese que el propio espacio de Abierto x Obras ha quedado transformado por efecto de todas estas visitas.

Ha trabajado también como escenógrafo para el teatro en obras de Joan Brossa, Samuel Beckett, Valère Novarina así como en una ópera de Robert Ashley.

PROHIBIDO CANTAR / NO SINGING. JORDI COLOMER

(Didactic work on the foundation of a paradise city)

From 14 of september

to 09 of december

Price: Free

Institution:

Abierto x Obras

GALERÍA DE FOTOS

[ver + fotos]

'It's easier getting gold out of men than from rivers'. Bertolt Brecht,

The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, 1927-30

The foundation of a city is not necessarily a heroic act. Everyday a new city begins to be built on water, concrete, sweat and money. Some are -almost- a pure idea. In his election manifesto president Juscelino Kubitschek promised the creation of a modern capital for Brazil in three years, Brasilia was built amongst the weeds of the high central plane, faithfully following the plans of Lucio Costa. At the same time the builders, who came on foot from all parts of the country, pitched their trembling huts where they slept and founded– without knowing it- their own city.

There are glass cities that grow out of offices and others made from tin and card that dance to the rhythm of their own inhabitants. On one occasion, a group of outlaws were being tailed by the police, when their truck broke down in the middle of the desert. They couldn't keep going or turn back. So they ended up founding a paradise city, the golden city, where the worst crime was not to have any money. That city was called Mahagonny and Bertolt Brecht envisioned it at the time when Las Vegas came about shaping the image of the city that we recognise today.

In Prohibido cantar / No Singing a few characters make a gambling den where they offer entertainment games, tricks, love and food at low prices. The action takes place close to a dusty road, on the same plot of land and during the time in which a great private city was planned, with 32 casinos, called Gran Escala, which was to attract 25 million visitors, and yet never saw the light of day. These images reveal how the city of Eurofarlete thrives, under a blazing sun and strong blowing winds. Fragments of what passed there over two days may help to discern the particular form of organisation needed for survival, where everything is on sale at a bargain price or indeed at any price.

Jordi Colomer (Barcelona, 1962) His work explores the possibility of poetic survival that is offered by the contemporary metropolis through a unique vision of sculpture incorporating scenic devices, photography and video installation. Prohibido Cantar / No Singing returns to investigate the tension between project and fiction and creates a hybrid space, on both a physical and mental plane. He has been educated in art, art history and architecture, among his latest solo shows are l'Avenir in the Palais de Beaux Arts (Brussels), What will come in the Argos Centre for Art and Media (Brussels), Co Op City at the Bronx Museum of the Arts (New York), Fuegogratis in the Laboratorio Arte Alameda (México D.F.), La Panera (Lleida) and Galerie du Jeu de Paume (Paris).

No. 74: Harmony by Marie Simpson by Matthew Wells

Would you like a take a shortcut to a specific Gromit?

aNarvik-fjord+town by tisdalem2001

1

Malmbanan and Narvik, 27 and 28 March 1980

While I was touring Europe by rail in March 1980, I made up the trip as I went along, generally not planning more than a few days in advance where I was going. Often it depended on where I was and were I could get to overnight on a train.

I had a few specific goals, among them riding Le Mistral and the Rheingold, the premier trains of France and Germany at the time and both TEEs. I saw a new item about Italy's Paola-Cosenza rack line still running steam in Continental Railway Journal, so I included it in my trip. I wanted to see some of Switzerland and had a day when I rode the Gotthard, Simplon and Lotschberg lines in a day trip from Luzern, where I was staying, to Milan and back. The now well worn February 1980 copy of Cook's International Timetalbe now on the table next to me was invaluable for figuring all this out.

My Euirailpass had come with a rail map of Europe, showing the lines where the pass was valid, and something I'd noticed was a line in far northern Sweden and Norway ending at Narvik, on the Norwegian coast. I don't think I knew much about the line at the time, other than that it was above the Arctic Circle and was as far north as I could reach by rail in western Europe. (Wikipedia says its northernmost point is 68.452 degrees north latitude.) I've since gone through my collection of rail magazines and realized that I might have read about the line to Narvik before I went there, but at the time it was an abstraction, a far away place that might as well have been Olympus Mons or the Sea of Tranquility for me. Anyway, I don't think I had any clue of what to expect when I boarded the Nordpilen (Northern Arrow) in Stockholm the night of 26 March.

Cook's had shown me that the train to Narvik left Stockholm at 1632 and was due into Narvik at 1400 the following afternoon. It was not really a through train as the sleeper and couchettes from Stockholm only went as far as Kiruna. Meanwhile, it would have picked up some coaches and 3 of those would continue on from Kriuna to Narvik. The train was a classic overnight run with cars for various destinations as it left Stockholm as well as picking up cars along the way..

My notes say that out of Stockholm, we had a Rc4, three 2nd class and one 1st class coach for Ostersund, a self service diner, a 2nd class coach for Ange, two couchettes and a sleeper for Krruna and three sleepers and a couchette for Lulea..

I had food with me as European train food was often expensive and not all trains had food service. Cooks says the Nordpilen had a diner for dinner and as far as Kiruna for breakfast.

Normally, on overnight trips, I'd sleep in a first class coach compartment as I had a first class Eurailpass, but on the Nordpilen, I was in a couchette, an economy sleeper with 6 berth compartments. I probably slept like a rock...whether the other people in the compartment did with my snoring is another matter.

At some point in the morning we stopped at the Arctic Circle sign., I thought it was a signal stop at first, but then saw the sign out the window and I presume the stop was made so people could see it and get photos if they wanted.

Kiruna was the last major community in Sweden on our route and it turned out to be a major iron mining center and the reason for the line's existence. The railroad reached Kiruna in 1899 and then was pushed over the mountains to Narvik to give the ore an Atlantic Ocean port, being completed in 1903.

In addition to shedding the couhettes and sleeper from Stockholm and a coach-diner from Lulea in Kriuna, the Nordpilen swapped its Rc4 electric for a Da 1-C-1 jackshaft drive electric. The Da series dated from the 1950s, had about 2500 HP and a maximum speed of 100 km/h. This was more than adequate for the train and railroad between Kiruna and Narvik.

We left Kriuna on time at 1100 and headed into some very remote country. There were a few towns along the way, but to give you a feel for how small they are, the Nordpilen stops at Abisko, which has 85 people.

At about 1310, we stopped at Bjornfjell, just inside Norway and stayed there for a while. Up to that point, we'd been on time. We heard there was a derailment ahead. another train was in the station, also 3 cars behind a Da. This train was also headed for Narvik, and my notes say that it was coupled to the end of our train when we left. Cook's lists a train that left Kiruna at 0700, so if that was the train already in the station, it had been there a while.

I got off the train and took some photos of the trains, station and snowsheds. The station had a cafe and I warmed up with coffee from it. At the time, there was not a road from Narvik to Sweden through Bjornfjell, but that changed in 1984.

At about 1515, with the other train's Da locomotive run around to the end of the train, we headed west, with Da, 6 cars, Da. It is 40 km from Bjornfjell to Narvik and the line is called the Ofotbanan in Norway, although the whole route if frequently referred to by the Swedish Malmbanan.

Bjornfjell is at 514 meters elevation and the line drops to sea level at Narvik. The 40 km separating the two stations is one of the most spectacular routes anywhere in the world and only its remoteness keeps it from being as well known as the Moffat line out of Denver, Donner Pass or various Swiss mountain railways. It runs along Narvik Fjord and the whole trip is nothing short of gorgeous. As we were two hours late, we had late afternoon light, as well.

We stopped again at Katterat, about 10 km from Bjornfjell and met an uphill ore train and a passenger train, probably the Nordpilen, which was scheduled to leave Narvik at 1500. My notes say we were going again at 1650 and arrived in Narvik at 1728, 3 1/2 hours late.

Railroading above the Arctic Circle presents challenges!

Several of us walked from the station to the hostel. I remember talking to one woman who lived somewhere near Narvik that would require a ferry ride to get to and the last ferry had already left for the evening, so she was spending the night at the hostel.

After getting checked in and having dinner, I went out and got photos of the sunset and the lights on the harbor. As this was after the spring equinox and we were above the Arctic Circle, the sky still had color at 10 at night.

The next day (28 March), I explored Narvik. Its main reason for being is as the port for the ore, and is the biggest community in the area with 20,000 people. The photos aren't really in order by time, but I grouped them by location with the station, ore dock and general harbor and city scenes together. My notes say that in addition to ore trains with the 3 unit jackshaft drive Dm3 electrics and NSB class 15s, I saw an NSB DMU train depart, then the Nordpilen arrive, although I don't seem to have a photo of the Nordpilen's arrival.

The Dm3s were quite a sight, They were 3 unit 1'D+D+D'1 jackshaft drive engines built from 1954 to 1971. The last were retired in 2011, but some are preserved. They had 9,700 HP and were geared for a maximum speed of 75 km/h. Not speed demons, but they got the ore up and down the mountain for decades.

The Nordpilen left on time at 1500, and afforded another sightseeing trip up the fjord. My notes say that the train's 5 cars filled up when we stopped at various Swedish stations with skiers. 28 March was a Friday, so, perhaps, people were also going from remote towns into larger communities for the weekend.

I switched to a couchette at Kiruna. We left almost on time at 1825, having replaced the Da with an Rc4 and added 3 couchettes and a sleeper (or maybe it was 2 and 2, I wasn't sure about one car) and a diner-coach. The coaches and diner would be taken off at Boden and continue to the port city of Lulea on the Gulf of Bothnia. Aslo at Boden, sleepers and couchettes from Lulea would be added to the train for the run to Stockholm.

After 3 days of beautiful weather in Stockholm and the far north, the weather turned wet. The Nordpilen arrived in Stockholm around 1315, which would have been maybe 5 minutes late. With the wet weather, I just hung around Stockholm station until my next train was due to leave, the 1547 train to Malmo and Copenhagen, which had a through cars to Hamburg and Berlin, the Berlin car being a Mitropa sleeper. (Mitropa was the East German sleeping dand dining car company.)

On the trip south from Stockholm, I rode in the the through car to Hamburg, a DB 1st/2nd composite car. It was packed. It seemed that a Danish gymnastic team had missed an earlier train and was on this one. I wound up on a jump seat in the aisle. At one point, someone saw me reading the International Herald-Tribune and asked if she could see it when I was done. When I said "Sure" she exclaimed, "He's American!" in shock, which got some laughs. Several of the gymnasts and I got to talking and I swapped addresses with one of them, whom I visited the following year.

After Copenhagen, I had a compartment to myself in the Copenhagen-Konstanz coach and rode that to Frankfurt overnight.

With Norwegian Airlines offering cheap flights on Oslo and Stockholm from Oakland, I have been itching to get back to Scandinavia and have another go at the Malmbanan. No Dm3s these days, but heavy ore trains still run along the fjord and I'd like a few days to do some linesiding at the little stations where we stopped. Perhaps when I retire.

Halsnead Dale - 56074 by # Doug Birmingham #

2 3

More of a specific view of my 'N' gauge layout were some scenery has been completed, although very much still ongoing. A view of Loadhaul livery Class 56, No 56074 'Kellingley Colliery' as it passes Transrail livery Class 60, No 60058 'John Howard'. The class 56 is a standard Graham Farish model but has been slightly weathered. Before anyone ask, other modellers have completed some of my locomotives were others are ready to run models. 15th July 2020

Copyright: 8A Rail

www.8arai.uk

No. 5: Golden Gromit by Julie Vernon by Matthew Wells

Would you like a take a shortcut to a specific Gromit?

bNarvik-Dm3-981 by tisdalem2001