Discovering Dushanbe, Tajikistan

I have been away in Tajikistan for work. Fascinating country with its mix of soviet past, persian culture and modernization-in-the-making. I have not been able to write properly (I am now in Geneva for work) but will write back shortly.

In the meantime some photographs.

Happy Jazz in a Happy Boat...

Our trip coincided with the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. We managed to hear three concerts. For one of them we had to wait for almost one hour outside. The musicians were that popular.

In another place, the bar-restaurant was so packed, the food, we were told, would take an hour or so. You could not fit a needle in that Argentinian place.

Then we discovered we could hear some band playing inside a boat while touring the little Copenhagen canals. Lovely experience because it got dark and any city, but especially Copenhagen, with is lively colours and many lights by the water, became more handsome than during the day.

The music in the boat felt more like music from the 1920s and 1930s. As you know the 1930s are the era I am obsessed with. So listening to the music and looking at the water outside did wonders to my inner happy-meter.

The "Nordic Model" explained

There was an exhibit at Louisiana (see separate entry) that was perfect for people like me who just moved to a Nordic country. What does the Nordic model mean, anyway?

Outside Scandinavia we treat Nordic and Scandinavia interchangeably.

So, the first thing to keep in mind is the difference between Scandinavian countries (Sweden, Norway, Denmark united by a root language) and Nordic ones (Scandinavians plus Finland and Iceland). When I learned that Finland was not Scandinavian I was shocked at my ignorance).

So this exhibit asked questions Nordics to describe what the Nordic model is about. What has it meant so far?WHat will it mean in the future?

One key element that is emphasize its the social dimension of the model: the focus fair prosperity with ambitious and unapologetic social investments. The exhibition used nordic architecture as one of the visual channels for conveying the nordic identity. Simple, functional, with a social mission. So it showed many examples of beautiful public spaces and buildings such as public libraries, concert halls, public schools where the point is to attract people who don't have to pay to be there. There is of course the broader topic of cities: how do we invest in liveable cities where the public and private interact.

One feature example was of course the Opera House in Oslo (see past entry) and the focus on a open architecture where the public is invited to come, where the building communicates an openess as opposed to "exclusivity" that you see in ultra-luxurious hotels that you see in many other countries where only certain customers (and wallets) are welcome.

Copen(super)hagen

Say what you want. I love Copenhagen.

It is a weird mix: It feels Scandinavian but also continental. If is sophisticated and yet it feels green (a heaven for bikers!). It feels old and yet futuristic.

Many Oslovians I have met love Copenhagen so I suppose there is no heresy in praising it now that I am an Oslo citizen! (I am aware of history and past Danish dominance of Norway but that is all forgotten and, from the outside, Oslo and Copenhagen do feel as "cousin" cities).

One of the best part is the windows. So much creativity! How brilliant is it to cover several mannequins in stamps! And what do you see about the impossibly cool shoes that they sell for real? (see the heals in the photo).

Another fun element of the city is the culture of cafes and restaurants that are located in the sidewalks in the summer. I close my eyes and see all these people sipping coffee or wine n the little streets (see photo).

The prices are lower than in Oslo so shopping was a bit friendlier too. And that makes me laugh: After moving to Norway, I have come to a point where I find Copenhagen or London "cheap"! Which tells you how much in life is relative!

Two extraordinary treats about Copenhagen are the Danish Museum of Art (SMK) and Museum of Modern Art called "Louisiana".

I cover them in a separate entry.

Oslo to Copenhagen by boat...

I had not written for a few days. But silence does not mean that I have been doing nothing!

The past days have eventful and insightful. Often I say the suitcase is my karma, and this is definitively one of those months where I spend more hours packing and unpacking than being at home.

So one of the travels will be had to forget: getting in a cruise and arriving in Copenhagen after 16 hours.

What an experience.

It is a typical case of seeing The Good The Bad, and the Ugly! But I will remember the Good (which outweighs the rest) and that is the fact that you can actually avoid airlines. That to me is a blessing. I dislike airlines because of the way the treat passengers who are not business travellers and because of their efforts to water down climate responsibility.

So getting going by boat or train to another country will always make me happy even if it takes longer. And how cares, I have plenty to observe, read, write and think about!

Another reason why I was seriously happy inside the cruise is that that you are surrounded by water the whole time and a water view relaxes me. It cleanses me, I'd say.

Viva el agua!

Plus for someone who does this trip for the first time, the cruise is so big that it does feel like you are in moving building (after all it has elevators, several restaurants, TV, shops, etc)

And that "quase-building" experience is also the downsize. The business model of the boat is about making you forget you are travelling. They want to you spend time in the duty free shops and the many restaurants with all-you-can-eat buffets. It is interesting to observe how this type of type of experience triggers the universal reaction of "desperate shopping". That greedy feel we have got at some point where we get weak and decide to go for the "2 for the price of 1" even if we don't need the items in the first place.

That was the downsize of the trip, shopping-mall atmosphere you experience. I don't want to sound too judgemental. The point is more about global trends and that tendency toward
low-quality purchases of things or food only because they are "on sale".

Perhaps I still have this idealised version of Scandinavia where these things don't happen!

They do happen. They difference is that they sales happen less often and that due to 25% sales taxes on a daily basis, the young locals go a bit wild in duty free shops!

Who knows, perhaps I will be like htat in a few years. I will keep this blog entry in mind.

Norwegian understatement: The Vikings Parliament

I have been away from the Internet.

One fascinating feature of "Norwegian-ness" is their understatement - in contrast with other countries where I have lived such as the US (where marketing often uses the world's "best" or "largest" or "biggest"). Or London where art exhibits that will happen "once in a lifetime", or a play that is a "masterpiece you can't afford to miss" and literary festivals will bring together the "best writers of a generation".

So I got used to superlatives.

So Norwegian understatement has taken me by surprise. This country can be so shy.

(One example is Vigeland's Park, which few outside Norway know about, but that is a separate story).

Here is a concrete example from a recent visit to Bjørn's parents in the North.

As we drove, we passed this tiny town that hosts the place where the Vikings -- at least those who were in Norway - used to have their first parliament.

That is amazing, I thought. That's huge.

And then comes the Norwegian moment.

You could drive by and almost miss it!

You get off the car and find a beautifully simple, humble monument (see photo) that was done by the locals about 100 years ago.

If you think about it, this is a place of serious historical and touristic significance: how many places can claim to have the first Viking parliament?

I suppose Norwegian see no need to make a big fuss about this site. In my head - aware of the contrast to what I am more used to - I was imagining how the anglo-saxon version of this place:

A plate, a story, a local team, reminding you of the "uniqueness" of the place where you are standing up. Over the years it would have become a mandatory stop for tourists, a place for viking storytelling, plays and narratives of "once upon a time, in this village, the vikings dominated the sea, and it was in this place where...". No doubt they would remind you that there was a time where they had conquered the world...

The local approach is shy, silent, reflective. It is almost as if they expect each visitor to see the place and draw their own conclusions. And it is definitively less commercial: in front of the monument there was a a simple farm. And more silent. To one side a beautiful bench had been constructed for anyone who wanted to sit, view the monument at the top of the little hill and then continue driving.

There was no trace of a souvenir shop, or touristic outlet. Fascinating.

One last thing about the Vikings: I learned they were not called that way when they were alive. I will find out more and tell you that story in a future entry.

Munch: The Man and his Torment

Edvard Munch once said: I don't paint what I see, I paint what I saw...

..and he saw a lot.


I enjoyed very much going to the exhibition Edvard Munch: The Modern Eye. in the Tate Modern in London.  He never broke free from his torments. True.  But the point of the exhibition was to celebrate his modernity and to bring a broader perspective about him.  In fact, "The Scream (see entries below) was not part of the exhibition

I learned a lot about his life and early events that shaped him, such as the death of his sister Sophie at 15 when he was 14.  His mother had died of tuberculosis as well.

His remorse due to a love affair with a married woman when he was very young.

There were other dramatic episodes later one such as shooting that hurt his hand after the fight with a woman.  The fight with a friend.  His self portraits show a man having doubts, confused, serious.  But ultimately Munch was determined to being himself.

He did not beautify reality (or his reality).  As mentioned by The Independent "he portrayed raw emotion, alienation adn loss like no one else". 

The modernity of Munch who lived most of his life in the 20th century is not always recognised. In fact many would considered a 19th century painter.

Photography, for example, fascinated him and the exhibition shows many photographs he made of himself. He loved going to the movies.   We even watched some of his improvised filming of the streets of Oslo.

A whole room is devoted to explaining the way cameras influenced the way painted his subjects. Fr example, the workers on their way home. (This image does not do justice. When you have it in front of you you do feel the workers are moving).

This one was painted after he had a nervous breakdown and discovered the healing powers of light.

He endured a lot of criticisms in Norway. The country was not ready for him. Initially.  Overtime he became an appreciated artists.  

This painting, Madonna, was not in the Exhibition, and is probably my favorite one.  I saw it in the Museum of Art in Oslo. It was a scandal when it hit the Oslo saloons.

He made several versions - a very modern thing much earlier than Andy Warhol who made reproduction of his art a central feature. The Munch Museum of Oslo owned a version that was stolen in 2004 (!) and recovered in 2006. 

The Unsuspecting Life of a Scream (Part 2)

Here is an analysis of the painting.   Here is some analysis in Spanish.

He called it "The Scream of Nature"

How fascinating, how enigmatic is to think of someone painting something at the end of the 19th century that people can still relate to even in the 21st century.

What is it that allows some artists to speak a language (visual, written, musical) that becomes ageless?

Philosophically, I think The Scream does capture a universal - and modern - feeling: Helplessness.  The feeling that there is no where to go, no one to count on. The end of the road.

He first painted The Scream at 30. He was desperate, afraid of going nowhere with his life and paintings.


Tonight is a beautiful summer night, I don't feel any existential calamity in the air so I would like to end on a much light note (apologies Mr Munch) and some illustrations showing the extent to which The Scream became "mainstream", in fact an icon.

Andy Warhol's version

Simpsons

Leggo

Who doesn't know his face?

...and this is the face of the President of my country

Environmental disasters in general

One environmental disaster in particular (BP oil spill)

Two Icons

The Joker afraid of Batman - or not!

Muppet in trouble

Barcelona player screaming about what?

G o o g l e

This one is for real.  I don't want to imagine the landing hall prior to the Olympics in London!

 

The Unsuspecting Life of a Scream (Part 1)

There seems to be Munch-mania in this part of the world.

First, came the auction in London in May...

From AP

...when an anonymous buyer paid $119 million for The Scream which the Norwegian painter Edvard Munch had done in 1895.  

This price even surpassed forecasts which had suggested a $80-million mark.

By Robert Ariail

$119.9 is the highest price ever paid at a auction (and one of the highest amounts paid when previous considers inflation). See this table prepared by The Economist.

Edvard Munch - unusual man, no doubt - made four versions The Scream. Three are in Norwegian museums. The version that was sold in London belonged to a lucky Norwegian whose family was friends with Munch.  The Wall Street Journal had a full-blown article comparing the versions.

Second, Munch is getting international attention due to a large exhibition at the Tate Modern in London following one of the most successful exhibitions at the Center Pompidou in Paris.

I was lucky indeed. That is, my trip to London coincided with the Munch exhibit!  (Which I will talk about in a separate entry).

Finally, there is a big exhibition being organised in Norway due to open up in 2013...

An eventful weekend in London

I went back to London.

It was strange to be back to a city I (still) adore and realise I am no longer a Londoner. And how ironic is it that I left London precisely in 2012 right before the city prepares to host the Olympics.

That energizing air of anticipation is flowing all around!

Here is a video. You get the idea.

Then came Spain vs Italy.

Watching EuroCup final in a crowded pub where those of us supporting Casillas and Co. were not only were a minority but also got the best table was serious fun.

For the record: Getting the best table in a popular pub in London meant waiting religiously at that table for almost 5 hours before the game got started! Yes, my friend Rocio is very persuasive. And she was right: the wait was so worth it.

Another highlight,  apart from meeting baby Zac Faisca (who is adorable) was revisiting yet another time the Tate Modern, one of my favorite places in the world, not just in London.


And guess what? Oslo had come to the Tate.

The Tate had had just inagurated the exhibition of Norway's most famous painter: Edvard Munch (pronounced Munk).

The only thing I knew about him was that he had painted The Scream.

I spent hours at the exhibition and now Munch is totally in my system.

I have not stopped learning about him.

I even learned he grew up in the very neighborhood where I live.

Yes,  Munch lived in Grünerløkka.
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