Description:
Not your ordinary travel blog
Contents:
Great places to “taste” the 7 arts
Sculpture: Constantin Brâncusi’s sculptures at Tirgu Jiu
The Romanian artist was voted one of the most important creators of his time, his works, such as Madame LR, being sold for no less than almost 30 million euros. Many of these works of art are now part of private collections, so there are plenty of them most of us can’t have access to. However, there is hope left for the ones fascinated by modern art: if you live in Romania or come here as a tourist and get the chance to visit Tirgu Jiu, all you have to do is… take a walk in the park. You will get the chance to see the world-famous sculptural ensemble which includes The Endless Column, The Kiss Gate and The Table of Silence, all of them simple as composition but strong as symbolism.
The Silence Table, for example, surrounded by 12 chairs, represents the table at which combatants would sit before a battle. Almost 30-meter tall, the Endless Column was dedicated by the creator to the soldiers who had died in 1916 during The First World War. Later, the communists planned to get rid of the monument because it didn’t fit to the art promoted by the party; fortunately, their plans remained just plans. Now, after being restaurated, the column still dominates the surroundings. The Kiss gate, through its shape, was created to suggest the triumph of life over death, thus the three sculptures suggesting the same message and state of mind.
Painting: Salvador Dali Museum at St. Petersburg, Florida
There are very few people who have never heard of both the art and excentricity of the great Spanish artist. And out of them there are even fewer who could say that they are not fascinated by the surrealist images that seem to come straight out of our wildest and yet personal dreams. This is why the museum, which has the biggest and diverse collection of paintings and drawings belonging to the artist (together with the one in Spain), is always filled with tourists. They can get the chance to see “in flesh” 96 original oil paintings and more than 1300 other creations of Dali, ranging from simple sketches, to Cubist and of course, Surrealist masterpieces.
The museum hosts special exhibitions, taking into consideration everything that could be related to Salvador Dali, in order to provide a complex image of what he really meant for the world. Gems, drawings, famous paintings such as Girl with curls, Portrait of Gala or Self-portrait, all these will stimulate any art lover to spend an entire afternoon here, together with others having the same passion as them. In fact, 6 out of 10 tourists come from abroad and in total a few million people have come to the museum so far.
Architecture: La Sagrada Familia by Gaudi
It is definitely his masterpiece and one of the most famous architectural monuments in the world. Gaudi was indeed a genius who revolutionised architecture with his way of perceiving shapes. But even for a gifted man like he was, the cathedral was a true challenge as he worked at its project for 43 years! The entire construction is filled with symbols, all of them related to the Christian world. The details are also truly amazing: originally there had to be 18 spears: 4 for the sacred family, 12 for the apostles; the tallest had to represent Christ.
Unfortunately, Gaudi died in 1926 giving room to a lot of controversy: should the cathedral be finished the way it is believed that the architect wanted it to be or should someone else innovate and bring a new light to it? The question remains while the cathedral is still waiting for an outcome. Until then tens of thousands of people, both specialists or simple beauty-lovers come every year to pay homage to one of the most amazing religious buildings in the world. The cathedral changed everything: now all roads lead to Barcelona.
Music: the Vienna State Opera
The Vienna State Opera is considered by most to be one of the best concert location in the world. To begin with, it is the oldest in the German-speaking countries as it was built between 1863 and 1869. Numerous performances took place since then until the Second World War dramatically affected it . The stage and about 150.000 costumes were destroyed then, thus giving a great shock to the cultural life of the time. Fortunately, the opera was reopened in 1955 and continues to attract numerous music-lovers all over the world.
Now the opera offers tours, courses of ballet, opera and also special opera shows for children so as to wake their taste for art early. 50 operas and 15 ballets are performed each year during the 300 days, which is how much the season lasts. Now the opera employs about 1000 people, while the budget for 2008 reached 100 million euros, half of which were offered by the state. So, if you really feel like going to a show you are definitely not going to forget, give it a try even if it’s not your type of music. You won’t be disappointed!
Literature: China Modern Literature Museum
Few people may know that the biggest building in the world dedicated exclusively to literature is located in China. The purpose of the building is to bring together and preserve modern literary works, being the most important primary resource in the country. The museum includes several halls dedicated to research, documents or academic exchange, halls that can be used by the people who need a better understanding of literature. However, the museum is far from being a huge silent library: numerous events are taking place here all the time such as speeches, exhibitions and gatherings.
The museum doesn’t have only books however; numerous other exhibits and collections can be found here and the numbers speak for themselves: 300,000 collected items, among them 170,ooo books, 2,100 kinds and 90,ooo copies of magazines, 142 kinds of newspapers, 10,970 handwritten manuscripts, 8,282 photographs, 7,887 letters, 453 taped recordings, 773 videos and 2,959 cultural artifacts. Moreover, numerous works of art decorate the space, creating the perfect atmosphere to lose yourself in the world of modern Chinese literature.
Dance: The Bolshoi Theatre
The Bolshoi Theatre is a historic building in Moskow, the home of one of the biggest companies of ballet and opera in the world and also of one of the most influential schools of ballet, whose representations are still highly appreciated both by connoisseurs and simple amateurs of art. It was founded in 1776 by emperess Catherine the Great and has functionned in the same building since 1825. Since then the ballet has become more and more complex, after Stalin’s death also gaining international acclaim thanks to tours all around the world.
This year the original building is also to be reopened after being consolidated and renovated as 75 % of its strcture had become unstable. About 495 million euros were invested for this purpose, but it was definitely worth the effort: now, famous works, such as The Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty or The Nutcracker are to be played again in the original location, where the legend of the Russian ballet was born.
Movies: Bollywood
India has started to produce movies about 100 years ago and still produces more films than any other country every year. Even though the quality of some movies has been disputed by critics, many managed to succeed on the international movie industry. The movies produced here have a special vibe as most of them include numerous scenes of dancing and singing and colorful traditional costumes. At first, the movies were highly conservative, the female performers being covered by their clothes from head to toes. Now, the situation has started to change, English also starting to be used in the dialogues.
Now there are numerous tours that can take you to film studios to see exactly how the movies are made and how the actors work. For example, you can see the Noida and Mumbai film city or festivals dedicated to the seventh art. You can even meet one of the true legends of the movie industry in India, these actors being as famous there as Johnny Depp or Charlize Theron in USA or Europe. It will definitely worth taking a shot as now Indian movies grow in value year after year and have extended to cover practically every genre and theme.
Related posts
The mystery of the stone spheres in Costa Rica
The perfection of the sphere has fascinated generations and generations of scientists and artists together; and this is far from being a new phenomenon. Our ancestors seem to have had the same admiration towards it, so they recreated it in such an extraordinary manner that we are still surprised to this day. It is the case of the stone spheres in Costa Rica, the best-known megalithic creations in the area.
Also known as Las Bolas or The Diquis Spheres(because they are located in the Diquis Delta), they were of the discovered in the 1930’s while the jugle was being cleared in order to make room for plantations. The workers deteriorated and even destroyed many of them while moving the spheres or while trying to discover a treasure inside of them, animated by movies and legends. Predictably, there was no gold inside of them. Fortunately, the authorities intervened and saved what was left, also restoring the affected spheres and sending them to museums.
The spheres were discovered next to pottery belonging to the Aguas Buenas culture, but also next to much older artifacts, so they could have been created any time between 200 BC and 1500 AD. The dating difficulties are also given by the fact that the speheres are not in their original place any more. Many of them decorate important buildings now or can be seen in museums such as the one in San Jose. Two of them were taken to US, one being in Washington and another one at Harvard.
There are over 300 stone spheres that have been discovered so far, ranging from a few centimeters in diameter to 2 meters and a weight of 16 tons. Several types of rock were used for their creation, but most were sculpted in gabbro, a rock similar to granite. No unfinished spheres were discovered so far, this letting room for a lot of hypotheses, many of them being identical to a sci-fi scenario. It was even claimed that the spheres were absolutely perfect, up to a milimetric scale. The truth is however less fascinationg: the spheres may have been made with a high degree of accuracy, but they are not perfect.
Some claim that the spheres were made in Atlantis, others that nature itself is responsible for the creations, while the alien version (far from being a surprise) seems to be the most popular. The ones who support the theory claim that such detail at such a scale could not have been created without some modern technology like the laser, especially as the rock is quite tough. However, archaeologists proved that the rock can be modelled by applying chilled water and hot coals for example, then polishing being enough to reach the desired shape.
What no one knows for sure is why they were created. Originally, they were arranged in allignments that were destroyed as the spheres were moved, so it is believed that their purpose was religious. As the colonists arrived, their legacy ended and the spheres were forgotten until the 20th century. Now they seem to sparkle much more interest being considered some priceless artifacts that have to be protected as even taken away from their place, they still hold a mysterious air.
Related posts
World’s most famous tombs
Tuthankamun’s tomb
Tutankhamun’s tomb is probably the best-known in the world, maybe because of the fascination people will always for the Egyptian culture. Moreover, the treasure hidden in it has sparkled our imagination since Howard Carter found it in 1922 and is still considered to be one of the biggest archaeological discoveries ever made, especially as the tomb was almost intact.
Tutankhamun ruled Egypt form the age of 9 for 10 years and the cause of his death is still a mystery. Some reasearchers believe thst he was murdered, possibly because he had grown up and had started to impose his own will in the political affairs.
After the death of the young pharaoh the tomb remained almost untouched for a very long period of time until its discovery. The treasure, which comprised numerous objects of cult, most of them made of gold and other precious materials, its value being appreciated at about 650 million $. The most famous is definitely the mortuary mask, which is still considered iconic for the Egyptian culture.
The mainstream culture profited from the myth of the curse that is said to affect anyone entering in contact with the tomb or the treasure, some bizarre deaths and accidents being related to it, even if most of them have a less interesting explanation. In order to get a taste of the treasure yourself there is a possibility that you might see some items of it in your own country as tours have been organised in countries such as: USA, Germany or the UK.
 <
Lenin’s mausoleum
Now we move further to another very well known ruler and also much more controversial, Vladimir Lenin, whose embalmed body can be seen by visitors since 1924. After the dictator’s death about 10,000 letters were received, all demanding for the preservation of the body. The task was completed but another one followed: a tomb had to be built in order to allow the people to say good bye to the ruler. The Red Square was the chosen place and the construction was finished immmediately. As the visitors’ number reached 100,000 it was decided to enlarge the tomb.
Moreover, in 1929 it was established that the body could be preserved for a lot more time, by keeping it at a certain temperature and humidity and by using special chemicals, a new sarcophagus also being designed. Until 1972 more than 10 million people came to see the tomb.
For its importance, the body was moved during the German invasion in order to be safe, but it was returned after the war. For some time, Stalin’s preserved body was kept next to Lenin’s but then it was buried during the de-Stalinization process. Now you can visit the site without paying a fee; you will have to wait in a long queue however and follow the rules, which are quite strict, especially as the tomb is carefully guarded.
Emperor QIN SHIHUANG’s tomb
This is another megalomaniac wonder, created by one of the most powerful rulers in the world in order to remain immortal, at least in the collective memory. There are few people who haven’t heard of the emperor’s Terracotta army, an incredible work of art meant to accompany the ruler in his afterlife in the mortuary complex which spreads on about 52 square kilometres.. The tomb dates from 221 B.C. and is located at the foot of the Li Mountain. No entrances or exists were found and it is known that in order to keep the secret of the tomb, Qin ordered that the workers would be buried alive inside.
This is just one example of how cruel the emperor proved to be; even though he brought peace to the Chinese, he also ordered that all the books would be burnt. Many Confucians were also killed for their belief and fear was a common feeling among the people.
In his las years the ruler became obsessed with finding immortality, taking large amounts of mercury for that purpose, which eventually killed him. Feeling that death was not far away he ordered the creation of the terracotta army, which is amazing in its realism and dimensions, more than 8000 soldiers, horses and chariots serving the emperor in his afterlife.
Edgar Allan Poe’s grave
Edgar Allan Poe must be one of the most important and influential writers in the world. His dark, mystical creations inspired thousands of other works of art, not to mention readers all around the world. It would not be an exaggeration to say that there is a real personality cult dedicated to Poe, both as a writer and a man. A lot of mysteries are related to the end of his life: firstly the cause of his death is still an unsolved problem for the researchers who still have a lot to figure out. However, there are plenty of theories, varying from alcoholism and delirium tremens to rabies and syphilis.
But what makes this grave so special? Well, there is a legend related to it that has attracted a lot of attention since the beginning. Every year, a stranger wouuld show up nat the grave and leave there three red roses and a bottle of cognac, which was the author’s favourite. The man would show up dressed in black and with his face covered by a scarf and a hat. Vigils were organised in many years and the stranger continued to show up, the same mystic ritual taking place every year. The identity of the man remained a mystery, even if new claims seem to prove that there wasn’t a lot of mysticism in the happening. But mystery or not, the grave still attracts a lot of people coming to leave a homage to the man who changed the world in his own particular way.
Home
|
