Museum and Gallery Listings for May 18-24

Posted on 17th May 2012 in The monuments of world
Published: May 17, 2012

Art

Museums and galleries are in Manhattan unless otherwise noted. Full reviews of recent art shows: nytimes.com/art. A searchable guide to these and many other art shows is at nytimes.com/events.

Museums

★ American Folk Art Museum: ‘Jubilation | Rumination: Life, Real and Imagined’ (through Sept. 2) Having escaped the ugly, West 53rd Street tomb of a building it inhabited from 2001 to 2011, the American Folk Art Museum has reoccupied its old space on Lincoln Square. This wonderful show of about 100 works from the permanent collection samples all the varieties of artistic expression under the museum’s purview, from portraits and quilts by anonymous craftspeople to otherworldly fantasies envisioned by so-called Outsiders like Henry Darger and Martin Ramírez. The revival of this irreplaceable institution is cause for rejoicing. 2 Lincoln Square, Columbus Avenue, at 66th Street, (212) 595-9533, folkartmuseum.org. (Ken Johnson)

Bronx Museum of the Arts: ‘Juan Downey: The Invisible Architect’ (through June 10) In the wilder moments of his career, Mr. Downey, who died of cancer in 1993 at 53 and is getting his first United States museum retrospective here, reversed the traditional dynamic of sculpture, examining how humans could affect objects rather than the other way around; administered oxygen to pedestrians on the street in New York in “Fresh Air” (1972); and cohabitated as a kind of gonzo anthropologist — or early implementer of art as social practice — with the Yanomami Indians in Venezuela. Central to his vision, which drew on Frederick Kubler, critical theory and hallucinogenic states of mind, Mr. Downey also developed a concept of “invisible architecture,” which he described in 1973 as “an attitude of total communication within which ultra-developed minds will be telepathically cellular to an electromagnetic whole.” 1040 Grand Concourse, at 165th Street, Morrisania, the Bronx, (718) 681-6000, bronxmuseum.org. (Martha Schwendener)

Brooklyn Museum: ‘Keith Haring: 1978-1982’ (through July 8) Heavy on the party photographs and punk-to-New Wave soundtrack, this show repackages the mythic Haring — club kid, Warhol protégé and maker of friendly street art — for a younger generation. But other Harings emerge in rarely seen early drawings, collages, journals and, especially, in short performative videos like “Painting Myself Into a Corner” and “Tribute to Gloria Vanderbilt.” 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org. (Karen Rosenberg)

Brooklyn Museum: ‘Rachel Kneebone: Regarding Rodin’ (through Aug. 12) Ms. Kneebone, a British artist, has been invited by the Brooklyn Museum to riff on Rodin and chose 15 works from the museum’s permanent collection to show with her own porcelain sculptures. She is drawn to Rodin’s maquettes, or the smaller models on which larger sculptures were based. Some works recall wedding cakes and Baroque or Rococo fountains. Chef d’oeuvre of the show, “The Descent” (2008), recalls Rodin’s “Gates of Hell” and is comprised of dozens of little figures descending into a cauldron-shaped pit. That Ms. Kneebone’s project is installed in the museum’s Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art might suggest that you’re going to get a feminist flogging of Rodin, but Ms. Kneebone does not head down that path. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org. (Schwendener)

★ Brooklyn Museum: ‘Connecting Cultures: A World in Brooklyn’ (continuing) This eclectic, imaginatively thought-out one-gallery immersion experience in world art, all from Brooklyn’s collection and installed in the museum’s revamped Great Hall, serves as a teaser to the fabulous collections in the galleries beyond. 200 Eastern Parkway, at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, (718) 638-5000, brooklynmuseum.org. (Holland Cotter)

★ Guggenheim Museum: ‘Francesca Woodman’ (through June 13) Francesca Woodman, the photographer who at 22 took her own life in 1981, is as close to a true saint as the putatively secular world of contemporary art can claim. The dreamy, formally playful and disarmingly erotic pictures she made — mostly of herself partly unclothed or naked — project a self surrendering unreservedly to the spirit of art. Viewing this riveting survey of her sadly abbreviated career, it is hard to shake off the admittedly absurd notion that she was too pure an artist for this muddy world. 1071 Fifth Avenue, at 89th Street, (212) 423-3500, guggenheim.org. (Johnson)

★ International Center of Photography: ‘Weegee: Murder Is My Business’ (through Sept. 2) From the home of Weegee’s voluminous archive, the latest exhibition about this great documentary photographer (1899-1968) revisits his frenetic, formative first decade of work, starting in 1935, when his often sensational images of murder and mayhem appeared in New York’s daily newspapers. His penchant for self-promotion, the work of his competitors and peers, the evolution of tabloid journalism and the great city that was both his subject and his audience are emphasized, with fresh curatorial precision and deftly used touch screens. 1133 Avenue of the Americas, at 43rd Street, (212) 857-0000, icp.org. (Roberta Smith)

★ Japan Society: ‘Deco Japan: Shaping Art and Culture, 1920-1945’ (through June 10) This beautiful, surprising and sociologically intriguing exhibition reveals how Japanese artists, designers and craftsmen cultivated their own version of Art Deco, that excruciatingly suave style of art, design and décor that prevailed in Europe and America during the 1920s and ’30s. The 200 paintings, sculptures, ceramics, glassware, jewelry, fashion and printed ephemera on display seamlessly blend East and West and old and new. You could almost believe it was the Japanese who invented Art Deco. 333 East 47th Street, (212) 832-1155, japansociety.org. (Johnson)

Jewish Museum: ‘Édouard Vuillard: A Painter and His Muses, 1890-1940’ (through Sept. 23) In the 1890s, Vuillard made some of the most beguiling paintings of fin de siècle Paris: intimate, compact, brushy pictures of his mother and sister in the apartment he shared with them and the dressmaking shop they worked in. Then he reverted to a more traditionally realistic style and produced many portraits of his wealthy friends and benefactors until he died in 1940. This incisive show, sampling works from his more than four-decade career, invites reassessment of the later, heretofore less appreciated paintings. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3200, thejewishmuseum.org. (Johnson)

Jewish Museum: ‘Kehinde Wiley / The World Stage: Israel’ (through July 29) After earning a master of fine arts at Yale in 2001, Kehinde Wiley began exhibiting his large, figurative oil-on-canvas portraits of young black men in hip-hop apparel. With their emphasis on bright, acid colors and ghetto-fabulous outfits, the paintings borrowed heavily from the work of Barkley Hendricks, although Mr. Wiley’s contribution was to push things in a more bombastic direction, hijacking the format of old master portraits. Mr. Wiley’s work hasn’t changed much over the last decade, although his scope has gone global. This exhibition, which focuses on Ethiopian Israeli Jews, is shown alongside historic paper cuts and textile works he selected from the museum’s collection. The result is a fusion of Pattern and Decoration painting with figuration, a mash-up or sampling of historical styles and references. 1109 Fifth Avenue, at 92nd Street, (212) 423-3337, thejewishmuseum.org. (Schwendener)

★ Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Byzantium and Islam: Age of Transition’ (through July 8) Concluding the Met’s series of Byzantine art blockbusters, this show tells the story of the Byzantine Empire in the Eastern Mediterranean, from Syria through Egypt and across North Africa, as it made contact with (and lost ground to) the emerging Islamic world between the seventh and ninth centuries. Loans from Egypt could not be secured, because of the continuing turmoil of the Arab Spring, but important pieces from Jordan, Greece and Georgia are among the show’s highlights. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Rosenberg)

★ Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘The Dawn of Egyptian Art’ (through Aug. 5) The predynastic roots of the grand dynastic Egyptian art that we all know and sometimes love are exposed in this sublime, view-changing show. The most riveting and least familiar offerings are a selection of small objects, painted pottery and figures in clay or ivory that date from 3900 to 3100 B.C., quite a few of which are usually on view in the Met’s Egyptian galleries. Here they are supplemented by extraordinary outside loans and elegantly displayed in the Robert Lehman Wing. Sometimes it takes an exhibition. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Smith)

★ Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Naked Before the Camera’ (through Sept. 9) This resonant, illuminating if sometimes fraught exhibition traces the progress of the naked, mostly female body through photography from its early years nearly to the present with some 90 images, all owned by the Met. In works variously artistic, erotic, scientific, ethnographic, forensic and experimental, we see a medium stretched by human use and imagination. The male gaze is often relentless, but as time passes, individual faces, personalities and relationships come into focus on all sides; consciousness rises and oppressiveness decreases, which is a relief. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Smith)

Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Spies in the House of Art: Photography, Film, and Video’ (through Aug. 26) This exhibition of 17 contemporary works inspired by museums doesn’t mention Theodor Adorno by name, but it nods toward his ideas in a wall text, which jokes that artists often see museums as “mausoleums, places where art goes to die.” Andrea Fraser’s video “Museum Highlights: A Gallery Talk” (1989) leans toward the anti-museum view, while a 16-millimeter film by Nashashibi/Skaer, the duo of British artists Rosalind Nashashibi and Lucy Skaer, made by gliding through the Met in the dark with a camera and a flash strobe, treats the museum like a darkened crypt. Lutz Bacher’s video offers another museum tour, while the museum appears in poetically distorted form in photographs by John Pilson, Tim Davis and Lothar Baumgarten. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Schwendener)

Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘The Steins Collect: Matisse, Picasso, and the Parisian Avant-Garde’ (through June 3) Like the family it chronicles, this exhibition is fragmented and contentious with flashes of brilliance. It explores the closely intertwined collections of the siblings Leo, Gertrude and Michael Stein (and Michael’s wife, Sarah), casting these wealthy American expatriates as ahead-of-the-curve art patrons whose tastes and social networks shaped Modernism as we know it. And it shows Matisse and Picasso vying for the Steins’ attention. Highlights include Matisse’s Fauvist “Woman With a Hat” and, naturally, Picasso’s proto-cubist portrait of Gertrude. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Rosenberg)

Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations’ (through Aug. 19) This year’s Costume Institute extravaganza is on the modest side, and has a narrow thesis: comparing and contrasting work by two designers of different generations. Whether a this-looks-like-that approach to history is valid is the question; it seems dubious here. But the installation — with fictional chats on film between the fashion titans — is fun, and some of the Schiaparelli clothes look great. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Cotter)

★ Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Dürer and Beyond: Central European Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1400-1700’ (through Sept. 3) How do we get beyond Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), the ne plus ultra draftsman and all-around Northern Renaissance master, an artist so secure in his greatness that he painted himself as Jesus? We don’t, at least not often in this show, which surveys the Met’s holdings of drawings made before 1700 by artists working in the Holy Roman Empire. But the offerings should nevertheless entice viewers to look more closely at the art of Central Europe, which absorbed diverse religious and stylistic influences from Italian, Dutch and Flemish art. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Rosenberg)

★ Morgan Library & Museum: ‘Dan Flavin: Drawing’ (through July 1) The artist Dan Flavin (1933-96) is so closely identified with his signature medium, the fluorescent light sculpture, that a show of his drawings is bound to surprise. And it’s particularly exciting to find that Flavin was not only a devoted draftsman but also a freewheeling polymath on paper. The Morgan’s show includes drawings from Flavin’s personal collection, which encompasses Hokusai, Mondrian and the Hudson River School and will completely change the way you see his art. 225 Madison Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 685-0008, Ext. 560, themorgan.org. (Rosenberg)

Museum of Arts and Design: ‘Swept Away: Dust, Ashes, and Dirt in Contemporary Art and Design’ (through Aug. 12) From the department of unsolicited advice for aspiring artists: avoid dust, dirt, ashes, soot, smoke, sand, mud and lint, especially if you want to make a statement about life, death, history and the ephemerality of it all. The dangers are well-illustrated in this 25-artist show. While formally various, almost every piece trades on stereotypical associations with the entropic end to which we all are destined. 2 Columbus Circle, (212) 299-7777, madmuseum.org. (Johnson)

★ Museum of Modern Art: ‘Born Out of Necessity’ (through Jan. 28) The title may or may not have an extra preposition, but the show itself is a fascinating array of recent acquisitions that have a fairly direct bearing on quality of life or actual survival. They range from classic (the 1908 Dixie cup) to cutting edge; cover both analog and digital; and include the tiny (the latest in ear plugs) and the quite large (the 1952 United States Army Jeep). Whether born ‘of’ or ‘out of’ necessity, the displays attest to human ingenuity responding to human need. (212) 708-9400, moma.org. (Smith)

★ Museum of Modern Art: ‘Ecstatic Alphabets/Heaps of Language’ (through Aug. 27) In a drawing from 1966, “Heaps of Language,” Robert Smithson assembled a pyramid of words about words: “Language” at the apex, supported by “phraseology speech,” “tongue lingo vernacular,” and on down through a base of synonyms. This playful exhibition borrows Smithson’s title and runs wild with his vision of words as materials. It includes a timeline of Dada wordplay and concrete poetry, and works by contemporary artists and artist’s groups including Paul Elliman, Sharon Hayes and Dexter Sinister. (212) 708-9400, moma.org. (Rosenberg)

Museum of Modern Art: ‘Exquisite Corpses: Drawing and Disfiguration’ (through July 9) This entertaining little show includes five products of the Surrealist parlor game “exquisite corpse” and rustles up other examples of distorted or disjointed figuration from MoMA’s permanent collection. There’s much here to amuse, provoke and titillate, though the curators don’t include more performance-based forms of collaboration. (212) 708-9400, moma.org. (Rosenberg)

Museum of Modern Art: ‘Cindy Sherman’ (through June 11) Aided by ever-shifting arrays of costumes, wigs, makeup, props, masks and prosthetic body parts, the leading light of postmodern photo-based art spent nearly four decades turning photography against itself, laying waste to a lexicon of mostly female stereotypes and exposing both the tyranny and the inner lives of the images of women that bombard and shape us all at every turn. This retrospective could have been larger, more clearly organized and less familiar, but its strengths, like the achievement it honors, are undeniable. (212) 708-9400, moma.org. (Smith)

★ Whitney Museum of American Art: ‘Whitney Biennial 2012’ (through May 27) With remarkable clarity of vision, striking spatial intelligence and a generous stylistic inclusiveness, one of the best Whitney Biennials in recent memory confidently weaves together art objects and time-based art — dance, theater and performance as well as film and video — on a scale unprecedented in New York. So doing, this especially poetic incarnation also reinvents the museum’s signature show and places future biennial curators in its debt, while offering the out-of-control, money-saturated art world a bit of redemption. Visit early and often. (212) 570-3600, whitney.org. (Smith)

Galleries: Uptown

Frank Stella: ‘Black, Aluminum, Copper Paintings’ (through June 2) This magisterial, museum-quality blast from the past revisits the earliest, most innovative years of Mr. Stella’s development with 13 adamant, quietly pulsing, exceedingly frontal works. Painted in parallel stripes of black, then aluminum and then copper on canvases that start out rectangular and end up emphatically shaped, they bid a moody farewell to Abstract Expressionism and forge a new, nothing-but-the-facts reciprocity between painting as object and image. Forerunners of Minimalism, they also remain powerfully evocative in a time of renewed interest in abstraction among younger artists. L&M Arts, 45 East 78th Street, Manhattan, (212) 861-0020, lmgallery.com. (Smith)

Édouard Vuillard: ‘Paintings and Works on Paper’ (through May 25) This show focuses on some remarkable, large, late paintings on which Vuillard labored for extended periods of time. An eerily gloomy portrait of two women in a cavernous room, one a former lover, took two years to complete, from 1923 to 1925. “Madame Jean Bloch and Her Children” (1927-29) took so long that a fourth child was born before it was done, so he had to make another version, which can be seen in the Vuillard retrospective now at the Jewish Museum. Jill Newhouse, 4 East 81st Street, (212) 249-9216, jillnewhouse.com. (Johnson)

★ ‘Lucian Freud Drawings’ (through June 9) This quietly ravishing show gives a new prominence to Lucian Freud’s works on paper, which aren’t appreciated as much as his paintings. Beginning with a childhood crayon sketch, it includes some small oil portraits and powerful examples of Freud’s late work in etching. And it shows Freud moving from the tightly controlled pen-and-ink drawings that defined his early painting style to looser works that, in the words of curator William Feaver, are “both in the paintings and a reaction or counterpoint to them.” Acquavella Galleries, 18 East 79th Street, Manhattan; (212) 734-6300, acquavellagalleries.com. (Rosenberg)

Galleries: 57th Street

Anne Arnold: ‘Sculpture From Four Decades’ (through June 8) When Abstract Expressionism was casting its triumphal shadow over American art and David Smith was making monuments out of industrial steel, Anne Arnold (born in 1925) created smart and humorous sculptures of dogs, people and other domestic creatures. This delightful show presents 27 pieces from the 1950s to the late ’80s in which the seeming liveliness of the animals and the obviously nonliving materials they are made of, including wood, clay and bronze, are in finely tuned tension. Alexandre Gallery, 41 East 57th Street, (212) 755-2828, alexandregallery.com. (Ken Johnson)

Galleries: Chelsea

Katherine Bradford: ‘New Work’ (through May 26) “Transform, transport and transcend” could be a motto for this veteran New York artist. Painting loosely with infectious joie de vivre, Ms. Bradford creates luminous and sumptuously tactile, sometimes goofy visions of Superman and oceangoing ships. If Superman represents the visionary individual, Ms. Bradford’s ships suggest utopian collectivity, promising voyages of kindred spirits to unknown shores. Edward Thorp, 210 11th Avenue, at 24th Street, Chelsea, (212) 691-6565, edwardthorpgallery.com. (Johnson)

★ Rotimi Fani-Kayode: ‘Nothing to Lose’ (through July 28) “Black, African, homosexual photography” was how the Nigerian-born artist Rotimi Fani-Kayode described his work. And although little seen at the time of his death from AIDS in London in 1989, at age 34, his pictures have become classic examples of the kind of rethinking and re-experiencing of identity that was transforming new art three decades ago, and continues to have power. The Walther Collection Project Space, 526 West 26th Street, Suite 718, (212) 352-0683, walthercollection.com. (Cotter)

★ Lucio Fontana: ‘Ambienti Spaziali’ (through June 30) The most comprehensive survey in this country devoted to the Italian modernist Lucio Fontana (1899-1968) is a delirious revelation. His innovative slashed and punctured paintings show him pushing quite literally through the canvas into real space, where his experiments included four “ambiente spaziale” (“spatial environments”) never before exhibited in this country. Alternately daffy and dazzling, the assembled works focus on the purist side of Fontana’s polymorphous sensibility, but nonetheless reveal a wide-ranging permissiveness, and an inspiring dedication to art as a quest, not a finished product. Gagosian Gallery, 555 West 24th Street, (212) 741-1111, gagosian.com. (Smith)

‘Cindy Sherman’ (through June 9) This innovative photo-based artist’s latest fusions of painting, cinema and fashion are grandly dour, mural-size images that depict somewhat worn, subtly disturbed, luxuriously garbed (vintage Chanel) older women set incongruously into largely barren landscapes textured with ersatz brushwork from Photoshop. The results lampoon painting while their unsettling lack of cohesion stymies the kind of reflexive narrative that Ms. Sherman’s work has typically provoked. The Nordic mood is matched by a kind of visual brain freeze. Metro Pictures, 519 West 24th Street, Chelsea, (212) 206-7100, metropicturesgallery.com. (Smith)

Galleries: Other

Charles Atlas: ‘The Illusion of Democracy’ (through July 15) Since the early 1970s, Charles Atlas has usually made people — artists, dancers, singers — the main images in his work, making us see familiar figures in a way we never quite had before. For his solo debut with Luhring Augustine, he fills the gallery’s new Bushwick space with three big, immersive, pulsating video projections of constantly changing numbers. Luhring Augustine Gallery, 25 Knickerbocker Avenue, Bushwick, Brookyn, (718) 386-2746, luhringaugustine.com. (Cotter)

Bill Bollinger: ‘Aluminum channel, cast iron, paper: 1966-1977’ (through June 9) In the early 1970s, Bollinger (1939-88) created sculptures at an iron foundry by pouring molten metal into lake-shaped excavations in sand. The three craggy and rusty pieces on view have a shocking vitality. Two that stand vertically — the biggest is nearly seven feet tall — resemble Chinese scholar rocks. One lying on the floor with its flat side up bespeaks the sculptor’s preoccupations with gravity, fluidity and raw materiality. Algus Greenspon, 71 Morton Street, (212) 255-7872, algusgreenspon.com. (Johnson)

Bill Bollinger: ‘The Retrospective’ (through July 30) From 1965 to 1970, Bollinger (1939-88) was at the center of avant-gardist action in New York and Europe. Major exhibitions included his elegant, stripped-down configurations of hardware-store materials like chain-link fencing, pipes, ropes, hoses, lumber, saw horses, oil barrels, and nuts and bolts. Then he left New York and became a forgotten man. This selection of his work from the second half of the ’60s tells a fascinating story of ambition, success and failure. SculptureCenter, 44-19 Purves Street, Long Island City, Queens, (718) 361-1750, sculpture-center.org. (Johnson)

★ ‘Picasso and Françoise Gilot: Paris-Vallauris, 1943-1953’ (through June 30) Life was sweet for Picasso during the years of romance and cohabitation with Françoise Gilot judging by this wonderful exhibition. Looking at his regal Cubist portraits of Ms. Gilot and tumultuous paintings of his young children at play you can imagine yourself seeing through the eyes of a worshipful husband and loving, benevolent father. Fictional or not, the paintings of this period are, mostly, infectiously playful and sometimes comically zany. Gagosian Gallery, 980 Madison Avenue, near 77th Street, (212) 744-2313, gagosian.com. (Johnson)

★ Hans Schabus: ‘Let’s Call It Heimat’ (through June 15) “Atelier,” the centerpiece here, is a brilliant nearly 10-minute video loop that recreates — cut by cut and camera angle by angle — the extended final shootout of Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 revisionist western “The Wild Bunch” by joining the original soundtrack with views of Mr. Schabus’s deserted, serenely ordered Viennese studio and its surroundings. As the gunfire and the cuts accelerate, a seemingly extra-brainy, nostalgic and very male deconstruction gives way to a haunted formalism grim with future implications of terrorism, urban violence and paranoid xenophobia. Simon Preston Gallery, 301 Broome Street, Lower East Side, (212) 431-1105, simonprestongallery.com. (Smith)

‘Storied Past: Four Centuries of French Drawings From the Blanton Museum of Art’ / ‘French Art From N.Y.U.’s Collection’ (through July 14) At first glance this show looks like a dreary affair: a gathering of little-known draftsmen, almost all of them beholden to the Academy. Give it time, though, and like a dull professorial type after a few gin and tonics it may surprise you with sudden flights of vivacity. Shaped by the Suida-Manning Collection (a group of European drawings initially amassed by the Austrian art historian William Suida in the early 20th century), it includes many works by 17th- and 18th-century French artists who studied in Italy or worked in an Italianate style. Grey Art Gallery, New York University, 100 Washington Square East, Greenwich Village, (212) 998-6780, nyu.edu/greyart. (Rosenberg)

‘Terracotta Warriors: Defenders of China’s First Emperor’ (through Aug. 26) Since being exhumed from an imperial cemetery in the 1970s, China’s terra-cotta army has been on a global Long March, moving from one sell-out museum appearance to the next and serving as emblems of China’s neo-imperial clout in the here and now. That army, or a small piece of it, has arrived in New York City. Only nine of an estimated 8,000 soldiers made the trip. But they’re in great shape and, fitted out with weapons, armor, cash and a portable kitchen, they’re a sight to see. Discovery Times Square, 226 West 44th Street, Manhattan, (866) 987-9692, discoverytsx.com. (Cotter)

Last Chance

★ ‘Every Exit Is an Entrance: 30 Years of Exit Art’ (closes on Saturday) This big retrospective archival show documents the history of Exit Art, one of Manhattan’s premier nonprofit spaces, founded 30 years ago by Jeanette Ingberman and Papo Colo. After Ms. Ingberman’s death last year, Mr. Colo decided to close the gallery, and this exhibition will be its last. On Saturday Mr. Colo will perform “Sweeping Memories,” a ritual cleansing of, and farewell to, the Exit Art premises. Exit Art, 475 Tenth Avenue, at 36th Street, (212) 966-7745, exitart.org. (Cotter)

Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Rembrandt and Degas: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man’ (closes on Sunday) This lovely small show, focused on self-portrait paintings and prints, proposes that Rembrandt was a greater influence on Degas than has generally been recognized. Degas as a young man studied Rembrandt prints, copied at least one and made others imitating Rembrandt-type effects. But a group of four captivating self-portraits at the heart of the show — two by each artist painted at age 23 — suggests that the men were temperamentally about as alike as a cat and a dog. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Johnson)

★ Metropolitan Museum of Art: ‘Rembrandt at Work: The Great Self-Portrait From Kenwood House’ (closes on Sunday) This late, magnificently plain-spoken self-portrait finds the artist in his studio, brush and palette in hand, contemplating his homely visage. Surrounded by, and generally overshadowing, several of the Met’s own Rembrandts, it is among the high points of European painting, not the least for the pale background wall where two drawn circles echo, abstractly and much enlarged, the painter’s intent gaze. Its emotional gravity and psychic complexity underscore why Rembrandt is often likened to Shakespeare in his epoch-changing grasp of human interiority. (212) 535-7710, metmuseum.org. (Smith)

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Under the spell of Istanbul

Posted on 17th May 2012 in The monuments of world


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View of Istanbul from the Golden Horn

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Topkapi Palace symbolises the eternal vigilance of the Ottoman Sultan against injustice

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Dolmabache Palace was an administrative centre for Ottoman Empire replacing the Topkapi Palace until 1922

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Enderun Library within the Topkapi Palace compound

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The Blue Mosque in its grandeur under the bright sunlight as seen from Sultan Ahmad Garden, at the northern side Pictures by Rizauddin Ibrahim

AHH… historic Istanbul! This crosses my mind the moment I lay my eyes on classic Ottoman buildings and the architecturally European-flavoured ones set along the shores of the Golden Horn.

I am on a boat cruise along the waters of the Golden Horn, a natural estuary of the Bosphorus Strait that divides this capital of Turkey into two continents — Asia in the east and Europe in the west.

That boat cruise is a surreal yet amazing voyage between the two continents.

The Golden Horn is a 7.5km- long, narrow estuary that forms a protected natural harbour.

For thousands of years, it has been a port of call for ships from the Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman.

Here was where the city once began and here is where I begin my journey in historic Istanbul.

ANCIENT DOMES AND TOWERS

Looking at the city skyline from where I am on the boat, I can already feel the historic aura. First, I clearly see the domes and towers of Hagia Sophia, Topkapi Palace and Blue Mosque which date from the year 530 to 1600.

As the boat cruises along the coast, one cannot help feeling impressed at the sight of Dolmabahce Palace, (1856), and Beylerbeyi Palace, a summer palace completed in 1865.

And there are many hundreds of years-old wooden villas and mansions along the shores that will make anyone envious of their owners.

Then comes the Rumeli Hasari or Rumeli Fortress that will leave you awestruck by its sheer supreme look. It was the largest fortress built by Sultan Mehmed Istanbul II in 1451 to control the sea routes of the Bosphorus to prevent aid from the Black Sea reaching the Turkish Siege of Constantinople in 1453.

Constantinople is the Byzantine name for Istanbul. It was under siege many times before Mehmet The Conqueror took the city in 1453 and made it the capital of the Ottoman Empire. Before that, it was the capital of powerful Roman and Byzantine Empire.

These ancient empires left these symbols of their past glories and best of all, these remnants are not scattered ruins of dull grey stones but large buildings which have defied the ravages of time. All these can now still be seen in the Sultan Ahmed District.

ROYAL DISTRICT

The Sultan Ahmed District is the heart of historic Old Istanbul. It is located on the peninsula bounded by bodies of water to north, east and south — the Golden Horn, Bosphorus and the Sea of Marmara, respectively. The area was declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1985.

This is where Constantinople was located at the southern bank of the Golden Horn and parts of the defence wall of the old city still remain at the coast. Located on the European side of Istanbul, the old city is the best base for sightseeing in Istanbul.

As the most historic part of Istanbul, Sultan Ahmet District is where all the city’s significant landmarks like Hippodrome, Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia and Topkapi Palace are located. Making it a complete tourist destination, the area has a number of good restaurants and hotels too.

HIPPODROME OF CONSTANTINOPLE

Though public transport is easily accessible, going on foot is the best choice to explore the old city. You should not miss going to Sultan Ahmed Square, actually the Hippodrome of Constantinople, the sporting and social centre of the city during the Byzantium era where horse or chariot racings were held.

Today, several fragments of the original structure that adorned the square during its glorious time are still standing. They are the monuments of the Spiral Column, Thutmosis Obelisk and Walled Obelisk.

The most recent addition to the square is the German Fountain, which is an octagonal domed fountain in neo-Byzantine style, constructed by the German government in 1900 to mark the German Emperor Wilhelm II’s visit to Istanbul in 1898.

THE BLUE MOSQUE

Adjacent to the Hippodrome is the Blue Mosque, or its official name, Sultan Ahmed Mosque. Built from 1609 to 1617, it is called the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles that adorn the walls of its interior. However, the tiles are mostly on the upper level, which is difficult to see.

Coming from the Hippodrome, I walk through a grand doorway on the western side to go to its inner courtyard.

Its architecture is better appreciated from the outside, especially under the bright sunlight from the Sultan Ahmed Garden at the northern side.

This grand building of Ottoman architecture with six minarets and cascading layers of domes is a sight to behold.

HAGIA SOPHIA

As you admire the Blue Mosque and praise its architect, Sadefkar Mehmet Aga, tribute should also be given to Anthemius of Tralles and Isidorus of Miletus, the architects of neighbouring Hagia Sophia.

They designed Hagia Sophia 1,000 years before Mehmet Aga was born. History goes that Sultan Ahmed 1, the Sultan of Ottoman ordered the Blue Mosque to be built to rival Hagia Sophia. And the result is two great architectural achievements standing next to each other in Istanbul’s main square.

Hagia Sofia or Aya Sofia in Turkish which means Church Of Holy Wisdom, was built from year 532 to 537.

At that time, its wide, flat dome was considered a daring engineering feat and became the world’s most impressive building and made it the greatest church in Christendom.

It then was turned into a mosque when Ottoman conquered the city in 1453 and continued to serve as Istanbul’s most revered mosque until 1935 when Kamal Ataturk turned it into a museum as we see it today.

Unlike the Blue Mosque, Hagia Sofia is best admired from the inside, especially from the mezzanine level. From this floor, the view of the prayer hall is the most impressive. The natural light is slightly dimmed under its massive dome but gloriously lit by the glittering gold from the 30 million pieces of tiny golden tiles.

These tiny pieces of tiles are mosaic images of the Virgin Mother, Jesus, saints, emperors and empresses, as well as geometric patterns.

As it was once a mosque, the wall has Islamic calligraphy arts that inscribe religious names including that of the first four caliphs Abu Bakar, Umar, Uthman and Ali.

It is under this great dome of Hagia Sophia that I find a perfect mix of both Ottoman and Byzantium, or Islamic and Christian.

These are the characteristics of two different cultures from two great empires that have affected present Istanbul.
 

TOPKAPI PALACE

Next to Hagia Sophia is Topkapi Palace, home of Ottoman Sultan for 400 years and the heart of Ottoman Empire.

The initial construction began in 1459 but after that, over centuries,  the Palace Complex expanded to cover 80 hectares! This centuries-long construction included the major renovation after the 1509 earthquake and 1665 fire.

At its peak, the palace is home to 4,000 people but it is now the Topkapi Palace Museum housing many collections of historic objects from all over the Ottoman Empire and precious heirlooms that once belonged to Ottoman Sultans themselves.

A short visit to this palace will not do justice to it for it is a huge complex, made of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings.

The assortment of small buildings is fine architecture on its own. They are a result of the directives by many previous Ottoman Sultans who individually added and changed various structures and elements in the palace.

But the finest of all is the Fourth Courtyard or Imperial Sofa, the innermost private sanctuary of the Sultan and his family and has a number of pavilions, kiosks, gardens and terraces.

Here also is the special chamber called Chamber of the Sacred Relic, which includes the Pavilion of the Holy Mantle.

The pavilion houses what are considered the most sacred relics of the Muslim world, including the cloak of the Prophet Muhammad, two swords, a bow, one tooth, hairs of his beard, his battle sabres, autographed letters and other relics.

Several other sacred objects are also on display, such as the swords of the first four Caliphs, the staff of Moses, the turban of Joseph and a carpet belonging to Muhammad’s daughter.

The upper terrace has the Iftar Kiosk and Baghdad Kiosk where the Sultan customarily breaks fast during Ramadan with the view of the Golden Horn in the background. This is the best place to end the tour in Topkapi Palace.
 

GRAND BAZAAR

For a city that is proud of its heritage and culture inherited from two major empires, there is life in this city that stubbornly clings on to its old world ambience. That is the Grand Bazaar.

The oldest and one of the world’s largest covered bazaars, the bazaar spreads over 61 covered streets with more than 3,000 shops. Record has it that the bazaar attracts between 250,000 and 400,000 visitors daily.

It offers an excellent shopping experience especially for souvenir hunting, from Turkish carpets, glazed tiles and pottery, copper and brassware, apparel made of leather, cotton and wool, music instrument to all sorts of other things.

Thanks to the ambience, I can’t help but feel like entering Aladdin’s cave in some shops selling antiques.

This is the place to hone bargaining skills, which usually involves prospective clients having tea with the traders while bargaining for the right price.

Shopping in the Grand Bazaar is what many visitors list as among the things to do when visiting Istanbul. But for a more sizzling time, have a fine dinner with a belly dancing show thrown in.
 

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Vayama Highlights Top International Destinations for Students

Posted on 16th May 2012 in The monuments of world

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – Vayama.com, the online travel agency that specializes in international travel, announces today a list of international cities that provide a wealth of history and culture for students who want to continue their education outside of the classroom. Each destination highlights popular attractions and local cuisine along with other insights about the culture and its people.

“Traveling internationally is great for students as it creates a sense of independence while also providing a once in a lifetime learning experience that cannot be found inside a classroom,” said Thomas Kent, vice president of marketing at Vayama.com. “Our experts at Vayama.com have developed a list of some of the most culturally rich cities on the planet that provide an abundance of great food, entertainment and historical attractions so that students can get a firsthand look at how people around the world live, work and play.”

Casablanca, Morocco
Morocco is a country that is rich in culture and etiquette as it is home to a variety of backgrounds and religions. The cultural diversity in Morocco is so abundant that a separate unique identity can be found in each city within the country. Students should visit Casablanca as it is not only world famous because of the 1942 Hollywood romantic classic, but is also home to the Hassan II mosque, the largest mosque in the country and the seventh largest mosque in the world. A true taste of Moroccan culture can be found in its cuisine, which contains an extensive blend of spices along with a large range of Mediterranean fruits, vegetables and common meats such as mutton lamb, beef, chicken, camel, rabbit and seafood.

Istanbul, Turkey
 Turkey is packed with over 2000 years of history that is illustrated in its monuments that are placed throughout the country and date back to Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods. Istanbul is the most populated city in Turkey and is the country’s cultural and financial center. Great historical attractions in Istanbul include the Hagia Sophia, a mosque and now museum that originally opened in 360 ac, and the Topkapi Palace that was home to the Ottoman Sultans for nearly 400 years. Students should be sure to check out the local bazaars, Turkish delight and the national drink Raki, an unsweetened hard alcoholic drink.

Shanghai, China
In the 18th century Shanghai was just a small fishing and textiles town, but it has since grown to be the largest city in the world. It is known as the birthplace of modern culture in China. Tourists flock to the city for its historical landmarks, stunning architecture, flourishing nightlife and great shopping. Students should be sure to check out The Bund, which is one of the most famous attractions that sits on its world famous waterfront boulevard and is lined with 1920′s art deco buildings along the Huangpu River. The Pudong district is also popular as it is home to the gleaming 21st century towers and some of the best-known buildings in China such as the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Shanghai World Financial Center. Shanghai cuisine is popular worldwide and many are shocked to find that sugar is one of the key ingredients along with soy sauce and alcohol.

Buenos Aires, Argentina
 Buenos Aires contains a mix of old-world traditions, but is chock full of contemporary attitude. It is Latin America’s third largest economy and a top tourist destination known for its European style architecture and rich culture life. Students should take in such local experiences as a tango show and enjoy the traditional barbeque techniques called asado. Buenos Aires offers a unique history that can be viewed by simply visiting the old-world cafes, colonial architecture, outdoor markets and the La Recoleta cemetery where Eva Peron (Evita) was laid to rest.

Bangkok, Thailand
 Bangkok is the largest city in Thailand and is known as the “city of angels.” It is the political, social and economic center of Thailand and one of the leading cities in Southeast Asia. Students who travel to Bangkok will discover that the city is not only living in the modern world, but also surrounded by tradition. The city has some of the country’s most visited historical venues such as the Grand Palace, the official residence of the Kings of Siam since 1782 and Wat Pho, a temple that is known as the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. Thai food plays a tremendous role in the country’s culture and visitors do not have to travel very far to find something to eat as street carts can be found on every street corner and in many small Soi (lanes) that are full of varieties of food stalls.

About Vayama
Vayama is an online travel agency uniquely focused on international travel. The company offers travelers a vast selection of flights through its online booking engine that taps into inventory not available on other online travel websites. Launched in 2007, Vayama has continued to expand its online international travel services to include features such as 24/7 customer service, premium economy airfare, hotels, activities and car rentals.

For regular Vayama updates, follow us at www.twitter.com/Vayama become a fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/VayamaTravel or visit www.Vayama.com.

About Travix International B.V.
Vayama is part of Travix International B.V., a global travel company that manages an extensive portfolio of international travel websites operating under the brands: Vayama (USA), CheapTickets (Europe & Asia), Vliegwinkel.nl (Netherlands), BudgetAir (The Netherlands, United Kingdom, UK, USA, Canada & France), Flugladen (Germany) and EasyToBook.com (Worldwide).

Travix operates in 16 countries, employs 430 staff and has combined sales in excess of USD $1.1Billion.

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‘Maya 2012’ at Penn Museum shows pre-Columbian sophistication

Posted on 14th May 2012 in The monuments of world

When I was in high school, students were almost entirely ignorant of the fact that the Americas were already densely populated when Columbus bumped into the island of Hispaniola in 1492.

Some of these civilizations, particularly the Aztecs, the Maya, and the Inca, were as sophisticated as any pre-Columbian European cultures, in some instances more so.

As it was, I and my cohorts accepted the “conquistadors-and-Indians” version of American history as right and true.

Where am I going with this? Right through the entrance to an exhibition at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology called “Maya 2012: Lords of Time.”

The show explores the art, architecture, and intellectual achievements of one of the major Maya cities, Copan, a World Heritage site in what is now western Honduras.

The Penn museum has been involved in digging Copan out of the forest since 1989. In partnership with the Instituto Hondureño de Antropologia e Historia, it has put together a display of about 150 objects, some recently excavated, augmented by reproductions of large-scale stone monuments and interactive video programs.

Although art plays a significant role, “Maya 2012” is mainly concerned with the broader culture represented at the remains of Copan, particularly the elaborate timekeeping systems devised by Maya astronomers and mathematicians.

The Maya used several calendars of varying cycles that nested like the Russian dolls called matryoshka.

One of these, the so-called Long Count, has a period of 5,125 years. The current phase will end on Dec. 23 (or, as some scholars think, Dec. 21), when something portentous, perhaps the end of time, is supposed to occur.

The “apocalypse scenario” gives Penn a wonderful marketing peg for the show, but I’m supposed to be talking about art, so I’ll go there now. We know that time isn’t going to end this year or next, so there isn’t much point in speculating about Maya cosmological projections.

As with ancient Greece, the art that survives from the most prominent pre-Columbian cultures of Central and South America often involves sculpture and ceramics (along the dry Andean coast it also involves textiles).

From Copan during the classic Maya period (250 to about 900 A.D.), the exhibition offers examples of pottery and elaborate ceramic sculpture. The pottery forms are basic, such as hemispherical bowls or covered jars that sit on three raised feet.

The pottery was usually painted after firing, sometimes over a thin coat of stucco, not glazed.

The fully decorated pots include a cylinder jar with scenes of bloodletting and a covered jar on a tripod base — a modern replica that substitutes for the original, too fragile to travel from Honduras.

(One senses, without being told, that it’s a replica because the colors are too fresh and bright for an object that’s supposed to be centuries old. This is one of the problems with using replicas; the feeling of antiquity, and the touch of the artist, is lost.)

Maya iconography, like that of Hinduism, is typically dense and stylized, and consequently challenging for Western eyes to decipher.

One pot, a shallow covered dish, is much closer to contemporary Western aesthetic. Its black surface is decorated with abstracted jaguar pelts highlighted by red coloring (probably cinnabar) in the grooves.

The cover finial is a skillfully modeled jaguar head, that animal being a Maya symbol of power.

The most spectacular ceramics are three large royal figures that functioned as chimney lids for censers — bowls in which incense was burned. One figure bears some lime-green coloring and traces of orange, but otherwise they’re biscuit color.

In terms of presence and projection of power, not to mention their intricate composition and technical mastery, these figures are the equal of anything from European antiquity. They were found smashed to bits, and have been painstakingly reconstructed.

Ceramics and power aren’t words that one usually uses in the same sentence. If you prefer, as I do, to think of ceramics as projecting more poetic sensibilities, then you’ll be impressed, as I was, by an effigy vessel in the shape of a small deer.

The maker of this container, which once held a food offering, shaped it by bending the animal’s body into a sinuous curve.

Far from expressing anything as aggressively masculine as power, the small, gracile head suggests fragility and vulnerability.

Even more than the jaguar dish, the deer vessel represents supplicatory humility, something one doesn’t expect to find in warrior cultures.

Though the Maya lacked metal tools, they were capable of virtuosic feats of carving. One of the more majestic examples of this is a sand-colored stone figure of the Maya maize god created about 725 A.D.

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World War II memories endure in Ukraine

Posted on 6th May 2012 in The monuments of world

EACH MAY, aging veterans of World War II stand a little taller and prouder as they celebrate the end of that devastating conflict.

In Europe, veterans gather at memorials, in parades and throughout town squares, remembering the six-year-long war that officially ended on May 8, 1945 — Victory in Europe (V-E) Day — with the defeat of Nazi Germany.

In Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, an elderly World War II veteran pays his respects at a monument commemorating that longed-for conclusion. Ukraine, now an independent country, was part of the Soviet Union during the war years. Searing memories endure in Ukraine, especially of the Battle of Kiev when the Nazis encircled more than 600,000 Soviet troops, who were killed or captured in the monthlong attack.

Today, tourists flit through Kiev and other Eastern European cities. Visitors sometimes chuckle at the grandiose Soviet-era monuments and proletarian-pride statues. They ooh and aah at the bristling military parade each May in Moscow that celebrates the end of the European fighting. But many veterans and civilian survivors find quieter moments on V-E Day to remember the soldiers, friends and family who died in a world at war.

Kristin R. Jackson is the editor of The Seattle Times’ NWTraveler section. Contact her at kjackson@seattletimes.com.

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Wales Coast Path opening could prompt 'multi-million pound economic boost', experts claim

Posted on 4th May 2012 in The monuments of world
A family walk the coastal path near Worms Head at Rhosilli on the Gower Peninsular, West Wales

A family walk the coastal path near Worms Head at Rhosilli on the Gower Peninsular, West Wales

It’s been five years in the making, runs for 870 miles and is billed as the world’s first coastal path network to cover an entire country.

And, as the long-awaited Wales Coast Path is officially opened today, the Welsh Government has been urged to exploit all international marketing opportunities to reap the benefits of the unique attraction.

Tourism experts say the path could provide a multi-million pound boost to the economy – but only if it invests significantly in a major branding exercise.

Stretching from the mouth of the River Dee in Flintshire all the way to Chepstow, the coastal network also links into the Offa’s Dyke Path, which added together creates an even longer 1,030-mile route around the whole of Wales.

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The Welsh Government said it expects the route to draw an extra 100,000 visitors to Wales every year.

Since 2007, the project has cost about £2m a year to fund, with £4m of the cash coming from European grants.

As well as enjoying spectacular coastal scenery visitors will be able to visit 24 Cadw managed historic monuments along the Path, including iconic Caernarfon Castle, Harlech Castle and St Non’s Chapel.

Last year Lonely Planet recommended the Welsh coastline as the number one region in the world to visit in 2012.

Five sensational walks on the Wales Coastal Path

Tourism expert John Wake said Wales now has a unique chance to market what is a very special attribute but warned that failure to do so would be a waste of major opportunity.

“This is one of the most spectacular opportunities tourism in Wales has had in a very long time and those involved in its creation deserve a massive commendation,” he said.

“There is no doubt that Wales has some of the most stunning coastline and Pembrokeshire in particular is one of the loveliest areas in the whole of the UK.

“The key thing now is to invest in marketing the path with a strong ‘brand’ identity, which will attract tourists from around the world.

“There is potential for this to bring multi-million pounds to the economy but only if the marketing opportunities are seized properly and given the right investment.

“Everyone in the industry is being given a chance to shine, to make a visit to Wales a memorable experience. It would be a travesty not to fully exploit this chance.”

Carole Startin, marketing and events executive at Tourism Partnership North Wales (TPNW) said Wales is braced to exploit what is already a lucrative market.

Wales coastal path steps half mile closer to completion

“We already have four key walking festivals here in North Wales, three of which are coastal. We have Prestatyn and Clwydian Range, Conwy Walking Week and Anglesey Walking Festival. The final one is on Snowdonia , which is inland.

“What we are doing for the first time is linking up and cross-advertising our events and promoting them in conjunction with the Coastal Path via Visit Wales.

“The new coast path is unique and has brought an international spotlight on us. Walking is a huge market which we hope will be further expanded. It all adds to the prestige of North Wales and of Wales being a top quality walking destination.”

But not everyone shares the enthusiasm for the network of paths. Some landowners and farmers say it will affect their income.

Lyn Jenkins, who runs the Cardigan Island Farm Park, says he has spent tens of thousands of pounds opposing the project and access to his land.

“By letting everybody in free this is going to totally finish our business,” said Mr Jenkins.

Jane Davidson ranks the Wales Coast path as a great achievement


“But not only that, it is bringing people into a very dangerous area, that is clearly dangerous where the cliffs are crumbling.”

However, Caroline Thompson from Ramblers Cymru, said she believed the path would only have a positive impact for those areas the network passed through.

As part of the celebrations Ramblers Cymru has organised the Big Welsh Coastal Walk and is putting on 100 separate walks to ensure the entire length of the path is covered over the opening weekend.

“There will be increased tourism, increased visitors in the coastal communities and that will hopefully generate new enterprises and further income for those businesses,” she added.

Environment Minister John Griffiths said the opening – just before the world’s eyes will be on the UK for the Olympics – would draw extra visitors.

“There’s no doubt that the path will be a huge asset to Wales, attracting thousands of visitors from around the world to Wales each year.”

Mr Griffiths will be at Roald Dahl Plass, Cardiff Bay, to open the path at 12.30pm today. Simultaneous events will also be held in Flint and Aberystwyth.

Next: Wales Coast Path in numbers

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50 stunning Olympic moments No24: Abebe Bikila runs barefoot into history

Posted on 25th April 2012 in The monuments of world

  • Simon Martin

    • Abebe Bikila
    Abebe Bikila draws away from Rhadi Ben Abdesselam near the end of the marathon at the 1960 Rome Olympics. Photograph: Central Press/Getty Images

    Few could have predicted when Italy hosted the 1960 Olympic Games that come the opening ceremony Rome would be cavorting in the midst of an economic boom. But the legacy of Fascist rule, which had ended 17 years earlier, still remained. And while many axes and insignia had been chipped away in a post-regime iconoclastic orgy, nowhere in the capital was the regime’s presence more evident than around the two Olympic sites.

    Paved with ancient-style mosaics of Fascist sportsmen, slogans and 264 references to Benito Mussolini, the Via dell’Impero, the main Foro Italico thoroughfare leading from the imposing Mussolini obelisk to the Olympic stadium, courted most controversy. Flanked by huge blocks of travertine stone, it was etched with key events in Fascist history, in the midst of which was the conquest of the Abyssinian capital Addis Ababa in 1936. It was into this environment that Abebe Bikila, a private in Haile Selassie’s Imperial Army, stepped.

    Small, lean, barefooted, in bright red shorts and a green vest sporting the number 11, Bikila was a last-minute replacement in the marathon for an injured team-mate. His challenge was taken far from seriously. “Who’s this Ethiopian,” questioned one commentator. He was not alone.

    Bikila’s unofficial personal best for the 42.2km – better than the world record – was widely dismissed as impossible. He arrived in Rome with one pair of running shoes but they were ruined in training in the month before the Games. With his new ones causing blisters, his decision to compete barefoot, feet toughened by miles of shoeless training on the high Ethiopian plains, only added to the general derision.

    The marathon began in the heat of the late afternoon at the Campidoglio, Rome’s civic centre set above the Forum. The athletes followed Mussolini’s triumphant thoroughfare past the Coliseum, the Palatine Hill and the Circus Maximus.

    Here, settled at the back of the leading pack, Bikila glided past the Obelisk of Axum that had been plundered from Abyssinia. Continuing south and exiting the city, a breakaway pack began to materialise: “With the English Kiley, there’s the Irishman Messipy, the Belgian Van der Blicher, the Morrocans Rhadi and Saudy, and there’s that unknown Ethiopian we saw earlier,” announced the commentator. “He’s called Abebe Bikila. He’s barefoot.”

    At the 32km mark, in Rome’s peripheral countryside, with the sun disappearing behind the city, the runners turned from a somewhat bizarre section of the capital’s orbital road and on to the Appian Way that used to connect the ancient city with Brindisi, on Italy’s south-eastern coast.

    Breaking with the tradition of daytime Olympic marathons that concluded in the stadium, the early evening start maximized the spectacle as the athletes negotiated 8km of the cypress-tree-lined Appian Way, in darkness. As Bikila’s bare feet rhythmically kissed the uneven stones, the half moonlight, the illuminated ancient Roman monuments and hundreds of torch-bearing soldiers intensified the atmosphere and added to the drama. As Alberto Cavallari wrote in his Corriere della Sera report: “It wasn’t a marathon it was ‘Aida’, with the Romans roadside making up the chorus.”

    Re-entering the city at the Porta San Sebastiano, with impeccable timing Bikila left his sole pursuer, the Moroccan Rhadi Ben Abdesselam, just as he repassed the Axum obelisk. Finishing in 2hr 15min 16sec, Bikila shattered the Olympic record and set a new world best, before dancing a jig of joy beneath the Arch of Constantine where many of his rivals simply collapsed.

    Coming less than 25 years after Mussolini’s forces had conquered his capital at the end of a cruel colonial war, it was the significance of his victory as much as the ease with which he had consumed the capital’s kilometres that fascinated.

    Marking the rise and future dominance of East African middle- and long-distance runners, in the presence of the all-white South African team that the International Olympic Committee chose not to challenge, and against the vastly better funded and better equipped Soviet, US and European athletes, Bikila ran his name and that of his country into history.

    But his victory was not simply that of Ethiopia, it was also a triumph for Rome and the Games. Transcending his lack of shoes, for which he is most fondly remembered, he dramatically closed the final event under the lights and arch of a long-departed emperor while, at the same time, eclipsing the memory of a more recent wannabe.

    Following the fierce parliamentary debates over the negative image presented by the Fascist-built venues to the outside world, and the retaliatory neo-Fascist graffiti that marked the city in the buildup the Games, there was no better, more apt or powerful demonstration of Italy’s break from the past than this glorious, individual victory by an ex-colonial subject.

    As the editor of the British Olympic Association’s magazine World Sports condescendingly concurred, in his report from Rome: “It is a scene to remember – a moment of theatrical drama; a moment so unusual in modern world athletics, when a virtual unknown from an insignificant country crosses the seas and conquers the heroes. It is a fine, unsophisticated, illogical victory […] This […] was an historic Olympic marathon both in terms of performance and backcloth […] its drama was in its setting, presentation and outcome.”

    Despite the years of preparation, the Games’ greatest and most enduring moment was not only completely unplanned, it was totally unimaginable. Bikila, this tiny, barefoot former colonial subject, mixed the unexpected with drama to create a scriptwriter’s dream and become the greatest symbol of the new, rejuvenated, post-Fascist country.

    What the Observer said

    The Observer: Sunday 11 September 1960

    Bikila Abebe, a 28-year-old member of Emperor Haile Selassie’s bodyguard, won the marathon gold medal in the last big event of the Olympics last night. Abedisiem Rhadi of Morocco was second and B. Magee, of New Zealand. Third. Abebe’s time was 2hr 15min 16.2sec, which was 7min 47sec better than Emil Zatopek’s Olympic record. In fact, the first 15 all improved on the old record. Prowess in big international cross-country races on the Continent had made Rhadi one of the more fancied competitors, but none outside East Africa had heard of Abebe, who won the greatest marathon in the 64 years of Olympic history.

    What happened next?

    Six weeks before the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Bikila was taken ill with appendicitis and underwent surgery. Still recovering when he arrived in Japan, he went on to become the first athlete to retain the Olympic marathon title. In 1968, a car accident in the city of Sheno, 76km from Addis Ababa, left Bikila confined to a wheelchair. His competitive spirit undiminished, he won gold in a 25km cross-country sledge competition in Norway in 1970. Suffering complications from his paralysis, he died in October 1973 and was buried in the presence of Selassie.

    On the 50th anniversary of his win, the 2010 Rome marathon was dedicated to Bikila’s memory and, appropriately, Ethiopia claimed a male and female double. The women took first, second and third places, and the men’s winner, Siraj Gena, picked up a €5,000 bonus, offered by the race organiser, for completing the final 300m barefoot. Although few visitors to Rome could have noticed the small plaque mounted on the wall of the Foro dei Imperiali dedicated to Bikila, he remains a local hero, the “escaping Ethiopian” who ran Italy into the democratic dawn.

    Sport Italia by Simon Martin, published in 2011 by IB Tauris, narrates the history of modern Italy through the national passion of sport.

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    Reuters Sports Schedule at 0600 GMT on Sunday, April 22

    Posted on 22nd April 2012 in The monuments of world

    Reuters sports schedule at 0600 GMT on Sunday (times GMT)

    - – - -

    MOTOR RACING

    Bahrain Formula One Grand Prix

    MANAMA – Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel is on pole with Britain’s Lewis Hamilton alongside him for a Bahrain Grand Prix mired in controversy. (MOTOR RACING-PRIX/, expect by 1400, by Alan Baldwin, 600 words)

    - – - -

    SOCCER

    Premier League

    Manchester United v Everton (1130)

    Liverpool v West Bromwich Albion (1500)

    Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City (1500)

    LONDON – Manchester United can cement their position at the top of the table with victory at home to Everton while second place Manchester City play bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers, who will be relegated if they fail to win. (SOCCER-ENGLAND/ expect by 1330, 500 words)

    - -

    La Liga

    Granada CF v Getafe (1000)

    Real Sociedad v Villarreal (1000)

    Racing Santander v Athletic Bilbao (1400)

    Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (1600)

    Valencia v Real Betis (1930)

    MADRID – With fourth-placed Malaga not playing at Osasuna until Monday, Valencia can go four points clear of the Andalusians in third with a win at home to Real Betis. (SOCCER-SPAIN/, expect by 1800, pix, by Iain Rogers, 400 words)

    - -

    Serie A

    Fiorentina v Inter Milan (1030)

    AC Milan v Bologna (1300)

    Cesena v Palermo (1300)

    Genoa v Siena (1300)

    Lazio v Lecce (1300)

    Juventus v AS Roma (1845)

    Milan can overhaul leaders Juve with a win but only for a few hours if the Turin side down Roma (SOCCER-ITALY/, expect by 2200, pix, 400 words)

    - -

    Bundesliga

    FC Augsburg v Schalke 04 (1330)

    Hanover 96 v Freiburg (1530)

    BERLIN – Schalke will look to cement their position in the third Champions League spot (SOCCER-GERMANY/, expect by 1800, 300 words)

    - -

    Ligue 1

    Ajaccio v AS Nancy (1500)

    Paris St Germain v Sochaux (1500)

    Olympique Lyon v FC Lorient (1915)

    PARIS – PSG must react to Montpellier going five points clear while Lyon need a win to boost their Europa League hopes (SOCCER-FRANCE/, expect by 1700, pix, 300 words)

    - -

    Dutch championship

    ADO Den Haag v Feyenoord (1030)

    AZ Alkmaar v VVV-Venlo (1230)

    PSV Eindhoven v NEC Nijmegen (1230)

    Ajax Amsterdam v Groningen (1430)

    On merit

    - – - -

    TENNIS

    ATP: Monte Carlo Masters (to 22)

    MONTE CARLO – World number one Novak Djokovic faces seven times champion Rafael Nadal in the Monte Carlo Masters final, having beaten the Spaniard in their last seven encounters (TENNIS-MEN/MONTECARLO, expect by 1600, pix, by Gregory Blachier, 500 words)

    - -

    Fed Cup semi-finals (to 22)

    Russia v Serbia, Moscow (1100)

    Czech Republic v Italy, Ostrava (1000)

    MOSCOW – Svetlana Kuznetsova survived a second-set wobble to brush aside Ana Ivanovic and bring Russia level at 1-1 with Serbia to set up an intriguing final day (TENNIS-FED/RUSSIA, pix, expect by 1700, 250 words)

    - -

    OSTRAVA, Czech Republic – Straight-sets wins by Petra Kvitova and Lucie Safarova put the defending champions Czech Republic 2-0 up against Italy and victory should be a formality on Sunday (TENNIS-FED/CZECH, expect by 1700, 250 words)

    - – - -

    ATHLETICS

    London marathon

    Champion Emmanuel Mutai and world record holder Patrick Makau are among the Kenyans looking for glory as the British capital stages another big event in the build-up to the Olympics (ATHLETICS-MARATHON/, expect by 1100, pix, by John Mehaffey and Alison Wildey, 500 words plus sidebars)

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    CYCLING

    Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classic, Belgium

    The Liege-Bastogne-Liege Classic, one of cycling’s top five one-day races or ‘Monuments’, takes place on Sunday. 255.5 kilometres long and very hilly, Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez, Belgium’s Phillipe Gilbert and Luxembourg duo Frank and Andy Schleck are amongst the top favourites. (CYCLING-LIEGE/, expect by 1800, Alasdair Fotheringham, 350 words)

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    GOLF

    European Tour: China Open, Tianjin (to 22)

    South African Branden Grace will have his third European Tour title in sight when he goes into the final round of the $3 million China Open with a three-shot lead over defending champion Nicolas Colsaerts. (GOLF-EUROPEAN/CHINA, expect by 0930, 300 words)

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    Asian Tour: Indonesian Masters, Jakarta

    World number three Lee Westwood returns to complete his third round and convert his lead into a successful title defence at the weather-hit Asian Tour event.(GOLF-ASIA/INDONESIA, expect by 0930, 300 words)

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    SNOOKER

    World Snooker Championships, Crucible, Sheffield, England (to May 7)

    Copy on merit

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    Crystal Cruises Expands Jewish Heritage Tours in Europe 2012

    Posted on 13th April 2012 in The monuments of world

    LOS ANGELES, April 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Crystal Cruises is offering almost 30% more Crystal Adventures exploring Europe’s extensive Jewish heritage in 2012.  A predecessor to the ultra-luxe line’s new Christian heritage tours, the popular program gives Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony travelers the opportunity to intimately experience Jewish culture and history.  The boutique outings visit neighborhoods, museums, monuments, synagogues, and more somber sites in/near Palamos, Berlin, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Dublin, Hamburg, Rome, Odessa, St. Petersburg, and Israel.

    (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120413/LA87401)

    Highlights include:

    • Haifa: A kibbutz, the ancient holy city of Safed, Golan Heights, and a second-century Jewish burial ground.
    • Girona: El Call, one of Europe’s best-preserved Jewish Quarters, by Segway or foot.
    • Dublin: The homes of Dublin’s Jewish Lord Mayors and ex-Israeli President Herzog, the first dedicated day school, and Jewish cemetery.
    • Stockholm: The Jewish Museum and three local synagogues, from Stockholm’s first (1790) to one whose interior is originally from another synagogue in Hamburg.
    • Berlin: Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp, the Grosse Hamburger Strasse deportation area, Otto Weidt’s broom-making factory, and the 205,000-square-foot Holocaust Memorial (two different excursions).
    • Athens: Athens’ Jewish Museum, containing 8,000+ domestic and religious artifacts from 2,300 years of Greek Judaism.
    • Odessa: Kosher refreshments, Ukraine’s only Jewish history museum, Shomrei Shabbos synagogue, and Beit Grand Jewish Cultural Center.
    • Hamburg: Neuengamme Concentration Camp Memorial, home of 100,000+ WWII prisoners.
    • Ashdod: Jerusalem’s Western Wall, Old City, and Holocaust artifact-filled Yad Vashem memorial.

    “Due to their enormous popularity, we’re continuing to develop niche excursions that connect travelers to their special interests,” says Vice President, Land and Port Operations John Stoll.  “Our Jewish guests welcome the opportunity to experience their heritage around the world.  However, even non-practitioners of the faith relish gaining first-hand insight into different cultures, and Jewish culture is particularly fascinating for its long and storied impact upon so many areas of the world.”

    Half-day and full-day adventures start at $75 per person, with two-person Private Options also available in Rome, Haifa, Berlin, and Odessa.  Crystal Serenity’s October visit to Israel further offers trips to Galilee, Tel Aviv, and other Jewish-related areas, by coach or helicopter.

    Thirty-five, 7- to 14-day all-inclusive, luxury European cruises offer limited-time Book Now, Cruise-Only fares if booked by April 30.  Optional air add-ons are available, with additional savings for groups of six or more, combining cruises, and Crystal Society member-sponsored, new-to-Crystal guests.  Kosher options and Jewish services are also available on select Crystal cruises.

    Crystal’s passion for creating exclusive, eye-opening luxury shore-side experiences are cornerstones of its Crystal Adventures program, earning the line top ratings for two decades. 

    For more information and Crystal reservations, contact a travel agent, call 888-799-4625, or visit www.crystalcruises.com.

    CONTACT:  Mimi Weisband or Susan Wichmann 310-203-4305, mediarelations@crystalcruises.com
    VISIT:  Crystal’s Media Center

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    Toronto stock market higher after Alcoa reassures on earnings, outlook

    Posted on 11th April 2012 in The monuments of world

    TORONTO – The Toronto stock market was higher Wednesday as a strong earnings report from aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. raised hopes that the first-quarter earnings season won’t be as bad as expected.

    The S&P/TSX composite index ran ahead 82.41 points to 12,017.7 while the TSX Venture Exchange was ahead 9.81 points to 1,440.91.

    The Canadian dollar was up 0.27 of a cent to 99.86 cents US.

    U.S. markets were sharply higher after the largest U.S. aluminum manufacturer said Tuesday after the market close that it earned 10 cents a share in the first quarter against expectations of a four cent a share loss. Alcoa is considered a barometer for the U.S. economy as it sells its aluminum to a wide range of customers.

    Alcoa also reaffirmed its forecast of a seven per cent increase in 2012 global aluminum demand and its shares were ahead 8.05 per cent to US$10.07 in New York.

    The Dow Jones industrials rose 99.6 points to 12,815.53.

    The Nasdaq composite index gained 36.89 points to 3,028.11 and the S&P 500 index climbed 13.2 points to 1,371.79.

    North American markets finished lower for a fifth straight session Tuesday, with investors sidelined amid data from China indicating slower growth in imports and exports while Spain saw its 10-year bond yield hit four-month highs of over 5.9 per cent.

    But traders have also been nervous about how the first-quarter earnings season will play out.

    Analyst expectations for earnings for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500 index went from anticipation of an increase of about three per cent early in the quarter to an expected decline of 0.1 per cent, according to FactSet.

    Such a dip would follow three straight years of strong double-digit earnings growth.

    “For this cycle, I think we have seen peak earnings, peak profitability,” said Paul Vaillancourt , CEO of Canadian Wealth Management in Calgary.

    “But companies are not going to start losing money this quarter, it’s just the rate of growth will decelerate. And so you won’t see the same quarter over quarter, year over year growth in earnings but that’s what happens at this stage in the recovery.”

    He said what is important is that the U.S. economic recovery has become self-sustaining “and that’s what really matters.”

    Tuesday’s losses had erased all gains on the TSX for 2012, leaving the main index about 20 points shy of where it started the year.

    The European debt crisis continued to be in focus Wednesday as Italy’s borrowing costs more than doubled in a couple of bond auctions due to renewed market uncertainty about debt and growth prospects among the 17-country eurozone’s weakest members.

    The borrowing rates of Italy and other financially shaky countries like Spain had eased in recent months after the European Central Bank gave banks emergency loans and the government of Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti implemented austerity measures.

    However, that lending program by the ECB expired at the end of March.

    Commodities were mixed after demand concerns sent prices for oil and metals lower on Tuesday.

    Copper prices stabilized and were unchanged at US$3.65 a pound. Prices for copper, which is viewed as an economic barometer as it is used in so many businesses, have tumbled about seven per cent in the past week amid soft Chinese economic data. But the base metals sector was ahead 2.2 per cent as Teck Resources (TSX:TCK.B) advanced 91 cents to C$35.71 and HudBay Minerals (TSX:HBM) climbed 22 cents to $10.49.

    The industrials sector rose about 1.59 per cent as Canadian National Railways (TSX:CNR) climbed $1.17 to $77.22 while Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP) improved by 89 cents to $74.15.

    The May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange gained $1.29 to US$102.31 a barrel and the energy sector climbed 1.42 per cent. Suncor Energy (TSX:SU) rose 51 cents to C$30.19 while Cenovus Energy (TSX:CVE) was up 57 cents to $33.95.

    The gold sector was the only decliner, down 0.57 per cent even as gold shed early losses and was unchanged at US$1,660.70 an ounce. Barrick Gold Corp. (TSX:ABX) faded 22 cents to C$41.49 while Kinross Gold Corp. (TSX:K) shed 18 cents to $9.22.

    Romania’s environment minister says an application by Gabriel Resources Ltd. (TSX:GBU) for permits to move ahead with a controversial gold mine can’t be speeded up as requested. Opponents say building the open-pit mine would damage ancient monuments and destroy a mountain face. Gabriel shares dipped nine cents to $3.16.

    European markets were positive with London’s FTSE 100 index ahead 0.7 per cent, Frankfurt’s DAX up 1.16 per cent and the Paris CAC 40 ahead 0.75 per cent.

    Earlier in Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.8 per cent, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.1 per cent and Seoul’s Kospi edged 0.1 per cent lower, while the Shanghai Composite Index edged 0.1 per cent higher.

    Markets will be closely watching for first-quarter gross domestic product results, starting with China on Friday. China lowered its GDP growth target last month to 7.5 per cent, sparking concern that the world’s second-largest economy is slowing faster than expected.

    In Canadian earnings news, Astral Media Inc. (TSX:ACM.A) had a $38.2-million profit in its second quarter, a 10 per cent increase over the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose to $233.5 million from $232.7 million and its shares added a penny to $48.48.

    Dollarama Inc. (TSX:DOL) says its net income soared 51 per cent to $63.6 million or 84 cents per diluted share in its fiscal fourth quarter, up from $42 million or 56 cents per share a year earlier. The discount chain’s sales jumped 14.7 per cent to $468.7 million. Its shares gained $3.80 to $52.16.

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