Tuesday 18 May 2010
Bollywood
My own experience of a Bollywood film
came as a result of a trip to India and a visit to the local cinema in Jaipur,
one evening. Treated to a fantastical spectacle in a cinema decorated with
incredible opulence, I enjoyed a film, which was totally contradictory to the
harsh realities of life in India.
Named after a combination of the name
of the city Bombay (now known as Mumbai) and Hollywood, this is the Hindi film
industry. Featuring a cast of thousands these musical glitz and glamour
productions, often with a ‘boy meets girl’, storyline are perfect in their use
of opulence and total escapism.
Starting with the first screening in
1899, Bollywood as an industry has grown to such an extent that it makes up to
800 films per year, with 14 million Indian people visiting the cinema every day
in India alone. The same popular actors are featured in most of the films,
which results in an actor/actress often being busy filming for more than one
film at a time.
Seemingly, Bollywood’s appeal is on
the increase as this has led to big US film companies, such as Warner Bros and
Twentieth Century Fox setting up offices in India with obviously an idea for
future collaboration.
With an Oscar nomination for ‘Lagaan’,
in 2002 Bollywood films have been gathering momentum and have managed to cross
over to the extent that they are now not just viewed by Indian families alone,
but are also being shown in cinemas throughout the United Kingdom. Here, in
Groningen at the Noorderzon Festival, a performing arts festival (and shortly
to be seen at the Amsterdam Fringe Festival), the ‘Bollywood Mysterie’ was to
be seen. A musical and visual feast of Indian music and film as portrayed by
Gerry Arling with support from The Mondriaan Quartet, traditional Indian
musicians and the spiritual music of the Californian composer, Terry Riley.
It is also possible that if you like the
idea, you can sign up for Bollywood dancing lessons.
Saturday 8 May 2010
Etiquette – Food for Thought
My interest on the subject of etiquette or social
do’s and don’ts came about during a discussion at the end of a meal. Having
finished I duly placed my knife and fork down together on the plate,
positioning the handles pointing in the direction of the number six on a clock
face. Logical, I had done this as long as I could remember. My Dutch
counterpart, however, placed his with the handles both pointing towards the
four. The ensuing conversation as to who was right and who not became quite
heated. It was apparent that some basic elements of etiquette, that I had taken
for granted, were not the same the world over. Being British, I assumed that
the precedent of good manners must have been pioneered by us, that the
discrepancy was due to them, and the Dutch-British divide (ie. The Channel).
Further research showed that our American cousins also finished a meal by
placing their cutlery in the same way upon the plate.
The cutlery saga continues along with the variety of ways to hold, cut
and generally wield the implements during a meal. However, it seems
there is no ‘right’ way. One point we all agree on is that leaving soiled
cutlery sprawled across the newly starched linen table cloth is a no no.
What is etiquette? Reaching for the Concise Oxford dictionary, the
definition of etiquette is: the customary
code of polite behaviour in a society. Originating from French etiquette,
in the eighteenth century, it was seen as a ‘list of ceremonial observances of
a court’, also a ‘label, or ‘etiquette’.
Etiquette not only governs ones eating habits, but general behaviour and
presentation of oneself in polite society. The Victorians had an austere set of
rules as long as your arm that had to be observed, unless you wanted to become
a total social outcast. Take the raising of the small finger whilst drinking
for example, supposedly the height of refinement in its heyday, now a cliché.
Amusingly, it can still be spotted in use now and then.
But it wasn’t always like this, etiquette seems to have arisen from a
combination of an abundance of food and boredom, bred in the royal courts. Not
so for our ancient ancestors, who were far too busy with survival on a daily
basis and the hunt, kill, cook and eat aspect of life. Imagine them worrying
about the placement of the cutlery, gravy running into their bear skins and who
it was who had emitted that rather obnoxious burping noise, two rocks further
down the cave. Although having said that, in some parts of the world burping is
often expected to show the host that you are enjoying the meal.
So, next time you're making a gravy-and-potato volcano, just take a
minute and ask yourself if you have put your cutlery in the right place!
Suzanne Postel – Murals, Frescos & Portraits
My meeting
with Suzanne Postel came out of my curiosity to find out who the artist was of
a rather imposing mural covering the entire side of a building contractor’s
office, along the Korreweg in Groningen
I met
Suzanne at her studio along the Eendrachtskade, which is spacious enough to
serve as both work and exhibition space. The studio is filled with marvelous
paintings at every turn and the area in the back, where we sat and drank
coffee, has a wall that is a collage of small paintings, images, and photos of
friends and family. I asked her how it came about that one of her murals was on
the side of a building contractor’s office. She told me that living nearby
meant that everyday she had looked out upon the building and a set of filled in
windows that had been painted a rather unimaginative white. This made her
fingers itch to do something about it, so much so that she approached them and
offered to paint the offending building with a mural. The result is a set of
very impressive classically robed women, each standing in a niche bearing a
tool or implement relevant to the building trade.
Although
always an artist at heart, after her student days and completion of her studies
at the art school Minerva in Groningen ,
she decided to leave Holland for France Groningen Groningen
Before
starting a piece of work, she does a lot of sketching, takes photographs (in
the case of a commissioned portrait) and adds to a scrapbook. A book full of
ideas this scrapbook is filled with images, material samples, and text, often
poignant lines from poems. A particular favourite is the poet Jean Pierre
Rawie. From this process arises a series of puzzle pieces that when put
together become the basis design for a mural or portrait. Then turning to
canvas or masomite (a specially treated art board) the initial idea is laid
down very quickly as an acrylic base. After that she will work further on the
idea in oils until its logical conclusion is reached and she is happy with it.
Other strong
influences in her work can be seen to come from paintings from the Renaissance
and Impressionist movements and from the world of dreams. According to the
Chinese one should live out ones dreams in order to move on. One particular
dream that she has turned into a painting is a self-portrait of herself, angry
and with a dripping paintbrush in her mouth. What it means she is not sure, but
it needed to be painted.
With regular
commissions and exhibitions, as well as doing all her own public relations, and
giving painting lessons to students with an age range of twenty to sixty.
Suzanne is not only able to follow her passion but has been able to make it
into a successful business.
The opening
of her current exhibition entitled ‘De Hoge Lucht’ (The Light from Above), took
place on 24 June 2007. The event was opened by Jacque D’Ancona (a renown Dutch
journalist, amongst other things).
Dutch Water Towers
From 1856
onwards about 260 water towers were built throughout The Netherlands. Of the
175 still remaining few (with the exception of towers in Amsterdam and Utrecht
Each tower
is unique in its design; influenced by a different architectural period. This
diversity is not often seen anywhere else in the world. Contrasting with the
Dutch landscape they are the visiting card of each city.
The first
water tower in The Netherlands was commissioned by Willem III in 1680 in order
to create sufficient water pressure for the fountain in the grounds of the
palace Soestdijk (The former palace of Queen
Juliana
The height
of the water towers varies from 35-60 metres. The water reservoir held enough
water to keep a constant pressure on the waters mains and acted as a buffer
supply on demand.
As the
numbers of water towers in use declines, these characteristic landmarks become
protected monuments often with other functions. The oldest water tower in The
Netherlands can be found in Rotterdam
An equally impressive water
tower and monument can be found in
the Schildersbuurt (painters’ neighbourhood), Groningen in the Netherlands. Situated on the corner of Dr. C.
Hofstede de Grootkade and the Herman Colleniusstraat.
The Padang Bar
The Padang
Bar is a café/bar and has the best Northern African food I have ever tasted,
with mainly Marokkan dishes on offer due to the fact that the chefs are mainly
from Marokko.
Tajine
dishes are their specialty and are oven dishes, which require extra
time to prepare, but are well worth the wait. Their Merguez (spicy little
sausages) and their lamb cutlets are a particular favourite of mine. All dishes
come accompanied by couscous and salad. The staff are friendly and the
atmosphere is relaxed. Due to its popularity it is definitely worth booking a
table, unless you don't mind sitting at the bar with a drink until a table is
available.
© Alison Day
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