“Italian Cultural Groups Stage Protest - New York Times Blogs” plus 2 more |
- Italian Cultural Groups Stage Protest - New York Times Blogs
- Surpassing cultural context: Shihoko Fukumoto and Devon Oder - Oregonian
- Avoid cultural blunders when working abroad - Deseret News
| Italian Cultural Groups Stage Protest - New York Times Blogs Posted: 12 Nov 2010 09:28 AM PST By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO ROME — Hundreds of Italian cultural institutions took part in a nationwide protest on Friday against a series of measures passed recently that critics say will stifle cultural development in Italy. Some museums and archaeological sites closed for the day; others shut their doors for a few hours. Libraries and archives around the country were closed. Pamphlets explaining the reasons for the protest were distributed in theaters and concert halls. Cuts in financing aside – including nearly $80 million a year from the culture ministry for the next three years – the protest focused on other cost-cutting measures including a cap on the amount of public money that municipalities might spend on exhibitions and a limit on the number of members on boards of cultural agencies. The measures "are just the most recent example of legislative stupidity" applied to culture, said Sofia Bosco, the director of the Rome office of the National Trust of Italy, which supported Friday's protest. Earlier this week Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti met with Roberto Grossi, the president of Federculture, a group of private and government cultural agencies that organized the protest. Mr. Grossi said on Friday that the minister had agreed to review the measures. "We've already achieved some success," Mr. Grossi said, but he said his organization would not let down its guard. "Something important is happening," he said. "We have put the spotlight on culture and we don't intend to let it get turned off." This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Surpassing cultural context: Shihoko Fukumoto and Devon Oder - Oregonian Posted: 12 Nov 2010 05:10 AM PST Published: Friday, November 12, 2010, 5:10 AMThe images conjured by combining the word "tradition" with the word "art" are none too pretty: nesting Russian dolls, woven amulets, folk art extraordinaire. Most art shrivels under the weight of "tradition," which turns even the most exacting practice into a touristy circus show.It is a tribute to the inherent strength of artist Shihoko Fukumoto's work, then, that the pieces on display in the Japanese Garden's Pavilion manage to both reference their cultural context and surpass it. Fukumoto's work uses traditional Japanese dying techniques in new ways, producing pieces that are both bold and delicately beautiful, both abstract and representational, both modern and traditional. Consider, for instance, the 12-piece installation "Time Space," a series of nearly 7-foot square cloth panes suspended one in front of the other across the gallery hall. The panes repeat the same colors and the same design -- a light blue and white circle inside a darker blue square. While the layout and design could easily bore the eye, the nuances of "Time Space" delight. The colors of the central circle shift and change, while the rich, deep blue of the outer square stays stable, suggesting both the natural time of the moon, months, seasons and tides, and the eternal time of the universe itself. This is earnest, heartfelt stuff and is purposefully beautiful in a way that much serious contemporary art is not. Fukumoto's blue is real indigo, the kind that is distilled from plant leaves and processed by hand, not the synthetic stuff we've come to equate with blue. Her techniques rise from an ancient hand-dipping practice similar to tie-dying, but she also brushes and processes her panels in ways her ancestors did not. She is internationally known as an "indigo artist," a craftsperson who has limited herself to one medium and who has gained mastery of that medium. An artist who is able to accomplish through subtlety what others accomplish through pyrotechnics, Fukumoto has taken the tradition of her culture and made it her own. "Indigo Is the Color of My Dreams," by Shihoko Fukumoto; Portland Japanese Garden, 611 S.W. Kingston Ave.; hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m. Mondays; closes Nov. 28; garden admission: $9.50 general, $7.75 seniors and students; $6.75 ages 6-17; japanesegarden.com "Ashen Glow" Two years ago, eastside gallery Fourteen30 marked its opening with a show of manipulated Polaroids by California artist Devon Oder. Seventeen shows later, Fourteen30 has brought Oder back with a new crop of images -- half of them black-and-white naturescapes, the other half white-on-blue cyanotype contact prints. The two parts of the show work together to create a nice pause and repeat rhythm, while the individual images offer complicated textures and interesting abstractions. Oder works in photography, but in a photography that pushes against its tradition. Oder is at her best when she allows her images to become weird without forcing weirdness upon them. Take, for instance, the messy textures of "Tree Cave (Crawler)," a black-and-white jumble of vines and branches made from multiply exposing detail-rich medium-format film. Up close, the image shows a world that is recognizable, though ominous and odd. Viewed from a distance, the piece's surface reveals shapes, patterns and lines that don't correlate to anything in nature. Pieces like this manage to be both playful and deadly serious -- a view to a world both known and unknown, a whisper of the intimate that houses secrets. Other images try a little too hard -- like "Totem," a shot of a brick chimney surrounded by flower fields and forest. At the center of the image is a familiar prism of light, a trick of the lens reflecting the sun. We all recognize just that prism from scrapbook images, which raises the question: Is Oder aiming for nostalgia, or is she making fun? The artist statement and the title point toward a post-apocalyptic world, but the image doesn't bring that idea forward. Instead, the piece seems like a nice picture of a pretty scene, without the bite of the weird that empowers the rest of the show. Two years ago, Oder showed us Polaroids that presented one vision of the world. Now, she shows us something new. Watching an artist change and mature through successive shows at the same gallery is one of the joys of our local art scene. Congrats to Fourteen30's first two years, and best wishes for two more to come. Fourteen30 Contemporary, 1430 S.E. Third Ave., No. 100; noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays and by appointment; closes Nov. 21; free; fourteen30.com This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| Avoid cultural blunders when working abroad - Deseret News Posted: 12 Nov 2010 05:53 AM PST Published: Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 7:00 a.m. MST  International Business A friend of mine once said he wished he had known more about Brazil's cultural dos and don'ts before accepting an assignment to work there. While presenting to a group of his Brazilian peers, he repeatedly used a hand gesture that in the United States would emphasize everything was "OK." Unfortunately, in Brazil, this "OK" gesture has roughly the same vulgar meaning as the middle-finger gesture we all recognize in the United States. Fortunately, most of the audience was forgiving, but my friend was still embarrassed and wished he had avoided the incident entirely. My friend may take some small comfort in knowing he is certainly not the only one to have committed a cultural gaffe like this. Blunders bred from cultural and language differences happen again and again. In fact, even former president Richard Nixon once made news by flashing the same "OK" sign while disembarking a plane in Brazil. In the increasingly international world of business, more people now have the opportunity to work abroad. These international work experiences may be brief visits to foreign clients, or extended relocations lasting for months or years. The latter appears to be happening more often as job candidates expand the range where they are willing to work, especially in these times of global economic downturn. As international workers and expatriates leave the United States, they may wish to gain some education on country-specific customs and business etiquette. If this describes you, such preparation will help you to act appropriately in various situations that might otherwise be uncomfortable or embarrassing. Thanks to such preparation, when at a business lunch in Chile, you will know to keep your hands above the table at all times so that your client or colleague does not consider you rude. In various European and Latin American countries, you may be prepared to accept a brief hug or kiss on the cheek in situations where U.S. citizens might otherwise expect only a simple handshake. In Japan, you will treat business cards, called "meishi," with an increased amount of respect and will not place the card in your pocket. In addition, you will not be thrown too off balance when people in certain countries stand closer to you than you may normally be accustomed simply because people in that culture demand less personal space. Learning about cultural differences sooner rather than later is best if you wish to make a positive first impression. A little cultural sensitivity can go a long way, especially during a first meeting. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from cultural - Bing News To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 comments:
Post a Comment