#In the most prominent archaeological museum in my country

[alwayshypedforhalloween]

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[hedgewitchgarden]

Kristborg Þórsdóttir, of the Archaeological Institute of Iceland who is leading the excavation, said one of the best known clan members was Sæmundur fróði (Sæmundur the Learned) who lived from 1056 to 1133 . A key figure in Icelandic folklore, the scholar and priest founded the school at Oddi and was known as the most educated man in Iceland.

“He was sent to central Europe to study, and when he returned, he became a prominent figure in society and is believed to have written some of the earliest literary works in Iceland,” she said.

He also came to be mythologised as a man who managed to trick the devil. In one story, he was at a school for the black arts, where the devil had the right to take the last student of each group. But when Sæmundur trailed behind his companions and the devil went to seize him, he said, “I am not the last. Do you not see who follows me?” He pointed at his shadow which the devil tried to snatch, allowing Sæmundur to flee.

In addition to becoming the centre of Viking power and influence, Oddi was also a hotspot for culture and learning. The writer Snorri Sturluson was fostered there by Jón Loftsson (Sæmundur’s grandson). Sturluson (1179-1241AD) was one of the most significant figures in Iceland’s history: a chieftain, storyteller, politician and literary figure, credited with many of Iceland’s most important literary works of the Middle Ages, including Egil’s Saga.

Ms Þórsdóttir said the Oddi excavations have revealed the oldest dated example of a man-made cave in Iceland. They have been dated by aligning the layers of ash and volcanic debris with the known dates of eruptions.

“The fact that the cave in Oddi seems to have been dug out in the 10th century makes it a Viking age structure, adding to our previous knowledge of the building techniques of the first settlers in Iceland and of the people of the North Atlantic,” she said.

“Our research shows that the making and use of man-made caves in Iceland was widespread and started earlier than was previously known. From our experience in Oddi, [we believe] there are many structures of this type that have been sealed off and forgotten.

“We hope to be able to continue the excavation to get a better idea of how long these caves were in use, how their use changed over time and if there are any indications of people living in parts of the cave system,” she said.

Among the discoveries is a cave that may have been used to protect cattle and horses. Such stalls were known as nautahellirs and feature in the 13th century book Legends of Saints by Bishop Þorlákur, in which a cave collapse was recorded.

Collapses are also a risk for archaeologists. The caves are cut into sandstone which absorbs water and is prone to crumbling.

But the find is expected to become a major tourist drawcard.

The country has numerous other Viking-era sites that range from the historic to the kitschy. The Caves of Hella on the south coast is a popular attraction and the site of 12 man-made caves. Four were opened to the public in 2019, and the site is one of Iceland’s oldest standing archaeological remains.

Elsewhere, the Skógar Museum features many Viking artefacts, and Skyrland introduces visitors to the 1,000-year-old story of how a Viking dairy product (skyr) became a global health food. Nearby, Ingólfsskáli restaurant gives travellers the chance to experience Viking feasts with a contemporary touch.

Locals are optimistic that the discovery could cement Oddi’s place in the history books. Baldur Thorhallsson, whose family has been taking care of the Caves of Hella for nearly 200 years, said it was a positive development.

“I’m a teacher, and I know that Icelanders love to hear a good story and caves are a great story,” said Mr Thorhallsson.

“My grandfather told me the history of the caves in Hella that his grandfather told him. Tourists love those stories as well.”

[orbemnews]

What Should Museums Do With the Bones of the Enslaved? The Morton Cranial Collection, assembled by the 19th-century physician and anatomist Samuel George Morton, is one of the more complicated holdings of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Consisting of some 1,300 skulls gathered around the world, it provided the foundation for Morton’s influential racist theories of differences in intelligence among races, which helped establish the now-discredited “race science” that contributed to 20th century eugenics. In recent years, part of the collection was prominently displayed in a museum classroom, a ghoulish object lesson in an infamous chapter of scientific history. Last summer, after student activists highlighted the fact that some 50 skulls had come from enslaved Africans in Cuba, the museum moved the displayed skulls into storage with the rest of the collection. And last week, shortly after the release of outside research indicating roughly 14 other skulls had come from Black Philadelphians taken from pauper’s graves, the museum announced that the entire collection would be opened up for potential “repatriation or reburial of ancestors,” as a step toward “atonement and repair” for past racist and colonialist practices. The announcement was the latest development in a highly charged conversation about African-American remains in museum collections, especially those of the enslaved. In January, the president of Harvard University issued a letter to alumni and affiliates acknowledging that the 22,000 human remains in its collections included 15 from people of African descent who may have been enslaved in the United States, and pledging to review its policies of “ethical stewardship.” And now, that conversation may be set to explode. In recent weeks, the Smithsonian Institution, whose National Museum of Natural History houses the nation’s largest collection of human remains, has been debating a proposed statement on its own African-American remains. Those discussions, according to portions of an internal summary obtained by The New York Times, have involved people who have long prioritized repatriation efforts as well as those who take a more traditional view of the museum’s mission to collect, preserve and study artifacts, and who view repatriations as potential losses to science. In an interview last week, Lonnie G. Bunch III, the secretary of the Smithsonian, declined to characterize the deliberations but confirmed the museum was developing new guidance, which he said would be undergirded by a clear imperative: “to honor and remember.” “Slavery is in many ways the last great unmentionable in American discourse,” he said. “Anything we can do to both help the public understand the impact of slavery, and find ways to honor the enslaved, is at the top of my list.” Any new policy, Dr. Bunch said, would build on existing programs for Native American remains. It could involve not just the return of remains to direct descendants, but possibly to communities, or even reburial in a national African-American burial ground. And the museum, he said, would also strive to tell fuller stories of individuals whose remains stay in the collection. “It used to be that scholarship trumped community,” he said. “Now, it’s about finding the right tension between community and scholarship.” The quantity of enslaved and other African-American remains in museums may be modest compared with the estimated 500,000 Native American remains in U.S. collections, which were scooped up from burial grounds and 19th-century battlefields on what Samuel J. Redman, an associate professor of history at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, termed “an industrial scale.” But Dr. Redman, the author of “Bone Rooms,” a history of remains collecting by museums, said the moves by Harvard, Penn and especially the Smithsonian could represent a “historical tipping point.” “It puts into shocking relief our need to address the problem of the historical exploitation of people of color in the collecting of their objects, their stories and their bodies,” he said. The complexities around African-American remains — who might claim them? how do you determine enslaved status? — are enormous. Even just counting them is a challenge. According to an internal Smithsonian survey that has not previously been made public, the 33,000 remains in its storerooms include those from roughly 1,700 African-Americans, including an estimated several hundred who were born before 1865, and so may have been enslaved. Some remains come from archaeological excavations. But the majority are from individuals who died in state-funded institutions for the poor, whose unclaimed bodies ended up in anatomical collections that were later acquired by the Smithsonian. In addition to the 1990 Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which requires museums to return remains to tribes or lineal descendants that request them, the Smithsonian allows remains from named individuals of any race to be claimed by descendants. While many African-American individuals in the anatomical collections are named, none have ever been reclaimed, according to the natural history museum. Kirk Johnson, the museum’s director, said that the anatomical collections, while disproportionately gathered from the poor and marginalized, included a cross-section of society in terms of age, sex, race, ethnicity and cause of death, which had made them extremely useful for forensic anthropologists and other researchers. But when it comes to African-American remains, a broader approach to repatriation — including a more expansive notion of “ancestor” and “descendant” — may be justified. “We’ve all had a season of becoming more enlightened about structural racism and anti-Black racism,” he said. “At the end of the day,” he added, “it’s a matter of respect.” Dr. Bunch, the Smithsonian’s first Black secretary, said he hoped its actions would provide a model for institutions across the country. Some who have studied the history of the trade in Black bodies say such guidance is sorely needed. “It would be wonderful to have an African-American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act,” said Daina Ramey Berry, a professor of history at the University of Texas and author of “The Price for Their Pound of Flesh,” a study of the commodification of enslaved bodies from birth to death. “We’re finding evidence of enslaved bodies used at medical schools throughout the nation,” she said. “Some are still on display at universities. They need to be returned.” Penn’s Morton collection vividly embodies both the sordid side of the enterprise, and the way the meanings of collections change. Morton, a successful doctor who was an active member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, has sometimes been called the founder of American physical anthropology. He was a proponent of the theory of polygenesis, which held that some races were separate species, with separate origins. In books like the lavishly illustrated “Crania Americana,” from 1839, he drew on skull measurements to outline a proposed hierarchy of human intelligence, with Europeans on top and Africans in the United States at the bottom. Morton’s skull collection was said to be the first scholarly anatomical collection in the United States and, at the time, the largest. But after his death in 1851, it fell into obscurity, even as his racist ideas about differences in intelligence remained influential. In 1966, the collection was relocated to the Penn Museum, from the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. And it quickly became a useful tool for all sorts of scientific research — including studies aimed at debunking the racist ideas it had helped create. In a famous 1978 paper (later adapted for his book “The Mismeasure of Man”), the paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould argued that Morton’s racist assumptions had led him to make incorrect measurements — thus turning Morton into a symbol not just of racist ideas, but of how bias can affect the seemingly objective procedures of science. Gould’s analysis of Morton’s measurements has itself been hotly disputed. But in recent years, the appropriateness of possessing the skulls at all has been sharply questioned by campus and local activists, particularly after student researchers connected with the Penn & Slavery Project drew attention to the remains of the enslaved Cubans. Christopher Woods, who became the museum’s director earlier this month, said the new repatriation policy (which was recommended by a committee) would not change the collection’s status as an active research source. Although there has been no access to the actual skulls since last summer, legitimate researchers can examine 3-D scans of the entire collection, including those of 126 Native Americans that have already been repatriated. “The collection was put together for nefarious purpose in the 19th century, to reinforce white supremacist racial views, but there’s still been good research done on that collection,” Dr. Woods said. When it comes to repatriation, he said, the moral imperative is clear, even if the specific course of action may not be. For the skulls of Black Philadelphians taken from pauper’s graves (a major source for cadavers of all races at the time), he said the hope is they can be reburied in a local African-American cemetery. The enslaved remains from Cuba, however, would require future research and possibly testing, as well as a search for an appropriate repatriation site, possibly in Cuba or West Africa, where most of the individuals were likely born. The Black remains may have become a particularly urgent issue, he said. But repatriation requests for any skulls would be considered. “This is an ethical question,” he said. “We need to consider the wishes of the communities from whence these people came.” Source link Orbem News #Bones #enslaved #Museums

[altughuner-blog]

India Travel is unique. There is so much you can explore that you can get lost in the options. Most of the times you are not even aware of the options available and you end up going to cliché places only.

Stock Photos – Shutterstock

While your India Travel plan should definitely have the famous monuments like Taj Mahal, it is the experiences that would give you the real flavor of this nation.

Top 12 India Travel Experiences

So, let me take you through some Indian experiences that you can include in your travel itinerary.

1. Explore the Wildlife of Indian Forests

In the culture that is overwhelming, sometimes the countries wildlife takes a back seat. Remember India is home to unique species including Tigers, Lions, Single Horned Rhinos, Elephants. Indian forests and jungles are full of animal species that would amaze you.

Collarwali Tigress at Pench National Park

Most forests come under the forests department who are responsible for conserving and preserving them. This means the entry is restricted. It is usually accessible through guided safaris, where a forest jeep and a forest guide will take you around and show you flora and fauna of the forest. Some national parks also offer elephant safaris, walking safaris and boat safaris too.

All safaris are worth exploring. Imagine sitting in a boat surrounded by lush green forest and animals just doing their regular business and birds flying all over.

Single-horned Rhinoceros grazing at Hollong

Some national parks like Pench, known for being the setting of Mowgli allow you to live in tree houses. There are some forests with lovely tribal villages or forts and this where you get to explore nature and ancient aboriginal culture.

Read More – Our Complete Guide to Planning Wildlife Holidays

2. Understand the Indian Temple Architecture

Growing up in the northern state of Punjab, I grew oblivious to the stunning temples that exist in most of India. I discovered the temple architecture pretty late in life. However, once enticed, I can not just get enough of them. The more I visit an ancient Indian temple, the more I discover, an architecture that is soaked in stories, legends, philosophy, aesthetics, and history.

I highly recommend that you visit at least one set of ancient Indian temples, whichever part of the country you visit.

If you are visiting for the first time and doing the most popular Delhi, Agra & Jaipur circuit, consider extending it to include Khajuraho.

Kandariya Mahadev Temple at Khajuraho

Heading to the Himalayas? check out Jageshwar Dham in Uttarakhand or Stone and Wood Temples of Himachal Pradesh.

Southern States

If you are doing southern states, you would be spoilt for choices, wherever you go, you will find beautiful temples. My favorite cities to explore south Indian temples would be Kanchipuram and Thanjavur. Both present the two prominent temple architecture styles – Pallava & Cholas. Kerala has its own slanting roof architecture dominated by wood.

Brihadeeswara Temple popularly called the Big Temple or Thanjavur Temple

In the West, you should not miss Kailash temple at Ellora or Kopeshwar Temple in Khidrapur.

Eastern states, check out the lovely Terracotta temples of Bishnupur or the Puri, Bhubaneshwar, and Konark in Odisha.

In the North East, there is Kamakhya temple near Guwahati and then the temple town of Sibasagar.

Even the touristy Goa has its own style of Goan temple architecture.

Look for the material used in the making of a temple, the motifs used, the stories carves, the style of Shikhara or the superstructure, the presiding deity and local folklore when you visit an Indian temple.

Check out our series on Temples of India

3. Visit a Museum for some time travel

Museums are not really our strong point when it comes to popular tourist places. Having said that, to meet India of a different space and time, you do need to check out some of our museums. Your travel cannot be complete without visiting a few museums.

Shiva Lila from Tanjore Gallery

Archaeological Survey of India has many museums full of ancient artifacts, specially excavated sculptures that are like a treasure hunt. Ask a curator to take you around the museum, and you will discover the stories and technologies of good old days of the nation.

Delhi, I highly recommend the National Museum and Sulabh Toilets Museum

Mumbai check-out the Bhau Daji Lad museum that documents the city of Mumbai and its rich & diverse history

Chennai – the Egmore Museum has the best of Chola bronzes

Kolkata, we have the oldest of Indian Museums called India Museum

Hyderabad has Salarjung museum for history and a very innovative Sudha Car Museum

Jaipur has the Albert Hall Museum

Ahmedabad has Calico Museum

Vizag has a submarine museum

Every state capital and major archaeological sites have impressive museums. Mathura museum has some of the best gems of Mathura school of Art.

Buddha statue in Mathura School of Art style in Red Stone at Mathura Museum

Do not hesitate & request the staff to show you the museum. The documentation and guided tours are still in the making. Hopefully, this should change soon.

4. Enjoy Indian Cuisine in a Thali

You would probably eat Indian food primarily during your India tour. However, make sure you try a local Thali whichever part of the country you set out to explore. A Thali is a full platter that comes with many dishes, sometimes as many as 30+.

Rajasthani Thali

Thali meal usually comes in a round plate, with different bowls carrying different dishes. Some items are common but Thali from every region is different. It is full of local cuisine, local and seasonal vegetables and side dishes like pickles, lassi or sweets.

You must experience a local Thali whichever part of the country your India Itinerary takes you to.

Satvik Thali in an Indian Ashram

I also recommend that you try a meal at a local temple or an ashram. This would be simple yet wholesome food that is served with a lot of gratitude. It is almost always served free though you are free to contribute to the temple after the meal.

Check out our detailed post on – 15 Best Indian Thalis to explore Indian Cuisine

5. Converse with an Indian River

Ancient Indian Civilizations grew on the banks of rivers. Even today, almost every major city or town has a river or two flowing through it.

Rivers are considered Goddesses for their life-sustaining waters or mothers for they nurture us with their water. The tradition today lives in the form of river worship. In many places, you will see temples dedicated to major rivers like Ganga, Yamuna, Narmada, and Kaveri.

Ganga Aarti at Dashashwamedh Ghat in Varanasi

I strongly suggest that you attend at least one Arti of a river that you may be passing by. The most well-known river Artis are:

Ganga Arti at Dashashwamedha Ghat in Varanasi

Ganga Arti in Haridwar & Rishikesh

Saryu Arti in Ayodhya

Yamuna Arti in Mathura & Vrindavan

Narmada Arti in Maheshwar

Tapti Arti in Burhanpur

Most of these Artis is done in the evening, just after sunset. Lit up lamps reflecting in the waters of the river look beautiful. This is not a formal event where you need an invitation. Just land up at the place where Arti is performed, and be a part of it.

Sunset time over the mighty Brahmaputra river, Guwahati

You can also take cruises on rivers like Ganga and Brahmaputra or boat rides on rivers like Chambal and Mandovi.

6. Go Shopping in Indian Bazaars

Markets are a microcosm of a culture, an indicator of what is consumed by that land. Now, of course, we have new age shopping malls in almost all big and small cities.

My favorite go -to places are old style markets where small vendors bring their stuff to sell. You will be surprised how these markets are dominated by women.

Colorful Hyderabadi Bangles

Old markets have areas designated for different types of merchandise like one lane for clothes, another for jewelry and a different for spices. So, you get all your options in one place to choose from. In Goa, Mapusa market is even designed to make sure that you can buy the fish just before heading home.

Brassware at Chawri Bazaar

Indian markets are crowded and chaotic and buzzing with energy. I can bet this is the best place in the world to hone your negotiation skills. If you are not in a mood, just stand in a corner and see the ongoing negotiations. They are just a treat to watch.

Some of our favorite markets across the country are:

Delhi – Bazaars of Old Delhi or Chandni Chowk

Hyderabad – Laad Bazaar and the lanes around it

Goa – Anjuna Flea Market

Jaipur – Bapu Bazaar

Varanasi – Thatheri Gali

Chennai – T Nagar

Highly recommend that you spend a few hours in a local Indian market during your India Travel, no matter which part you travel to. You see a transactional world that is so much a part of any culture.

7. Hike to a Fort

In Sanskrit or Hindi, Fort is called Durg meaning something that is not easy to reach. So, the forts are usually located on hilltops from where the soldiers can keep an eye on any approaching danger of any kind. There are forts all along the long coastline of the nation.

Landscape view of Kumbhalgarh Fort, Rajasthan

Many forts are as large as a mid-sized city with villages living within the fort walls. Fortified with tall strong walls on which you can literally walk, these forts are a living heritage. Each fort has some unique construction to admire like Vijay Stambh in Chittorgarh Fort or the second longest wall of Kumbhalgarh Fort.

There are sea forts like Sindhudurg that have been standing in the middle of the see for 400+ years with a source of sweet water. There are forts like Jhansi made famous by the queen who ruled from here. And there are living forts like Orchha and Jaisalmer Fort.

India was made up of many small kingdoms until 1947. So, it is not difficult to find a fort anywhere in the country. Check out our series on – Forts of India

You can also try and live in a heritage hotel, which may have been a palace or a house of a noble family once upon a time.

8. Taste Street Food & Let your taste buds go wild

I can live on Indian Street Food. You find it everywhere, in the streets, in public places, outside colleges and universities and just about anywhere.

Ravi Gol Gappe Wala – Lucknow

Indian street food is generally tangy with a generous dose of spices. They work perfectly on the tongue, though on the stomach the effect may vary from person to person. The list of street food is exhaustive, but here are some popular options:

Pani Puri also called Gol Gappe or Puchkas Pao Bahji Aaloo Tikki Wada Pao Samosa Kachori Bhelpuri or Jhalmuri Bhajjis or Pakodas Bhutta or roasted corncob

My favorite cities for vegetarian street food are Indore, Lucknow & Ahmedabad. Though every city has something unique to offer in their platter of Indian street food.

Kalkatta Dahi Wada – Mouth watering Street food in Jaipur to try

9. Weave in a Textile Stop in your India Travel Plan

India has a long history of textiles and everything to do with textiles. The world came to us for textiles, for the dyed cloth in indigo. There are different weaves and patterns that have evolved over a period of time, over which we paint and we do embroidery, sometimes even with gold and silver and gemstones. Textile heritage of the country is incredible and one that you must explore beyond just shopping.

Colorful Handloom Saris – Maheshwar

Popular weaving hubs are Varanasi, Kanchipuram, Sri Kalahasti, Pochampally, Patan, Paithan, Bhagalpur, Maheshwar, Bishnupur among many others.

You can also see weaving being done at some of the Khadi Ashrams. Try to understand how the threads are woven together to make patterns on the garment.

Saris are the most beautiful example of the textile tradition of the nation. However, the woven cloth is used to stitch all kinds of garments and home linen.

Do include Textiles in your Indian tour – it is one of the few continuously living heritage of the country.

If you are a jewelry enthusiast, do explore the jewelry along with textiles. From tribal jewelry in beads and silver to gem-studded jewelry to junk jewelry on the roadside stalls – it is a world in itself to explore.

10. Fruits – Have you tasted our Mangoes?

Fruits thankfully still belong to their respective geographies despite all the initiatives to plant them elsewhere. Mango is the king of fruits for us and the best time to enjoy them fresh is peak summers.

Mango Fruit stalls in Panaji Market, Goa Summer Delights

Sometimes I feel we manage to tolerate the summers only because it brings Mangoes and other juicy fruits like melons with it. Most Indians would have fond Mango stories to tell.

We all fight about which Mango variety is the best. Everyone likes the one they grew up with. I love Banarasi Langda while my spouse thinks Alphonso is the best mango. There are mangoes that you cut and eat, the ones you suck and eat, the ones you make drinks from and eat and the ones you pickle to savor for the rest of the year.

Litchi and Bel are some other summer fruits found mostly in the foothills of Himalayas.

Enrich your India Travel by tasting these yummy fruits.

Read More – Pink & Purple Fruits of Goa

11. Explore the Rural Life and Artisan Villages during India Travel

You might have heard that real India lives in its village. I do not agree with that. I think urban areas may have similarities with urban pockets around the world. Rural regions are little more rooted in the culture and traditions.

Gateway to the fort at Bishnupur

I recommend spending some time in a small village. Check out this list of Rural Tourism Companies that offer experiences in Indian hinterlands.

National award winner Dhokra artist Smt Budhiarin Devi at Ektaal crafts village

You can also choose to visit artisan villages like Bishnupur in Bengal, Raghurajpur in Odisha, Pochampally near Hyderabad or Firozabad near Agra. Again these places are not too difficult to find. You just need to budget some time in your trip itinerary to stop at a village and explore the simpler life of agrarian society.

12. Soak in a bit of Living Art Forms during India Travel

Culture is best communicated through native art forms and the country has so many that I always lose count. Here are some ideas for you to connect or pick up. Check out the local newspapers for ongoing shows and tickets.

Kathakali performers mix with the audience to engage

Watch a classical or a folk-dance performance

Watch a Bollywood Film – you can even take a Bollywood tour in Mumbai

Attend a painting or a Rangoli making workshop

Visit an Art exhibition

Take a Yoga class

Join a cooking course

Haleem Khan performing Kuchipudi

India Travel is all about discovering a new facet of the country at every step. We have a local saying that translates – Every 3 km the water changes and every 12 km the language changes and along with them changes everything else. This is the nuanced diversity this country holds.

Yoga Practice on the beach?

Do include some of these experiences if not all when you plan your India travel.

Best India Travel Experiences, Stock Photos – Shutterstock

Do not forget to share your experiences with us.

The post Planning India Travel? 12 Unique Experiences To Explore appeared first on Inditales.

[eckerdwt19greece]

I had an amazing time in Greece over the past three weeks. Everything from the food to the people I got to meet made the experience really special – although I didn’t know many of my peers going in, I feel like I’ve made some valuable connections that will last beyond Winter Term. My favorite experience was definitely walking around the town of Nafplio. It was really interesting to see the blend of the old and the new as well as the experience of being in a country with a focus on hospitality (the differences between Greece and the US are even more prominent now that we’re back in the States, although there are certain similarities as well). It was also fascinating to talk to local Greek shop owners in the various towns in which we stayed – there is definitely a different feel in Athens than in the smaller seaside towns, as well as on the island of Crete and it was nice talking to people across Greece and learning about their lives.

We ate some delicious food over the course of the trip – I stopped being vegetarian for the first time in about 9 years and it was definitely worth it. I was able to experience eating lamb for the first time (and then the second, and then the thirtieth) and I got to try some awesome seafood. We also went to really impressive museums and saw works spanning different periods of Greek art history (Cycladic, Minoan, etc.), with my favorite piece being Hermes and the Infant Dionysos, a statue at the Archaeological Museum of Olympia. As its name indicates, the piece portrays the god Hermes holding his younger brother Dionysus. The statue was discovered in 1877 in the Temple of Hera’s ruins in Olympia. What I found most interesting about the trip was learning more about the sites I thought I was familiar with (such as the Parthenon). I learned so much about Greek art, architecture and culture that I can’t effectively put into words how my knowledge has been shaped – I feel almost like a different person due to this greater understanding I have gained of a different culture. I still feel like there is so much to learn about Greece! I guess I have to go back someday. My favorite thing to learn about was probably the mythology, as we learned some stories I hadn’t heard before (such as the tale of Zeus and Europa). I wish I had gained more familiarity with the language before our trip, although I now know some words and phrases in Greek which is pretty cool.

For any future Eckerd student considering a trip to Greece, I would say go for it! I wasn’t sure going into the trip if it would have a huge impact on my life, but it has been a really meaningful learning experience and I think I’ve grown as a student and as an individual in the past three weeks. For those who choose to go on the trip and need advice about navigating a foreign country, I think the most important thing is to stay close to your friends without losing your ability to discover things on your own. Find a group of people you get along with and designate time to hang out with them, but save a bit of time for yourself to explore even one store or block by yourself. To be able to meet new people while gaining an even more profound sense of independence in a new place is exciting and well worth any nervousness.

(Posted by Charlotte Baird, Biology Major, Class of 2022)

[vsplusonline]

Budget 2020 live updates | Nirmala Sitharaman proposes FDI in education, sector allocated over ₹99,000 crore

New Post has been published on https://apzweb.com/budget-2020-live-updates-nirmala-sitharaman-proposes-fdi-in-education-sector-allocated-over-%e2%82%b999000-crore/

Budget 2020 live updates | Nirmala Sitharaman proposes FDI in education, sector allocated over ₹99,000 crore

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s second Budget is being presented in Lok Sabha. It is expected to announce measures to restore economic growth and to set out a clear road map for achieving the ambitious target of $ 5 trillion economy by 2025.

Here are the latest updates:

12.30 p.m.

A taxpayer charter is to be enshrined in the statutes to avoid citizen harassment. Major reforms proposed in recruitment in non-gazetted posts in government and public sector banks. Govt to set up National Recruitment agency for recruitment to non gazetted posts.

New National Policy on Official Statistics proposed. Clean, reliable, robust financial sector critical for economy.

12.20 p.m.

Indian Institute of Heritage and Conservation to be set up, with the status of a deemed university.

Five archaeological sites will be developed as world-class sites – Rakhigarhi, Haryana; Hastinapur, UP; Sivasagar, Assam; Dholavira, Gujarat; Adichanallur, TN.

A Tribal Museum is proposed in Ranchi.

Ministry of Culture – ₹3,150 crore.

India’s tourism sector grew at 7.8 per to 1.88 lakh crore from 1.75 lakh crore. ₹2,500 crore allocated to promote tourism

Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure launched from September 2019. Its implementation will be from January 2021.

₹4,400 crore allocated to promote clean air in cities with 1 million population.

She quotes the Thirukkural: Piniyinmai Selvam Vilaivinpam Emam Aniyenpa Naattiv Vaindhu (A country’s jewels are these five: unfailing health, farm productivity, and joy, a good defence, and wealth)

National Security is the top priority of this government. She compares Ayushman Bharat initiative to Thiruvalluvar’s emphasis on a healthy nation. As FM compares Mr. Modi with Thiruvalluvar, Opposition begins slogan shouting.

12.10 p.m.

The govt proposes to expand the national gas grid from 16,200 km to 27,000 km.

Soon there will be a policy to enable the private sector to build data centre parks throughout the country. Fibre to Home connections through Bharat Net will link 1 lakh gram panchayats this year itself. The Bharat Net programme will be allocated ₹6,000 crore.

Budget proposes to provide Rs.8,000 crore over five years for the National Mission on Quantum Technology and Applications.

‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ has yielded tremendous results, she says, and other Members in the House raise their voices against the Minister’s statement. Gross enrollment is higher than boys, she says. I would request you not to politicise the issue, FM tells Opposition MPs.

₹35,600 crore allocated for nutrition-related programmes.

We will appoint a task force to look into the issue of low age of girls entering motherhood.

SC and OBC development – ₹85,000 crore

ST development – ₹53,700 crore

Senior citizens and persons with disabilities – ₹9,000 crore.

12 noon

The National Infrastructure Pipeline presents a huge employment opportunity. A National Logistics Policy to be released soon.

Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway to be started.

Within 100 days of the governments formation, it has eliminated unmanned level crossings, and aimed to achieve electrification of 27000 km of lines. We plan a large solar power capacity for Indian Railways, alongside the rail track on the land owned by the Railways.

The government also proposes a Bengaluru suburban rail project at a cost of ₹18,600 crore.

Govt to monetize 12 lots of national highways by 2024. 100 more airports will be developed by 2024 to support UDAN.

Budget proposes to provide ₹1.7 lakh crore for transport infrastructure in 2021. Aircraft fleet size will increase to 1,200 planes by 2024.

Govt urges the States to replace the existing energy meters with prepaid smart meters.

Budget to provide ₹22,000 crore to power and renewable energy sector.

11.50 a.m.

An Investment Clearance Cell to be set up to provide end to end facilitation services, including free investment advisory, information related to land banks. It will work through a portal. Five new smart cities have been planned.

India needs to attract large investments in electronics manufacturing. She proposes a scheme for encouraging investment in this. She also proposes a National Technical Textiles Mission with an outlay of ₹1,480 crore over 4 years to cut down imports.

All ministries will issue quality standards. A new scheme, NIRVIK will be launched. Reversion of duties and taxes on exported products to be launched this year

Each district is to become an export hub, she says. Budget to provide ₹27,300 crore for development and promotion of industry and commerce in 2021

11.45 a.m.

Minister proposes FDI and ECB in education.

150 higher education institutions to start apprenticeships. Urban Local Bodies to provide internships opportunities for fresh engineers for a year.

In order to provide quality education to students of deprived sections, it is proposed to start a degree level full-fledged online education programme.

Under the Study in India programme, an INDSAT exam is proposed to be held in Asian and African countries. A National Police University and National Forensic Science University are proposed.

There is a shortage of qualified medical doctors. For this, it is proposed to attach a medical college to existing district hospitals under PPP mode.

Education sector – ₹99,300 crore

Skill development – ₹3,000 crore.

11.40 a.m.

Swachch Bharat mission to get ₹12,300 crore

The Minister moves on to wellness, water and sanitation.

Fit India movement is a vital part of the fight against non-communicable diseases.

The government proposes to set up hospitals in Tier-II and Tier-III cities with the private sector using PPP.

The Minister also proposes to expand Jan Aushadhi Kendra.

Health sector allocation – ₹69,000 crore.

Swachch Bharat mission – ₹12,300 crore

11.30 a.m.

Railways to launch Kisan Rail for cold storage

The Indian Railways will set up Kisan Rail for cold storage of perishable goods through the PPP model. Krishi UDAN will be launched by the Ministry of Civil Aviation on international and national routes.

For the horticulture sector, with its current produce of 311 million metric tonnes exceeds the production of foodgrains. For better marketing and exports we will support States which support ‘one product, one district’.

Integrated farming systems in rain-fed areas will be established.

Youth and fishery extension work to be enabled by rural youth as Sagar Mitras, 500 fish farmer producing organisations to be set up.

Financing on negotiable warehousing receipts has already crossed ₹6,000 crore.

Agricultural credit target has been set at ₹15 lakh crore. All eligible beneficaries of PM Kisan will be covered under Kisan Credit Card scheme.

MNREGA will be dovetailed to create fodder farms.

By 2022-23, she proposes raising fish production to 200 lakh tonnes.

58 lakh SHGs have been mobilised to alleviate poverty.

The fund allocation for all these steps: for the sector comprising agriculture, allied activities – ₹2.83 lakh crore.

11.21 a.m.

Govt committed to doubling farm income by 2022

The government is committed to doubling farm income by 2022.

The first thing is to encourage State governments to implement model laws passed by the central government — Model Agri Land Leasing Act, 2016, APMC, 2017 and Contract Farming, 2018.

The second action point is comprehensive measures for 100 water-stressed districts.

The third action point is to provide 20 lakh farmers with stand-alone solar pumps. We shall also help another 15 lakh farmers to solarise their farms.

The fourth is to encourage balanced use of all kinds of fertilisers. This is to change the current incentive regimes, she says.

She then quotes the Aathichudi by Auvaiyar. Bhoomi Thiruthi Unn (Take care of your land first).

The next is a proposed village storage scheme run by self-help groups. Women SHGs can get assistance from NABARD or Mudra.

11.20 a.m.

She reads out a Kashmiri poem, which she then translates in Hindi.

Hamaara watan Khilte Shalimar bagh ke tarah

Hamara watan Dal lake mein Khilte hue Kamal jaisa hai

Naujawano ke garam Khoon jaisa hai

Mera watan tera watan hamara watan, Duniya ka sabse pyara watan

Our country is like a blooming Shalimar Bagh,

Our country is like a lotus blooming in Dal Lake

Its like the warm blood flowing through our youth’s veins

My country, your country, our country, The world’s most adorable country.

11.10 a.m.

The implementation of schemes and programmes that directly benefited the poor and the disadvantaged was sped up and scaled up, says the Finance Minister. She lists Ayushman Bharat, UPI, affordable housing through PMAY etc. The milestones achieved are unprecedented, globally recognised, she says.

We have moved on from a growth rate of just over 4% to around 7% in 2014-19.

Inflation was 9% in the last two decades, she says. We are now the fifth largest economy in the world, says Nirmala Sitharaman.

Our government shall work towards taking the country forward so that we can leapfrog to the next level of wealth, prosperity and well-being, she says.

Three prominent themes in the Budget are — aspirational India, economic development for all, a caring society that is both humane and compassionate.

The digital revolution which has placed India in a unique position globally will govern the future. We shall aim speedy delivery of services, she says.

11 a.m.

Nirmala Sitharaman begins her Budget speech

House is in session. Speaker Om Birla is in the Chair. Papers are laid on the table.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman rises to lay on the table the report of the 15th Finance Commission.

Ms. Sitharaman then presents a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure.

She then rises to present the Union Budget 2020-21. “In May 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi received a massive mandate to form the government again. People of India have unequivocally given their janaadesh for not just political stability, but have also reposed their faith in our economic policy. Let our businesses be innovative, healthy and solvent with use of technology.

Ms. Sitharaman presents a picture of “vibrant India” with what she calls the “gentle breeze of technology” to uplift minorities.

The Minister calls GST as historic and mourns the passing of Arun Jaitley, whom she calls the “architect of GST”. GST has integrated the country economically, she says, and has resulted in the formalisation of the economy. The turnaroud time for trucks has reduced by 20%. Inspector Raj has vanished, she says.

The average family has saved 4% of its monthly spending on account of reduced GST rates. We have added 60 lakh new taxpayers, she says.

10.45 a.m.

Merge ‘Make in India’ with ‘Assemble in India’ to create jobs: Eco Survey

The economic survey 2019-20 urged the government to integrate ‘Make in India’ with ‘Assemble in India’ to create 4 crore jobs by 2025. The survey pointed out that the current international trade environment presents an opportunity for India to chart a China-like, labour intensive, export trajectory. This in turn will create jobs for the youth, the survey said.

Officials check the Union Budget 2020 documents outside the Parliament building in New Delhi   | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

  By integrating ‘Assemble in India for the world’ into ‘Make in India’, India can raise its export market share to about 3.5% by 2025 and 6% by 2030. This will create 8 crore by 2030, the survey said.

Delhi should get even more in this Budget, says Kejriwal

“People of Delhi hope that the Centre will protect the interests of Delhi. In view of the elections, Delhi should get even more. The budget will show how much the BJP cares about Delhi,” said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in a tweet on Saturday.

10 a.m.

Congress hopes Union Budget will provide relief to salaried class, invest in rural India

The Congress expressed hope that the Union Budget 2020 would provide relief to the salaried class through tax cuts and invest in rural India besides providing a healing touch to the common man and industry facing “hardship” since demonetisation.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the last budget led to crashing consumption levels, soaring unemployment and falling GDP.

“Budget 2019= Consumption crashed, Unemployment soared, Farm distress surged, Incomes declined, Investments slumped, Public spending fell, GDP nose dived!,” Mr. Surjewala tweeted.

“Yet, Modiji gave Corporate Tax Cuts of ₹1,45,000 crore. Let Budget 2020 give tax cuts to Salaried Class and invest in Rural India,” he said.

– PTI

9.45 a.m.

Ahead of Budget, Sensex slumps over 200 pts, Nifty tests 11,900

Market benchmark Sensex slumped over 200 points in opening session on Saturday ahead of the release of the Union Budget.

After shedding 279 points in early trade, the 30-share BSE index was trading 124.96 points or 0.31% lower at 40,598.53, and the broader NSE slipped 23.10 points, or 0.19%, to 11,939.

In the previous session, Sensex settled 190.33 points, or 0.47%, lower at 40,723.49, after the Economic Survey suggested relaxing fiscal deficit target to boost growth from a decade low.

Likewise, the broader NSE Nifty shed 73.70 points, or 0.61%, to finish at 11,962.10.

    9.15 a.m.

‘Bahi-khata’ makes a comback in this years’ budget presentation

Like last year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman carried the 2020 Union Budget documents in a red bag, reminiscence of the traditional bahi-khata.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds budget papers during a photo opportunity as she leaves her office to present the Budget in the Parliament in New Delhi, India   | Photo Credit: Reuters

  Earlier, Finance Ministers in different governments used to carry a briefcase to present budget, which was considered as a tradition of colonial past.

Ms. Sitharaman is presenting the full Budget for 2020-21. She is carrying the Budget documents in a red silk bag with national emblem.

During the Atal Behari Vajpayee government, the then Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha broke the one colonial tradition of budget presentation at 5 p.m. Since then all governments have been presenting the budget at 11 a.m.

Bahi-Khata is referred to books of account maintained by traditional Indian businessmen.

    Better to focus on growth than on fiscal deficit in current situation: CEA

Ahead of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s second Budget, Chief Economic Adviser K.V. Subramanian suggested the government should focus on growth rather than being rigid on fiscal deficit in times of slowing economy.

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharam with MoS Finance Anurag Thakur and Finance Budget team during photo shoot on the eve of the Union Budget presentation, at North Block office in New Delhi   | Photo Credit: Sushil Kumar Verma

  The government can look at option of increasing market borrowing to fund higher expenditure by the government in 2020-21, he said adding that if need be, the government can resort to higher market borrowing this fiscal.

“So, we’ve delineated the overall stance that needs to be taken in times like this. India has been in such situations earlier as well. There’s always a delicate balance between spurring growth and keeping the fiscal (situation) in order,” Mr. Subramanian told PTI in an interaction.

“The view that we have articulated is that it’s better at this point to lean on growth. When you look at the debt-to-GDP ratio, the denominator is the GDP, and our analysis has also shown that when GDP growth increases, the debt-to-GDP ratio falls as well,” he said.

It is time to focus on growth and, therefore, cutting expenditure is not an option, probably because at a time like this, growth needs to be taken care of, he added.

– PTI

    Fiscal deficit hits 132% of Budget Estimate till December

The government’s fiscal deficit touched 132.4 per cent of the full-year target at December-end mainly due to slower pace of revenue collections, official data showed on Friday.

In actual terms, the fiscal deficit or gap between expenditure and revenue was Rs 9,31,725 crore, the data released by the Controller General of Accounts (CGA) showed.

The government aims to restrict the gap at 3.3 per cent of the GDP or Rs 7,03,760 crore in the year ending March 2020.

  Source link

[deborahdeshoftim5779]

Refuting Haaretz’s Publisher: Part IV

Response to Amos Schocken, publisher of Haaretz, whose email deserves criticism and rebuttal. 

Part I is here.

Part II is here.

Part III is here.

In Part III, we saw Schocken declare that Israel had two paths: “liberal democracy” or “fundamentalism and ethnocentrism...”

Whilst Schocken means to denounce “fundamentalism” without regard to the context or desires of Jewish nationalists (which reflect the founding title of his newspaper), his charge of “ethnocentrism” is specious and dishonest. 

The real issue is whether Israel will stay a liberal democracy, or move further towards a fundamentalist and ethnocentric society.

An ethnocentric society?

The negative connotations here come from Schocken’s own pen, not from Israel. 

Promoting Jewish national self-determination, faith, language, culture, tradition, and holidays may well be “ethnocentric”, since Jews are an ethnic, as well as national and religious group. 

However, this carries none of the negative connotations that Schocken wishes to insert here. This promotion and focus does not demean non-Jewish people, who have the same civil and religious rights as Jews in Israel. Instead, it affirms the same national and political rights that countries with non-Jewish majorities take for granted. It restores what foreign invaders had tried to extinguish during centuries of war, expulsion, and oppression. It celebrates what has become so difficult to celebrate in other countries: Jewish faith, freedom, national self-determination, and autonomy. 

Again: it’s crucial to point out that this does not harm, belittle, or erase non-Jewish people. Israel has Arab MK’s, has had Arab members of the Supreme Court, Arabs working in all professions, and Arabs representing Israel in sports teams and other delegations. Many are Muslim, and freely able to practice their religion. Most, if not all, are exempt from mandatory military service on account of their religious beliefs. The same goes for the Druze (who do serve in the IDF), and Christians (who have greater religious freedom in Israel than in any other Middle-Eastern nation). 

Furthermore, Israel’s vibrant tourist industry encourages people from all around the world to visit and experience the land. Christian tourism is huge, particularly in Jerusalem. Muslims often visit the Cave of the Patriarchs. Israel regularly honours the “Righteous Gentiles”, non-Jews who helped protect Jews from persecution and mass murder throughout the ages, and non-Jews are encouraged to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Museum, as well as the wealth of archaeological sites that prove and strengthen the Jewish connection to the land. 

More importantly, Israel’s Jewish population are anything but monolithic. Having been scattered across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa, all have retained many distinct cultural and national traditions, enriching Jewish life in Israel. You can find a blend of culture, tradition, cuisine, and even language within Israeli Jewish communities, often reflecting locations across the globe. This does not accord with Schocken’s accusation of “ethnocentrism”. 

Russian and Lithuanian Jews brought Yiddish and Chassidism. Yemenite Jews brought their ancient Torah scrolls, traditional dress, and delicious cuisine. The same goes for Iraqi Jews, Syrian Jews, French Jews, American Jews etc. The rescue of Ethiopian Jews during the 90′s surely ranks as one of Israel’s proudest achievements, and much work is being done to bring them into the national fold. Israel has close and cordial relations with India, a country that historically sheltered Jews and which has its own array of synagogues. 

Put simply, the emphasis on promoting Jewish life and flourishing in Israel is neither selfish nor bigoted. Rather, it accords Jews the same rights to recognition as every other ethnic and/or national group takes for granted. 

In 2011 David Remnick wrote in The New Yorker that Haaretz "is easily the most liberal newspaper in Israel, and arguably the most liberal institution in a country that has moved inexorably to the right in the past decade."  Eight years later, this is even truer.

So Haaretz are liberal. 

And? 

Politics and life is nowhere near as simple as liberal=good, right=bad. The notion that Israel is “losing” its status as a liberal democracy is specious, refuted by the prominence of Schocken’s own newspaper, as well as the Supreme Court’s recent legal challenges, the investigation of Netanyahu and his wife, and the diversity of political thought in the Knesset. 

Rather, Schocken’s complaint lies in the fact that Israeli’s have voted for right-wing political parties. He has every right to be liberal, disagree with the right, and lobby for the left. But this does not make him or his newspaper superior to Israeli’s with opposing or more nuanced points of view. 

Schocken should bear in mind that the founders of Zionism, many of whom were liberal, secular, and atheist, believed in settling Jews throughout the land, including what he terms “the West Bank”. By Schocken’s standards, they were occupiers, whose actions would result in apartheid. He should also bear in mind that many who were avowedly liberal and secular still had condescending and even prejudiced views about Jews from the Middle East, whom they saw as needing “civilisation” from Western Jews. He should also bear in mind that famous Israeli Left-wing politicians, such as Golda Meir, said emphatically that there was never a Palestinian State, and that Israel would keep fighting, because the Jews had nowhere else to go. 

Whilst prejudice and racism sadly exist in the Jewish community, Meir’s statement was a common sentiment on the Israeli Left as well as Right. As I said earlier, Israeli’s are united around being a Jewish State. Schocken may not like this, but neither should he demonise their views. 

The support of our subscribers is the reason we can continue fighting for the true Zionist vision of Israel. We thank you for this support, and urge other readers to buy a stake in Israel's democracy and subscribe to Haaretz.

Schocken implies here that the “fundamentalist”, “ethnocentric”, “right” vision of Zionism is wrong, and his (politically) “liberal” version is the true version. Such a statement is, in and of itself, fundamentalist. That’s fine-- but he should acknowledge that fact. 

By his own standards, however, much of the true Zionist vision has been achieved: the creation of a Jewish State, close and increasing settlement throughout the Land, international recognition of a Jewish State, and the flourishing of Hebrew as the national language. Haaretz’s success, in which 71 of its 100 years of history have seen the birth and success of Israel, stands as a testament to that vision. Israeli’s voting for right-wing parties has not, therefore, hampered these Zionist essentials and will not do so. 

Despite my criticisms and disagreements with Haaretz, it’s crucial that they have a voice in Israel’s vibrant democracy, and that supporters of Israel can also voice legitimate criticism (as Israeli’s do everyday) of the State. 

But Schocken could perhaps open his mind to the possibility that a proud, nationalist Jew is not incompatible with being (if they choose) socially liberal, democratic, just towards foreigners and non-Jewish Israeli’s, and concerned for a lasting peace. 

More importantly, Schocken should not unquestioningly repeat lies about Israel, which will endanger Jews and empower people who wish to dismantle Israel. Accusing Israel of apartheid will not win him popularity among Palestinians, the UN, or Western pro-Palestinian apologists. They have their own agenda, which is distinctly illiberal, violent, and anti-Semitic. They will not accept the term “Israel’s democracy”, though it reflects the truth. They will not accept that Hebrew is the national language of the Jewish people, neither will they celebrate 100 years of Haaretz. They do not accept that there is a Land of Israel and it is the Jewish homeland. 

Political correctness may stop Schocken from critically analysing their claims, but emotional appeals will not make lies become true. 

I would strongly urge Amos Schocken to reconsider where the interest of his paper truly lies. 

I am pleased, however, at the longevity of Haaretz and wish them many more years of robust debate. 

[tonantzinagainsttrafficking]

Mexico celebrated a milestone success in repatriation of cultural heritage this year. Others have not been so lucky. These 6 countries are still attempting to recover from the illicit trading habits of one collector: Leonardo Patterson.

Leonardo Patterson with pieces of his collection. (Image source: 

https://bit.ly/1SNOy2g)

Born in 1942 in Costa Rica to Jamaican parents, Leonardo Patterson is a antiquities dealer and collector renown for the controversy and litigation surrounding him. A 2015 New York Times article describes him as an “orphan who rose from [digging] artifacts out of Central American yam fields to holding multimillion-dollar exhibitions of pre-Columbian treasures in Manhattan and Munich” (Mashberg). He got into the business through Everett Rassiga, a New York gallery owner known for trafficking. In the 1970s, Rassigna was involved in the theft of a priceless Maya object, La Fachada de Placeres. Patterson began as a salesman in one of Rassiga’s galleries, but likewise took advantage of lax antiquities trade laws in the 1960s and 70s and started dealing prior to changes prompted by the 1970 UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) convention on the illegal export of cultural property (López).

Patterson & Rassiga (Image source: https://bit.ly/2Cz4lVE & 

https://bit.ly/2eZwXLU)

Rassiga was involved in the theft of this piece, La Fachada de Placeres (Image source:  https://elpais.com/internacional/2018/04/06/la_serpiente_emplumada/1523042975_396958.html)

As restrictions tightened, Patterson became the subject of several legal cases regarding the sale and repatriation of illicit and inauthentic Precolumbian (a standard but problematic term in the art world) artifacts. In fact, Patterson has one of the longest criminal records of any prominent art dealer/collector: three detentions and five sentences for different offenses. In a May 2016 report in Der Spiegel magazine, he admits to journalist Konstantin von Hammerstein, “all these objects of art came into my possession thanks to a network of collaborators who explored archaeological sites in different countries” (quoted in López).

In 1984 the FBI charged Patterson with wire fraud via his attempt to sell an inauthentic Maya fresco to dealer Wayne Anderson for $100,000. Allegedly, he told Anderson that the fresco had been authenticated by Donald Hales, a Maya researcher in California that is associated with some of the publications of Maya vases that went on to become part of the November Collection, discussed in our last blog. Hales clarified that Patterson brought him to Switzerland to asses five frescos in a Swiss collection, but that the fresco in question was not among them. Patterson also claimed that Paul Clifford, an appraiser in North Carolina, had authenticated the fresco. Once Patterson was arrested, the fresco was deemed a fake by Clemency Coggins, the same archaeologist and art historian that went on to advise the Museum of Fine Arts Boston not to acquire the November Collection. Patterson was sentenced to probation (Yates).

The following year, while still on probation, he was arrested at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, found to be in possession of an undeclared Precolumbian figurine (dated between A.D. 650 and A.D. 850) and, bizarrely, 36 endangered sea turtle eggs that he claimed were part of a diet for his health. This time, he was sentenced to a year in prison on smuggling charges (Yates & Mashberg).

Patterson’s time in the U.N. was brief. (Image source: https://bit.ly/2eZwXLU)

Despite these convictions, he was appointed cultural attaché, or cultural diplomat, to the UN in 1995; he resigned, however, when questions about his past began to loom. He then began spending more time in Europe, particularly Germany where he now resides. He started hosting exhibitions and sales in France and Spain, but curators became suspicious of both the items’ authenticity and provenance. In 1996, Patterson put his private collection of Precolumbian art on display in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. This exhibit led to an Interpol alert regarding the illicit provenance (origin) of his collection (López).

That same year, Peruvian collector Raúl Apesteguía was brutally murdered. The day of the crime, one of his most important pieces, a golden Moche headdress, disappeared from his home in Lima. In 2006, a decade later, it was found at the home of Patterson’s lawyer in London. This connection to Patterson is certainly alarming, but Peruvian prosecutors failed to investigate the links to this case, which remains unpunished (López). Peru has, however, sought repatriation of the objects found in Patterson’s collection displayed in Spain.

The Moche headdress stolen from Apesteguía the day of his murder. (Image source: https://bit.ly/2yPSG1m)

In fact, the Interpol alert following the 1996 exhibit in Santiago de Compostela prompted five countries, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Colombia to press charges against him in 2004, while a 6th, Ecuador, did not press charges but sought repatriation (López). Spanish officials attempted to keep his collection in Spain as these claims were addressed, but Patterson was able to send most of it “home” to Germany (Mashberg).

Unfortunately for the countries seeking repatriation, Germany has placed significant (and arguably ridiculous) financial and infrastructural roadblocks in their way. Germany demands 90,000 euros from each of the claimant states in order to pay for the investigation and storage of the objects. Furthermore, the German Law on the Repatriation of Cultural Heritage requires the the affected state to show that the item is registered in a database of all cultural artifacts that is not only available to the general public but the GERMAN public as well. To add insult to injury, the law also determines that only objects that entered Germany AFTER 2007 can be returned because Germany only chose to ratify the UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property in November 2007, 35 years after its establishment. Due to this rigid framework, the Bavarian Supreme Administrative Litigation Court rejected requests from Peru, Mexico, Guatemala, Costa Rica and Colombia for restitution of archaeological pieces in 2010 (López). However, some monumental yet minuscule victories have been won by those with sufficient resources.

This graph shows how GDP per capita in these regions compares to global superpower the United States (The “1” in the graph represents 100% of the U.S. GDP per capita). It demonstrates the effects of barriers to growth in Latin America by showing how the region has fallen economically as others rise. In 1950, the average Latin American country’s GDP per capita was 28% of that of the U.S., but this fell to 22% by 2000. Meanwhile, the average European country fared much better, enjoying a rise from 40% in 1950 to 67% of U.S. GDP per capita in 2000 (Image source: https://bit.ly/2S5bKBt).

This illustrates the weakening of Latin American countries in this period, during which looting and illicit trafficking of cultural property was most rampant. It is no wonder that many of these countries that brought suit against Germany were no match for its economic advantage and significant financial barriers to repatriation.

Peru

Peru got lucky; it was the first country to discover the illegal origin of Patterson’s collection and in 2006 began diplomatic negotiations with Spain to repatriate items. 273 items that had been stored in a warehouse in Santiago de Compostela were returned to Peru; however, four textiles (from the Chimú and Nazca-Wari cultures) remain outstanding and nine pieces of Prehispanic goldsmithing, found in the 1996 exhibition catalogue, were not recovered at the warehouse. Peru’s Ministry of Culture has sent four letters to Germany requesting their recovery and return, all rejected (López).

This is not one of the Moche textiles Peru is requesting from Germany. However, while searching for a photo example I stumbled upon this site, antiques.com, that appears to list artifacts like these available at galleries worldwide. How jarring it is to see an invaluable piece of cultural heritage available for just a few hundred dollars online. (Image source: https://bit.ly/2yqdYn1)

Guatemala

Guatemala attempted to recover 369 Maya artifacts from Patterson’s collection but has been forced to desist due to being unable to meet the requirements set by Germany. The main issue is that the objects do not appear in an official registry because they were looted from sites that had not yet been formally explored! Furthermore, Guatemala did not allocate a sufficient budget for an expert to travel to Munich and investigate; therefore, an investigation of the objects was conducted only using photographs. The state also did not invest in legal counsel. The country’s resources are simply lacking (López).

In 2013, both Peru and Guatemala requested the extradition of Patterson while he was in Spain. He appeared in court in Santiago de Compostela on charges of smuggling cultural property, prompted by the illegal shipping of his collection to Germany when he began to face allegations. Unfortunately he was acquitted, after which he returned Munich, where the extradition requests were voided as Peru and Guatemala do not hold extradition treaties with Germany. Furthermore, Germany does not consider the possession of cultural assets in private hands as a crime (López).

Costa Rica

Costa Rica, Patterson’s home country, sought to repatriate 497 items, but also lacked resources to to undertake a proper investigation. In 2009, the National Museum of Costa Rica found itself unable to afford the expenses required by Germany to conduct the investigative process. Costa Rica was only able to procure two objects that had been left by Patterson in Spain, a vase and a grinding stone. Yet, they never made it home— both disappeared from the Costa Rican Embassy in Madrid in 2010. As if that wasn’t enough of a blow, Germany offered Costa Rica the opportunity to to be appointed legal custodian of the Patterson Collection, but this was contingent on a provided guarantee of several million euros! The country could not spare such a great expense. Rocío Fernández, Director of the National Museum of Costa Rica, says of Patterson and the art trade:

Patterson made a business out of archeology and the falsification of objects.  He linked himself politically with the ruling class in Costa Rica during all its governments. He had a gift for deceiving people. That is what makes one wonder how the [art] market works. (quoted in López)

Ecuador & Colombia

Ecuador and Colombia were also unsuccessful in procuring their stolen items. Ecuador identified 121 cultural artifacts from photos on a disk provided by Interpol in 2008. It, however, did not place a criminal complaint against Patterson (for reasons I was unable to determine). Though it filed a complaint with German authorities for not providing access to documents regarding the case against him in Munich, Ecuador suspended its requests for repatriation in 2010. I was not able to find much information on Colombia’s efforts for repatriation, but it has also suspended its claim within the last few years (López). Though sources were not clear, it seems that as of 2016, both countries may have backed down due to the unreasonable stipulations within the German Law on the Repatriation of Cultural Heritage mentioned earlier.

Mexico

Mexico, however, has recently made headlines in its successful repatriation of two 3,000 year-old wooden Olmec busts earlier this year (2018). 

One of the busts repatriated to Mexico. The busts are examples of the Olmec culture from the El Manati site, thought to be looted shortly after its excavation in the 1980s. (Image source: https://bit.ly/2q2ufKb)

The Patterson Collection has 690 pieces of Mexican origin, and Mexican officials claim to have linked more than 200 pieces to Luis Bianchi, a deceased forger of pre-Columbian artifacts (teleSUR; Mashberg). They describe these pieces of his multi-million dollar collection as consisting of a mixture of “terra-cotta, basalt stone and limestone busts; terra-cotta kettles and urns; obsidian and stone projectile tips and knives; braziers and incense burners; obsidian ornaments; stone seals; incense holders; cases; and necklaces and strings” (Mashberg).

The second Olmec bust repatriated to Mexico.

Though he was acquitted in the 2013 trial in Spain, in November 2015 Patterson was found guilty by a Munich court for both dealing inauthentic works and possessing looted artifacts. He was fined $40,000, his passport was confiscated, and he was sentenced to probation and house arrest for three years. He was also, in a monumental victory for repatriation in Mexico, ordered to return two carved wooden Olmec heads, valued at over $50,000 each. Though the lawyer representing Mexico, Robert A. Kugler, calls this a “milestone verdict,” the fight is not over. Mexico still has motive to reclaim other items from Patterson’s collection of at least 1,029 Aztec, Maya, and Olmec artifacts (Mashberg). After a ten-year trial, and over two years after the ruling, the Olmec heads were handed to Mexican authorities this spring.

Countless other items are still in limbo.

What is significant and maddening about these cases is the stringent guidelines placed by Germany in order for these countries to recoup what has been stolen from them. The financial restrictions are especially telling; Germany knows countries that have lost cultural artifacts to illicit means are often suffering from weakened infrastructure due to war, poverty, and other devastations. It holds much greater economic power yet has inflated financial restrictions to offset what little chance countries like Guatemala, still recovering from over 30 years of civil war and foreign extraction, have to recover the pieces of cultural patrimony they have been stripped of. It even had the audacity to suggest that claims before 2007 are not valid, but that is only because that is the year Germany CHOSE to ratify the UN Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property. Germany has the money and the power to make its own rules and force disenfranchised countries to abide by them. I hope that countries like Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Colombia in the future will share similar successes with Peru and Mexico and that all will continue to push back against these oppressive and unreasonable guidelines set by German law.

This graph shows countries/regions’ share of global GDP. Note Germany’s percentage of 4.54%, while Mexico is the only one of the Latin American countries discussed today that even registers here, at 1.54%. This is just a further illustration of Germany’s significantly greater economic advantage. (Image source: https://bit.ly/2lyEhzH)

***Just added 11/9/18***

Video of the repatriation with background information

https://youtu.be/CvGuli-0g1s

______________________________________________________________________________

Works Cited/Learn more

López: https://memoriarobada.ojo-publico.com/investigaciones/diplomats-and-collectors-under-suspicion-in-the-trafficking-of-latin-american-art/

Mashberg: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/09/arts/design/antiquities-dealer-leonardo-patterson-faces-new-criminal-charges.html

Yates: https://traffickingculture.org/encyclopedia/case-studies/maya-fresco-fake/

[fadingfartconnoisseur]

The Art of Travel in Zaragoza, Spain – World Heritage, Legacy and Urban Revival

Nestled between Madrid and Barcelona, skipping a visit to Zaragoza en route means missing out on ones of Spain’s most artistic and underrated cities. I’m glad I got to jump off and explore on an AVE train journey from Tarragona to Madrid, feeling like I’d stumbled upon a Spanish secret.

The capital of mighty Aragon, Zaragoza is the gritty and urban mixed with the ancient and decadent, held together by a historical thread of architecture and art, and a heritage showcasing a continuous turnover of design and expression.

Mudejar Art

– UNESCO World Heritage Zaragoza

Native to Aragon, Mudejar art blends Islamic and Christian elements from a time during the 12th and 17th centuries when both faiths coexisted. A core part of Zaragoza’s architectural heritage, the sheer amount of Mudejar art earned it a UNESCO World Heritage title, with the Ajafería Palace being the most symbolic.

This 11th century medieval Islamic palace remains one of the most beautiful and important of all the sights in the city as well as the seat of the regional parliament. It’s an open museum of the residential structures of the Taifa kingdoms. By 1118, it became a Christian Palace and the residence of Aragonese monarchs, who added extra layers and extension to the existing design, as did the Catholic monarchs with the Throne Room in 1492. Modernisation into the fortress style we see today came in 1593. Each room is like a puzzle piece of this architectural timeline, and while it draws the crowds, it’s a place where you can easily get lost in its detail, most notably in one of the main halls with these mesmerising archways.

For those with a keen eye, it can be found all around the city. The Roman past is interlaced with Mudejar art like at the Lonja Market, or at the Parish Church of San Gil Abad – a Romanesque temple destroyed in 14th century to make way for the now Mudejar church. El Salvador Cathedral was built over the main mosque of the old Muslim city, where Mudejar art can be found on the outer wall of the parish chapel and the Church of Mary Magdalen is Mudejar in style with a tower and intricately patterned tiles.

Plaza del Pilar Display

– Zaragoza and the Discovery of the New World

One of its defining features of Zaragoza is the stunning Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar – a Roman Catholic Church in the heart of the Plaza del Pilar (the largest of all in Spain).

It provides one of the best-elevated views over the multi-domed dreamscape and a better perspective on the artistic plaza and its water features. Controversial, but central to Aragon’s history, it’s here where you will see how the Fuente de la Hispanidad (fountain) is shaped like Latin America in reference (amongst other symbols) to Columbus – Ferninand II of Aragon being the monarch who commissioned him for the ‘discovery of the New World’.

A Design Legacy of 2,000 Years

– Roman Zaragoza

Zaragoza’s Roman legacy is mostly found in the many archaeological museums, preserving a prominent layer of the city’s design, even if modern elements built over them, like the San Pablo church that was built to replace the old Roman hermitage of San Blas. The Caesaraugusta Theatre Museum (Museo Del Teatro De Caesaraugusta) is one of the largest theatres of Roman Hispania that once held 6,000 spectators. Ruins from a market can be viewed at the Caesar Augustus Forum Museum and you can still view an 80 metre long section of the old roman walls.

Street Art & Regeneration

– Urban Zaragoza

We were able to wander beyond the opulent centre of Zaragoza, where there is an interesting contrast in its abundance of street art. It’s all a part of an annual urban regeneration drive, Festival Asalto (the International Festival of Urban Art), bringing an artistic new life to forgotten neighbourhoods.

Since it’s inception in 2005, the city has filled with over 70 artworks using mural, graffiti, templates, posters and installations as the medium of expression by local artists and groups. You can embark on a self-guided walking tour to find them all using the handy online map (a printed version is also available).

2008 Expo Architecture

– Modern Zaragoza

Ultra-modern architecture adds to the multi-layers of artistry here, which you can see showcased at the Zaragoza Expo Zone, constructed in 2008. My two favourite designs were the Alma del Ebro sculpture that stands outside the Congress Palace and made especially for this International Exhibition by Spanish sculptor Jaume Plensa, and the Bridge Pavilion designed by British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid.

Homage to Goya

– The Artistic Son of Zaragoza

In the home of Goya, it’s no wonder that art plays a central role in the city’s persona. The dedicated Goya Museum (housed within at the 16th-century Renaissance building, Calle Espoz y Mina 25) showcases works from 15th to 20th century, with rooms dedicated to Goya’s self-portraits and etchings – the only museum which has the entire six series on display.

Gastronomic Cultural Expression

– The Art of Cuisine in Zaragoza

Much like art, people are reinventing old recipes and adding modern twists to traditional establishments and food customs. Zaragoza’s restaurant and culinary establishments are filled with local produce, and the love for tapas lines every corner and alley, such in the El Tubo district known for attracting the hungry crowds and Plaza de Santa Marta for café culture.

Mixing old and new in the form true to our daily historical wandering, we attended a tapas workshop at the modern gastronomic space that is La Zarola, later followed by a masterclass of jamon carving by Félix Martínez at La Jamoneria (it’s not my forte, but eating it is) and a little indulgence of candied fruits and chocolates at the vintage 1856 confectionary shop, Fantoba.

Things to Know About Zaragoza:

Tarragona to Zaragoza is a mere 1 hour and 30 minutes journey on the train, landing you right in between Madrid and Barcelona. Zaragoza is also 90 minutes from Madrid by train and just under two hours from Barcelona.

If you are looking to visit a lot of museums and monuments, and make use of public transport, consider getting the Zaragoza Card. From €20 for 24 hours or €23 for 48 hours, you’ll have access to all major sites, buses and tram lines, as well as discounts for listed shops and restaurants.

How to Book a Renfe Train Ticket in Spain – AVE Guide

I have a full Spain by train AVE guide, with suggested routes and top tips for travelling around the country, but here’s some quick fix tips for planning your rail adventure.

You can book tickets via the Renfe website in English here, and specific high-speed network tickets here. All tickets have to be pre-booked (payable by Visa, Mastercard and Paypal), since you can’t turn up on the day and book at the station.

The AVE trains have nine classes if you count the overnight trains with sleeper/bed options, but there are two main ones to consider – Turista (a second class option with 2 x 2 seating rows) and Turista Plus, which is a little more spacious (with 2 x 1 seating rows). I travelled to each destination with a Turista ticket – comfortable and great value for money.

If you are looking to book a multi-stop trip, consider getting a ‘Spain Pass’. This means you can travel using just one ticket for the AVE and other long distance trains. You must reserve a seat before every trip, as limited space is assigned for Spain Pass holders.

The post The Art of Travel in Zaragoza, Spain – World Heritage, Legacy and Urban Revival appeared first on Borders Of Adventure.

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[caveartfair]

The Most Remarkable Art-Historical Discoveries of 2017

Art history is, by definition, primarily a thing of the past—but each year, some small portion of it is rewritten by those in the present. In 2017, we gained new insight on the early years of Leonardo da Vinci and the final ones of Andy Warhol; amateur archaeologists were rewarded with major finds; and several masterpieces were discovered, simply hiding in plain sight. From newly mapped Venezuelan petroglyphs to a long-lost Magritte, these are 10 of the most notable art-historical discoveries of the year.

A slew of ancient tombs and artifacts have been uncovered this year in Egypt, in a concentrated effort to promote tourism.

Photo by Ibrahim Ramadan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images.

Earlier this month, the country’s ministry of state for antiquities announced the discovery of two roughly 3,500-year-old tombs in the necropolis of Draa Abou Naga in Thebes, near the southern city of Luxor. Although the deceased occupants have yet to be identified, researchers have dated the structure to the 18th dynasty (1550–1292 B.C.) and have found a number of artifacts, including funerary furniture, painted wooden masks, and approximately 450 statues. Perhaps the most impressive find is a remarkably well-preserved wall painting. “It looks like it was painted yesterday,” Egyptologist Zahi Hawass told the Independent. “In my opinion, this could be the best painted wall discovered in Draa Abou Naga in the last 100 years.” Another 3,500-year-old tomb in the same necropolis—this one constructed for a royal goldsmith named Amenemhat—was revealed in September. And in March, pieces of a 26-foot statue of a pharaoh (likely King Psammetich I, who ruled between 664 and 610 B.C.) were pulled from a muddy ditch in a working-class neighborhood in Cairo.

Andy Warhol’s untimely death was the result of long-running health problems, not a routine surgery gone wrong.

AW in a Bullet Proof Vest, NYC 1981, 2015. Robert Levin Maison Gerard

When the famed Pop artist died in 1987 at age 58, newspapers were shocked that a simple operation like a gallbladder removal could have spurred the heart attack that killed him. And, in the three decades since, that’s remained the prevailing view. But new research, presented in February by medical historian and retired surgeon Dr. John Ryan, indicates that Warhol had actually suffered gallbladder problems for almost 15 years. (Ryan has been researching the artist’s death since his retirement four years ago, encouraged by his brother-in-law, the prominent art historian Hal Foster.) Warhol’s condition was so severe that, during the 1987 surgery, the doctor found Warhol’s gallbladder full of gangrene—so full, he said, that the organ fell apart during removal. The artist’s health was worsened by an addiction to speed, severe malnourishment and dehydration, and the long-term effects of a 1968 gunshot wound at the hands of Valerie Solanas. That final gallbladder operation, it seems, was ultimately too stressful for his fragile body; Warhol’s heart gave up hours after he appeared to be recovering from the surgery.

A team of amateur archaeologists dug up one of the most significant Roman mosaics ever discovered in Britain.

The discovery was made in a field outside of Boxford, in southern England, by a group of local volunteers supervised by professional archaeologists. Although the project began in 2011, it wasn’t until August of this year—during the final two weeks of the scheduled dig—that organizers realized they’d found something extraordinary. As it turned out, they’d uncovered a remarkably well-preserved mosaic, built as part of a Roman villa that dates to roughly 380 A.D. Not only is it a rare find for the country—experts have labeled it the most exciting of its kind unearthed in 50 years—the subject and style of the artwork is highly unusual for the area. The work illustrates the story of Bellerophon, a Greek mythological hero tasked with killing the Chimera. Anthony Beeson, a board member of the Association for Roman Archaeology, told the New York Times that he couldn’t think “of another Roman mosaic in this country that is as creative as this one.”

A Vatican fresco, once attributed to Raphael’s followers, contains two figures painted by the Renaissance master himself—both of which have now been identified.

The allegory of Justice in the Room of Constantine. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

The discovery was made in the Room of Constantine, a reception room in the papal apartments decorated with episodes from the life of the first Christian emperor. This space was one of four grand halls that Raphael had been commissioned to paint by Pope Julius II in the early years of the 16th century. Although the artist sketched out a design for the room, his unexpected death in 1520 at age 37 left his workshop to complete the project. Contemporary sources did note that Raphael had painted two figures in the hall shortly before he died, but until a recent restoration project, it had been impossible to identify which ones. In June of this year, the Vatican revealed that two painted women—allegorical representations of friendship and justice—had the mark of the master’s hand. “By analyzing the painting, we realized that it is certainly by the great master Raphael,” restorer Fabio Piacentini said. “He painted in oil on the wall, which is a really special technique.”

A major work by Auguste Rodin was found gathering dust in a New Jersey borough hall.

Auguste Rodin with his sculpture of Napoleon Bonaparte. Courtesy of the Hartley Dodge Foundation/Musée Rodin.

The marble bust of Napoléon Bonaparte (c. 1908) had been sitting in the Madison, New Jersey, town hall committee room for 75 years. It wasn’t until a private foundation hired an archivist—a 22-year-old graduate student in art history—that the work’s creator was properly identified as the famed Rodin. Further research revealed that the sculpture had been purchased by Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge, an enthusiastic art collector and the daughter of William D. Rockefeller, in 1934. Also the owner of a 300-acre estate in Madison, Dodge often selected artworks from her personal collection to decorate the borough hall. This Rodin was evidently one of them, but the transfer process was clearly informal; no paperwork or documentation accompanied the bust, and after Dodge’s death, its provenance was forgotten—until now. The rediscovered sculpture has been valued on the range of $4–12 million. Due to security concerns, it has been loaned to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  

A Leonardo da Vinci scholar may have solved a long-standing mystery concerning the artist’s biography.

It was a big year for Leonardo. Not only did a rediscovered painting by the Renaissance polymath sell for a record-shattering $450 million at auction, but experts may also have determined the identity of the artist’s mother. For centuries, historians have only had a potential first name—Caterina—to go on. But a new book, based on previously overlooked financial documents from Vinci and Florence, pinpoints a poor orphan named Caterina di Meo Lippi. Seduced by a 25-year-old lawyer when she was just 15, she probably received a small dowry from his family and was soon married off to another man: Antonio di Piero Buti, a local farmer. New research in the book also contests the site of Leonardo’s birth, long believed to be the Casa Natale in Anchiano.

A portrait by Peter Paul Rubens, missing for almost 400 years, was discovered hanging in a historic Glasgow house.

Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait of George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham, ca. 1625. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

Dr. Bendor Grosvenor, host of the BBC4 television series Britain’s Lost Masterpieces, spotted the painting while vacationing with his family in Scotland. “This picture just seemed to stand out,” he told Artsy in October. “I could see from the bits that were visible and not overpainted that some of it looked very Rubensian.” Although the portrait had previously been dismissed as “merely a copy,” after two months of cleaning and conservation work, it was determined to be an original work by the 17th-century Flemish painter. (It is, however, a study for a larger painting, not a final version of the portrait.) The subject, George Villiers, was the first Duke of Buckingham—and, some have surmised, the male lover of Scottish king James VI and I. Glasgow Museums, which maintains the art collection of the Pollok House (where the portrait was first discovered), has placed the rediscovered work on display in its main gallery.

A miniscule carving recovered from a Bronze Age tomb revealed detailed handiwork centuries ahead of its time.

Although the 1.4-inch-long etched gemstone was found two years ago in southwest Greece, it was initially set aside for later study; researchers assumed it was nothing more than a simple bead. But after a careful, almost year-long cleaning, a tiny work of art etched onto the surface of the agate was discovered: a warrior stabbing an enemy in the neck, with another slain man at his feet. The full details are only visible through a microscope or heavy-duty camera lens, although no tools for magnification have been ever been found from the corresponding time period. Researchers have wondered if, perhaps, the ancient artist was nearsighted. A professor from the University of Cincinnati who aided in the discovery noted that it would be another millenia before other artworks displaying that level of detail begin to appear in ancient Greece.

Eighty-five years after it went missing, the last piece of a lost René Magritte painting was found in Belgium.

René Magritte, The Enchanted Pose, 1927. © Succession René Magritte. Courtesy of SABAM © ULiège.

In November, the Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium announced that researchers had discovered the fourth and final section of Magritte’s work The Enchanted Pose (1927). X-ray imaging revealed that the Surrealist artist had painted over it to create a later work, God is not a Saint (1935–36), today owned by the Magritte Museum in Brussels. Historians suspect that a penny-pinching Magritte cut the original work into four parts and painted over each one in an effort to reuse canvas and save money. This discovery completes an art-historical jigsaw puzzle that researchers began to piece together in 2013, when the first section of the lost painting was discovered during conservation work at New York’s Museum of Modern Art. The second piece was found in the collection of Moderna Museet in Stockholm, and the third in the collection of Norfolk Museums Service in eastern England.

Thanks to drone technology, researchers have mapped massive, 2,000-year-old petroglyphs in Venezuela for the first time.

Although archeologists have known about the carvings for years, their size and their location—a group of islands within the hazardous Atures Rapids—have historically made them difficult to photograph in their entirety. These images are part of a larger project examining how pre-Columbian cultures dealt with each other, with evidence suggesting that there were indigenous trading networks for thousands of years before European colonization. Many of these newly-mapped petroglyphs represent rituals, including what may be a “rite of renewal” ceremony, as well as humans and animals—such as a roughly 100-foot-long snake.

from Artsy News

[catsynth-express]

MoMA Part 2: Stephen Shore, Thinking Machines, Max Ernst, Is Fashion Modern

Our initial report from MoMA focused on the current exhibition of print and 2D works by Louise Bourgeois. But in November, the entire museum was a trove of intriguing exhibitions – even with the current construction – and today we look at four more of them.

We begin with Max Ernst: Beyond Painting, a survey exhibition built around the celebrated Dada and Surrealist artist’s frequent description of his own practice as “beyond painting.” It does actually include paintings, but also is many early drawings and works on paper as well as his sculptures and early conceptual work.

Ernst first came to prominence as the founder of the Cologne branch of Dada after World War I (in which he served in the German army). Like other in the Dada movement, much of his work was deliberately provocative and low-fi and went outside of traditional artistic practice. One of the seminal works from this early period was the portfolio Let There Be Fashion, Down with Art, which mixes technological drawings, equations and other elements in absurd and non-sensical ways. Despite the tone and organizing concept, some of the individual illustrations are quite beautiful.

In the above page, we see a feminine figure juxtaposed with geometric and architectural elements. It could have easily been one of Louise Bourgeois’ drawings from three decades later! It also reminded me of the composition in some of my photography.

“Beyond Painting” did include paintings, particularly from Ernst’s surrealist period after relocating from Cologne to Paris.

[Max Ernst. The Nymph Echo (La Nymph Écho). 1936. Oil on canvas.]

The hard-edged lines have given way to the dreamy organic shapes frequently employed in surrealism. But Ernst’s renderings have more of a biological feel – there is abundant vegetation, and some elements appear as microscopic life forms but on a human scale.

Despite his reputation as a provocateur within the often dark worlds of Dada and surrealism, Ernst’s work often has a very playful quality, even endearing at times. That comes out most in his sculptures, some of which can even be described as “adorable”

[Max Ernst. An Anxious Friend (Un ami empressé). 1944 (cast 1973)]

This one, in particular, is worth walking around, as there is another figure on the back side.

The exhibition culminates with 65 Maximiliana, an illustrated book co-created with book-designer Iliazd. [Max Ernst. Folio 10 from 65 Maximiliana or the Illegal Exercise of Astronomy (65 Maximiliana ou l’exercice illégal de l’astronomie). 1964. Illustrated book with twenty‑eight etchings (nine with aquatint) and six aquatints by Ernst and letterpress typographic designs by Ilia Zdanevich (Iliazd). Page: 16 1/16 × 12 1/16″ (40.8 × 30.7 cm). Publisher: Le Degré 41 (Iliazd), Paris. Printer: Georges Visat. Edition: 65. The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Gift of David S. Orentreich, MD, 2015. Photo: Peter Butler. © 2017 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris.]

In addition to Ernst’s aquatint illustrations and Iliazd’s fanciful typography, the book also features a completely invented hieroglyphic script by Ernst. It brings his career full circle to those early Dada books from Cologne.

As described above, beauty and artistic interest often originate outside traditional artistic practices. The exhibition Thinking Machines explores the artistic ideas that emerged alongside early computer technologies as well as the beauty of the devices themselves.

It is easy in the age of ubiquitous, distributed, and often invisible computing that the most powerful computers were singular and central elements of many workplaces and institutions. The Thinking Machines CM-2, made in 1987, both fits in the emerging dystopian future imaged in the era but also collapses complexity to beautiful patterns in the red LEDs against the black cubic casing. Apple has always been known for their design, and some of their early offerings were featured, including the Macintosh XL (successor to the infamous Lisa).

While the machines themselves were works of art, artists immediately saw their potential for exploring new ways of creating – we can only imagine what Max Ernst might have done with these technologies! But we don’t have to imagine with others, such as John Cage. Here we see both the score and record for HPSCHD, his collaboration with Lejaren Hiller that featured computed chance elements and computer-generated sounds on tape alongside live harpsichords.

The intersection of music and technology is at the core of what we do at CatSynth, but we have also long been interested in technology in other arts. The exhibition included samples of sonakinatography, a system of notation for motion and sound developed by Channa Horwitz.

The notation system uses numbers and colors arranged in eight-by-eight squares and can be used to represent music, dance, lighting, or other interpretations of motion over time. The notation and a proposed work were submitted by Horwitz for 1971 Art and Technology exhibit at LACMA – although the proposal for the piece with eight beams of light was included in the catalog, it was never fabricated. Horwitz work was buried beneath the work of male artists and she was not invited to speak or meet with industry representatives collaborating on the exhibition. This led to an outcry about the exhibition’s lack of women, a problem that echoes to this day in the world of art and technology. Fortunately, women were recognized in this MoMA exhibition of early technology in art. In addition to Horwitz, we saw work by Vera Molnár, a pioneer of computer art. In the print below, she digitally riffs on a drawing by Paul Klee.

Surprisingly, MoMA has rarely delved deeply into fashion in its exhibitions. For a long time, the biggest major exhibition the museum held for this medium was Bernard Rudofsky’s 1944 exhibition Are Clothes Modern?. But the museum is revisiting the topic in a major way with the current Items: Is Fashion Modern? a deliberate play on Rudofsky’s original title. The exhibition includes 111 garments and accessories and places them in both conceptual and chronological organizations. There are of course mainstays of fashion such as the “little black dress.”

It is hard to look at a fashion exhibition without thinking “Would I or would I not wear this?” In the above example, the dress on the left is something I would wear, while the one on the right is something I would not (except perhaps as a costume for a film, etc.). But side by side they show a range of tastes and styles and how they shape and reflect our images of our own bodies. The most intriguing design in the “I would wear this” category was this dress from Pierre Cardin’s “Cosmos Collection”. Even if this was intended to represent “the future”, I could see it easily working in the present, whether the present is 1967 or 2017.

[Cardin. COSMOS]

The exhibition did also touch on new technologies and innovations, such as with this dress that uses 3D printing technology.

[Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louise-Rosenberg. Kinematics Dress. 2013. Laser-sintered nylon.]

Of course, not all fashion is “high fashion”, and the exhibit deliberately covered both. There were the ionic baseball caps of the New York Yankees and their evolution over the years (someone had to design each one of them). And even a display of Jewish kippas, ranging from the simple to the whimsical.

I was particularly amused to see the Yankees-themed kippa. It was two “religions” colliding.

Our final exhibition is the MoMA’s large and comprehensive retrospective of works by photographer Stephen Shore. I have to admit, I was not particularly acquainted with Shore’s work, and after touring the exhibition I realize I should have been. In many ways, Shore’s work is photography writ small, often employing simple camera technologies, including a novelty Disney toy camera from the 1970s and Instagram on an iPhone in his current work. And his subjects range from the foment of 1960s New York and Andy Warhol’s Factory to stark rural landscapes.

[Stephen Shore. New York, New York. 1964. Gelatin silver print, 9 1/8 × 13 1/2″ (23.2 × 34.3 cm). © 2017 Stephen Shore, courtesy 303 Gallery]

[Stephen Shore. U.S. 93, Wikieup, Arizona, December 14, 1976. 1976. Chromogenic color print, printed 2013, 17 × 21 3/4″ (43.2 × 55.2 cm). The Museum of Modern Art, New York. Acquired through the generosity of Thomas and Susan Dunn. © 2017 Stephen Shore]

I particularly like the “ordinary” nature of some of the settings, main streets, highways, abandoned booths. The juxtaposition of New York against the small town and rural landscapes feels quintessentially American. Shore was also known for working in color, especially after leaving New York – this was something that wasn’t done so much in the world of art photography at the time. He also deliberately subverted the idea of art photography at times, including in his 1971 exhibition All the Meat You Can Eat, which was composed mostly of found imagery (commercials, postcards, snapshots) in dissonant arrangements that were more theatrical than anthropological.

Shore also did commission work. A few of these took him abroad, including to Israel, where he combined his interests in photography and archaeology. His most recent work fully embraces the modern technology of Instagram sharing – you can follow Shore’s Instagram account – and on-demand printing. The subject matter is varied, often focusing on small-scale or interesting framing of everyday items, but there are also occasional snaps that wouldn’t appear out of place on a tasteful personal account.

It’s not uncommon for me to be inspired to pursue my own work after an exhibition. This was certainly an example, as Shore’s photography mirrors many of own work in the medium, particularly focusing on place and texture, as well as traveling the country to pursue one’s art. Indeed, the inspiration was a bit more poignant because wondering the images I felt that this was exactly what I should be doing. It perhaps that realization that led me to tear up a bit as I left.

MoMA Part 2: Stephen Shore, Thinking Machines, Max Ernst, Is Fashion Modern was originally published on CatSynth

[emulatingrizal-blog]

Keeping a blind eye on Cultural Heritage

by Jeraldynne H. Simangan

Introduction

Heritage preservation in the Philippines has been a hot topic for the past years. We see and hear news about planned and continuing demolition of buildings that are of significant value in the country. Old buildings or architectural structures that are to be considered important cultural properties are being sacrificed to pave way to new rise buildings which businessmen think would generate better income. On the other hand, the governing agencies responsible for the conservation of these old buildings overlook the issue and lack implementation and supervision.

Thesis Statement: Cultural Heritage Preservation in the Philippines is given least importance by the government

Republic Act No. 10066 also known as the Philippine Cultural Heritage Act is the product of almost eight working versions since 1994. R.A. 10066 consolidates all the pending bills that is relative to the protection and preservation efforts on Philippine culture and the arts. It aims to provide protection, preservation and promotion of the nation’s cultural heritage (NCCA, 2015).

However, this law is applied to all kinds of things may it be tangible, intangible, movable, and immovable. The law is general. There is no specificity. It is assumed that the parameters set by R.A. 10066 is applicable to all may it be an artifact, built heritage, or tradition.

R.A. 10066 sets down some criterion for judging for what is to be considered cultural heritage. Again, this is general and is applied to all cultural property: (a)Works by a Manlilikha ng Bayan; (b)Works by a National Artist; Unless declared by the National Museum, (c)Archaeological and traditional ethnographic materials; Unless declared by the National Historical Institute, (d)Works of national heroes; (e)Marked structure; (f)Structures dating at least fifty (50) years old; and Unless declared by the National Archives, (g)Archival material/document dating at least fifty (50) years old.

There is nothing wrong with the criterion set by the law but it is lacking. There are a lot more things to be considered in the case of old buildings for example, as my argument focuses on built heritage preservation.

 In built heritage, this criterion presented in R.A. 10066 is not enough. Buildings (old buildings in particular) have other values or significance that are needed to be considered aside from its architect and age. Getty Institute (2002) laid down the values that are needed to be deliberated for the analysis of the significance of an old building to know whether they are to be a candidate for conservation and later on be called a built heritage. In the case of the Philippines, the government relies on the law and sticks to the parameters mentioned in the law. Other values to be considered are overlooked and neglected. Due to this, a lot of old significant buildings are being left forgotten and demolished.

 There are agencies responsible for the conservation of old buildings. R.A. 10066 clearly stated that NHCP and the National museum are the principal government agencies responsible not just for the conservation but also declaration of important cultural properties. Article VIII Section 31 of RA 10066 categorized the cultural agencies in conformity with their respective charters and mandates. It also indicates the specific responsibility of each agency.

NHCP is responsible for significant movable and immovable cultural property that pertains to Philippine History, heroes, and conservation of historical artifacts (NCCA, 2015).

National Museum on the other hand is responsible for significant movable and immovable cultural property pertaining to collections of fine arts, archaeology, anthropology, botany, geology, zoology and astronomy, including its conservation aspect.

Other statutory authorities, like the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, are also involved in heritage conservation.

These agencies however, just like the law lack enforcement and implementation. Also, these agencies are not given most importance by the administration. In Duterte’s proposed 2018 budget, the main target is education, infrastructure, and public transport (DBM, 2017).

The lack of enforcement and implementation from the governing agencies can be reflected through the old building that are neglected, unprotected, and demolished. These old buildings that withstood time wasn’t able to survive the force of urbanization.

Admiral Apartments along Roxas Boulevard is one of the cases that wasn’t handled very well by the government. Admiral Apartment was built in 1938, completed in 1939 and was a work of Fernando H. Ocampo, whose other works include the Calvo Building in Escolta, Angela Apartments in Malate (which is also in the verge of being demolished), and the post-war rehabilitation of the Manila Cathedral (Arquitectura, 2014). According to the same source, Admiral Apartments had been a home to a number of historical figures, locally and globally, like Douglas MacArthur, Earl Mountbatten, and former Prince Louis of Battenberg.  

Another thing about the Admiral building was its style. Ocampo building design adapted the art-deco style which was the prominent style during that era (1920s-1940s) in Europe and in the United States.

The Admiral Apartment was not severely damage during the battle for liberation of the City of Manila. It was able to survive not until the year 2014, the year it was demolished.

R.A. 10066 states that buildings that stood for at least 50 years or more are to be considered important cultural property. In addition to that, what made the Admiral building an important cultural property is the fact that it was a world-class structure with a touch of European Revivalism designed by Fernando H. Ocampo, one of the Fathers of Modern Philippine Architecture. In simpler terms, the Admiral possess the values of what a built heritage should have.

NHCP insisted that they didn’t find any historical event that transpired within the building but suggested adaptive re-use as a solution. Anchor Land on the other hand, pursued with the demolition since according to them the building was not sound anymore. They promised to rebuild but this wasn’t really what happened. Also, NHCP didn’t govern or watch over the whole process. (Dioquino, 2014)

Another art-deco building along Roxas Boulevard is the Miramar Hotel. It was also built in the 1930s. In fact, the Admiral and the Miramar Hotel were the only buildings that stood in the area back the Second world war days. Sadly, only Miramar is left standing today thanks to the initiative of the family who acquired Miramar to conserve it. Although the building stood for more than 50 years already, it is still not recognized by NHCP as a cultural property. It is not on the list of landmarks either.

Binondo, Manila lost another heritage building which is the Su Kuang Institute. Su Kuang Institute was the last wooden art-deco school not just in Binondo but most possibly in Manila. Ivan Man Dy, the founder of the advocacy group Art Deco Philippines, explained to Inquirer that the building was a rare example of that type of architecture distinguishable through the lines and geometric designs, the term derived from the 1925 Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes in Paris, France.

Again, even though the building was not marked, it is presumed that it is an important cultural property since it was more than 50 years of age. The owner could have petitioned for it but the governing agencies are also to be blamed. Like the Miramar and Admiral building, Su Kuang Institute is not on the list of landmarks and cultural properties. The agencies failed to come up with a new list of heritage structures ever since the Heritage law was declared. (Sembrano, 2017)

Other buildings that suffered cultural and historical devaluation is the Army and Navy Club, the old Meralco building, the Anda Circle, and El Hogar Filipino. (Arcangel, 2015)

The destroyed buildings or structures mentioned above are just some of the product of loose of authority of the government. They still keep a blind eye regarding this matter. This is the outcome of giving least importance to arts and culture. If the government doesn’t change or add better guidelines to conservation of these structures and if they keep on the loose authority more buildings and heritage sites will suffer.

It is not wrong to focus on other national issues but the government can at least give fair attention to culture and the arts. Built Heritage may not have a direct impact on the economic growth of the country but it can help with regards to tourism.

   References:

 Arcangel, X. (2015). Solon wants Congress to probe Manila’s vanishing historic   structures. Retrieved       from:  

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/artandculture/398838/solon-wants

           congress-to-probe-manila-s-vanishing-historic-structures/story/

 Arquitectura Manila. (2014). A.M. Shorts: Admiral Apartments. Retrieved from:            http://arquitecturamanila.blogspot.com/2014/12/am-shorts-admiral-apartments.html

De la Torre, M. (2002). Assessing the Values of Cultural Heritage. The Getty Conservation            Institute.

Dioquino, R. J. (2014). Cultural activists cry foul over ‘redevelopment’ of Manila heritage buildings. Retrieved from:         http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/lifestyle/content/381319/cultural-activists-cry-foul           over-redevelopment-of-manila-heritage-buildings/story/

Miramar Hotel. Retrieved from: http://www.miramarhotel.ph/

NCCA. (2015). National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP). Retrieved from:            http://ncca.gov.ph/national-historical-commission-of-the-philippines/

Republic Act No. 10066 (2009). Retrieved from:            http://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2010/03/26/republic  act-no-10066/

Sembrano, E.A. (2017). Rare’ Art Deco wooden school in Binondo demolished. Retrieved            from: http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/270172/rare-art-deco-wooden-school         binondo-demolished/#ixzz4wXqwcuLy 

   ��

[periodikonet]

Athens museums.

Athens is loaded with museums. It seems like there are new museums and branches of old museums opening every week.

You can check the Athens News for traveling exhibits and this page will give you information on the main museums that should not be missed.

An excellent book to get is The Museums of Athens by Aristidis Michalopoulos which is the most complete guide to Athens Museums that I have found. It contains opening and closing hours, entrance fees, and maps and descriptions on how to get to museums in Athens and Pireaus, the suburbs and nearby islands.

National Archaeological Museum

The National Archaeological Museum ranks among the top ten museums in the world. Its impressive collection is housed in a beautiful neoclassic building near the juncture of Alexandras Avenue on Patission Avenue. There is a gift shop, and a cafe in the sculpture garden. Children under 6 and EU students get in free.

The museum is a five minute walk from Victoria Station and a 10 minute walk from Omonia. The Trolly #’s 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,9,11,13, and 15 all stop there. W ell not exactly at the museum. They actually stop by Tositsa Street and you have to walk past a bunch of drug addicts to get there but they probably won’t bother you. They have their own problems. If the only day you can come is Sunday don’t bother. Only 8 of the 64 galleries are open due to a shortage of funds, and you still have to pay the same price.

The Acropolis Museum

The new Acropolis Museum was designed to offer the best conditions for the exhibition of its exhibits. A walk through its galleries is a walk through history between the masterpieces of the Archaic and Classical periods, but also in the ancient neighborhoods of Athens whose city streets and buildings you can see below when you look through the glass floors of the museum. It was hoped that by building the Acropolis Museum, the British Museum would return the Elgin Marbles, but don’t hold your breath. In the meantime there are copies of those pieces to go along with the thousands of ancient stones and statues that finally have a home, worthy of them. Don’t miss this museum.

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The Benaki Museum

Though the National Archaeology Museum gets all the press, in my opinion it is the Benaki which is the best museum in Athens and certainly the most important in terms of the history of both ancient and modern Greece as well as art and culture. I would also suggest that it is every Greek-American, Greek-Canadian, Greek-Australian and anyone who is of Greek origin or has an interest in Greece to visit the Benaki for a better understanding of the country which is modern Greece. Starting at the bottom floor with the ancient stuff and going up through the various periods of Greek history, my favorite part is the third floor and the heroes of the Greek Revolution and the birth of the modern state of Hellas. Just walk up Vass Sophias from Syntagma with the National Gardens on your right.

The Goulandris Museum of Cycladic and Ancient Greek Art

This Outstanding collection of ancient Cycladic art is excellently curated. Open daily except Sundays and Tuesdays from 10am to 4pm.

Kerameikos Museum

The ancient cemetery of Athens at the bottom of Ermou past the Monastiraki flea market has a nice little museum. The site itself though off the beaten path is one of my favorites. Lots of pottery and tombstones.

Museum of Greek Folk Art

Embroideries, wood carvings, jewelery, and other traditional folk art. The museums not-to-be-missed collection of ceramics is housed in a beautifully renovated former mosque at 1 Areos Street on Monastiriki Square. Open daily except Mondays from 10am to 2pm.

Jewish Museum

Before the Nazi occupation and the decimation of Greece’s Jewish population, many of Greece’s Jewish communities traced their roots back to the Spanish Inquisition and before to Classical Greece. Art and artifacts from Jewish communities through the ages, as well as documentation of the Holocaust makes this museum a cultural treasure. This museum was the creation of my 9th grade history teacher Nikos Stavrolakis. Opening hours: Daily 9.00-2.30, except Saturdays and Sundays 10.00-2.00

National Gallery

The permanent collection of modern Greek painters and international contempory artists includes large-scale sculptures. Open daily from 9am to 3pm. Open Sunday from 10am to 2pm. Closed Tuesday.

Municipal Gallery of Athens

The Municipal Gallery of Athens is houses a rich collection of nearly 3,000 works from leading 19th- and 20th-century Greek artists. Its current building was designed in the early 19th century by prominent architect Hans Christian Hansen and is one of the oldest neo-classical buildings in Athens.

The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and 17:00 to 21:00 (10am-2pm and 5-9pm), on Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00 (10am-2pm), and closed Monday. Admission is free.

National Historical Museum

This museum is perfect for those interested in the Greek War of Independence and it’s artifacts. Open daily from 9am to 1:30pm. Closed Mondays. Free on Sunday.

more museums and other info can find here

http://www.athensguide.com/museum.html

Museums in Greece Athens museums. Athens is loaded with museums. It seems like there are new museums and branches of old museums opening every week.

[topinforma]

New Post has been published on Mortgage News

New Post has been published on http://bit.ly/2lHy4TB

battlefield-of-memory-asphalt-where-a-black-cemetery-is-said-to-have-stood

Macedonia Baptist Church members, locals and others gather for a rally, march and protest at the historic African American church on River Road on Feb. 12. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Tim Bonds first heard the stories about the bones in the late 1960s, from construction workers who came to his father’s gas station in Bethesda for a cold drink or a quick game of craps.

Change was stirring along this quiet stretch of River Road, home to a century-old community founded by freed slaves and known today as Westbard. The crews were excavating the future site of a 15-story apartment and office tower across from the new Westwood Shopping Center.

“When they found a body,” recalled Bonds, 57, “they’d blow a whistle and they’d shut the job down.”

It seemed to him that the whistle blew pretty often. He remembers the men talking about human remains being pushed back under the dirt, down a steep slope toward a storm sewer, so excavation could resume more quickly. He and his pals sometimes slipped over to the site hoping for a glimpse of something ghoulish. But they never saw anything.

For a half-century, such stories were mostly forgotten. Then plans for new construction led to fresh details about the cemetery that historians say once stood on land behind the high-rise, and painful questions about what may have happened to the remains buried there.

A few hundred people gather outside Macedonia Baptist Church for a rally and march to demand an accounting of an almost-forgotten black burial site that was located nearby. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

The issue has pitted Montgomery County officials and the prospective developer against a tiny Baptist church whose members fear history will once again be bulldozed, this time to make way for an aboveground parking garage near proposed high-rises, townhouses and a revamped shopping center.

The county and the developer, New York-based Equity One, have promised to work with the community and say no plans will be approved for the site until an archaeological investigation is complete. But members of Macedonia Baptist Church, the last standing vestige of the former black enclave, want to halt the process until Equity One agrees to include a museum about the former African American enclave in its project.

“It should be a place of reflection and a place for people to meditate about how important it is to preserve human rights,” said Marsha Coleman-Adebayo, head of Macedonia’s social justice ministry. “We need to memorialize this experience so that our children have the opportunity to learn from our mistakes.”

‘Like a lost colony’

The neighborhood that would become Westbard was home in the late 19th century to African Americans who had worked on Montgomery County’s farms and tobacco plantations since before the Civil War.

By the 1950s, according to research by the Little Falls Watershed Alliance, about 30 families lived on the sloping terrain by the old Georgetown branch of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, which would later become the Capital Crescent Trail. They farmed, worked as laborers or domestics in the nearby white neighborhood of Somerset, or toiled at Bethesda Blue Granite Co.’s quarry near Willett Branch.

“What I tell my grandkids, it was just like a lost colony,” said Harvey M. Matthews Sr., 72, whose family farm was located on the site of what is now the Kenwood Station Shopping Center, home to a Whole Foods, Bethesda Bagels and other upscale staples.

“When I travel around the country and people ask where I was born, I tell them, ‘Bethesda,’ ” added Matthews, who recalls playing hide-and-seek at the cemetery as a boy. “And they say, ‘There were black people in Bethesda?’ ”

Harvey M. Matthews Sr., 72, talks on the spot where an African American cemetery is said to have once stood. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

There were also ballfields, a segregated elementary school and a tavern called the Sugar Bowl. And, according to research conducted by the county in preparing a new land-use plan for Westbard — deeds, state archives, the Congressional Record and old newspaper accounts — there was, at one time, a cemetery.

Historians with the Montgomery County Parks and Planning departments cite a 1911 tax assessment that shows the purchase of a one-acre parcel west of River Road, which includes what is now the parking lot behind Westwood Tower.

The buyer was White’s Tabernacle No. 39, a chapter of a black fraternal society called the Ancient Order of the Sons and Daughters, Brothers and Sisters of Moses. A notation on the assessment says “used as a graveyard,” and newspaper clippings say that James Loughborough, a prominent land owner and Confederate veteran, presented the Montgomery County Board of Commissioners in 1911 with a petition opposing a black burial ground at River Road.

At around the same time it purchased the River Road land, White’s Tabernacle sold a cemetery it owned in the Fort Reno section of Tenleytown. A 1914 Washington Post article mentioned a bill pending before the House of Representatives to allow disinterment of the Tenleytown graves. A later article said the site contained 192 bodies. In a 2015 report marked “confidential,” county senior planner Sandra Youla said the River Road site “likely contained remains disinterred” from the Tenleytown cemetery.

The society sold the cemetery in 1959, around the time that the African American families of Westbard began to sell their land and scatter. Historians have been unable to document what happened to the graves.

Laszlo Tauber in 1999. (Lois Raimondo/ TWP)

River Road, meanwhile, started to boom. One of the most active builders was Laszlo Tauber, a Hungarian Jewish surgeon and Holocaust survivor who made much of his fortune constructing office space to lease to the federal government. He headed a syndicate of other physician-investors that bought land in Westbard.

In 1966, Tauber developed plans for the high-rise, designed by prominent D.C. architect John d’Epagnier. The upper floors would be apartments, the lower levels the offices of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

D’Epagnierdied in 1977. In 2015, county parks department researchers borrowed documents about the Westwood Tower project from his son Arnold, as part of their work on the land-use plan. On the day senior historian Jamie Kuhns and cultural resources manager Joey Lampl returned the materials, Arnold D’Epagnieroffered them his own memories of when the high-rise was built.

According to notes written by Kuhns and Lampl after the conversation, d’Epagnier recalled riding a pickup truck with his father and a family priest, “taking burlap bags with bones” from the construction site to Howard Chapel, a historically black cemetery in rural northern Montgomery.

The priest and young Arnold fished in a nearby creek while his father dug a makeshift grave, according to the notes, which are on file at the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. The architect buried the remains, and the priest blessed them.

D’Epagnier recanted his story a year later, as Macedonia reviewed the county’s historical findings and began pushing to memorialize the cemetery. “I cannot say with any certainty that my vague recollections . . . are in any way accurate,” he said in an email to Lampl. “I recommend that you not consider any of those details as part of your work on this matter.”

In an email to The Post, he wrote, “I truly regret ever casually trying to recall my memories from so long ago.”

Meshach Louie, 7, holds up a sign he made during a rally outside Macedonia Baptist Church, where he and his family are members. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

Tauber died in 2002, at age 87. A spokesman for the charitable foundation run by his children, Ingrid and Alfred Tauber, said they have no recollection of their father mentioning a gravesite on the land his group had purchased.

All company documents related to Westwood Tower were shredded in 2015, 10 years after Tauber sold the building to a New York real estate investor. Equity One bought it in 2013, for $25 million.

Unanswerable questions

Quiet disposal of remains was illegal but not unusual in the 1960s, experts in cemetery restoration say, especially in places where countryside became suburb and suburb became city.

In Alexandria, the original Contrabands and Freedmen’s Cemetery was first disturbed by 19th-century brickmakers digging for clay. Roads and a gas station were built later. Construction of the new Woodrow Wilson Bridge — a federally funded project subject to preservation laws — led to the restoration of the cemetery and creation of a three-acre memorial dedicated in 2014.

While the Westbard plan does not use federal dollars, it coincides with a surge of interest in recognizing such sacred places, and, perhaps, a new willingness by governments to preserve them.

Equity One Executive Vice President William Brown said the firm stands ready to cooperate with the county and the church: “We’re not trying to do anything to desecrate remains or cover anything up.”

The firm is close to hiring the Ottery Group, a cultural resource consulting firm, to examine the parking lot for evidence of graves. Montgomery Planning Director Gwen Wright said she is speaking with two prominent anthropologists about serving as independent peer reviewers of Ottery’s work.

Officials promise no construction will be approved without a full investigation, including ground-penetrating radar. If remains are located, police will be notified, as state law requires. County leaders say they will do what they can to pay homage to the site, perhaps as part of the proposed restoration of Willett Branch, the creek near the site that was lined with concrete in the 1950s to serve as a storm sewer.

But Macedonia Baptist Church members remain skeptical, saying they have been kept at arms length in their efforts to honor what Coleman-Adebayo calls “a battlefield of memory.”

At a planning board meeting Thursday, the Rev. Segun Adebayo, Macedonia’s interim pastor, said church members want the county to pay for the cemetery study instead of Equity One. “The old saying is still true,” said Adebayo, who is married to Coleman-Adebayo. “ ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune.’ ”

Wright said her agency has no money to pay for such a study, which could be costly. She added that it is customary for the land owner to foot the bill.

Adebayo also called for a criminal investigation if test results show that graves were disturbed and remains were moved. “Where did they go? Was it legal? Was it moral?”

Earlier this month, members of Macedonia and neighboring River Road Unitarian Universalist Congregation sang spirituals and placed flowers at the parking lot. Then the group moved to the sycamore trees near the Whole Foods parking lot, which Matthews said are all that remain of his family’s farm.

“Three dogs, two horses, chickens and pigs,” Matthews said, fighting tears. “This is my yard. I was here first.”

Harvey Matthews stands near a sycamore tree that he says was planted by his parents on their family farm, now a shopping strip anchored by Whole Foods on River Road. (Katherine Frey/The Washington Post)

With key decision-makers long deceased, a full accounting of what happened at the site is unlikely. No records have been located to confirm whether remains were found years ago, or to document the relocation of any graves after the cemetery was sold.

“The desecration of this community’s historic burial ground decades ago was certainly a tragedy that should have been prevented,” Montgomery County Council President Roger Berliner (D-Potomac-Bethesda), whose district includes Westbard, wrote to planning board chair Casey Anderson earlier this month. “I do not have the historical knowledge of the events that led to that act, and perhaps neither do you. But we do have an opportunity to do things differently today and moving forward.”

Bonds, who rents the land for his two service stations from Equity One, will lose his lease if and when the company starts building. Before he leaves, he said, he’d welcome a resolution to the childhood mystery that unfolded down the street.

“I’d kind of like to see them find it,” he said of the cemetery. “Everybody who’s lost should be found. I believe in history.”

Read more:

Should Va.’s black cemeteries get the same state support as Confederate burial grounds?

2002 Obituary: Hungarian Holocaust survivor Laszlo Tauber

Leggett and Baker: Former law school dean and his student have become political partners and peers

[jposadas-blog]

Discuss Tran And also Tourdates Because of Minnesota

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[caveartfair]

New Discovery Sheds Light on Jesus Christ’s Purported Tomb—and the 9 Other Biggest News Stories This Week

01  New scientific research suggests that a tomb in Jerusalem is the one built by ancient Romans to mark the burial place of Jesus Christ.

(via National Geographic)

Researchers dated mortar found inside the purported tomb of Christ, which itself is located within Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, to determine if its age matches historical accounts of the site. Some scholars had questioned whether the church—which has been destroyed, damaged, and rebuilt several times—actually marks the site that ancient Romans dispatched to the region by Emperor Constantine identified as Christ’s burial place in around 326 AD. Previously, the oldest materials in the Church have been dated back only to the much later Crusader period. But new research released by a team from the National Technical University of Athens found that the mortar used within the tomb, first opened in October of 2016, does indeed date back to roughly 345 AD, suggesting that it is the tomb identified by ancient Romans. “While it is archaeologically impossible to say that the tomb is the burial site of an individual Jew known as Jesus of Nazareth,” wrote National Geographic, “new dating results put the original construction of today’s tomb complex securely in the time of Constantine.”

02  The parent company of Art Basel purchased a majority stake in Masterpiece London, continuing the growth of its art fair portfolio.

(via The Art Newspaper)

MCH Group, the Swiss-based parent company of Art Basel, announced the acquisition of a 67.5% stake in Masterpiece London on Friday, the culmination of months of negotiations. The art, design, and antique fair is the most recent fair snapped up by MCH, and follows the acquisition of Art Düsseldorf in February 2017 and the Indian Art Fair in September  2016. Those latter two fairs fall into the “Design & Regional Art Fairs” category of MCH’s business strategy, while the company is positioning Masterpiece to stand separately as its own pillar of the plan. (The other two pillars are the existing Art Basel fairs and Grand Basel, an art fair for automobiles). The United Kingdom-based fair will see the addition of new international venues. “Masterpiece London and Grand Basel will be staged at further locations in the USA, Asia and the Middle East over the next few years,” according to an MCH press release. It’s possible that investing in Masterpiece, which features work from beyond the company’s previous focus on the modern and contemporary period and draws an international set of collectors, is an attempt to position the London fair as a competitor to the Old Masters- and antiquity-focused European Fine Art Fair (TEFAF).

03  The Tate challenged a report from the Times of London that its director Maria Balshaw and Frances Morris, head of the Tate Modern, are earning less than their male predecessors.

(via the Times and artnet News)

Salary figures published in the Times showed that Balshaw, the recently appointed director of the Tate, and Frances Morris, appointed last year to head the Tate Modern, are both earning less than the men who previously held the posts. Balshaw makes £165,000, or up to £15,000 less than Sir Nicholas Serota, whom she replaced after his 29-year tenure as director. The paper found a similar disparity between Morris and prior Tate Modern director Chris Dercon, who left in 2016 after six years. But a Tate spokesperson pushed back, telling artnet News that Morris’s pay is “on the same level as Chris Dercon’s was when he left,” adding, “when starting a new position, an employee is not paid the same amount as the final salary of the person who has left. This is because salaries reflect the level of experience and time spent in that role.” However, Alex Farquharson, appointed to head the Tate Britain in 2015, earned the same salary as Penelope Curtis, the woman who previously held the post, the Times reported. The Tate told the paper that Farquharson “had been a director of Nottingham Contemporary and had started on a lower salary.”

04  The 57th Venice Biennale was the highest-trafficked edition to date, attracting 615,000 visitors.

(via the Associated Press)

The city’s six-month contemporary art show ended Sunday with roughly 115,000 more visitors than the 2015 edition. The biennale’s president, Paolo Baratta, pointed to “Vive Arte Viva,” the central exhibition curated by Christine Macel, as being responsible for the uptick in numbers. The French curator’s choices showcased “a growing familiarity with contemporary art and a desire to seek refuge from global crises” according to the Associated Press. Dario Franceschini, Italy’s minister of culture, told the news organization that the edition will be recalled “for the beauty and quality of its works.”

05  Key financial backers of Australia’s participation in the Venice Biennale have pulled their support to protest changes in the artist selection process.

(via The Art Newspaper)

The Australia Council for the Arts, the government body in charge of Australia’s participation in the Venice Biennale, moved at the end of October to bring the artist selection process in-house by placing an advertisement and allowing artists to apply, rather than hiring an external commissioner to choose an artist. Prominent philanthropists who have been among the top funders of the country’s participation and broader arts community criticized the move, along with the failure to consult them in announcing their withdrawal of support. Simon Mordant, a donor who had also previously served as commissioner for the Australia exhibition in 2013 and 2015, wrote in an op-ed that he and a group of international and local curators had in previous years “spent hours debating all the names proposed before unanimously selecting an artist to invite to submit along with a curator.” The new process falls short, he wrote, stating that “in my view the best artists are unlikely to apply to an advert.”

06  The mayor of Osaka, Japan, plans to cut ties with sister city San Francisco over a statue of “comfort women.”

(via the New York Times & Reuters)

San Francisco mayor Edwin M. Lee signed a resolution last week making the statue, which features three girls from China, Korea, and the Philippines holding hands, a city monument. The term “comfort women” refers to the tens of thousands of women who were “detained and raped by Japanese soldiers before and during World War II,” wrote the New York Times, often in brothels called “comfort stations.” Osaka mayor Hirofumi Yoshimura called the decision to make the statue a city monument “highly regrettable” and said that trust between the two cities was “destroyed,” Reuters reported. The statue is intended to memorialize the comfort women, and comes amidst a growing movement to get Japan to acknowledge “the scope and scale of the abuse,” as the Times put it. But critics of the statutes say they are “promoting an unbalanced version of history” and “might stoke animosity toward people of Japanese ancestry,” wrote the Times.

07 The city of Düsseldorf’s cancellation of an exhibition on the Jewish art dealer Max Stern, who was persecuted by the Nazis, has stirred controversy in Germany.

(via the Globe and Mail)

“Max Stern: From Düsseldorf to Montreal” was canceled suddenly two weeks ago, ahead of its scheduled opening at the Düsseldorf Stadtmuseum in February. Three years in the making, the exhibition would have shone a light on Stern, who was forced to sell his collection by the Nazis in the lead-up to World War II, and the efforts of his heirs to restitute Nazi-looted art through the Max Stern Art Restitution Project. The city’s statement cited lingering “restitution claims in connection to Max Stern” as the reason for halting the show. Critics of the decision to cancel the show said the continued challenge of restituting Nazi-looted art is exactly why the issue deserves more attention. The Globe and Mail also pointed to ties between the city government and Ludwig von Pufendorf, a Berlin lawyer who has critiqued the restitution of Nazi-looted art, and has represented Düsseldorf in a dispute with Stern’s estate over a Wilhelm von Schadow painting.

08  Two artist collectives withdrew from the first Kuala Lumpur Biennale after police seized their artwork.

(via Artforum)

The groups Pusat Sekitar Seni and Population Project pulled out of the biennale last Wednesday, one day ahead of the planned debut of the exhibition at Malaysia’s National Visual Arts Gallery (NVAG), after Malaysian police confiscated their collaborative work. Visitors had reportedly critiqued the piece, charging it contained “elements of communism,” according to Artforum. Authorities deny they censored the work, laying blame for the removal at the feet of exhibition organizers. The work, Under Construction, is an installation that “included a number of reading materials, drawings, and posters intended to raise awareness of environmental issues impacting Southeast Asia,” according to Artforum. Artist Aisyah Baharuddin of Pusat Sekitar Seni told The Malaysian Insight, “we have decided to pull out from the KL Biennale 2017,” stating, “this violates our rights as artists.” The removal marks the third time this year that Malaysian officials have been accused of removing art due to complaints or allegations of an artwork’s political nature.

09  The Ford Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation will give $6 million to diversify art museum leadership.

(via The New York Times)

The funding, announced Tuesday, will go to 20 United States museums, out of a total of 83 applicants. Recipients will use the grants to create opportunities for, and advance the careers of, minorities, through, for example, internships, fellowships, or programs designed to attract and develop talent from underrepresented groups. “The grants will support 11 new jobs; fellowships and internships for 360 college students; and museum studies programs for more than 1,000 teenagers,” the New York Times reported, with winners including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, the New Orleans Museum of Art, and the Institute of Contemporary Art Boston.

10  The first major contemporary art museum in Jakarta, a city of 10 million people, opened in November.

(via the New York Times)

The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara, dubbed the “Museum Macan,” features items from the 800-work contemporary and modern art collection of the museum’s founder, Indonesian businessman Haryanto Adikoesoemo. The museum opened in Indonesia’s capital on November 4th and has “stunned Jakarta crowds” with the works on view, according to the New York Times. Adikoesoemo has collected art for over two decades, and his collection of both established Western names and Indonesian art earned him a place on the ARTnews lists of top 200 collectors in 2016 and 2017. His collection provided a valuable asset as the 1997 and 1998 Asian financial downturn roiled traditional assets in Indonesia, but his goal in opening the Museum Macan is more philanthropic. “If I go to Europe, I go to museums for relaxation,” Adikoesoemo told the Times. “Indonesia still doesn’t have that culture.”

from Artsy News