Across Weirdish Wild Space

[OK, I did this last weekend actually, but only just got round to doing a little writeup on it.]

You do have to hand it to the Brit Museum.

Besides being one of the world’s premiere museums (I still prefer the Louvre), holding the Hadrian exhibit inside the Pantheon-inspired Museum Reading Room while speaking about Hadrian’s contributions to architecture is a self-referential masterstroke. While considering how he rebuilt Agrippa’s building and a still staple reminder of Rome’s ancient glories inside a room where you can look up and see how that Dome influenced the modern world gives a certain relevance to Hadrian’s contributions that a dry recounting of his life in other surrounds would never convey.

It does set the scene, much like the dramatic trailer video that starts off the exhibit does (and having Patrick Stewart do the voiceover is yet another brilliant coup) . Which basically reminds me of those line from the Princess Bride,

“Fencing. Fighting. Torture. Poison. True love. Hate. Revenge. Giants. Hunters. Bad men. Good men. Beautifulest ladies. Snakes. Spiders. Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passion. Miracles.”

Well, you get the idea, though it is very well produced. Like a trailer for a television documentary on the Beeb. And it does its job well in letting you know that this exhibit is going to be about the stories around Hadrian’s life, rather than the dry artifacts. Which immediately makes it a lot more interesting than the dry retelling of the facts despite the scandalous £12 entry price (since I’m a member, I got my friend and I in free though ;-) )

The incredible thing is how little is actually known of Hadrian except from a few scant sources, and how this exhibit was largely possible through recent discoveries in places like Sargalassos in Turkey. It goes over his achievements as architect, statesman (I love the cancelling of all public debts owed to the Republic to the amount of 900 million sestertii which provided an immense economic impetus to a moribund empire – How much would that be in today’s money ?), and military leader as well as the way he became emperor, and his marriage with a beautiful woman even while he had a male lover (only the British would dedicate an entire room of the exhibit to this, regardless of how the Antinous cult carried on after his death and somewhat competed with Christianity. We get it already. Hadrian was gay. Move on, please. Just about everybody was then, thanks.).

All in all, a pretty impressive exhibit, which gives you the storied impression Hadrian behaved differently, looked differently and acted differently, and came to power differently than any other emperor before or after him and provides a great base for wanting to learn more about the emperors and understanding the legacy of ancient Rome (and Hadrian !). Definitely worth the visit though I think the price is a little high, particularly considering BP is sponsoring this thing rather heavily.

One thing I really have to start wishing though of British museums in general. If you’re not going to allow people to take pictures in the exihibit—or at least openly disocourage it even if it’s practically impossible in this age of camera phones, and particularly of unique little bits of wall display you might have created which might represent maps of ancient cities, overlay of empires or other material which is going to help people expand their understanding of what you’re representing, please put this stuff online and get a greater understanding of your audience. I still can’t believe I had to snag a pirated video of the trailer off YouTube when the British Museum should have it up there already.

OK, a long, long time in coming, but I finally cried uncle on writing descriptions for all the photos I took at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico and just upped them to flickr.

Quite proud of a few of the shots and if nothing else should give you a pretty solid idea of how amazing the museum is and why it is a complete must-see if you’re ever in Mexico City.

(I will try and get all the ones of Istanbul when I was there at the end of June up as soon as possible as well).

One of the most amazing things about being back in a city with plenty of artistic pursuits is a simple sense of cultural humility and sense of history. Throughout Europe’s Dark Ages, amazing empires rose, flourished and left their cultural mark on the history of human civilization.

The Chola Bronzes currently at the Royal Academy are a good reminder of this essential fact. Beautiful, devotional pieces of art dedicated to the Hindu pantheon that encompassed all of Southern India during the 9th century ACE and for 400 years.

The workmanship and quality of the bronzes are stunning, and while the exhibit is way too small and needs to be on par with the Rodin exhibit currently showing in terms of comprehensiveness and breadth, it is still an impressive (if brief) survey of the gorgeous sculpture of the period.

The fact that many of the bronzes are so well taken care of due to their being in constant use even today is testament to both the quality of their casting, the care of their possession and the fact that they survive in many museums around the world today and in private collections due to caches of the devotional bronzes being hid against Muslim invaders throughout the 14th century and being constantly rediscovered.

Reminds me I need to learn a lot more about Indian history, theology and iconography before even attempting a trip to the great sub-continent and that in 2007 I need to be a lot better about travelling and learning (for instance, I have no idea why different people pray to Shiva, Vishnu, Ganesha or Kali really or what their representative attributes are other than a handful of half-known stories – anyone who has some pointers on where to begin in reading about this stuff, I’d sure appreciate the direction).

It felt a little strange going to see Rodin’s sculptures here in London while being so close to their native Paris, more so than it did seeing the slightly disappointing exhibit in Vancouver (that did, however, have the fantastic Adam on display so well worth the jaunt despite the lack of the number of his sculptural works on display). But after my usual brunch at the Violette, I trundled down to await new found pals EG and SE anyway and see what the Royal Academy had to offer.

England has had a long love affair with Rodin, even in his early days, and in the opening days of the 20th century catapulted him to Andy Warhol-ish and Tracy Emin-esque fame amongst the elite of the time. And really,t he sub-text of the entire exhibition is really about Rodin’s relationship with England. Witness the number of busts of British aristocracy and such luminaries as George Bernard Shaw.

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So, even while there were a stunning number of his major works arrayed in the exhibit including the Thinker, les Bergers de Calais (which I had never seen before and was particularly interested in seeing), the Kiss, The Defence and casts of Eve, Crouching Woman, St. Jean Baptiste, the Age of Bronze and even in the courtyard the monolithically impressive Portes de l’enfer/Gates of Hell—what really impressed me the most (ok, besides the Burghers of Calais) were the additional ones I’d never seen before collected from British museums (with a seemingly great collections o gems I’d never seen before). I was particularly impressed with Cardiff’s contributions with Clouds, Illusions Falling to Earth and Earth and Moon. So, yeah… if you’ve never been to the Musée Rodin in Paris, this was definitely a great introduction to the greatest sculptor since Michealangelo.

I liked the Royal Academy exhibit enough (plus the super exceptional Aztecs exhibit they had several years ago pre-blog) that I actually bought an annual “Friend of the Royal Academy” pass + 2 guests and am thinking of going back shortly to see the Chola bronzes from South India.

Is travel pr0n. Pure and uncut travel crack. I’m not kidding.

Looking at the amazing photos of sacred sites, monuments, temples and places you’ve read about or dreamed of travelling to your entire life merely stokes the fires of the wanderlust that got you to the UK in the first place and makes the soles of your feet itchy to get in planes, trains, ships and automobiles.

Georg Gestner is his 40 years circling the globe taking photos in 111 countries and of some of the most amazing human edifices in the world has generated a remarkable and singular photographic achievement. While lacking the artistic merit of The Earth from Above/La Terre vue du ciel (which the French very, very coolly put up on the outside of the fence around the Jardin du Lexembourg in Paris for everyone to see which was amazing and free to all and still has me gobsmacked in their commitment to art for the sake of the people), the Past somehow gets a deeper under the skin, if less aesthetic, hold on the imagination and has you mentally creating travel lists and checking them against the new found vacation time you suddenly have.

Damn, I’m jonesing for a trip now.

I did make myself feel good by noting the number of places he’d phototgraphed I’d actually been to, which at least kept the jonesing in place a little. Still… so much to see, so little time for serious travel.

Highly recommended if you’ve got time anywhere just before or after the New Year if you’ve got to figure out what those resolutions for 2007 need to be in the adventure and travel categories.

The plan had been to go to the BC Museum but when I got there there was over a half hour wait just to buy tickets, the museum was packed to capacity with kids and I suddenly decided that maybe the art gallery would be a little more tranquil.

I’m really glad I did. It wasn’t easy to find though and I was totally soaked through by the time I got to the museum.

The gallery is small but exceptional. In particular, I get the feeling that the temporary exhibitions always focus on the juxtaposition between the West and the East and in particular the view of Britain (Victoria itself is replete with British influences everywhere from high tea to flower baskets) to the East (though, from this point on the globe, the East is actually West… =} ). Kind of interesting because I imagine the temporary exhibits are much more important than the permanent. And I think it’s an interesting focus to take considering the nature of the small gallery and its location.

Tea
The World Tea Party celebrates the use of the “world’s favourite beverage” (hmmm… isn’t Coke trying to trademark that ? =} ) and it’s growth and dispersion from its 3rd millennium BC discovery and use China. It’s actually quite interesting, particularly for those of us who either don’t want or can’t afford the high tea at the Empress Hotel down the street. Learned a lot of things actually from the fact that tea has moved from powdered tea with additives (I imagine much like chai tea) to the use of the dry leaf variety we are used to today.

In particular, there is some excellent examples of Yixing ware teapots and excellent stoneware and porcelain from both China and Japan.

My good friend, AW, who actually has done High Tea at the Empress Hotel, as well as composing various Odes to Tea whenever the mood takes her would go nuts over this exhibit.

OpiumOpium provided an amazing juxtaposition to the other major export that dominated the 18th and 19th centuries and the British relationship with China. Few people realize how unbelievably important the opium trade was between England and China or, for instance, that the Opium Wars fought between England and China were actually a result of China trying to stop the opium trade in their own country. England went to war and in the Treaty of Nanking managed to get Hong Kong as war reparations (in case you were always wondering about that).

We know the poppy and opium itself have been traded around the Mediterranean both as a medicinal and recreational plant as far back as the 2nd millennium BC. The Greeks and Egyptians definitely had a trade in it and its use has continued well into the present day.

The exhibit is excellent and definitely worth the trip. The genteel 19th century acceptance in literature of opiates and especially laudanum (I can personally remember reading books like Sherlock Holmes as a child which spoke about it as well as it being the reason behind Coleridge’s dream that led to Kublai Khan) are well documented. It’s incredible how the turn of the century and the change in the view of the seedy underworld in the 1930s and 1950s, and the change in the impression in popular literature being such a huge influence on its eventual banning and criminality.

Byron, Bernhardt, Wilde, Keats, Rossetti, Coleridge, Cocteau, Beaudelaire (also syphilitic) and Browning all indluged in either opiates or laudanum all having various reasons for its use and consumption.

Heroin, was actually another derived and refined form of opium which was created in the 1840s and then commercially sold by Bayer in the 1870s for a variety of ailments (including rather tragically opium addiction). Morphine, in case you didn’t know is the active ingredient in opiates.

And of course, no discussion of the fruit of the poppy can be complete without discussing the modern day connection between the Soviet-Afghan war and the poppy fields there which helped financially fuel the war with arms sales from Pakistan. It’s incredible sometimes when you think about how resources effect the geopolitics of both colonialism and even the modern superpower(s).

It seems especially apt as the coffeeshop I was sipping mocha at that morning was right next to Fan Tan Alley (the narrowest alley possibly in Canada) which at one time was home to numerous opium dens in Victoria.

Super fascinating exhibit combining popular art, literature, video and historical (both global and local) into a great experience.

Shin Hanga
Another really interesting exhibit in the gallery was the block printing method which followed the ukiyo-e style in Japan. Possibly only interesting to me because of the year of Japanese history I took where a lot of focus was given to the ukiyo-e (also known as floating world) period, the woodcut prints are amazingly colourful and detailed and really provide an interesting counterpoint to the artistic traditions that eventually morphed into both WW II, high art and manga illustration.

The colours are beautiful and some of the work is amazing. All the more so when you realize there is a different block for each colour and how much work must have gone into a 10 colour print. The increased colour range led to some remarkable night scenes of real subtlety and beauty.

In particular, check out the works of Koitsu, Shotei, and Yoshida.