Ex Oriente Lux

I like oriental art. I like crisp arabic mosaic, lush palm tree leaves and colourful bazars. Meanwhile, this esthetic duration is disrupted by the knowledge of the fact that these oriental expressions originate in a desire produced by the violence of the colonial powers. Either, this paradox is resolved through simple confession, or it may be explored artistically. var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-40113877-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();

[ex0rientelux]

Gothenburg, Sweden.

[ex0rientelux]

[slowsnaps-blog]

Grocery store in Hammarkullen. “Fruit, vegetables, flowers, oriental groceries”.

[ex0rientelux]

"Sunlight" from below, or maybe just a lamp.

[ex0rientelux]

A Solarium Shop on my street, Gothenburg. Isn't that a lovely palm tree?

[ex0rientelux]

Lorna and Christopher explore medium format photography

This is my medium format photo project.

[slowsnaps-blog]

Inside the Palmhouse. The Garden Society of Gothenburg.

[ex0rientelux]

Painting found in one of Gadaffi's palaces during the revolution in Libya 2011.

[ex0rientelux]

Carl Blechen, The Interior of the Palm House on the Pfaueninsel Near Potsdam, 1834

[ex0rientelux]

The palm house in Pfaueninsel, Berlin, designed by Karl Friedrich Schinke in 1831. Unfortunately it burnt down in 1880.

[ex0rientelux]

Berömt blev Friedrich Wilhelm III:s Palmhus i den väldiga botaniska trädgården på Pfaueninsel i Berlin på 1830-talet. Här under palmernas kronor lär Alexander von Humbholdt ha känt sig återkommen till Orinocos urskogar i Venezuela – den plats han upplevt som den vackraste på jorden. Leopold II av Belgien lade på 1870– och 80–talet en hel stad, inklusive kyrka, under glas, och fyllde upp utrymmet med palmer och tropiska växter.

Kerstin Smeds, "Ett fönster mot himlen", I trädgården, i biblioteket, i världen (2006)

[ex0rientelux]

Plant nursery in Kristinehamn, Sweden.

[ex0rientelux]

K.H. Rothenberger

[ex0rientelux]

Sumerian myths and legends are almost invariably drawn against a background of rivers, and marshes, of reeds, tamarisks and palm trees – a typical southern iraqi background – as though the sumarians had always lived in that country.

Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq

[ex0rientelux]

This is probably one of the earliest depictions of a date palm ever to be recorded in history. According to interpretations of judaism, the date palm tree was probably the "Tree of Life". However, the picture above is earlier than recorded history of judaism and goes back to the Palace of Mari in ancient Babylonia (around 1700 B. C.): "The symbolism (jets of water, plants, the gathering of dates) highlights the assurance of fertility the king in his palace is meant to provide."

[ex0rientelux]

Den, som engång förunnats lyckan att se Orienten, har derifrån medtagit en stråle af ljus, som sednare genombryter dimmorna högt uppe i Nordanlanden och der hindrar minnena att blekna. De återvända alltid friska och färgrika till hafvet af azur och smält silver utan ebb och flod, hvilket badar Joniens stränder och lägger sig med dynande böljor mot Afrikas och mindre Asiens soliga kuster. – Denna orörliga verld bibehåller sina traditioner från en grånad urtid såsom den bibehåller sina konungars balsamerade kroppar ifrån nekropolerna vid Nilen.

Adelaïde Ehrnrooth, Två finskors lustvandringar II. Resor i Orienten af A-ï-a

[alieninbeirut]

Gemayzeh Architecture

I love the older architecture in Beirut, something romantic about its survival.