Stories of Paper - the Members Event

So Tuesday night I worked late for the museum, during a Preview Event for the members, where they got to see the newest temporary exhibition, entitled 'Stories of Paper'. Kathleen and I were there to mediate, and we gave four tours each of this new exhibition throughout the evening to very lovely members.

One part of this exhibition, is hosted in the forum in the basement of the museum. It is a large labyrinth in cardboard by Michelangelo Pistoletto. It is very very cool.

What I really love with this exhibition is the selection of artworks and how they have been curated. It tells the many different stories of paper, for example what it offers, the many uses it offers and how it is a part of our common universal heritage. All this and much more is presented through over 100 artworks, even 13 contemporary ones.

The exhibition is separated into 12 parts, and in each part a modern piece is juxtaposed ancient pieces. This is a really interesting approach. Here I am in the first part, that talks about how paper comes from plants, mediating in front of Pipal Tree, 2017, by Jayashree Chakravarty.

This transparency by Carmontelle from 1795, is one of the masterpiece loans. It has never before left France to be exhibited, and it is a really impressive piece.

A leporello by Etel Adnan, The Sausalito Garden, 1996. I have enjoyed discovering her written work, as I only before knew of her art, which is much more joyful. Her writing is more historical and specific.

There are stories about the space of paper, the movement of paper and the colour of paper to name a few. Like here below, a room with prepared paper, and paper dyed in the pulp; paper in many different colours that evoke different things, depending on where you are from or who you are.

There is even a full-scale model of a traditional Korean house inside the exhibition, to show how these  houses are made not just of wood, but of different kinds of paper too.

Another part of the exhibition focuses on how paper can be both resilient and fragile, for example with this Japanese folding screen.

Here's another contemporary artwork, by one of the "5", an avant-garde artist group here in the UAE. This is Mohammed Kazem and his Scratches on Paper.

In the part that talks about reproduction, Louvre Abu Dhabi is for the first time showcasing their print of Under the Wave of Kanagawa, by Hokusai, c. 1830. One of the world's most known motives.

Here is Kathleen mediating the Great Wave, and me in my outfit for the night - notice how well I dressed for the occasion?

The final part of the exhibition talks about the malleability of paper, and showcases cut outs, collages and "giornatas", from when the Hall of the Mirrors were decorated.

And also this large scale work called Pattern, from the series Blind Owl, by Pouran Jinchi, from 2012.

 

Lucky we really like each other, considering we spend so much time together, ha ha! But seriously, we  rocked this event, we work really really well together! Although it was a long night indeed... Kathleen had to take her heels off on the way out, after all those tours!

This exhibition is now open for the public, until the 24th of July. Don't miss it!

Easter 2022

I just realised that the Easter weekend of 2022 just came and went, without making too much noise in our house! Mostly because of the previous post, and all the study pressure lately, but also since both Nathan and I were working full days, all weekend. I kept it really colourful while at the museum, it was Easter after all!

And I did decorate the house, of course!

We also cooked some lamb for dinner and managed to all be home and sit down for a meal together, which was really lovely. No photos of the meal or us - only of the very yummy baguettes I had got treated from a friend.

Ha ha, yes, I have a friend in Dubai who owns an artisan bakery - Viking Bakery - that makes only baguettes! Her husband started this as a small home-based project during Covid lockdown, baking for friends and neighbours; but with the fabulous result the project grew, and now they have several employees and deliver fresh baguettes all over Dubai.
As they would like to expand their delivery scope to include Abu Dhabi, they needed someone to test if the baguettes would be just as tasty after the longer drive. We were obviously happy helping out with that! Mmm, is all I can say, mmm! We got to try their original baguette, and one with jalapeño and cheese, mmm! MMM!

Pressure!

It has been quiet here on the blog for the past few weeks. This doesn't mean nothing is going on, quite the opposite actually. Pressure has been, and is on, on us all!

Linnea and I landed back from Belgium on the Friday night, and all weekend I spent working at the museum. On the Monday I had Scientific Training for the new temporary exhibition that just has opened (more about that in a separate post), and then I found out I would be delivering the tours for the Preview Evening for Members, so I spent the rest of the week with my nose in the books doing research, every waking hour! Back to the museum the following weekend working both days, training again this Monday and Tuesday - and Tuesday night worked the event at the museum until 10 pm... it has been intense!

Linnea has been pretty much the same, as this week is the Grade 10 Exam Week. She really dug deep, set herself a rigid study schedule, and she has been going through and studied and refreshed EVERYTHING they have learned in MYP. This week she has only gone in to school each day to sit an exam (apart from on Tuesday when she had two), and the rest of the time she has been back home, studying some more. Tomorrow is her last exam, and then that's all done!

For Lucas, tomorrow is his very, very last normal school day - EVER!
This week has been the last normal school week for the Seniors, the next four weeks is the DP IB Exam Period, which means it is Lucas' turn to only go to school to sit exams. He has eight big exams coming, with the last exam scheduled for the 19 May, then he is DONE with school completely!
The following week will be full of all the different Graduation celebrations! He is very much looking forward to that!

So bear with me, I will update the blog in due time - as there is lots of fun things to tell!

Chocolicious

The one thing that really made an impression in Brussels was how much the Belgians must love their sugar! Every other shop was either a chocolate shop, a waffle house or selling other sweets! Crazy!

Here are some I spotted, of course all the window displays were extra decked out, as Easter is coming:

Manneken Pis chocolate, of course:

See the beer bottles made out of chocolate in the top right corner? We brought one home for Nathan of course!

But we didn't try the penis waffles that we spotted not far from Manneken Pis..! Next time!

Brussels, Day 4

On our last day in Brussels, we got spoiled with some sunshine! Made for a welcome change after several days with rain and grey skies, but it was still really really cold!

We decided to go and retake the photos of the Grand Place, as it looked so much better in the sunshine.

For "lunch", we decided to have a nice waffle and chose to go into Galeries St-Hubert (built in 1847, the first shopping arcade in Europe) and to the Maison Dandoy. Even though the place was fancy, Linnea didn't think this waffle measured up to the one she had had on the street the first day. But the place was nice!

In the evening, we went for dinner at one of the most famous restaurants in Brussels, Chez Léon, founded already in 1893. I had mussels again, and Linnea some pasta this time. Unfortunately I got photos of neither, but I got photos of my beer and Linnea's dessert!

Brussels, Day 3 - The Comics Art Museum

We continued our day with a visit in the afternoon, to the Comics Art Museum. Enjoyed some lunch first next door, in the beautiful Art Nouveau building designed by Victor Horta. Then we had a look at the exhibition.

We were not that familiar with Belgian comic strip art, other than Tintin and the Smurfs. Unfortunately we were informed - after we had walked about for a while - that the Tintin stuff weren't located here anymore... Argh.
Well, I discovered this funny figure, which I really liked - Dickie!

The building itself was ah-mazing! Created by Victor Horta in 1906, originally serving as a warehouse.

I particularly enjoyed the part about how the comic strip begun, and how it's defined.

At the moment they also had a temporary exhibition about 'Comics at the Louvre', which was quite interesting. Such a different way to experience and rediscover the famous museum!

The Smurfs!

A fun museum!