Macro Monday – Plumbago
Wonders and peculiarities
Thursday Thoughts – Merlin’s Laboratory
A beauty indeed – Merlin’s Laboratory!
CFFC: Letter ”K”
For Cee this Tuesday – ”K”
Yayoi Kusama and her polka dots. Black. From a Louisiana exhibition in Denmark.
Tuesday Photo Challenge – Fantasy
Tuesday Photo Challenge – Fantasy
Fantasy – a treasure for those who have it and use it creatively! For Frank this week.
Lens-Artists Challenge #68 – Layered
Amy is our host this week, and she suggests we look for layers. Have a look at her inspiring post from Plitvice, Croatia!
Here are some layers from my favorite world of mountains, rocks and stones. In the header – the Pancakes of New Zealand, South Island.
Ireland, Giants’ Causeway.
The Hellnar cave.
And last, Iceland, south west part, Snæfellsnes peninsula – the cave at Hellnar. Look closely, and you will find a mink looking for young gulls nesting, or some eggs for dinner.
Hope to see you joining in the fun!
Tuesday Photo Challenge – Sculpture
Dear Frank, so glad you came back despite the delay! – Here comes a ship instead of a plane. I doubt it could have brought you home though…
Iceland, Reykjavik – The Sun Voyager.
The artist is Jón Gunnar Árnason, Sun Voyager is described as a dreamboat, or an ode to the Sun. A dream of hope, progress and freedom.
Thursday Thoughts – Ginkgo Biloba in My Window
Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, also known as the maidenhair tree, is the only living species in the division Ginkgophyta, all others being extinct. This is why it’s sometimes referred to as a living fossil.
It is found in fossils dating back 270 million years. Native to China, the tree is widely cultivated, and was cultivated early in human history.
While its leaves and seeds are often used in traditional Chinese medicine, modern research primarily focuses on ginkgo extract, which is made from the leaves.
Ginkgo supplements are associated with several health claims and uses, most of which focus on brain function and blood circulation.
My Ginkgo plant (hopefully a tree after some years) is standing in my window during winter time, but when summer arrives – it thrives in my garden. These are some of the new leaves this year.
Tuesday Photo Challenge – (A Spring) Wonder
Lens-Artists Challenge #37: History
For this week’s challenge, Patti has chosen History. At first I wanted to write about Riga, the capital of Latvia, whose history begins as early as the 2nd century. But inspired by a visit there, I have chosen a piece of puppetry history instead – an art form very much alive in Latvia.
According to Wikipedia, puppetry is a form of performance that involves the manipulation of puppets – inanimate objects, that are animated or manipulated by a human called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of his/her hands, arms, or control devices such as rods or strings to move the body, head, limbs, and in some cases the mouth and eyes of the puppet. The puppeteer often speaks in the voice of the character of the puppet, and then synchronizes the movements of the puppet’s mouth with this spoken part.
The earliest puppets probably originated in Egypt, where ivory and clay articulated puppets have been discovered in tombs. Puppets are mentioned in writing as early as 422 B.C.E. In ancient Greece, Aristotle and Plato both made reference to puppetry.
This art form occurs in almost all human societies where puppets are used for entertainment through performance, as sacred objects in rituals, as symbolic effigies in celebrations such as carnivals, or as a catalyst for social and psychological change in transformative arts.
There are many different varieties of puppets, and they are made of a wide range of materials, depending on their form and intended use. They can be extremely complex or very simple in their construction. The simplest puppets are finger puppets and sock puppets. Familiar examples of hand puppets are Punch and Judy. Marionettes are suspended and controlled by a number of strings, plus sometimes a central rod attached to a control bar held from above by the puppeteer.
In Riga, we just happened to walk past the puppet theater, went inside and met – Alexander! A charming young man who showed us around and tried to explain, in broken English, about the theater and the puppets. These special ones behind the glass were handled by him alone. You can see him at work as a puppeteer in the poster shot above.
Some more history of puppetry
Many types of folk art puppetry developed in disparate regions of the world, and some are still practiced today. In Japan, the sophisticated bunraku tradition evolved out of rites practiced in Shinto temples. The Vietnamese created the unique practice of water puppetry, in which wooden puppets appear to walk in waist-high water; this was originally developed hundreds of years ago as a response to the flooding of rice fields. Indonesian shadow puppets are another example of a long-held folk tradition. Ceremonial puppets were also used in several pre-Columbian Native American cultures.
In medieval Italy, marionettes were used in the production of morality plays by the Christian church. The famous comedic puppet tradition of commedia dell’arte evolved in the face of censorship by the church. Later, the plays of William Shakespeare were sometimes performed with puppets in place of actors.
In Sweden there is no great tradition of Puppetry, but it still exists as an art form for small children. In Latvia they have several performances every day. For both young and older children – and for adults as well. Do you have this art form in your country?
Nowadays the Art of Puppetry is experiencing something of a real renaissance all over the world, touching hearts and minds and engaging new spectators of all ages. Puppetry is a unique cultural treasure, which invites you to experience such a magical way of art that cannot be created or substituted by any other form of art. The task of our puppet theatre is to introduce this special kind of theatre arts in such a way, that the wonders of puppetry world would find their home in the heart of every child.
Vilnis Beķeris
General Director of Latvia Puppet Theatre
Finally, some history of the theater in Riga
The early beginnings of the Puppet Theater date back to 1942, when during the war the National Art Ensemble of the Latvian SSR ( Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic) was formed in the city of Ivanov in Russia. From there originates a group of puppeteers, whose shows were watched by evacuated soldiers and Latvian people. On the 4th of October 1944 the National Puppet Theater of the Latvian SSR opened, run by poet Mirdza Ķempe and writer and translator Jānis Žīgurs.
Thank you to Patti for letting us share so many things, events and places of historic interest. Welcome to join in the historic tour! And please don’t forget the tag Lens-Artists so people can find you in the reader!
Friendly Friday Photo Challenge: Mistakes
Friendly Friday – and Mistakes. In the header, a street in Copenhagen with a very famous Danish toy figure trying to amuse a little girl – but she started crying and ran away to hide behind her dad… And below, the mistake of leaving your tasty bit unattended…
Leya 