Tag: travel
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This week’s Spotify playlist
Each week the blog has an accompanying playlist on Spotify. The list includes music and sound that references the articles on the blog and you can listen on the link above. If you have a paid subscription you will hear all the music, if you have a free subscription the list will be interspersed with…
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Beadwork from South Africa
The beadwork from Africa is probably best-known from South Africa where geometric patterns and bright colours have come to symbolise the country. In this article, from Google Arts and Culture, pieces from Iziko Museums of South Africa are shown along with texts about the various people who make and wear the beadwork. Another article from…
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Wool in Aotearoa New Zealand
Wool is making a comeback in Aotearoa New Zealand but there are still hurdles to overcome. This article from New Zealand Geographic, along with a companion piece in the same magazine, explains more of the history of wool in the country and explores the difficulties, and solutions, for the industry. While wool is an introduction…
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Samoa meets Scotland in Los Angeles
Last year the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) acquired five pieces of historic importance from the Pacific. One of those brings together two nations: Samoa and Scotland. The Scottish author, Robert Louis Stevenson, lived, worked and died in Samoa as he attempted to recover from ill health. (You can read about his journey…
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The world of beads
More than few years ago I was lucky enough to be invited to go on a trip to Tasiilaq, Greenland by an artist friend and colleagues from Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Scotland, Denmark and Greenland itself. The week-long trip was in the Spring of the year and we were gathered together to explore how we…
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Carpeting nature
Debbie Lawson is a Scottish-born artist who plays with the idea of domesticity through her three-dimensional sculptures. In the latest series of pieces the artist uses Persian carpets as coverings, not just for floors or walls but also for animal figures. The result is a startling (and somewhat sinister) clash between the familiar and unknown.…
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This week’s Spotify playlist
The Spotify playlist this week begins with a choral piece, There will come soft rains, by Ēriks Ešenvalds, a Latvian composer. The short work seems an apt place to begin this week’s music. Each Sunday I compile and curate a playlist of music and sounds to go along with the blog. It is a way…
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This week’s activities
This week is going to be busy in Greymouth Māwhera! On Monday there is a workshop with Aquabella, the Berlin ensemble of women who perform world music acapella. This is followed by a concert on Tuesday evening by the group. On Tuesday there is also a concert of Baroque arias in St Patrick’s Church with…
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The Korean Hanbok
Hanbok – the name means “Korean clothing” – is an ancient form of dress that is still relevant today. Designated National Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2022 by the Cultural Heritage Administration of the country, Hanbok have enjoyed renewed success through designers taking up the challenge of making the costume accessible, acceptable and exciting for contemporary…
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Crochet a Triops…
Triops are small crustaceans that are sometimes sold as pets (somewhat like Sea Monkeys) and descend unchanged from a line hundreds of millions of years old. Now the crocheters amongst you can create your very own Triops, thanks to the United States National Park Service. If minuscule is not your cup of crustacea, how about…