Capture our world

Pictures and stories about all cultures of the world

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Graffiti street in Ghent

There is a street in Ghent which appearance changes constantly. The colors change and so does the art. Street artists are free to go wild in this alleyway and decorate the Werregaren street as they please. Officially it’s not permitted though, but it’s tolerated.

At one hand this gives artists freedom to whatever they want to paint on the walls and this is where graffiti is all about, right? However on the other hand isn’t it the illegalness that makes graffiti painting what it is? Isn’t it about rebellion against the establishment? If you take the illegality away, wouldn’t a graffiti painter just be a traditional painter like Rembrandt?

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The underground of Naples

Naples is an old, noisy and messy city. Not very clean, not decent and not quite artsy also.

At least above ground.

Under the ground it’s a whole other story. The metro stations of linea 1 are full of art, are clean, decent and new. Take for example Toledo metro station. The station is a work of art itself. When you’re going downstairs with the escalator, it’s like you’re entering an undersea world mixed with a starry night. You’ll get mesmerized by the beautiful ceiling. In the ceiling itself there is a hole that goes all the way up to the surface. It’s like a breathing tube so you don’t suffocate in this under water metro station.

So if you might ever be in Naples don’t stick to the surface also take a look in the underground.

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The lively streets of Naples

As we were walking into the narrow streets of Napoli a sound came to our ears. We followed the sound and discovered it was a religious parade. As it was just a week after easter we thought it had something to do with that. Although it probably did, it certainly also was a ceremony to honor the dead. There were banners in the parade that were decorated with the faces of deceased loved ones.

We followed the parade after they stopped in an alleyway. In that alleyway there was a small square where they proceeded the ceremony supported by the impassioned marching band.

The ceremony ended with some fireworks being fired off with quite some heavy noise. The neighbors weren’t amused by that, I can tell you.

In Naples you never know what you’re encountering on the streets. Just let the streets guide you themselves and follow what happens on these lively streets. You will not get disappointed.

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Forget Tuk-Tuks

Whoever’s been in Bangkok knows the city is full of the three wheeler taxi’s called Tuk-Tuks. However you should certainly take one for a small ride, just for the fun of it, you shouldn’t be using this as your permanent taxi transportation. Instead take the boat taxi. It’s way cheaper and it covers a way bigger distance for you and I think it’s way more fun also. Oh and on top of that you don’t get stuck in traffic with this taxi.

The only thing you have take in account when taking the boat taxi is that you destination should be somewhere around the river shore of the Chao Phraya river. And when it’s not, you can always take the regular taxi cabs. Less fun, but way cheaper than Tuk-Tuks. So forget Tuk-Tuks!

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Peace in the Provence

Where to find your mental peace better than in the Provence, Vincent must have thought. The big city of Paris didn’t do him very well and he decided he would go to the south of France. I wonder if he ever saw pictures of this region, like we do before we go on vacation to a certain place, or if he just heard stories.

He found out this was the perfect place for him. Well, actually he didn’t find his peace right away. Before he did, he first cut of a part of his ear after a fight with his friend Paul Gauguin and was called ‘Le foux roux’ (The crazy ginger) in Arles because of his weird behavior on a daily basis.

After his ear cutting incident he was brought to the mental hospital of Saint Paul de Mausole and there he recovered from his mental illness and found peace in himself. He painted like he never painted before. Painting was therapeutical for him and could take his mind off the things that happened in the past. Even today it’s being used as a rehabilitation center and mental patients still paint to recover.

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Un quatorze juillet sombre

On the 14th of July the people of France celebrate. It’s an important day in their history, the day that commemorates the storming of the Bastille, the turning point in the French revolution against the monarchs. On this day patriotism and chauvinism reigns all across the country.

On this day we were at an event that adds even more to the chauvinism, the Tour the France. On top of that we were in the region where the French revolution started, the Provence. You can imagine how proud everyone must have been. France’s biggest event coming to their town on the 14th of July.

Despite all of these joyful facts it still became a black day. On this day, July 14 2016, a man drove in to a very large group of firework spectators in Nice. 87 people died, including the killer itself.

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Fairytales in Prague

If you don’t know better, you would think you’re walking around in Disneyland. I’m sure writers of fairytales and Disney films had this beautiful city in their mind when they created their works. Everything in the center of this middle european city is a delight for the eyes.

Týnský chrám, the Church of Our Lady before Týn, is an example of this fairytale architecture. Two big towers with each eight little towers on the side, very thin peaks and the whole exterior is breathing baroque. No wonder this building was one of the inspiration sources for the Cinderella castle in Disneyland.

The perfect place to shoot your magical wedding pictures. After all, marriages are fairytales, aren’t they?

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Een muur van vrijheid?

Een muur die een miljoenenstad in tweeën deelde, werd, godzijdank, op 9 november 1989 weer neergehaald. Inwoners van Berlijn waren weer vrij om te gaan en staan waar ze wilden.

De graffiti op de delen van de muur die nog staan zijn een mooi symbool van deze vrijheid. Iedereen was vrij om de muren te bekladderen met wat ze wilden en hun gevoel en emoties met op de muur te uiten. Er was weer vrijheid om te doen wat je wilde in de Duitse hoofdstad.

In 1990 besloten twee samengevoegde kunstverenigingen de handen ineen te slaan en van een nog staand stuk van de muur een galerij te maken. Mooie beelden van (politieke) vrijheid ontstonden daar uit, zoals de afbeelding van twee kussende politici, Brezhnev en Honecker.

Doordat vele kunstwerken door slijt en 'vandalisme’ er niet ‘netjes’ meer uit zagen, werd er bijna 20 jaar later besloten om de galerij te renoveren en de werken te recreëren, soms zonder toestemming van de originele kunstenaars. Op deze manier kon, volgens de initiatiefnemers, de ‘East Side Gallery’ worden behouden. 8 kunstenaars weigerden hun werken over te schilderen.

Wat je hier ook van mag vinden, in mijn beleving is het niet zo erg als wat ze 1,5 jaar geleden hebben gedaan: een hek plaatsen om de muur. De muur van vrijheid die nu omsloten wordt door een hek waardoor niemand er meer bij kan of de muur überhaupt mag aanraken. Er zijn restricties toegepast. Het voorkomen en opheffen van deze restricties is volgens mij juist de reden waarom de muur in 1989 is neergehaald.