Well, it's spreading...
I have posted before pictures of orange and then later, blue people, who looked like aliens, who I saw in the streets of Athens.
Now they are green, and they have come to Coventry....
Monday, 18 February 2013
It's spreading.....
Well, it's spreading...
I have posted before pictures of orange and then later, blue people, who looked like aliens, who I saw in the streets of Athens.
Now they are green, and they have come to Coventry....
Sunday, 17 February 2013
Kostas Koulendianos - the later years
Kostas Koulendianos, at the Benaki Museum, Pireos Street. The first part of this exhibition can be seen here
New Generation, 1981, (bolted iron)
The artist at work
Composition, 1981 (bolted steel)
Folded Silkscreen, 1985
Smile, 1982 (bolted wood)
Sculpture, 1993, (bolted iron)
Figures, 1990, (round steel)
Reclining, 1976, (bolted iron)
Bas-relief, 1993 (bolted wood)
New Generation VII, 1993, (bolted wood)
Bas-Relief, 1993 (bolted wood)
New Generation VIII, 1994 (bolted wood)
looking closer
Sculpture, 1990 (concrete reinforcing bar)
Armchairs, 1990 (concrete reinforcing bars)
Gypsy, 1990, (concrete reinforcing bar)
New Generation III, 1986 (bolted iron)
Generation IX, 1988 (bolted iron)
Generation Four VI, 1988, (bolted iron)
Finally, some of the works in the courtyard of the museum
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Friday, 15 February 2013
One Billion Rising
One Billion Rising, the campaign aimed at ending the violence that impacts on more than one billion women in the world spread across the globe yesterday, in a dance of solidarity with abuse survivors and as a means of raising awareness.
India
Violence is something that can happen to any one of us, at any time - it is the one factor that unites all women across the world. The facts are staggering: most of that violence comes at the hands of intimate partners; in the USA a woman is beaten by her partner every 15 seconds; in Egypt, 35% of women report being physically abused at least once in their lifetime; 35% of Turkish women have experienced marital rape; in South Africa 165 women report being raped every day; one in three women in the American military is raped; one in three women on the planet will be raped in her lifetime.
Toronto
So, why dance in the streets? It was a symbolic gesture to reclaim the streets, to say we will not hide, we will not stay at home out of sight so that we can be safe. We will not give in to the fear, the fear to participate in public life, the fear to live our lives the way men do, without anticipating physical attack, and worse still, being attacked and then being blamed for it.
Bangladesh
To put the blame where it belongs, with the abusers, whether they are stranggers or members of our family. To establish once for all that women get raped because someone raped them, not because they were not 'careful' enough.
Sydney
To stop the assumption that sex is something done to women rather than something we do.
Manila, students from St Scholastica's College
To shatter the notion that rape is about sexual desire. Rape is about hatred. Jyoti Singh who died after a gang rape on a bus in Delhi that left her intestines pulverised was not the object of lust - the shoving of a rusty metal bar inside her was an act of hatred.
Prague
What of the 10 year old girl who was raped and filmed by 20 men in Texas?
Argentina
What of the hundreds of women in the Congo who end up in hospital with their vaginas, their uteri mutilated beyond repair?
Bern
What of the young women murdered by their parents because they refused to marry the man chosen for them?
Hundreds of thousands of women danced in the streets yesterday as a way of saying enough.
This cannot go on.
Atlanta
We need to start building a better world where people are treated with respect and consideration. The hatred has got to stop.
Khartoum
Sources:
The Guardian
The New Statesman
For more information on current affairs go to: http://99getsmart.com/
India
Violence is something that can happen to any one of us, at any time - it is the one factor that unites all women across the world. The facts are staggering: most of that violence comes at the hands of intimate partners; in the USA a woman is beaten by her partner every 15 seconds; in Egypt, 35% of women report being physically abused at least once in their lifetime; 35% of Turkish women have experienced marital rape; in South Africa 165 women report being raped every day; one in three women in the American military is raped; one in three women on the planet will be raped in her lifetime.
Toronto
So, why dance in the streets? It was a symbolic gesture to reclaim the streets, to say we will not hide, we will not stay at home out of sight so that we can be safe. We will not give in to the fear, the fear to participate in public life, the fear to live our lives the way men do, without anticipating physical attack, and worse still, being attacked and then being blamed for it.
Bhutan
To stop feeling that we have at all times to act available in a passive, submissive manner. To stop feeling that we have to be taking responsibility for 'protecting' ourselves from sexual assault because sexual assault is a fact of life. To start saying that it is not our responsibility to be cautious, to restrict ourselves, the wear the 'right' clothes, to be quieter, better behaved so that men don't rape us.
To stop feeling that we have at all times to act available in a passive, submissive manner. To stop feeling that we have to be taking responsibility for 'protecting' ourselves from sexual assault because sexual assault is a fact of life. To start saying that it is not our responsibility to be cautious, to restrict ourselves, the wear the 'right' clothes, to be quieter, better behaved so that men don't rape us.
Bangladesh
To put the blame where it belongs, with the abusers, whether they are stranggers or members of our family. To establish once for all that women get raped because someone raped them, not because they were not 'careful' enough.
Sydney
To stop the assumption that sex is something done to women rather than something we do.
Manila, students from St Scholastica's College
To shatter the notion that rape is about sexual desire. Rape is about hatred. Jyoti Singh who died after a gang rape on a bus in Delhi that left her intestines pulverised was not the object of lust - the shoving of a rusty metal bar inside her was an act of hatred.
Prague
What of the 10 year old girl who was raped and filmed by 20 men in Texas?
Argentina
What of the hundreds of women in the Congo who end up in hospital with their vaginas, their uteri mutilated beyond repair?
Bern
What of the young women murdered by their parents because they refused to marry the man chosen for them?
Genova
All these are instances of hatred, of trying to keep women 'in their place', of keeping them invisible, out of the way, cowed, submissive, frightened.
All these are instances of hatred, of trying to keep women 'in their place', of keeping them invisible, out of the way, cowed, submissive, frightened.
AdelaideHundreds of thousands of women danced in the streets yesterday as a way of saying enough.
This cannot go on.
Atlanta
We need to start building a better world where people are treated with respect and consideration. The hatred has got to stop.
Khartoum
Sources:
The Guardian
The New Statesman
For more information on current affairs go to: http://99getsmart.com/
Thursday, 14 February 2013
An inspirational woman
Everyone has heard of a story that touches them to the core, that plunges them in despair, that uplifts them and makes them wonder at the fortitude of human beings. The story of Konstantina Kuneva is such a story for me.
A Bulgarian migrant worker in Athens, she was also secretary of the Union of Housekeepers and Cleaners of Attika. On the 23rd of December 2008 she was attacked with sulfuric acid by two men outside her home as she was returning from work. After dousing her with the stuff, they opened her mouth and poured the acid down her throat which resulted in serious injuries to her internal organs. Five years on, Kuneva is still in Paris receiving treatment for her injuries: her esophagus is totally ruined, she has serious difficulties in breathing and swallowing and because of this she very often has to sleep in a seated position.
Kuneva was a very active trade unionist. She fought to have her job categorised as a hazardous occupation, but ISAP, the company she was working for would not have it. Amonst the gains she managed to achieve for her fellow workers was a reduction of a six hour working day to five and a half hours, and the establishment of a half hour break.
The events before the attack and subsequent testimony of her fellow workers clearly point to this being an act to punish her for her involvement in her union. The Union is one of the most active workers' unions within what is euphemistically called precarious labour: migrant, severely underpaid and unprotected workers in one of the most devalued sectors.
She received numerous death threats and tried to get her employers to take this seriously, to no avail. One of her requests was for her shift to be moved from night time to a day time one as that would give her some protection, particularly when returning home from work. She also applied to be moved from working in Marousi to Thisio which was near her home. The company refused any of this.
The perpetrators were never caught and are unlikely to be caught now, as the case has been shelved.
Her case finally reached the courts last week. What her lawyers are asking for is for her case to be categorised as an 'industrial accident', so that she can receive compensation to pay for the huge medical bills that have been inccured.
We wish her luck in this as well as a continuous recovery to her health.
For more information on Greece and lots more on current affairs go to: http://99getsmart.com/
A Bulgarian migrant worker in Athens, she was also secretary of the Union of Housekeepers and Cleaners of Attika. On the 23rd of December 2008 she was attacked with sulfuric acid by two men outside her home as she was returning from work. After dousing her with the stuff, they opened her mouth and poured the acid down her throat which resulted in serious injuries to her internal organs. Five years on, Kuneva is still in Paris receiving treatment for her injuries: her esophagus is totally ruined, she has serious difficulties in breathing and swallowing and because of this she very often has to sleep in a seated position.
Kuneva was a very active trade unionist. She fought to have her job categorised as a hazardous occupation, but ISAP, the company she was working for would not have it. Amonst the gains she managed to achieve for her fellow workers was a reduction of a six hour working day to five and a half hours, and the establishment of a half hour break.
The events before the attack and subsequent testimony of her fellow workers clearly point to this being an act to punish her for her involvement in her union. The Union is one of the most active workers' unions within what is euphemistically called precarious labour: migrant, severely underpaid and unprotected workers in one of the most devalued sectors.
She received numerous death threats and tried to get her employers to take this seriously, to no avail. One of her requests was for her shift to be moved from night time to a day time one as that would give her some protection, particularly when returning home from work. She also applied to be moved from working in Marousi to Thisio which was near her home. The company refused any of this.
The perpetrators were never caught and are unlikely to be caught now, as the case has been shelved.
Her case finally reached the courts last week. What her lawyers are asking for is for her case to be categorised as an 'industrial accident', so that she can receive compensation to pay for the huge medical bills that have been inccured.
We wish her luck in this as well as a continuous recovery to her health.
For more information on Greece and lots more on current affairs go to: http://99getsmart.com/
Wednesday, 13 February 2013
Snowdrops and things
We're back in the UK and it is snowing again.
The snowdrops are out though
as is some blossom
the hellebores are doing very well too.
Monday, 11 February 2013
Bookshop - 2
We popped into Papasotiriou bookshop on Panepistimiou Street having read that it is featured in 'Bookshops: long established and the most fashionable ones', by Hatttstein and Braun.
Designed by Manolis Kolokythas, it spans 3 floors and is 869 sq. metres.
A huge mural by the tills is a reminder of Greece's ancient past
a closer look
black marble and stark metal give it a stylish look
severe elegance
endless shelves and rows of books
wooden floors and leather armchairs
where you can read a book and have a view
of the University
leather sofas
an environment that celebrates books
a temple to reading
any wall space that is not covered with books has something else interesting to look at
A real delight.
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