Although there’d been “doomsday dramas” before it, Stanley Kramer’s On the Beach was considered the first “important” entry in this genre when originally released in 1959. Based on the novel by Nevil Shute, the film is set in the future (1964) when virtually all life on earth has been exterminated by the radioactive residue of a nuclear holocaust. Only Australia has been spared, but it’s only a matter of time before everyone Down Under also succumbs to radiation poisoning. With only a short time left on earth, the Australian population reacts in different ways: some go on a nonstop binge of revelry, while others eagerly consume the suicide pills being issued by the government. When the possibility arises that rains have washed the atmosphere clean in the Northern hemisphere, a submarine commander (Gregory Peck) and his men head to San Diego, where faint radio signals have been emanating. The movie’s all-star cast includes: Peck as the stalwart sub captain, Ava Gardner as his emotionally disturbed lover, Fred Astaire as a guilt-wracked nuclear scientist, and Anthony Perkins and Donna Anderson as the “just starting out in life” married couple.
October 13, 2022 – January 16, 2023
Hostetter Gallery
Discover the allure and significance of one of the world’s most precious metals this fall at the Gardner. Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art explores how four artists, of different times and different places, use gold as an artistic strategy for innovation and honor. Works by Simone Martini (c. 1284-1344, Italy), whose novel compositions and masterful techniques were unequaled in Europe and well ahead of his time, are juxtaposed with works by three contemporary painters—Titus Kaphar (b. 1976, US), Stacy Lynn Waddell (b. 1966, US), and Kehinde Wiley (b. 1977, US). These artists reinterpret the style and medium of devotional imagery to explore the meaning of representation, commemoration, and adoration today.
The exhibition features stunning examples of Martini’s skilled manipulation of gold and the sacred symbolism it evokes, including the Gardner’s five-panel altarpiece and its smaller painting, Virgin and Child with Saints. These pieces are the first two works by the artist in the United States, a testament to our founder’s pioneering tastes. A new film explores goldwork techniques used in Martini’s time and today.
Just as Martini did for his sacred subjects, these three contemporary painters turn to gold in the portraits to elevate and honor the Black men and women they depict. The exhibition features two later works from Kaphar’s The Jerome Project, which is continued in the Fenway Gallery with works from the original 2014-15 series, three works from Wiley’s ICONIC series, and three figurative works by Waddell, who will also be featured on the Museum’s Anne H. Fitzpatrick Façade.
Header image: Simone Martini (c. 1284-1344, Italy), Virgin and Child with Saints, about 1320. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.
In preparation for “Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art,” on view from October 13, 2022, to January 16, 2023, the Gardner Museum staff spent time with Artist-in-Residence Stacy Lynn Waddell. Together they took a closer look at Simone Martini’s painting in the Museum’s collection and Stacy described how his innovative use of gold inspires her. Please note: Gardner Museum conservators advised the film participants on safe handling of the artworks. Metal of Honor, the film with sound, was produced by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2022 and runs about 4 minutes.
In preparation for “Metal of Honor: Gold from Simone Martini to Contemporary Art,” on view from October 13, 2022, to January 16, 2023, the Gardner Museum staff spent time with Artist-in-Residence Stacy Lynn Waddell. Together they took a closer look at Simone Martini’s painting in the Museum’s collection and Stacy described how his innovative use of gold inspires her. Please note: Gardner Museum conservators advised the film participants on safe handling of the artworks. Metal of Honor, the film with sound, was produced by the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2022 and runs about 4 minutes.
Former British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, famed linguist and dissident Noam Chomsky and others gave testimony Friday at the Belmarsh Tribunal in Washington, D.C., calling on President Biden to drop charges against Julian Assange. The WikiLeaks founder has been languishing for close to four years in the harsh Belmarsh prison in London while appealing extradition to the United States. If convicted in the United States, Julian Assange could face up to 175 years in jail for violating the U.S. Espionage Act for publishing documents that exposed U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. Friday’s event was held at the National Press Club and co-chaired by Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman. We spend the hour featuring compelling excerpts from the proceedings.
Globalization used to be a guarantor of economic growth. No longer, and the losers are poorer nations. They have restricted access to global markets and are largely excluded from beneficial labor migration.
Part 2:
Unfettered access to the world’s economic markets should boost prosperity and foster peaceful international coexistence – in theory. But which countries take advantage of the opportunities presented by global competition? And which countries avoid it, preferring to protect their economies at the expense of the poor? And why does free global trade preach the unrestricted movement of goods, while setting limits on labor migration? With these questions and contradictions in mind, we travel through the US, Peru, Senegal and Europe.
An agreement with China means the former steel producing center Duisburg is eyeing a renaissance. America, on the other hand, blames China and globalization for its declining steel industry. Billions of US dollars are invested in domestic industries and agriculture as part of the country’s “America First” policy stance. This has a detrimental effect on poorer nations. For example Peru, a nation left behind by globalization that’s making little progress in the fight against poverty.
When it comes to worldwide migration, there are clear winners and losers. Spain’s farming sector is starved of workers, while the EU resists immigration. In countries like Senegal, where illegal fishing and the appropriation of farmland by international concerns has left people destitute, migrants are leaving in search of a better life. One of the chief beneficiaries of globalization is China, whose migrant workers represent the confidence and strategy of their powerful homeland. “Globalization in Crisis” is a two-part documentary telling the stories of those who benefit – and those who suffer – as a result of globalization.
We are a Nairobi based, non profit organization working to encourage a more critical, holistic and knowledge-based approach to digital solutions within African heritage. Through this, we hope to cement the place of African culture in an era of rapidly changing technologies and endless frontiers.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
DIGITISATION
Everything from archives, to oral histories and monuments. We aim to create sustainable, engaging digitization solutions that factor in historical legacies, digital infrastructure and the needs of African collections. Our holistic approach to digitisation engages the needs of audiences, questions around technical inequality and issues around licencing and access to data. Projects
INNOVATION
We love experimenting with new technologies. From virtual reality to mobile applications. Our experiments fuel our curiosity but they also push us outside our comfort zone, allow us to imagine alternate realities and visualize history in interactive, immersive way. Projects
RESEARCH
As digital heritage is a growing, inter-disciplinary field, the core of our practice is grounded in research and co-creation with cultural sector practitioners, communities and stakeholders. Our historical research relies on existing data sets such as archives, oral histories and museum collections.
While our contemporary research explores emerging technologies and issues at the intersection of African heritage and digital technology. Projects
APACITY BUILDING
We see technology as a means to empower and to engage, by equipping audiences and organisations with the skills to reach a wider audience, digitise artifacts and engage with culture through various forms of digital media. Projects
Across Africa, lobbyists, philanthropists and businesspeople are working to open up the continent to GMOs. They argue that GMOs can provide a miracle solution to two of Africa’s biggest problems: famine and malaria.
One of the main supporters of the movement is Bill Gates, one of the world’s wealthiest individuals and founder of the most powerful philanthropic foundation in history. The film shows how the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation became the main funder of genetic experiments underway on the continent.
Discreetly and beyond the reach of critical voices, scientists are conducting research on the genetic modification of cassava plants and mosquitoes as a solution to the malaria problem.
The role of the EU here is an ambiguous one: Whereas the bloc was initially skeptical about genetic engineering because of the potential risks to health and the environment, now the EU is working together with the Microsoft founder’s nonprofit conducting experiments that would be banned in Europe.
Genetic modification in Africa is about power, but it is also about money. And this puts the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in the firing line: by financing genetic engineering experiments in Africa, the organization is playing into the hands of big western agribusiness.
“Africa, GMOs and Western Interests” shines a light on the brave new world of philanthrocapitalism, where humanitarian aid has a stubborn aftertaste of business, famine programs are often a pretext to introduce GMOs and public investments can serve private interests.
Half the world eats it. One-fifth of our calories come from it. But rice has a dark secret: It pumps pollutants into the air and is vulnerable to extreme weather. So how can we grow rice better? Credits Reporter: Ajit Niranjan Camera: Florian Mettke Video Editor: Nils Reinecke Supervising editor: Joanna Gottschalk, Michael Trobridge, Kiyo Dörrer We’re destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn’t need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we’ll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
We are storytellers, time-travelers and archivists specializing in digital approaches for African heritage. We hope to cement the place of African culture in an era of rapidly changing technologies and endless frontiers.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
The links are listed here to be used in whatever manner they may be helpful in public information campaigns, course preparation, teaching, letter-writing, lectures, class presentations, policy discussions, article writing, civic or Congressional hearings and citizen action campaigns, etc. For further information on this blog see: About this weblog. and How to use this weblog.
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