Изложба за 100-годишнината на проф. Веселин Трайков
In the “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” National Library an exhibition about Prof. Veselin Traikovwas presented. It is part of the “Bulgarian Bibliographers and Librarians” series.
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In the “St. St. Cyril and Methodius” National Library an exhibition about Prof. Veselin Traikovwas presented. It is part of the “Bulgarian Bibliographers and Librarians” series.
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On September 20 this year, the exhibition “Samuel Beckett – life and work” was opened in “Ivan Vazov” National Library – Plovdiv on the occasion of 115 years since his birth.
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In this material I intend to explore the human destiny and its limits. Led by a macrocosmic force, the destiny cannot modify its coordinates, which are considered to be presettled. However, in case of some encounters, more or less wanted, the people try to overpass its boundaries and to eliminate them, and thus thwarting the Creator’s will. I have chosen the two film adaptations, entitled ‹‹The Adjustment Bureau›› and ‹‹Before we go››, the former under the direction of George Nolfi (2011) and the latter under Chris Evans’s direction (2014), as a case study, in order to exemplify two situations generated by identical forces and interests, but which have different endings: in the first case, the two human beings get from God a reiteration of their own existence, implicitly of their destiny, through the fact that they manage and are allowed to remain together, while in the second case, they probe the fact they have known each other, at a certain time and space, like an experience that mark them, on one side, and on the other side helps them in their existential itinerary, through taking better decisions, through facing all kinds of trials and last but not least, through overpassing well the ontological proofs, which they are subjected to. Both cinematographic creations analyse the act of predestination or that of the human being’s mission, through finding his soul mate. More than that, we discuss in this abstract about protective divine court, mentioning the fact that every individual receives a guardian angel from God, to guide and protect him/her, a savior and a good advisor regarding the choices that he/she has to make in their lives. Both film adaptations finally convince us, that life hides its intentions, having as a purpose to render an evoluted ego, a balanced individual, even if this one is penetrated by melancholy feelings and regrets. The polyphonies of the encounter of the two people attracted by one to the other, intervene, in this way, with the polyphonies of non-finding, as long as the destiny does fulfill or does not.
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Review of: T. Clark, Hokusai: The Great Picture Book of Everything, London: British Museum Press, 2021.
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The purpose of this article is to present the portrait of the Vietnam War (1965–1975) in the comic book The Other Side by Jason Aaron and Cameron Stewart, from the point of view of the historian researching this conflict. I analyze this comic in two dimensions: juxtaposing its narrative with historical reality and with other narratives about the Vietnam War present in American culture. I examine if The Other Side repeats some of the “Vietnam war myths” as well, especially because of the claims of its authors. I take a closer look to discern what interpretation of the history of the Vietnam War was made in the comic. I also present how the authors used events, characters and historical terms to give their work an anti-war overtone. The influence of fiction, memoirs and works of writers such as Ambrose Bierce, Gustav Hasford as well as the reporter group called Snuffies on the final shape of the comic is also discussed.
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Stefan Sadovnicov is the artist who approaches several genres of painting. His creative activity is based on the connection of the three fields of arts: painting, music and literature. He writes poems, evokes the old times, paints. That is why the city of his childhood and youth – Bălți – appears to him represented as a universe rich in colors, shapes, sounds, etc. In all the works with this motif we feel the artist’s affection for the city of his soul. Stefan Sadovnicov is one of the few artists of great sensitivity, depth and intelligence. The series of paintings with the title „the city that no longer exists...”, executed in the70s–80s, are not just simple landscapes with buildings specific to the time, they retain deep meanings. The main reasons are longing, going back in time, nostalgic memories, etc. e visual artist did not simply paint the urban landscape, but selected the histories of the streets and buildings of Bălți, looked for old pictures and asked the residents. He approached the subject philosophically, drawing a parallel between the city and people who have souls.
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Miloslav Topinka's artistic work has been strongly associated with the francophone environment since its beginnings in 1965. Miloslav Topinka acknowledges his affinity with the French parasurrealist group Le Grand Jeu, which is reflected, among other things, in his publishing activities and translations. Links to the work of the French artist Marcel Duchamp can be also found. The paper reflects related elements of the work of Miloslav Topinka, the group Le Grand Jeu, and Marcel Duchamp as well as the natural ties between the French and Czech cultures.
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In the late 1920s, the Bratislava company of the metalsmith Armin Kraus produced an intriguing window design. Unique for its folding opening mechanism and an unusual combination of wood and steel, it represents one of the most original examples of windows produced in inter-war Czechoslovakia. Although the window was well received by the avant-garde, it struggled as a commercial product, despite Kraus’ efforts to innovate the design or to partner with larger companies. This contrast between the reception from architects and the public highlights an issue typical of many Modernist technical innovations, which despite promises of comfort and affordability often suffered from unexpected issues.
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In this paper, I will analyze the concept of transmedia storytelling in a marketing, ie, i will explain the role of transmedia in modern marketing trends. In the first part i will discuss the term transmedia storytelling in the context of media divergence and participatory culture in which the audience is not just a passive recipient but actively participates in the creation of content. I will answer the questions: What is transmedia and transmedia storytelling? What is its role in the new participatory culture? The transmedia process of creating stories that enable an interactive experience occupies a key place in today’s marketing campaigns. I will explain that in the second part of my paper, where through the analysis of two specific cases - campaigns, I will show the marketing value that this way of storytelling brings. The first example is the marketing campaign for Old Spice from 2010. It is one of the first and most successful campaigns that uses the transmedia concept, where by developing an interactive relationship with the audience, it manages to convert the consumer into a fan and revive a dying brand. In the second example, I will analyze transmedia marketing through the example of the television series Game of Thrones, as part of the broader transmedia marketing strategy of the HBO channel. In the case where the brand itself is a story, marketing (para)texts become an integral part of the wider transmedia story/text.
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The contribution of the artist Eiženija Heniša (1922–1984) to Latvian children’s book art development in the 1950s and 1960s is exceptional. The artistic quality of her illustrations not only corresponds to the development trends in the period under review as a whole but also can be seen as a catalyst for growth. The purpose of this paper is to explore the contribution of Heniša’s art and highlight the synergies between fine art, graphic design, and narrative in Latvian children’s book art of this period. Already the earliest of the artist’s works demonstrated her artistic talent and high mastery of graphic techniques. Various dimensions and contrasts were applied. Images were created following a strong tradition of realism, highlighting the facial expressions, gestures, grimaces, and posture of subjects. These features became the qualities of Heniša’s artistic expression in the 1950s and 1960s. Children’s books due to Heniša’s artistic contribution become stylistically unified works of art, characterized by realistic drawing and stylistic contemporaneity; originality of created typography for covers, title pages, titles; emotional comfort created by the compositional harmony.
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This article will argue the suitability of the Pink Elements (2019) by SUPERFLEX for representing the elementary particles of our posthuman reality, intended from a cultural perspective. Firstly, it will address the ‚bit’, deemed by some as the current arche, revealing its limits in the light of the Niche Construction Theory applied to humans. Then, I will try to demonstrate that the relational dimension corresponds to reality as we perceive it after postmodernity. Therefore, I will analyse the dynamics of the human-environment relationship in the geological era called ‚Anthropocene’ by comparing Merleau-Ponty’s perception and Morton’s hyperobjects. Finally, I will give some examples of recent artworks reflecting this relationship, synthesisable as a ‚recording of a non-deciphered text’, among which the Pink Elements will stand out as bricks capable of representing the ultimate substance of reality as the posthuman culture shows it to us.
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German director Christoph Schlingensief’s Animatographische Editionen (2004-06) included a series of three geographically-distinct labyrinthine walkthrough installations with a constellation of rooms and rotating platforms, leading to an Animatograph – a spinning carousel of material upon which videos were projected. Diverging from the current tendency in Schlingensief scholarship towards Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, this paper focuses on the role of material in the Animatograph to show how it sympoietically enfolds autopoietic systems of communication. In particular, I investigate how humans explored the installations’ tight spaces, foul smells, swirling sights and cacophony of sounds, transforming materials and animals into performers. To do so, I derive concepts from Rebecca Schneider, Karen Barad and Donna Haraway to argue that in the encounter with the human, matter looks, touches back, and performs. In addition to providing a compelling site to investigate the intra-active entanglements of humans, animals, and materials in an aesthetic context, Schlingensief’s Animatograph allows us to see the ongoing (re)configuration of these entanglements, putting posthumanist performativity on display and highlighting the aesthetic contributions of the non-human.
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Krilatica Kad ti život da limun, napravi limunadu , rijetko se ističe u društvenom diskursu našeg mentaliteta sklonog pasivnom prigovaranju, ali je zato silom prilika u svakodnevnom životu mjera za kojom se povode poduzetni pojedinci. Kako to u najboljem obliku izgleda u području umjetničkog stvaralaštva, pokazuje impromptu depo i izložbeni prostor Dubravke Lošić kojeg je zahvaljujući razumijevanju vlasnika, zasnovala u zamrlom proizvodnom pogonu tekstilne industrije Trikop d.o.o. na periferiji Blata na Korčuli. Jasan je potencijal projekta kao kulturne senzacije i onog što se kod nas u okviru strategije turističke ponude protokolarno voli nazivati vrhunskom kulturnom ponudom, a redovito se ne prepoznaje. Neupitno, po stvaralačkom naboju Dubravka Lošić jedna je od najpoznatijih domaćih umjetnica, a taj se sada prelijeva onkraj umjetničkog rada i na područje kulturnog poduzetništva. Granica razvoja potencijala koju nadaje njen otvoreni depo samo je nebo. Ni ne namjeravajući, umjetnica je pred lokalnu zajednicu u pogledu kulturne ponude ukalupljene u prevladavajući model interpretativnih i kulturnih centara, po stavila izazov živog umjetničkog rada, potencijal kulture stvaranja nasuprot kulture adoracije i eksploatacije povijesti i tradicije. Svi smo mi u izvjesnoj mjeri svjesni da je kultura dio ekonomije čija se pragmatična korist iskazuje indirektno, ali joj na razini razvojne strategije nismo spremni dati financijski poticaj, niti logističku strukturu veću od mogućnosti pukog preživljavanja. Naše društvo nakon osvajanja nezavisnosti snažno ulaže u obrazovanje neospornog likovnog talenta nacije osnivajući i održavajući tri akademije likovnih umjetnosti uz onu najstariju zagrebačku, a malo ili nimalo u sadržaje koji talente u koje se ulagalo trebaju pratiti i dalje razvijati. To se najviše odnosi na poduzetnički aspekt umjetničkog stvaralaštva poput tržišta umjetnina i održivog rada privatnih galerija zasnovanih na fiskalno–administrativnom standardu koji bi trgovinu umjetninama uopće uveo u sustav tržišnog gospodarstva ravnopravno sa svim ostalim proizvodnim djelatnostima. Sad se možemo upitati gdje je nestao dobar običaj sustavne izgradnje umjetničkih atelijera, gdje su se raspršile inicijative za razvoj središnjih čuvaonica koje bi sustavno, na principu energetske i ekonomske održivosti i pristupačnosti, riješile probleme pohrane umjetnina kako institucijama, tako i pojedincima. Ne mogu se poreći inicijative i pozitivni pomaci na razini administrativne podrške produkcijsko–logističkim, pa i egzistencijalnim potrebama umjetnika, ali ne iskazuje se namjera osmišljavanja okvira unutar kojeg bi konačno mogli funkcionirati kao samostalni, visoko dohodovni pojedinci. Zalaganje za izgradnju sustava koji bi vizualnim umjetnicima omogućio samoodrživ i dostojanstven rad i život ne treba povezivati s inicijativama koje bi stvaralaštvo vezivale za preživljavanje u tržišnim uvjetima. Kultura, a posebice umjetnost, pružaju okvir i stimuliraju razvoj stvaralačkih mentalnih kapaciteta pojedinaca i zajednice u cjelini što će se u konačnici funkcionalno odraziti na poboljšanje sveukupnih ekonomskih performansi društva. Zato su ona društva koja najviše ulažu u kulturu i najbogatija.
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Izložbeni prostor Dubravke Lošić: U tranziciji: depo u Trikop d.o.o. 27. 6. – 27. 9. 2023., Blato, Korčula. Foto: Veronica Arevalo
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The article discusses the exequies organised in the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania to commemorate the queen consort of Augustus III Wettin, Maria Josepha of Austria, who died inDresden in 1757, with special focus on their artistic setting. The most imposing celebration, documented by an ample, until now mostly unpublished iconographic material, took place on 14January 1758 in the Saxon Chapel in Warsaw. Seven drawings held in the Sächsisches Hauptstaatsarchiv in Dresden record the preparatory and the implemented versions of the chapels decoration. Their author was most probably Johann Friedrich Knöbel, whose designs for the queen's castrum doloris were inspired by the Roman tradition of catafalques on the molina davento ground plan as designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini, as well as by the funerary arrangements by Jean Berain the Elder and Gaetano Chiaveri. In designing the funerary decoration for the chapel, Knöbel may have cooperated with the young Simon Gottlieb Zug. The fact that the exequies Queen Maria Josepha continued until the year 1764 attests to the respect which her subjects had for this last crowned Queen of Poland, whom historiographers unjustly seem to neglect.
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The article focuses on the tomb of Anna Helena von Rohr, primo voto von Nimptsch (1649–1712), daughter of an esteemed Baroque poet Friedrich von Logau. The tomb is located in the Catholic (formerly Lutheran) parish church in Przerzeczyn-Zdrój (until 1945 Bad Dirsdorf) near Niemcza in Lower Silesia. This high quality work, dating from ca. 1712–1715 and made of Przeworno marble and alabaster, has until now been virtually unknown to art historians and overlooked in scholarly studies. On the basis of a comparative analysis and other data, the design and execution of the monument was ascribed to Georg Leonhard Weber (1672–1739), a sculptor active in Świdnica, originating most probably from Franconia.
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In 1934, Alfred Brosig published the contents of a contract for the making of figures for the façade of the church of the Seraphic St Francis in Poznań, concluded in 1729 in Wschowa between the Bernardines and one “Franciszek Domusbergier, woodcarver and stonemason”. This document, now lost, was until recently the only evidence of this artist’s activity. Source queries in Polish and Czech archives have established that Franz (Franciscus Hieronymus) Thomasberger was born in Brno in 1696 and that his father was the sculptor Matthias Thomasberger. In 1721, he settled in Nysa, where he married, soon after obtaining citizenship and the title of a master craftsman. While in Nysa he worked, among others, on the decoration of the fountain (now lost) in the garden of the residence of the bishops of Wrocław. In the late 1720s, he moved to Wschowa, a town located in the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania, becoming its citizen in 1729. Two years later he was granted membership in the guild of masons and stonemasons; he died in 1744. Several statues in Wschowa, mainly in the Bernardine church, and a sculpture of St John of Nepomuk in Kościan, originally probably in the local Bernardine monastery, have been attributed to him on the basis of stylistic similarities.
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The article presents an analysis of forest gamespaces in selected Polish video games. Referring to research in the field of postcolonial studies, the author shows how colonial patterns are preserved or deconstructed in designing the relationship between the player’s avatar and forest spaces. She examines relationships between characters and forest gamespaces in contexts such as colonization (Edward Said, Tomasz Z. Majkowski, Shoshana Magnet), hybrid iden- tity (Souvik Mukherjee), and diaspora (Homi K. Bhabha, Krzysztof Loska). Very often, game creators – consciously or unconsciously – replicate colonial patterns by depicting the relationship between space and figures. Despite this, some Polish video games challenge this paradigm by de- constructing it in both their narrative and gameplay me- chanics. Two examples of such games are Zaginięcie Ethana Cartera [The Vanishing of Ethan Carter] (2014) and Werewolf: The Apocalypse – Heart of the Forest (2020).
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This article offers an analysis of the performance Opera mleczana (Milk Opera), directed by Mikołaj Grabowski, which premiered on 9 March 2003 at Narodowy Stary Teatr im. Heleny Modrzejewskiej (Helena Modrzejewska National Old Theatre) in Kraków. Its libretto and music by Stanisław Radwan were based on satirical drawings by Andrzej Mleczko. Using the theory of intermediality, the author interprets not only the content of the performance, but also the various forms and means of expression it employs, borrowed from opera, musical, film, soap opera, and comic strips. It is argued that the show’s hybridity contributed to its popularity, as it made it easier for the actors to connect with a multigenerational audience.
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The need to belong is important in all societies as it strengthens the sense of cultural identity. Dress is one of those important phenomenological factors, since the cultural identity of an ethnic community can be recognized through it. Throughout history, clothing develops and changes depending on social changes, cultural and political forms and identities of a people or a country. Macedonian folk costumes evolving through the ages have had dual roles. The main role lies in their practicality and their applicable values, while the second element is more significant and relates to the aesthetic segment, especially their ornamentation which is of inestimable value. This blend of traditional Macedonian clothing and contemporary clothing of today, expressed in the language of fashion and its rules, discloses a specific and “new” research area whose scholarly character creates its own language of style. Fashion is a set of various signs and symbols that interact with the human body at a certain time and place. On one hand, this treasure of great creative and scientific fundus, allows the fashion designer to explore “beauty” and the beauty of dress on several levels. Through the possibility of using different digital methods, digital technologies and computer applications, it is possible to create a modern and creative concept of fashion designer prototype and fashion collection. In the attempt to create an author’s ethnic collection called “Triplet”, I used the digital system of recomposing the classical arrangement of textile ornaments from two segments.
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