While in Daejeon i visited the Hanbat arboretum too. It’s situated just behind the Daejeon Museum Of Art, which i skipped due the lack of time. The sunny day let me stroll rather trough the park, although it was bit too early for flowers. At least i had a calm and peaceful atmosphere within and could collect some more impressions.
It’s not to deny how close tradition and modernity exist in South Korea, but especially in Seoul. One of the best example is the modern complex of Dongdaemun Design Plaza.
Winter in Turkey impressions #14: Ephesus surprised me not only with its sheer size and the huge roman theatre, but also with some incredibly well kept mosaics and wall paintings in some excavated houses. Lucky i arrived early, because i spent way much more time than estimated before. It was so amting to roam trough these contemporary witnesses from so many eras and history.
Nothing else better than a good coffee for starting a new day. Even better in beautiful or interesting surrounding.
It’s happened i got an overnight stay just in Tsukim, just near the gate to the art village. And it’s just happened i woke up there on a Friday morning, the day when the art village is open for public, as they told me.
The Artists‘ Colony of Tsukim, also know as Zuqim, lies in the Negev desert, far away from a bigger settlement. A perfect place to follow your inspiration and create artsy stuff, as also more handy ones, like roasting coffee.
And coffee i got in the gallery, where beautiful landscape pictures of winterly Turkey were displayed. Ironically i did travel in Turkey just before and was fleeing the cold, while i enjoy the pictures here in the desert now.
Later i roamed trough the little shops, talked with a few artist and admired their art work. Paintings, pottery, fairy puppets, jewelry and wonderful creatures and things made from natural materials. And this coffee roastery, owned by a nice guy and his father. A good reason to stop by for another espresso.
„There’s a sniper observing the area“ the Palestinian guide was pointing to the watchtower at the wall corner.
From there, a huge wall expands on both directions. This wall, also known as West Bank Barrier , was build by Israel for security reasons, as they claim. For the Palestinians it’s rather an act of segregation and further restriction of their freedom.
On the Palestinian side, it became a canvas for graffiti art. Palestinian and international artists put their messages and art on it, making it a huge board of resistance and shout for more freedom and peace.
If in Vatican, or Rome respectively, you must go to the Vatican Museum, they said.
But be prepared for very long queue in front of the entrance, they warned me too.
Well, when i arrived there on this cold, but beautiful winter morning, there was only a few people wanting into the museum. I just could walk trough the entrance, literally.
And so i got a glimpse of all the treasures the Catholic church collected over the past centuries and the art, sculptures and paintings they got from various artists in many of the rooms and halls.
The first section i visited was the Egyptian museum. Does these even belongs here to the Vatican, i’ve been thinking. But then more and more sculptures, paintings, mosaics and huge tapestry followed on the other rooms.
The tourists been waving with their phones, tried to capture the beauty of art in their pockets. So did i, more or less. But honestly, it’s hard to get a proper picture from the huge paintings in the wall, if you can’t inhale the spirit of the hall. In this way, it was just right to forbid to make photos in the amazing and world famous „Sistine Chapel“ There are guards, who not only watch out for illegal photographers, but also remind the visitors to be silent.
A while ago I saw pictures from the permanent installations from Anselm Kiefer, ‚The seven heavenly Palaces‘. It’s situated in the halls of Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, bit outside of the city of Milan. A visit was just a must for me.
As you probably know, I have an affinity for Africa, specially for South Africa.
When I arrived the the hangars, I realized there’s also a temporary exhibition by Dineo Seshee Bopape. An artist and creator from Limpopo, South Africa.
Her work was in the first hall I entered. Big round huts dominate the room. Aside from that, big platforms of earthen landscape with different structures are laid out. A big video installation leads your mind to the element of water. But an important part of her exhibition „Born in the first light of the morning [moswara’marapo]“ is against forgetting past wars.
“Neons Corridors Rooms” by Bruce Nauman is all about narrow corridors, neon lights and the experience of space. It took awhile to enter new dimensions of seeing space differently. Luckily I was completely alone in these halls at times. It gives it an even bigger experiences, not to share the rooms with other visitors and enjoying the quietness and deep of the space on my own.
Behind a small entrance, covered by a black curtain, a deep space of blackness appears. Seven collumns of blocks raising to the black sky. At the distant walls are huge images of rough landscapes. If you look closer, the buildings seem to be instabil, shattered pieces laying around them, trashy debris scattered over the dark floor. A scene of an apocalypse.
I stand midst in this scenery, feeling little and overwhelmed. And lost.
There was just one more person in this hall. A young girl, walking around, staring at the shattered ‚palaces‘. It felt like to be transferred in another world, another dimension, where only few people survived a disaster and searching for hope and future between the ruins.
I’m deeply and truly impressed.
rene bauer photography 