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Post by kerouac2 on May 16, 2022 18:50:20 GMT
As I have mentioned in the past, Lille never got over its period as European Capital of Culture in 2004. It turbocharged the desire for new cultural events so much that "Lille 3000" was created, and it has produced new events about every 3 years (depending on pandemics and such) which last 6 months. I have already documented quite a few of them here (either here or in the Museum Zone). We probably need to create some more sub-boards to make things easier -- probably one for Lille and one for Oaxaca -- but maybe not just yet. Anyport is getting quite big! Anyway, I arrived at the Lille-Flandres station for the weekend. It always has a major display to set the tone. This time it was a huge knit creation from Portugal.
Rue Faidherbe that faces the station always has a huge display of statues for the event. They call it La Rambla during the event.
They are called "The Moss People" and are by a Finnish artist. Each statue represents one of the building blocks of a possible utopia.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 16, 2022 19:45:55 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 17, 2022 4:56:30 GMT
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Post by bjd on May 17, 2022 7:32:37 GMT
Always interesting, even if a bit gruesome in some cases. I wonder whether the skeleton signed a form allowing his body to be used.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 17, 2022 12:11:34 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 17, 2022 18:43:02 GMT
Most of the Tripostal was occupied by the Fondation Cartier pour l'art contemporain, and the theme was The Living. The vast majority of the works were by native artists of South America, mostly from Brazil, Venezuela and Paraguay. They look at nature differently.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 17, 2022 20:21:43 GMT
Beautiful Kerouac. I really like the statues..not keen on the eyeballs...
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Post by kerouac2 on May 18, 2022 14:02:20 GMT
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Post by fumobici on May 18, 2022 15:17:25 GMT
Love many of the Amazonian artworks. I'd mostly rate them more as highly sophisticated than "primitive".
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Post by kerouac2 on May 18, 2022 16:05:43 GMT
I don't think that "primitive art" is a value judgement but refers to art that does not use realistic perspectives and proportions. Naturally, it is also used for art that looks a bit like children's drawings, but this is often a good thing.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 18, 2022 16:21:16 GMT
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Post by bjd on May 18, 2022 17:00:08 GMT
Some of the coloured Amazon paintings remind me of Australian Indigenous artworks.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 18, 2022 18:25:28 GMT
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Post by tod2 on May 19, 2022 12:33:50 GMT
The artwork is wonderful! I liked the fact that an artist can stick to 4 colours and create an eye-catching painting, Even this last "smudged" painting has a strange way of drawing one into it.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 19, 2022 14:20:01 GMT
The next room was not what one would call a visual feast, but it was a unique auditory experience. "The Great Animal Orchestra" consisted of recordings of animals everywhere in the world, in the air, on the ground and underwater. It was a dark and cool room that just displayed the patterns of all of the various creatures as one sat and listened. I did not stay nearly as long as I would have liked, but I had too many other things to see. One of the best things about being only an hour away from Lille is that I will be able to return one or more times to spend the necessary amount of time on the things that I really liked.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 19, 2022 14:38:09 GMT
Next it was time to visit The Cosmic Snake inside the Musée Hospice Contesse. It is based on rather stunning speculation by anthropologist Jeremy Narby, whereby shamans in every part of the world have used the symbolism of intertwined serpents for thousands of years to represent life. Narby says that they had already understood the double helix of DNA, which the scientific community only identified in 1953. Well, maybe.
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Post by tod2 on May 20, 2022 8:03:10 GMT
More fabulousness! Just looking at this last photo of what I think are stiffened pieces of lacework? They are so beautiful. That is one terrific axe with a tree handle in the midst of the flea market which to me looks like a pickpocket market! The Animal Orchestra was fascinating and I would have wanted to hear all the different animal calls. Thanks for giving us that short recording. It brought life to the bright neon-like images in the dark. Is there more? Hope so.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 20, 2022 11:36:37 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 20, 2022 11:48:22 GMT
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Post by htmb on May 20, 2022 12:34:57 GMT
There is so much to see in your photos already, it makes me wonder if you might have felt overwhelmed by it all (though I also know you’re an expert when it comes to seeing exhibits of this type). It seems there was so much to absorb in terms of visual stimulation.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 20, 2022 20:36:35 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 20, 2022 20:56:50 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 21, 2022 18:15:45 GMT
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Post by lugg on May 21, 2022 18:36:02 GMT
Wow - your photos are fantastic. What an experience and a joy to share with you. So much to see, so much to comment on; I certainly will be back tomorrow when I have a little more time.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 21, 2022 18:36:43 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 21, 2022 18:50:36 GMT
It should be mentioned that this is not at all a professional parade, nor is it meant to be. They call for volunteers from the entire Lille metropolitan area and beyond. I receive their emails too and could have signed up. That would certainly have ruined the parade. The choreography is approximate, the groups are often out of step, but who cares? They are having a great time. One thing that is certain is that the costume designers make an incredible effort to come up with new ideas. And at that point I left the parade. It was too hot, there were too many people (300,000 of which only about 17 were wearing masks), and the Eurovision song contest was starting in just 10 minutes. My hotel was just 5 minutes away. One has to have certain priorities in life. You can find videos of the entire parade on YouTube, but I will just offer you about two minutes to tantalize you. Eurovision finished at 1 a.m. so I was ready for breakfast by 6 a.m. and shot out of the door the hotel in the early hours to see more stuff...
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Post by kerouac2 on May 22, 2022 15:49:41 GMT
On a Sunday morning, Lille seems to be even deader than Paris. Such lazy people! But the tentacles had already been removed from La Voix du Nord. I had to wander a bit. There was nothing else to do. The new annex of the Lille art museum reflects the older building in front of it. The two main things I wanted to see opened only at noon and at 14:00. Damn! I admired how carefully they were restoring this old building in a poor area (and adding some floors). I took one of the two tram lines to Eurotéléport in Roubaix since I had nothing better to do. Unfortunately, in spite of its name, this station does not allow you to zap yourself instantaneously to any other location in Europe and the name remains rather mysterious. Something to do with a communications centre 50 years ago or so. In any case, it is one of the main transportation hubs of Roubaix and has been graced with one of the moss people.
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Post by kerouac2 on May 22, 2022 15:59:02 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on May 22, 2022 17:55:32 GMT
The only drawback for the residents here is that the tram line definitely squeezed the road space and the pedestrian areas. The tram brought me back to Lille-Flandres where I transferred on the metro to the Mairie de Lille, close to my next destination. I went to the top of the belfry on one of my visits. The ticket lady told me that even though a lift is available, climbing the stairs is much more rewarding because there are many places to stop and admire the view. I believed her and climbed the stairs. The bitch!
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Post by kerouac2 on May 22, 2022 18:26:40 GMT
I was still too early, so I read my book in the park for awhile. I also had to find a more-or-less discreet tree for a pee, because the public toilets were closed. And then I strolled over to the Gare Saint Sauveur, a former freight station. The displays were devoted to the Gaia theory first proposed by James Lovelock. He said that the planet is self regulating. Let's hope he is right. He is still alive at age 102 in Cornwall.
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