Saboriá

We love good food, We love good wine, We love culture and art, And lots of it, We love to travel, Experience new places, And entice our senses. We just like the good things in life.

[saboria]

Rotterdam, the new Amsterdam?

Living in Rotterdam it sure is a boost when you read that your city has been thriving the list of places to visit! The article that made me write this essay is the following:

- http://www.urbanmaniacs.com/rotterdam-presteert-op-wereldniveau/?subscribe=success#blog_subscription-2

Unfortunately for the English speakers this article is in Dutch, But yours truly here, will give you the highlights of it! First of I want to say, that I did not live my entire life here in Rotterdam. I come from a small island in the Caribbean called Curacao. Nothing beats Curacao. But hey, let’s talk about  the current place I’m living, Rotterdam. Let’s start by mentioning what is written in the article and what my comments or should i say adjustments would be on them.

- Innovative: Contrary to the nice canals of Amsterdam, which are always going to stay the same boring canals eventually. Rotterdam is the new upcoming city to be. Do I sound like a tour guide? Yes I do. But one cannot deny the new Markthal! Personally I thought it would replace the weekly market and it would be the same as the weekly one, only with a fancy rooftop on it. Guess I did not read the pamphlets right. Markthal is a deli (read: pricey) market. But it is nice to stroll around, buy some products I do not get elsewhere. With this Dutch weather who wants to be outside in the rain and wind? Also it i not only a fancy rooftop for pricey foods, you also have a lot of other shops there. Also being from Curacao, I enjoy the Suriname market stand, it offers tropical products that are hard to find. 

- Bustling, food & drinks: Again another comparison with Amsterdam (formally known as THE city to be). In Amsterdam you have quaint places to drink beer, such as The Pijp are. Well, Rotterdam is booming with new thrilling places to visit. If you want to go fancy nancy, Hugh, is a recommendation. But if you want to keep it low key, Bokaal is very nice and its near Blaak Station, so it is easy with public transport.

- Design: When talking about architecture, the old mansions of Amsterdam all will look the same. I would advise you to take a stroll near the Markhall and Blaak Station, there you can start counting the different architectural buildings you see. Besides in the city centre, Rotterdam also has an amazing sky line that one could admire from different vantage points in the city, north as well as south. If you are into design and architecture the name Rem Koolhaas must have popped up in your head. It did in mine! Koolhaas is a world renowned Dutch architect and one his designs is the Kunsthall museum and The Rotterdam in Rotterdam. But there are many other buildings around the world who have been designed by him or in collaboration with him.

This is a very brief overview of what Rotterdam has to offer. Might be I will keep on adjusting this article. But for the time being, you would have to get some satisfaction with. It is nice to read that Lonely Planet acknowledges us in their feature of Best in Travel 2016! 

[saboria]

Hip Hop Rotterdam?

Recently I have been talking about the scene in Rotterdam and I have visited tremendous dance performances. These were Scapino, Henry and Narnia from the Junior Company of the Dutch National Ballet. At the performance of the latter, there was a collaboration between hip hop and ballet. And the group that performed hip hop was the Amsterdam based group ISH. This got me wondering about the hip hop scene/groups in Rotterdam. Soon enough I got the opportunity to visit the most well-known hip hop group in Rotterdam, HipHopHuis.

The HipHopHuis started as a group of friends who had a passion for the hip hop scene, thus not only dancing but also the music, the art and everything that goes with it. One of the founders was kind enough to talk about how this organization came to be. She had such an intrinsic motivation for breakdancing and the whole hip hop scene. Back in the day she was one of the only girls breakdancing. And the whole culture around it was very appealing to her. Not only the dancing, but the way of talking, clothing, eating together, the whole lifestyle felt as if she was in the right place. One would even call it family, you had a loyal bond with your crew and knew they had your back. As mentioned above, she was one of the only girls dancing and even on international level she found motivation of other girls dancing.

With the following explanation of her feelings towards this culture I could suddenly totally relate to her situation. The example is the one of giving directions to one’s house. You would not say I live at Statenweg #3, but you would say, ‘go to the red building near the station and turn right at the big tree’. Hearing this it reminded me of my own roots, Curacao, and we would give directions the same way.

Eventually the HipHopHuis was born and they had to start thinking a bit different. How do you get financial support? How do you organize strategically? These were fields unknown for them, but in order to keep their passion growing, they had to adapt.

HipHopHuis found ways of collaborating with SKVR and this organization helped them with giving their organization much needed structure. They also gave classes at the SKVR itself. For more information about SKVR I would recommend the link below:

http://www.skvr.nl/

 But the HipHopHuis is bigger than the dream of 3 friends, sometimes one has to make choices to keep the group a float. A few years back government support was something they did not have to worry about, they had to make sure that education was part of their curriculum and they would get financial government support. Unfortunately lately there has been some cut backs and the group has struggled to keep themselves a float. This is tricky because it is not easy to get organizations to sponsor you and the type of organizations giving you sponsor should have the same (moral) values as your own. I truly understand this because one would not want a multination give you a sponsor while they are going against your (moral)values. In the end I asked what was one of their greatest achievements. Dancing at the Olympic Games was one of them, but also the traveling and getting to know new cultures.

At the moment they are trying to achieve more aspects of the hip hop scene in their curriculum, such as music and rap. They are going to expand themselves on different disciplines and this is not something easy, but who said it has to be easy?

[saboria]

Jenever, malt spirit genever, the new ‘it-drink’?

The past year gin tonics, also known as G&T, flourished in the going out scene. An example can be seen in the picture above. Working in a bar we expanded our glass collection to the popular big glass bowls where this cocktail is being served in. And everywhere you go, you would see people holding these ginormous glasses filled with loads of ice, certain herbal concoction, tonic and last but not least some fancy gin. This cocktail is not something that was invented the past year but thanks to marketing and media it became very popular. Whit this my interest in unconventional alcohol peeked. I asked myself, what can be the following ‘it-drink’? I had a conversation with a bartender and then I realized something very odd but funny. We were talking about what gin is made of, and how it is made. One particular fruit popped up in my mind and I made a certain association with it. This is ‘jeneverbes’, in English this is juniper berry. If we go back to the Dutch version of it, and we dissect the word ‘jeneverbes’, one gets ‘jenever’ and ‘berry’ (= juniper). This is when I thought, what about genever? This beverage is mostly consumed by people 35+. I was curious about the similarities with gin. So I decided to visit the Jenever Museum in Schiedam.

What can I say of this visit? Let me start by providing some basic information about what happens at this museum. It is not only a museum, they still produce on small scale malt spirit genever in the distillery. As the only one left in Holland they are still distilling according to the traditional Dutch method used since the end of the 17th century in the Netherlands. The process used can be compared to the one used for whiskey. For further information about the distilling process I would recommend a visit to their website: http://www.jenevermuseum.nl/  

Or read this short explanation below:

The 1st thing they do is mix ground rye, malted barley and water into a mash. The ground rye comes straight from the mill. The barley has to be malted first in a malt-house. By soaking it in water, germination takes place resulting in the development of enzymes which convert the starch from the barley into sugar. The sugar is needed to produce alcohol.

The mash is stirred thoroughly and left untouched for a while during which a sugaring process takes place at a certain temperature. Next a little yeast is added which ‘eats’ the sugar and produces amongst other things alcohol.. The mash now contains alcohol of about 6%

. It is then distilled for the first time, producing what is called crude alcohol of 12%. After the second distillation single alcohol of 24% is obtained. After the third distillation malt spirit of 48% is obtained. It is left to mature in oak casks, for at least three years.

Eventually Juniper berries are added, then it is diluted with water to bring it to a drinkable strength of 40%. The end product is called Old Schiedam.

 The interesting part of this explanation of the distilling process is the use of the juniper berries. Gin has a similar way of being made, or should I say distilled. And the funny thing about it is that the same as Champagne, Bordeaux or other regional wines, it must be produced in that certain region for it to be called a certain name. Back in the days the English copied this malt spirit genever process but they could not call it the same and they could also not pronounce it well. Thus gin was the result. This is a very short explanation of it and im sure someone else will bash on my explanation. But with gin the last part of the process is different. While malt spirit genever (Old Schiedam) is made only with juniper berries and produced in Schiedam. Gin is made with not only juniper berries but also with a lot of other botanicals such as citrus fruits, spices, nuts etc. Basically whatever gives it a certain appealing flavor.

This left me very curious, should I make a gin tonic, with Old Schiedam instead of gin, and serve it as a new gin on the market. Would anyone notice it? Or would they think, oh this a different tasting gin! What would mix well with Malt Spirit Genever (Old Schiedam) if not tonic? I’ve met people that drink it with cassis, a purple soda. But what about the future of Old Schiedam, could it be mixed with the right soda, the new ‘it-drink’?

[saboria]

The evolving artist

Recently I stumbled upon this interesting article about artists commercializing their art and artists becoming business owners. My curiosity level peeked with interest in finding out what they had to write about the fine line between artists becoming entrepreneurs. The article started with a nice example of James Newman, award-winning jewelry designer, who started his company only one year after graduating. His tip was ‘you need a very broad skillset’. But it is also important to notice when you have to let someone else do a certain part of the business.

The following question got my curiosity level peeked (as mentioned above) ‘How does an artist start to make the transition from creative to business owner? And is it possible that artists and entrepreneurs have more shared characteristics than we might think?’.  I am curious how modern day artists make a living and combining art with business seems like an almost logical way to earn a living. I am going to make  a short list below of the tips mentioned in the article. I see both artists and entrepreneurs having a passion but what this is and how they give it form is the basic difference.

The way this question was answered was informative but at times a bit blurry. Following the question came several examples given from people who are active in this area. I think it is good to read from the people who are actually active in this area and can be seen as experts. But was it necessary to use more than 5 different examples? In the end you get advice from different people and when it all sank in I was grateful for it but when reading it I was a bit discontent.

What did I learn about all these 5+ examples? Make sure you have a strategy on how you want to approach your work. Establish the monetary value of your artwork. This is something very difficult and it is a topic that people like to talk about when criticizing artwork ‘why would someone pay millions for that work?’. The next tip is not necessarily new to artist without a business approach; knowing your audience. I think as an artist one should know the public your work attracts and this is important if you would like to sell your work. Recognize when it is necessary to make use of others expertise instead of doing it all by yourself.

In the end it is about making your work a commercial success and knowing how to run your business with the help of others. One should not be ashamed of commercializing their work.  In my opinion the combination of the art-world and business-world is a smart move. With the help of social media nowadays reaching your audience is slightly more easier than a decade ago. This new way of ‘surviving as an artist’ is a new movement that is bringing a change in the art-world and I would describe it as the evolution of the artist.

An example? Read more about it in my next article! 

[saboria]

Generation-social-media

Recently I stumbled upon this article and it got me thinking. First of all, I’m sorry the article is in Dutch but I will write about it in English, bilingual advantages. Let’s start with the title ‘If I don’t post anything for a few days I will become uneasy and yes even a bit sad’. The title intrigued me, and before I even read this article I could point out a few of my Facebook friends whom I think have the same ‘issue’. I will refer to this as an issue because in my opinion someone who is on that level of dependence of the attention of other people (the internet) might have a problem. Someone who gets sad when not  posting something, read: no attention, is pathetic. This issue will control the person her or his life and that is why I think it is pathetic. This might come harsh and I might sound like a hypocrite since I’m posting essays on my blog. But the difference is that this does not control my life, I can live without it and it does not consume me.

Coming from a generation that knows what it is like to live without a smartphone, Ipads, tablets or any of these, I am in a position I can write about it and relate to my own experience. All of these objects are related to social media and can stimulate this ‘issue’. Although I might say that education can play a big role in how someone coming from generation social media, will behave. Not everybody is addicted to social media or any of these websites associated with posting information online.

The writer makes some good points or better said he gives the reader ‘food for your thoughts’. He is questioning himself if he is addicted to his smartphone. One of the reason behind this is because when he reaches out for his phone in the morning, it is pretty sticky. This is because the previous day he touched his phone regularly. This is true for a lot of people, we touch our phones so much it becomes a tool of regular use. For me I realized the amount of bacteria our phones must be carrying. Will this affect the way I use my phone and where I put it? YES! This phone caresses your face but who knows what is physically on it… We are talking about the physical dangers of the smartphone, but what about the things you can do with it? Let us start with the positive, it is handy. Besides social media you can check your bank account, look up information, agenda, weather reports etc. But there comes social media, where it is really easy to become addicted to.

It is all about being aware of your smartphone use. Some people like to post a lot on social media. It even has this healing-effect. This is when someone posts something and with each like they get this tiny euphoric feeling or blissful daze. And even this is not something to be ashamed of or even called addiction. I think it is for each person a bit different what they would describe as addicted. For me I notice this addiction when friends sit together at a table and they are constantly on their phone and when this is taken away they get paranoid. This is a personal experience. Of course there are moments when you need to be on your phone, exceptions exist.  The key is to realize when it becomes an addiction.

[saboria]

‘Dance till you drop, drop dead fabulous’

As mentioned before I like to go to performances with a slightly blank page. This time I went to the premiere of the famous Scapino Ballet Rotterdam performance “Henry”. I have been before to performances of this dance company and they were amazing! Their technique, sense of rhythm, expression, décor, costumes, stage setting, it all seems perfect! This performance was held in the beautiful Schouwburg Theatre near the central station. Last time I went here was for the performance of Narnia (see previous essays). For me it is interesting to sit at different places each time I visit a performance. This time I sat at the second row in the middle, just two meters from the stage. I have never been so close to the stage, it was quite interesting.

With one word I can completely describe this dance performance, ‘mindblowing’. At certain scenes there were duo’s dancing, then came a third, mixing it up while at some other part on the stage there was something completely different going on at the same time. This worked but it was also confusing to capture it all.  Does the public needs to capture it all? This might be due to me sitting too upfront.  It was a melting pot of everything professional dancing has to offer. At the beginning I had to get used to the show, there was a group dancing synchronized yet the movements were not equal as I expected from Scapino. But as I was at the premiere and having been an amateur dancer before I could understand and relate to the pressure they have. The dancing was sensual, and at times funny, intense, awkward, different and above all beautiful. What was so beautiful about it? These movements rarely scene filled up the whole stage and I was mesmerized and amazed, even if it was just one dancer doing her solo.

The music I can equally describe as the words I used before to describe the dancing. There was this bass in it that reminded me of history movies where the war airplanes were in sight and one could hear the terror it brought. This feeling of tension for what is coming up worked perfect in this performance. The different shades of light and the intensity of it on the dancers movements was unreal. One scene it was a yellow hue that gave a warm feeling and then another moment it changed of color so fast that one would get dizzy of it. The contrast between the enormous dynamic  dancing and the almost mono tone bass with slight changes complemented each other.

The show started with a dancer in a tiny dark silver short making sensual yet snake style moves. The lighting caught his body in such a way that he seemed like a Greek muscular god. It was also quite funny and the crowd giggled along. After a while it got silent again and I was intrigued to see this dance style I was not used to see. It is not exactly weird but it is different, in a positive way. There were more female than male dancers, each with an unique costume. They wore very minimalistic and simple clothing, yet very interesting such as a guy wearing a skin color leotard that had a deep navel décolleté. All the costumes emphasized the muscular and lean bodies of the dancers and the different types of light worked well with it. Sitting there I was confused at times, then amazed, then it turned into adoration. I asked myself, is there any improvisation going on here? The movements are so surreal! After this performance I liked it even more. This aftertaste it let me with is sure something I would like to recommend for someone else to experience. 

[saboria]

Opera who? Der Rosenkavalier

As I make my way into the world of culture in Rotterdam I decided to take a look at one of the other great cities The Netherlands has to offer, Amsterdam. What can I do? I decided to go to the opera ‘Der Rosenkavalier’. Luckily I got great student discount on my ticket , I paid €17 instead of €160! With this smug feeling I dressed up and went to the opera. Same as when I went to previous performances I went this time ‘blank’. What do I know about operas? I knew a little bit about Richard Strauss, he is a German composer and is known for his operas such as Der Rosenkavalier.  At first I confused him with Richard Wagner, both are German composers, are known for their operas and share the same first name. I had been to the opera Tristan & Isolde composed by Wagner, this was a four hour long sit and it was quite dramatic. As this was the first time I went to an opera of this magnitude I was overwhelmed and not quite sure if I truly enjoyed it.

When I lived in Curacao I went to the opera adapted for children and it was Curacao’s finest Tania Kross who sang. As young as I was I was amazed by it and I got to meet her after the show. I knew this was a special moment and thinking back about it and being able to talk to such an amazing accomplished person feels ever more so special.

Back to the latest opera I went to, Der Rosenkavalier. As part of the anniversary of Dutch National Opera it is opening its season with Der Rosenkavalier. This opera is directed by Jan Phillip Gloger and Marc Albrecht is the chief conductor of The Dutch National Opera and The Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra| The Netherlands Chamber Orchestra. Arriving way to early I decided to read the story and at that moment I was already impressed by the complexity of the story and my personal associations with series and movies nowadays whom are equally ‘complicated’. I was happy I read the story, otherwise it would have been a bit confusing to follow. One of the roles, played by a female but is in the story a male lover who has to disguise himself as a female chambermaid is already the start of the complexity.

The first scene was so precious and each detail  was so beautiful and thoughtful. It had a high sealing with big windows, long curtains and the scene was from another era. Suddenly the modern time squeezes itself in the small details such as a modern camera or modern clothing. This was genius to me and therefor I enjoyed the attention on these small details. The lightning was also perfect, transforming from day to night, and the rain drops on the window was real water!  This opera is about the passing of time, whether you like it or not one gets older. It is also about love and not in a sad dramatic way but rather a very funny and dramatic. The other scenes were also very detailed and the costumes were amazing, each had its own beauty. The gown had the sparkle each little girl dreams of.

The whole ambiance around this performance was also very interesting. There were a lot of elder people but there were also ‘the students’ and a few young people. Although some of them accompanied the elder ones, maybe they were obliged to come along. The narrative aspect, the décor, the lighting, the costumes it was all with such detail. The story was easy to follow, it was funny and yet the drama in it was just perfect. My whole experience going there was great and having been to an opera of such magnitude before I know what other types of opera are and I’m able to compare it.

[saboria]

Color Essay: Indigo

The essay I will be writing is about the color indigo. What can I say about the background and history of indigo? What does this color mean to me? What is the first thing that came to my mind when I heard about this color? A specific childhood memory. First thing I did was check on google if the color in my head is the same as the color it actually is. This color is one of the seven colors of the rainbow. These seven colors are: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. I think this is quite impressive since indigo is often mistaken for  regular blue.

Where did the naming of this color came from?  Indigo was historically used as a natural dye  (indigo dye) and it got extracted from plants, mainly from ‘Indigofera tinctoria’ and this took place mainly in India. The color was back in the time very rare and special and thus luxurious. India was where the major production and processing took place. Shortly said there is an association of the word ‘indigo’ and India, since this is referred to indigo dye which took place in India. It is one of the oldest dyes used for printing and textile. This product coming from India went all over Europe and later on the rest of the world. Once begun in India, the production export and import of indigo became worldwide and different countries in Europe imported indigo from their tropical colonies. Eventually came the synthetic indigo. Fortunately naming ‘this’ color ‘indigo’ and it being one of the seven colors of the rainbow it still holds its pride nowadays.

To continue on my personal experience with this color I would like to describe a special childhood memory. I was about 6 years old when my siblings and I discover the magic happening of combining hot water with colorful flowers and leaves. One of the earliest experiments was with the flower looking leaves of the bougainvillea. Combining hot water with these colorful leaves,  we created  ‘flower-soup’. Later on we removed the leaves and another magical happening was the color of the water! It became an adventure for us to experiment with all the flowers in my mothers’ precious garden. Most flowers were red and orange hues. The yellow and white ones were boring. When I discovered this small but  ‘powerful’ blue-ish flower I was mesmerized by the color!  Also because there were not as many flowers (leaves) to use as with the bougainvillea thus this blue (indigo) color was rare and very special. The combination of scarcity made it very sought after and we waited each week for a few more flowers to bloom to continue making our ‘flower-soup’. What did we do with it? We had a lot of glass jars and bottles filled with our ‘flower-soup’, some with and without the flowers in it. We traded it with each other and felt very special when creating it and played all types of games ranging from chemist to store owner.

As described in my childhood memory this color gives me a warm fuzzy nostalgia feeling. Besides my childhood memories this color is so pure, full and vibrant I would describe it as passionate. Writing about this color I started noticing different shades of it throughout my daily life, for example the color of Facebook is like a cheap knock off indigo. I also associate it with the deep blue color of the coast line of Curacao sea. Where the turquoise color changes into dark blue, with certain light intensity this dark blue transforms into a passionate color. It is not quite the same but the intensity of it sure is.

When hearing the word indigo I also think about textile dying, as explained a few paragraphs before. I think about how special it must have been and relate it to my own experience as a little girl as (described in the previous paragraph). Since I started writing about it I had to think about the color blue in general. Even in art blue was a special color, this can be seen in renaissance paintings. I also think about how this color presents itself in my daily life. Therefor I took some pictures and this can be seen below. I have to admit, it is not always super clear for me when this color is blue and when it is indigo. In some pictures the color looks different than in real life.

When I was researching the history of indigo I had to think about one of my first sewing lessons at my grandmothers in 2011. My aunt recently passed away and she left me these gorgeous satin indigo and other colored fabrics and insisted I would make something nice with it. I’ve made a nice blouse, unfortunately I don’t have a picture of it. But I will assure you, it is very nice and it gives me also a nice feeling knowing my aunt would have been very happy seeing me wearing this precious fabric of hers.

At last but not least, this essay is coming to an end. I noticed that indigo is subconsciously intertwined in my life and it is a color I was unaware I was passionate about. Writing this essay I became aware of it and now I can truly embrace it. Personally turquoise is my (consciously) favorite and now I can add another family of blue to my favorites. This doesn’t mean I am smarter or anything, but to me this makes me happy that by writing this essay I made such a discovery.

[saboria]

Welcome to Japan: The Vancouver Asahi

This September there was the 10th edition of CAMERA JAPAN festival. This is a Japanese cultural film festival held from the 24th to the 27th of September at the LantarenVenster in Rotterdam. This festival will also be held in Amsterdam from 2 to 4 October.

When I heard about this film festival I was curious about Japanese films. Normally I only watch Hollywood films, I am aware of the big industry of Bollywood films but those do not attract me as much. Together with some fellow students I went to the movie ‘The Vancouver Asahi’. The only thing I knew about this movie was that it is based on a true story and it is before World War ll and it is a sports movie. This movie is directed by Ishii Yuya and the running time is 2 hours and 13 minutes, ‘people be prepared it will be a long sit’ (this went through my head).

Entering LantarenVenster your world transformed into a Japanese dream. There were food stands with sushi and other typical Japanese finger food. It all looked like a modern day market with Japan as the main theme. There were also Japanese art in the whole building. From classic Japanese geisha looking ladies, they were actually prostitutes, to Japanese modern street art. For me this was setting the spectator in a Japanese looking environment and it worked very pleasantly for me. It showed me the different aspects of the Japanese culture and for me this is a culture I do not know a lot about. This got me excited to watch the movie.

I really enjoyed this movie because it was not a typical sports movie where the one practicing the sport is bad at the beginning, trains hard and gets good at it and then something happens and ruins everything and in the end everything turns out to be okay. It was a long sit (two hours) and it took a while before the movie got interesting. But it was helpful for the viewer to thoroughly understand the miserable situation the Japanese had to endure when they immigrated to Vancouver around 1920’s. The Japanese were hard workers and earned less than the Canadian workers who did not work as hard as the Japanese, this caused a lot of tension between these two groups. But amongst the Japanese immigrants there was also tension, the older immigrants still felt attached to Japan and did not integrate while the younger generation did integrate into the Canadian society.

Baseball was a way the younger generation bonded and integrated with each other. They practiced as much as they could but could not overcome the stronger Canadians. This was when the playing method ‘brain-ball’ started. They hit the ball a different way that worked in their advantage. At this point they started to play very well and earned the respect of the Canadians. Unfortunately due to World War ll it did not end well with them.

The same day I went to watch this movie I also went to an exhibition about World War II. At this exhibition I saw World War ll thru the eyes of the Germans and the Dutch. Watching this movie gave me another perspective, thru the eyes of the Japanese. This was very confronting because at first I was a bit short sighted since I am partially Dutch. But after seeing two different perspectives it gave me more insight and therefor more understanding. Deep inside I knew this and a visual conformation was not needed but desired.

This movie started a bit slow, the real exciting part did not happen until one hour had passed. The reason it became exciting is because one could see the progress they made with their playing method ‘brain-ball’. This story is based on a true happening and it was not elaborated like most Hollywood stories are. For this reason I would recommend it to someone else. One needs to learn to appreciate different types of movies.

[saboria]

Value of an artwork?

When thinking about the salary of an artist, ‘how do they make a living?’ I had to think of a certain artist, Marlene Dumas. Artists such as Rembrandt, Van Gogh and Picasso never met their actual fame in the society as it is today. They scrapped by and earned not even half of what people pay nowadays for their artworks. It is very typical for artist to achieve great appreciation after their death, for example Keith Haring. In another essay I will tell more about Keith Haring, I will visit his recent exhibition at Kunsthall and write all about it!

Back to the living, Marlene Dumas, whose work is worth a lot, I repeat a lot of money. After reading a few articles and viewing a short movie my first image and impression of Dumas totally changed. At first when I read about the worth of her work and the fame she has I thought ‘this must be one hell of a rich  and maybe arrogant artist’. Because someone who has the cojones (balls!) to paint like that, and the subjects in her paintings must be someone who is strongly opinionated.

Let me start with explaining her work. Dumas paints mainly from existing images, ‘secondhand images’. As she said herself, these secondhand images generate first-hand emotions. She uses images from newspaper, magazines but also photographs from famous and notorious people. These vary from Naomi Campbell to Osama bin Laden. This is where it gets interesting, imagine being a photographer and your work is sold for €100 and put somewhere slightly public (read: it is on the internet so someone can do something with it). Unless you have your photograph twisted in authorization rights its basically out there for grabs. There comes Dumas and uses your photograph to make a painting. Later her work is sold for €50.000! How would you feel about this? Would you be flattered or would you think ‘hey this is unfair’. This for me is an interesting phenomenon.

Dumas her paintings are very raw, political, controversial, intimidating, confronting, questionable, emotional and yet somehow unrealistic realistic. A great example is The Painter. This is a painting of a naked unhealthy child whose hands have paint all over it. But this paint can easily be blood and this is something characteristic in her paintings. This controversial and questionable aspect is for me genius! I admire her work for the questions it raises but also what I mentioned above makes her work worth admiring for me.

After reading this article (read more here) it made me think of how humble Dumas is and not an arrogant rich artist at all. She’s rather rich in her kindness and with that she gives another dimension to her artworks. For me it is important to know an artist and her background. Not only am I very curious about the person itself but also what drives them. This curiosity also helps me understand an artwork. It is not necessary to understand everything I see but I rather enjoy the explanation it brings me and gives another value to an artwork.

[saboria]

My experience: The Attack May 1940

Getting to know the culture of your city means also knowing the history. Because how would one understand the present if the past is unknown? Therefor I visited the exhibition The Attack (Dutch: De Aanval). This exhibition is about the aerial bombardment  led by Nazi Germany on Rotterdam in May 1940 and the ongoing fight that lasted five days. This exhibition contains personal stories, enormous projections, and an interesting collection of objects. What makes this exhibition special and unique is that it informs the viewer from three different perspectives; the inhabitants, the Dutch soldiers  and German soldiers. This is possible due to the collaboration between Museum Rotterdam, Stadsarchief Roterdam (Municipal Archives) and the Militärhistorisches Museum Flugplatz Berlin-Gatow.

For me, I did know about this tragic happening but I did not know the details as explained in this exhibition thus it was very helpful for me to understand why Rotterdam looks like it does now and the history it carries. Rotterdam was almost completely bombed and that is why the architecture of this city is so different. Because of the three perspectives I could understand each party their thought behind their actions. Due to the bombardment there was barely communication possible at certain areas and therefor people, both the military and the inhabitants, acted as they thought was right and later on after the fight they came to realize what was really happening. What I learned from this is the importance of good communication. From the German perspective, in one of the shown movies, it was said that even the Germans themselves were surprised by the effect of their bombs and the massive fire it created.

The moment I walked to this exhibition it was already mysterious. From the outside of the warehouse it looked closed and not very inviting. Once inside your eyes had to adjust to the sudden darkness that overwhelms you. There were was this bass noise coming from speakers one could not see, it was slightly foggy and due to the darkness it created an immense mysterious effect. And suddenly you see this massive bomber (airplane) called the Heinkel He 111, the one that carried the bombs to destroy Rotterdam. The moment I saw it there and how people would sit underneath it on the benches my world stopped for a second. The irony of people sitting literally where the bobs would leave the plane was just on point. As if people would sit on an antique electric chair to pose for a picture.

The darkness and the use of projections and spotlights was very helpful to create and overwhelming effect (my experience), enhance concentration and it also thickened my emotions. I  was very concentrated when looking or reading something and I noticed the same effect with other people, thus I would say this was successful.  Most people that I saw visiting this exhibitions were elder people, this is also one of the reasons my emotions got tricked. I was constantly thinking, how old were they when the attack happened? How did this effect their family. I saw a short movie of Nelle Noordervliet and she explains that she did not experience the attack but her family did and she heard a lot of stories. And the way she would speak of it was with so much intensity and so much passion for her family. The stories of the inhabitants were devastating and some were also tear jerking. And then when you look up after reading a story you were confronted with the Heinkel He 111 and I felt mocked by it. What was also very confronting was the interactive game behind the plane where questions were asked and one could answer with agreeing or disagreeing. This was the cherry on the pie, the questions also were about everyday topics such as terrorists. It was interesting when elder people joined and I would ask them why they agree or disagree and the insight in behind their answers were very helpful, some of them experienced this attack or had relatives that experienced it.

What surprisingly left me thinking is that it was not very clear that Germany helped realize this exhibition. This made me think of the ‘hate’ people have towards war related subjects to Germany. Emotions such as anger, repulsion and sadness were very present and maybe it was intentional that they did not make it very clear of the collaboration with Germany.

Back to the bomber, it mocked you and it triggered your emotions as if you experienced this attack yourself. The people sitting beneath it were also symbolical for me. As if the new generations are built upon the effects of the bombs that were ejected by this airplane. In a subconscious way one is present in the past and this is very important to me to understand the present. Rotterdam is scarred  but it made the inhabitants stronger. A city is a community of different types of people, this exhibition unites young and old on an emotional level.

Last but not least, when I left this exhibition I noticed that there was a military recruitment going on in the warehouse right next to the one were the exhibition is held. This was the cause of the fog and the bass related noises. The irony of this was so strange. One left the exhibition feeling sentimental and then you get confronted with the military recruiting people. I was intrigued and went to take a look. The warehouse was as if there was a party going on. The lights and the smoke and the sounds were as if I entered a techno party. I felt disgusted, did they do this on purpose or was it pure coincidence? The cherry on the pie was the present of a military plane. It screamed, look how cool I am. I swiftly walked past the information stands and went outside. This was enough for me for the day, this twisted exhibition of modern military with the history of the city next to it was overwhelming.

[saboria]

The future of art collections, to be admired or not in museums?

Recently I read an article ‘Kunst geeft ziel aan een bedrijf’  (=art gives a company a soul) and it made me think of the future of art collections. The article was published in the Belgian newspaper ‘De Standaard’ on the 18th of Jully and is written by Jan van Hove. This article is about museums being unable to buy important artworks to enrich their collections. This is happening while big companies are expanding their art collections with artworks the same quality as museums. This summer the company Proximus is showing their art collection at the Museum Dhondt Dhaens in Deurle. This collection contains a lot of important names of the photography art scene. This raised the question, why did companies develop a taste for enriching their art collections?

This interest of companies in enriching their art collections started in the United States of America. Companies wanted to add an element of adventure, experience to their workplace and by adding artworks they showed their ambition and their sense of modern times. I think this is brilliant, it is a way of subconsciously educating your staff with culture. I also think it is a way of making the workplace more approachable and culture-friendly. Some of the staff might like it and others won’t but it is only good that the staff can form an opinion and say why they like it or not. Besides being educated they are also becoming subconsciously art critics. These artworks are bought with precision.

This made me think ‘why would a company buy such expensive artworks? For me buying art is also a way of investing, when a company is doing so (who has lots of capital) I see it as a very smart move. It is a smart investment, education for the staff and it shows ambition. These are the pros of companies buying art, but what about the cons? Thankfully the crisis of 2008 changed the motives behind buying artworks and started a positive engagement of companies in the art world.

What will happen with the museums if companies start to buy art in large quantities? Will we, the public, ever see these artworks? These are the concerns of me being paranoid. Luckily I kept on reading the article and read that ING Bank is not only buying art, it is also exhibiting their collection. By buying art there is a a sense of the value but also the appreciation of it. This led that a bank such as ING started supporting young and upcoming artists. This new development in art appreciation is very important for maintaining the future of artists and artworks. It is connecting different types of people with art, one does not have to go to a museum to appreciate or experience it. I think it is very important that art is being perceived from another perspective. But, yes there is one condition, it should not replace museums, rather complement them. With this being said I would like to conclude that museums and companies interested in ‘interacting’ (investing, supporting, educating) with art should combine forces. I think it is beautiful how two opposite worlds can meet each other halfway and create something extraordinary.

[saboria]

Two worlds colliding, or not

As my interest in the culture of my city starts to grow more and more with time I have decided to go each week to a ‘cultural-art event’. In the near future I will be going to other cities to explore their cultural (art) ambiance. From each of my ‘cultural-art events’ I will write something about my experience. This week (thursday 17th of September) I went to dance performance ‘Narnia, the lion, the witch and the wardrobe’ at Schouwburg in Rotterdam. Ticket was only 10 euros!

This performance is a collaboration between two opposite dance worlds, ballet and hip hop. The Dutch National Ballet’s Junior Company fuses with the urban dance group ISH Dance Collective. The two choreographers of this performance are not new to fusing their skills with other disciplines. Ernst Meisner, the choreographer and artistic coordinator of the Junior Company, has worked before with Marco Gerris, the artistic leader choreographer, director and founder of ISH. Read more about their fusion at:  http://www.operaballet.nl/en/ballet/2014-2015/show/narnia-lion-witch-and-wardrobe

Let’s start with describing my experience. Normally I look up information prior to going to a performance. This time I wanted to go blank. The only thing I knew about this performance is that it is based on the book Narnia: The Lion, the witch and the Wardrobe. It consists of young ballet and hip hop dancers and it is a friendly performance for children. Thankfully I had seen the movie The Chronicles of Narnia and thus I remembered a bit of it and understood the performance, otherwise some bits would have been confusing if one would not know the story. With this I mean besides the dancers qualities, the narrative aspect of it was a bit lacking to my taste.

At the beginning of the first scene I was pleasantly surprised by the movement and energy of the dancers, at first I was a bit biased about the quality of the dancers. The sound system on the other hand was not so pleasant. Somehow the music coming from the front speakers were not corresponding with the quality of the dancers. Might be the speakers needed some fine tuning or the type of music was not made for the sound system of Theatre Schouwburg, there was a crackling annoying noise.

At each scene I saw immense passion and enjoyment from the dancers and this was reflected in the public. I enjoyed it as much as they showed their passion. Each dancer had their own character, but what I saw and what I really enjoyed was that each dancer had combined their own personality with it. They made it their own, instead of just fulfilling their role as a character. The two dance forms were not contrasting each other, it was the best of both worlds complementing each other.

Knowing the story of Narnia I was curious how each scene would look like and what costumes the dancers would be wearing. Having seen much of these in cosplay, such as the faun (Tumnus) I knew how some of the characters would look like. Besides Tumnus I enjoyed the interpretation of the costumes of the beavers, the wolf and Aslan. The wolf was amazing in portraying his personal interpretation of his character. It was clearly very bloodthirsty and at some point I thought it had gone mad.

The use of visual aspects filled each scene with life changing images that completed the dancers and the minimalistic yet exquisite stage setting. The interaction of the dancers and the stage setting was magical, at certain scenes it was used as an optical illusion and it also moved around. One moment Aslan was there and suddenly he disappeared!

But where did I sit? Before the break I sat with some friends at the highest balcony, sitting there we had a great view of the public and the entire stage, you could almost see what was happening backstage. As we sat there we saw a few empty seats one balcony lower. After the break we went to sit there, asking for sure if the seats were empty, luckily they were. It’s nice to be able to see from two different views. This way you can appreciate your seat better and you can compare it with each other and above all you can enjoy the performance from two different perspectives. See pictures bellow. 

At last but not least, my heart ended up being stolen by the two beavers. They put a smile on my face when the music started and they began slowly and even slightly sensually dancing on the reggae dance beats. They seemed so chill, relax with funny funky moves. I caught myself moving on the rhythm in my seat, together with the rest of the people around me. Their costumes complemented their movements on the reggae beats,  wide flowy white pants with dark tall boots. Controlled but also lose.

Mesmerized as I was, the public was also in a trance, and this is truly amazing.  It was a fresh, passionate and full of energy dance performance where the dancers showed their unique talents and personal trade mark.

[saboria]

Art Takes Time

Art Takes Time (experiment)

Experiment: 30 minutes looking at one artobject at Museum Boijmans van Beuningen Rotterdam

The moment this assignment was explained one painting took over my mind. Somehow this painting had captured my attention subconsciously. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The essay I am writing is about my experience with a chosen art piece at the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. To enrich this experience I read an article written by J. Winterson. This article helped me with the way you approach an art object but also the way you look at it and what plays an important role in the viewers experience. It was a long article with a lot of references to other artists and writers, thus a rich article with information that was helpful for me. Let’s get back to this painting. I have been to Boijmans before and knew about this painting, I have read about the painter and I have enjoyed its presence at Boijmans far before this assignment. But it had been a while for me since my last visit to this museum.

As I mentioned before it was a while back that I was at Boijmans, and memories fade away. Faded but not forgotten, still I was in awed when I sat in front of this painting. Let’s start with describing the joyous moment I entered the room. There it was, in the corner near the passage to the other room, The Mandrill by Oskar Kokoschka. This room is big and has a high ceiling with backless sofa benches that are arranged in the middle of the room but too far from each painting (my discomfort). Maybe I need glasses but still I will stubbornly say that the distance between the benches and the paintings is too far. These benches are not put there to accommodate the passionate viewer with back problems. This is my irritation since having back problems and admiring this painting do not go well together. But it is handy for when one wants to have a clear view of the entire room and rest their tired legs. This is the reason I sat down on the floor with my back pressed against these benches. My mindset was ‘ hello there old friend, it’s just you and me’.

 The mandrill is a monkey who is not known for being friendly and cute. Thus as a viewer with animal knowledge I had a biased view already. I also got distracted by using google to know a bit more about this monkey. This does not mean I dislike the painting, to the contrary it intrigues me. That is why I asked myself why does this painting intrigue me? There is so much happening on this medium sized canvas. This made me think of my earlier experience with The Mandrill. I walked past it and I saw dark green colors with slightly light contrasting colors and a dash of warm colors. The second I past it, I took a few steps back to admire it. With this admiration still vividly I sat in front of it Tuesday the 8th of September.

 The clock ticks on and my admiration thickens. But still the question ‘why?’. This painting has a lot going on, I call it ‘organized chaos’ and I relate it to my own life. What I also see is my tropical roots calling my name. Not only because it is a monkey, but also the colors and what I associate it with. Even the organized chaos aspect of it! At my island Curaçao where I was born and raised most ‘things’ are chaotic, but still organized. Such as traffic, my friends, family and myself.

 After these associations crossed my mind I started to analyze the painting for what it truly is. I went to take a closer look to see the brush strokes. These varied from thick to thin and long to short strokes. It was like looking at a hay basket that went through tough times. There was a slight outline at certain parts of the painting, some were colored in but others where left empty. This made me question the painters intentions. Looking at the colors in the painting I asked myself ‘how realistic are the colors used with the reality?’. Besides the colors I also asked myself ‘how realistic is this painting with the reality?’. At the time the painter painted it (1926), did he have access to a real life jungle with mandrills? The use of colors is almost accurate to reality, the monkey has its characteristic colors and form. The surroundings I would describe as if a picture of a jungle is put in a blender for 5 seconds, not entirely blended with some chunks of reality. The result is an explosion of ‘jungle colors’ and forms that appear in the jungle. The palm tree is still intact but the surroundings are blurry.

 The time is almost up and suddenly I found myself back in the room and I think about my surroundings. People walk past this painting and some don’t even take a second to look at it. How can you miss this explosion of colors and organic forms, are they color blind? Or am I (too) attracted to these colors and organic forms? Am I an animal lover? Some people did take a second glance at this painting. The moment they stood in front of the painting they suddenly felt my presence turned and eventually looked me in the eye. That moment they knew they had to keep on walking. It was as if I was part of this painting and my surroundings turned into the same jungle the mandrill was in. I felt as fierce as this wild animal, might be my eyes told the same.

 My associations and my present feelings with this painting are very strong. I noticed people looking at me with the same gaze a gazelle has when noticing a lion in its near presence. This feeling is very powerful and says a lot about my experience and relationship with this painting. That was one painting, this leads to the following question. What other painting has a similar effect? With this in my mind I would like to say, until we meet again.

[saboria]

MonChou Panna Cotta with orange parts

This is probably the best panna cotta I’ve ever had! It’s light and very fresh. Great for summer time.

MONCHOU PANNA COTTA

Ingredients: 0.9 ltr cream, 0.9 ltr milk, 200 gr sugar, 2 vanilla sticks, 250 gr MonChou cream cheese, 10 gr gelatine.

Preparation: Cook the milk, cream and vanilla together until 1 ltr remains of the mixture. Take the mixture off the heat and stir in the sugar. Add the soaked gelatine and the MonChou cream cheese. Let the mixture stand for a while. After that strain the mixture. Put mixture on ice and leave till the substance starts to hang. Pour mixture in a form and put in the fridge to become stiff.

ORANGE PARTS

Ingredients: 3 oranges (navel), 100 gr sugar, 2 dl water, 1 vanilla stick.

Preparation: Peal the oranges and remove the whites. Cut out the parts (filets). Cook the water, sugar and vanilla. Add the orange parts to the mixture and leave to cool and then refrigerate.

HAZELNUT PUFF PASTRY

Ingredients: 1 package of puff pastry, 50 gr egg yolks, 200 gr sugar, 50 gr hazelnuts (crushed).

Preparation: Spread out the puff pastry and prick with a fork. Smear puff pastry with egg yolk and sprinkle with sugar and hazelnut crumbs. Put puff pastry on baking paper on a baking plate. Cover pastry with baking paper and another baking plate. Bake for 10 min in oven at 180 degrees Celsius. Take out and cut triangles. Bake again until golden brown.

ORANGE GEL

Ingredients: 450 gr orange juice, 100 gr sugar, 5 gr agar agar, 1 dl water.

Preparation: Cook the orange jus, sugar and agar agar. Stir regularly. Put mixture in a container and refrigerate. When mixture has hardened put it in a blender. Blend and slowly add 1 dl of hot water till it becomes a gel.

ORGANGE SORBET

Ingredients: 1 ltr orange jus, 4 dl sugar syrup, 1 dl grand marnier, 2 gr gelatine. Preparation: Mix the ingredient together and put in an ice machine to make the sorbet.

PLATE SERVING

Put the individual ingredients on the plate. Start with the puff pastry. On top of the puff pastry goes a scoop of the panna cotta. Put an orange part next to the pastry and on top of that a scoop of the orange sorbet. Decorate the plate with the orange gel. Finish the plate with some young basil leaves.

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[saboria]

Pop-up: A La Plancha part 2

Dear followers,

Yesterday we had the privilege to go to the test run of the new pop-up restaurant in Rotterdam.

We made some photos of the location and the food, so you can have a good impression. If you were contemplating to pay them a visit, well let me tell you, they have an amazing view, super delicious fresh seafood (for a really good price), and a relaxing atmosphere with some enjoyable background music.

We will be there again for the opening today.

P.S. I'll be helping them out in the kitchen on Tuesday and Thursday next week :)    

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[saboria]

Pop-up: A La Plancha Restaurant, Rotterdam

Have you ever wished that you could enjoy a magnificent view, eat fresh fish and feel as you were sitting somewhere along the Spanish shore?

Well guess what! That will be possible here in Rotterdam just for 10 days.

A la Plancha will be the new pop up Restaurant in Rotterdam. It is going to be open from the 5th of July till the 10th and is situated on the abutment of the old Willems bridge at the Noordereiland. At this open-air restaurant you can sit and relax with a great glass of wine and appreciate the amazing view of the Rotterdam skyline. They will be serving an excellent selection of fresh fish, that you will be able to choose yourself and have it prepared to your desire on the spot.

It’s going to be a lovely summery spot with affordable prices.

We’ll be there to test it!

A La Plancha

Date: 5th till the 15th July

Open daily from 5 pm till 11 pm

For question or reservation call Hans Mosselman 0624557757 or send them an email [email protected]

Facebook: alaplancharotterdam      Twitter: laplancha2  

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