September 30, 2009

Art-Nouveau fresco's in de St.Petrus & Pauluskerk in Praag




Helemaal iets anders, maar toch ook niet. Deze fresco's zijn rond 1920 vervaardigd door het kunstenaarskoppel František (1868-1919) & Marie Urban (1868-1945). Natuurlijk mocht je geen foto's maken, maar ik kon het echt niet laten.
De kerk is van top tot teen, elke boog, hoek en vlak, beschilderd met patronen, patronen, patronen & patronen. De schilderingen zijn eigenlijk vrij nieuw in verhoudingen met wat je normaliter in een kerk ziet en de kleuren zijn daarom nog superfel en helder.




Op de pilaren staan allerlei heiligen afgebeeld. De gezichten zijn wonderlijk realistisch en de gezichtsuitdrukkingen echt doordringend, zoals de vrouwen in de litho's van Mucha.


Maria Magdalena

September 21, 2009

Canting


I just send an email to follow a short Batik Course using canting at Batik Winotosastro in Yogyakarta.

"You will only find traditional hand waxed batik at Batik Winotosastro. We are committed to preserving our cultural heritage, not as in a museum, but as a living art form. Not only the patterns themselves, but the actual process of waxing and dyeing the cloth by hand. Batik Winotosastro is honored to be a part of an ancient history as 5th generation traditional batik makers in the royal court city of Yogyakarta.."
- Batik Winotosastro



Batik is being made with three methods. With Canting the wax is applied to the cloth by using a kind of pen with a copper container on a wooden handle.With Cap wax is printed on the cloth with a copper stamp. Making the Cap, copper stamp, is an artform on its own. Sometimes Canting and Cap are combined in making a Batik cloth. Last technique is coloring by hand, or applying 'dye proof' materials by hand (or with a small stick, like with 'sticky rice Batiks'. A kind of pudding of rice is applied on a cloth during a ritual. More about this in my blogpost about "kleefrijstbatiks".


September 16, 2009

Today in the mail

my ticket! On the background my Fonds BKVB t-shirts "This work of art is made possible.." and "This project is made possible with support of.." made by Isa Gama, thnx!

September 14, 2009

RiceFish from Borneo

Found this picture in a book I bought at a secondhand shop. A man is performing a ritual dance during Tiwah, ceremony for the dead, at Manusup, around a fish made of rice.

"Death, the Dayaks belief, is considered a migration from the world of the living to the hereafter. Basically, the death ritual is to honor the soul simultaneously as a means to lead the soul of the dead towards the hereafter. Therefore, for the Dayaks of Central Kalimantan especially the Ngaju, the death ritual, called Tiwah is considered of the utmost importance.
The Ngaju believe that the soul Liaw of the deceased person keeps lingering in the family's surroundings. Only after the ritual known as tiwah has been held is the soul free to travel to the hereafter, called Lewu Liaw or lewu tata.

The death ritual consits of two parts. First, the ceremony which is held immediately after a person's death. Second, the tiwah, which is to lead the soul to the other world and concludes the death ritual. Generally, this ceremony is held a year after the person's death. Commonly it is held after the harvest season when there are not much work to do and food stocks are available. However, since a lot of money is involved, most people usually wait until enough has been saved, or else organize the event collectively. The ceremony may last for week or a month, depending on the wealth of the family. The bones are collected and wrapped in a kakandin (red cloth, placed into a garantung gong), then stored in the Sandung, the special storage house. All the while, the gongs and drums are sounded and there is chanting. The Upo or ceremony leader, speaks a formula, which is repeated by the basirs of panumba that is, the members of the group perfoming the ritual. The drums are again beaten, in the rhythm that changes with the mood of the narration. First, the soul is awakened. Then, it is invited to put on proper clothes and offered various delicacies. It is also given a new name."
- from www.borneotourgigant.com/Tiwah

September 12, 2009

Batik workshop in Solo, Java

VI inspiratie om mij heen

Eerstelingenoffer oftewel 3d rijsttapijten

Een rijsttapijt maar dan anders. Deze offerschalen worden gemaakt van groente, fruit en bloemen. Van oudsher waren het de vruchten van de eerste oogst, vandaar de naam "Eerstelingenoffer".

  De schalen die boven het hoofd gehouden worden/op het hoofd gedragen worden, worden naar tempels gebracht of op het strand gelegd voor de verschillende Hindoestaanse goden.


Dit Balinees ritueel zag ik voor het eerst in de film Opera Jawa. Zie de still hierboven. Ik zou hier graag iets mee willen doen in mijn werk.

Orchid, silk-screen print on (wall)paper

Today and Sunday 13 September from 12h till 17h you can see this work at schouwburg De Maagd during the cultuurfestival in Bergen op Zoom.
The exhibition is a preview of de grafiekmap ‘De Brabantse Ring'. 'Orchid' is part of the 'pattern-pattern-pattern-series'.

September 7, 2009

Safe Travels


This morning I got my vaccinations at the GGD!
 And I got some anti-mosquito stuff, sunscreen and got this bum bag with it, 
well I can travel safe now...

September 2, 2009

Book list

Had a lot of fun reading & looking at picture to prepare myself for my journey.
From top to bottom:
- 'Indonesia / The Discovery of the Past', gift from Susan. A book full wonderful things with a colonial past.
- 'Bloemen van het heelal, De kleurrijke wereld van de textiel op Java' by Alit Veldhuisen-Djajasoebrata. The book about batik on Java! (so I'm told)
- 'Batik, Creating an identity'. My first Batik book, about social and cultural meaning of Batiks in Indonesia and Singapore.
- 'Papaver in de bergen' by Alice M. Ekert Rotholz
- 'Rijst uit zilveren schalen' by Alice M. Ekert Rotholz. The story takes place after the war in Asia.
- 'Waar tranen verboden zijn' by Alice M. Ekert Rotholz. The story tells from different cultures how they experienced the second world war.
- 'Uitgesproken Indonesisch' by Harmani Jeanne Ham.
- 'Indonesisch voor beginners' by Harmani Jeanne Ham.
- 'Guide to Java', travelbook from the 70's bought at an secondhand shop. In it an instruction paper about how Batik is created, in 8 steps on pieces of cotton, from a Batikworkshop in Yogyakarta. The previous owner left in in the book.
- 'Indonesische sprookjes', Indonesian fairy tales.
- 'Indonesië Reisverhalen', Indonesian travel-stories from 1700 till now.
- 'Indonesische volksgebruiken', small book about different rituals & tips
- and not on the photo a small dictionary to take with me.