African Photographs

Magadi Magadi,

Like every time when I'm in Harare I have to visit the National Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ) at least once! This time I was really impressed with all the improvements in all the areas of the museum. But most of all, I was impressed with the really great exhibition on display.

It was a photograph-exposition with photographs from different southern african photographers from the 1950's to present time. Most of them were portraits, mostly in black and white. The pictures show the process of how the photographers as newly independent citizens percieve the new and modern world they live in.

The show was separated in three different time-eras, so the viewer could really see the progress not only in technique, but also how people percieved themselves differently and started to find their own identities.

Here are my two favorite photographs of the 1950s-1960s.

The first one is a portrait of "Belle devant l'afro-negro club" from 1965 by Jean Depara. Depara is an internationally known talent and a pioneer in depicting modern african life. In this picture of a beautiful young woman, it is shown that, for example, western fashion and even hair, in the 60s was part of everyday life in Kinshasa. Depara lived and worked in the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo and captured its citizens and an Africa stripped of conventional social codes.

This portrait was taken by Ricardo Rangel, a photjournalist and photographer from Mozambique. "Doorkeeper at the Moulin Rouge" from 1970 shows, as many works by Rangel do, the fusion of the african/mozambican culture with its colonial ancestors, the Portuguese.

The second part of the exposition covered the timeperiod between the 1970s and 1990s. The photographs showed the aftermaths of the different revolutions, pacific or armed. Change was fragile and complicated, but very much fought for. While the northern part of Africa allready started to rebuild, the southern part still used photography as a method to raise awareness and to bring the movements foreward. 

This picture was taken by Jodi Bieber from South Africa in 1997. "Sunday School Nababeep Northern Cape". It was one of my favorite pictures in the entire exhibition. The children seemed so happy and fierce to show off their talent in a controled and safe environment. Bieber focused her early work on the place she grew up - South Africa. After over two decades of work she won the Premier World Press Photo of the Year Award 2011.

Lastly, the third part of the expo was focused on the 2000s. Photography isn't just a form of narration anymore, it has emancipated to an independent artform. Much like the people of Africa themselves. The struggle is over and after years of independence a new identity was finally found. 

Here you can see "Hloni" in 2006 and "Sibu I." in 2005, photographed by Nontskikelelo "Lolo" Veleko, from her series "Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder". In that series she portrays young Southafricans on the street, much like the wester trend of street-style-photography. The portrayed people are strong and confident and are proud to show off their individual style. The new generation of a new Africa.

Louis and Marc.

Friends of beautiful things,

I went to see an exhibition at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs that no girl, or man for that matter should miss. It's a tribute-exhibition for Louis Vuitton and Marc Jacobs, two of the most influental and trendsetting individuals of their times.

The exhibition was organized chronologicaly, from the very beginning of the Vuitton-Emporium to the reign of Fashion-Superstar Marc Jacobs.

At first there was only a man and his brilliant idea to provide the proper packaging and transport for the new and upcoming fashion-craze. Louis Vuitton built suitcases, that fit entire wardrobes, toiletries and whatever else a true lady or gentleman needed at that time. He started his buisness for "articles de voyages - trunks and bags" in 1854 in Paris.

It was only Louis' son, Georges, who took the company further, and expanded into international business and created the famous LV monogramm that is stil used today.

The second part of the exhibition was a view on the current state of the Louis Vuitton Brand under Head-Designer Marc Jacobs. The concept of the upper floor was completely different from the traditional displays of the era of Louis Vuitton. It was flashy and poppy with videowall that show Jacobs' inspirations. And it even had a warning for parents at the beginning, that the material could be inappropriate for kids. Oh well...

It was mostly fashion, amazing handbags, purses, clutches etc, shoes and a history of Marc Jacobs' rise to one of the most important people in the fashion business today. No wonder, his creations, ideas and visions are magnificent and the displays were beautifully arranged and made every girls heart skip a beat.

It was weird, colorful, crazy and amazing - just as fashion today should be. At least that's my opinion. 

My Childhood King

Good evening children and adults,

Due to wonderful weather, the beginning of summer here in Paris, I haven't been as motivated to follow up on my artfancies. It's just too beautiful outside to spend time at the museums...

With that said, there are other possibilities! For example the "Nuit européenne des musées". It is an event that happens in all the major cities in europe, at least the ones cool enough to participate! The big museeums and institutions keep their doors open until at least 23:00 at night - and you can visit them for free!! Plus it's at night, so you don't miss a beautiful sunny, warm, summery day.

Anyways, me and my friends chose a museum, we all hadn't visited before, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs. But mostly we chose it for the current exhibition: "Les histoires de Babar". It was the clear choice, everyone knew who Babar was, eventhough we all grew up on different continents.

So, hooray, we saw a very cute and amazing exhibition about the famous elephant-king in the dashing green suit. I'm sure by now even your memory found the lovely emperor again.

It was fascinating to learn, how the story of Babr and his family evolved and got created in the first place.
One night in 1930, Cécile de Brunhoff, a mother like most, starts telling a story of a small  elephant who has to flee the jungle for the city after a hunter kills his mother. The children of Cécile were so fascinated by the story that they told it to their father, a painter, Jean de Brunhoff - the creator of Babar. The first edition of "Histoire de Babar" was published in 1931.

The exhibition carried alot of the original artwork for the books by Brunhoff, aswell as different letters, notes, sketches and objects of Babar-merchandise. The exhibition also showed how the story of Babar evolved through time, how the royal family grew and how the stories were adapted to new media and a new generation of children. Cartoons and computergames included. There was also a display of the first Babar-stuffed animal and the latest.

The exhibition was so lovely and it made me think back to those days were me and my sister used to cram infront of those colorful books and find out, what Babar and his family and animalfriends were up to now.

Let's get musical

Bonjour Mesdames, Messieurs,

Lately I've passed by the Opera of Paris, the Opera Garnier, several times. And the building always impressed me soo much and I always wondered how it must look like from the inside. Of course I know that Chagall painted the ceiling in the grand opera hall and that it must be one of the most beautiful things ever.

So once, I passed by the impressive building again and it just started to rain so I thought "Ok, so I'll check it out." I went in, paid my entryticket and headed to the main entrance. Magnificent. But that's not what I want to tell you about today...

The Opera also has exhibitionspaces and the current exhibition was on "La Belle époque de Massenet".

Jules Massenet was one of the most famous french composers and best known for his operas. During his lifetime (1842-1912) his works were very popular, since melodic music was very much in style. Massenet ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. He reached to create an unique combination between art and music, since he wasn't only in charge of the music but everything that needed to be created for an opera. Costumes, sets, scenery etc.

The exhibition tried to give an overview of everything that Massenet had created, an entire new way of how opera was made! Scripts, notes, costumes, jewellery, stages and much more were displayed in a wonderful way! I always like it when alot of differnt things are shown to give you a complete view of a perticular thing. And I'm also alwys blown away by a persons ability to write music. It is a thing that I can not understand but I think it's the most amazing thing when someone can actually imagine and then write down entire operas. Incredible.

Here some pictures of my favorite pieces. As a woman I was of course drawn to the jewels, tiaras, crowns and beautifully embroided costumes. They were truly beautiful!

These are all parts of costumes for operas by Massenet and belong to Inventory of the Bibliotheque-Musée of the Opera Garnier. Especially the last picture, showing the helmet of Bacchus, the mythological god of wine and drunkenness, of the opera with the same name left me standing in awe for a couple of moments. The detail of the carvings and the detail in the form was amazing. Massenets love for melody and harmony isn't only manifested in his musical works, but also in the detail of every other aspect in his operas. And I think the exhibition did a great job displaying that. I loved it, and I love Massenets music!

A Parisian Dream

So, Paris. You can imagine, that I'm really loving it here. The entire city has a magical feel to it! And I really wanted to get to know the city head over heel. So I managed to get an invitation to a fashion show in my first week here which was awesome!
Afterall Paris isn't only the city of art, it's also the city of fashion! Some might say that fashion and art are so close together that you can't tell the difference - well, I think fashion is just one aspect of art! Fashion is art!!

Anyways, I went to the fashion show which was called "Podium Jeunes Stylistes" and I was very excited to see the clothes that the young designers had made for the evening. The theme of the fashionshow was "schizophrenia" and the clothes had to be designed with the theme of the event as guideline.

But as I entered the place where the fashionshow was held, my eye was immediateley caught by something else! The show was held in The Westin Hotel in Paris in the Salon Impérial. A beautiful, beautiful salon featuring impressive second empire-style fresco, lush red velvet curtains, elegant chandeliers and wonderful wooden floors. But the ceiling frescos really took my breath away! They were amazing! The whole rooms was just like out of an old-timed french dream - and this in my first week! Crazy...

After I got used to the fantastic location I could start to observe all the fabulous and well-dressed people and the whole set-up of the fashionshow. It was unbelievable. The modern technology and the traditional room were a perfect complimet to eachother. 

And then the show started. The music was playing loudly, the models were as beautiful as expected and the clothes even more beautiful and creative! It was wonderful. 

Oh, the winner of the show was crowned immediately after the show and Lou De Testa won with her amazing collection of wonderful and inspired outfits. Metal feathers - if that's not schizo... :)

(For more infos about the Podium Jeunes Stylistes Competition: http://www.podiumstylistes.fr/index.php?lang=fr)