Category: Artists

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Gentileschi Iconologia

Ever since the publication of Cesare Ripa’s „Iconologia“ (1593) the codes of art had become subject of a coded production and interpretation of art. Attributes of power or wealth like palms, scepters or crowns, decorated with gold and diamonds spoke a language easily understood by onlookers irrespective of time periods. Orazio and his daughter Artemisia applied this Iconologia throughout their work. The apparently simple depiction of bad weather became a sign of trouble ahead in a person‘s life, office or reign. From the success of Caravaggio‘s paintings, the application of light and shadow became another stylistic feature of especially Artemisia‘s work. Whereas the application of these techniques is a sign of craftsmanship, the own contributions like a more emotional and emancipatory repertoire of Artemisia make her an artist of her own kind. (Image Artemisia Gentileschi, Madelaine pénitante 1625, Musée Jacquemart André“ in Paris 2025-8) 

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Women artists

The history of art has been dominated in public opinion for centuries by men. However, recently art historians have drawn our attention to the numerous works of women who took Centre stage with their art during the last 500 years. Flavia Frigeri (2019, 2024) begins her history of women artists with Lavinia Fontana (1552-1614) followed by Artemisia Gentileschi (1593-1652). Both painters produced extraordinary paintings which brought their own touch to the paintings at a time when an independent expression through art was still largely reserved for men. The subjects of Gentileschi were greatly influenced by her experiences as a woman in a male dominated society in the 17th century in Europe. Her choice of subjects for her paintings added a female vision and depiction of biblical and historical narratives that were unique. The „Musée Jacquemart André“ in Paris featured a great retrospective of her art work in 2025. The catalog of the exhibition allows to enter into the art and wit of this early woman artist. 

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Zadkine museum

In the middle of Paris you will find a small former atelier of Zadkine. Transformed into a museum, the place is a cosy place to learn about sculpture and the different materials used. The preparations in form of designs or smaller trials with other materials are common practice to arrive at the sometimes monumental pieces. The visit of the permanent collection is even free of charge. A splendid experience in a surprising spot of silence next to buzzing city streets. Depicting musicians and musical instruments has been Zadkine’s shared passion with Valentine Prax. Great that he managed to reach the USA in time before the Nazi persecution could reach him. However, exile often means hardship as well. 

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Zadkine Prax

Ossip Zadkine and Valentine Prax once had their atelier next door to each other at art school. This established a lasting link between the 2. Whereas Zadkine became best known for his sculptures, Prax became famous as a painter. It appears that influences from one to the other are present in the works and several sculptures or preparations for sculptures were collected by Prax and found their way into the permanent exhibition of the museum. Intertwined biographies of artists are an inspiring reminder that art is not created only within a single mind, but many references or inspirations come from joint conversations or just working next to each other for some time. The social part of creating art is visible in this exceptional exhibition. Valentine Prax is honored with a presence in the Zadkine museum as well.

Image: Valentine Prax

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Zadkine Van Gogh

Ossip Zadkine has been a sculptor in cubists’ art tradition. He created famous sculptures of Vincent van Gogh after the death of the renowned painter and his friend. The Zadkine museum in Paris allows to get a great impression of these artworks. These sculptures reveal an interesting life course perspective on both artists sensitivity and transformation of their impressions of others or emotions more generally. The first study depicted below by Ossip Zadkine of van Gogh shows how he carefully studied the traits of van Gogh and his personality in order to better understand the evolution and death of the fellow artist. The emotional and broader psychological aspects of a character captured both artists. Doing justice to these inner feelings and society’s judgments about art and artists at their time of creation had strong impacts on both artists. 

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Water fountain

The design of water fountains is a bit of technology and a lot of art work. The provision of water for larger basins in castles was pioneered by garden architect Le Notre in France as early as the 17th century. He took ideas from Italian designers to integrate them in his French squared designs and surprising perspectives. Vaux le Vicomte is a splendid example and a source of inspiration for many even centuries later. Listening and watching the water fall from level to level downwards calms the spirit. Worth exploring yourself.

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Roof under snow

The painter Caillebotte has captured Paris roofs under snow. Hundred years later this will be a rare event. The original painting we can still admire, the original scenario will be a rather rare event. Snow changes city life as everyone walks slowly and traffic as well as other noise is softened by snow as well. Mankind is changing the course of history through global warming while ignoring the consequences for later generations. The links between art and science are closer than we tend to believe.

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Museum Marketing

The century old idea of a column that keeps people informed is prominently displayed at the Musée d‘Orsay in Paris in 2025-7. The example on display demonstrates the Parisian adaptation of the „Litfasssäule“ to the local architecture. The marketing tool of a round display for posters rather than the flat depiction of images has its own „Charme“. The huge version of a sign post allows to display a lot of information and a close reading as well. The cross cultural adaptation is interesting as most people would believe it is a rather unique Paris invention, whereas it is an adaptation from elsewhere. Of course, it has the French touch to it, which makes it unique in a sense again.

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Music Lunch

The possibility to pass a lunch break with live music inspiration is, unfortunately, quite rare. The Brussels festival “midis minimes” has created a popular format for classical music to be performed in easy to reach venues in the city center. Working in the center allows to hop into a 45 minutes performance of varying artists, instruments and music styles. The “Cercle Royal Gaulois” offers enough seats. Even without a reservation it is feasible to forget about work and get inspired by musicians. and the composers and arrangements they propose. Gaëlle Solal and Juliette Hurel offered short digestible pieces by Bartok, Ravel and Piazzolla with a focus on their popular dance tunes often based on previous folk tunes. We virtually traveled from Romanian tales to La Habanera and Tango and back to work for some.

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Satie Popular

Erik Satie has been quite involved with the surrealist and Dada movement of his time. He personally knew the main proponents ranging from Breton to Magritte. He became one of the major figures applying the ideas of surrealism to music. His early compositions like the Gnossienne (extract of Nr. 1 below) are admired for their simplicity. They became popular only years later and have entered popular music repertoire through many retakes of the original tune in various styles ranging from jazz to rap. Many of Satie’s formative years he spent playing and performing popular music in the animated cafés, bars and shows of Montmartre in Paris. The making of a living based on music can be a challenge. Satie had to bear the full risk of a life in poverty at times to reserve sufficient time for his creative work.
He remained very much connected to the working class as his later membership of the Communist party after the Great War testifies. Composing for children and transmitting music to the next generation was equally close to his heart and mind, especially in his later years.
For him, popular music constituted a fountain of original tunes and a test with an intuitive audience rather than the academic circles. Maybe, with this attitude, he followed the footsteps of Flotow, Offenbach, Ravel and many others later on until pop music became the vastly dominant music in the late 20th and 21st centuries.

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Erik Satie Satisfied

The collection of letters from Erik Satie contains more than 1000 letters amongst them some in exchange with the best artists of his time. The range is largely due to the circle of artists who met at Montmartre in Paris before and during the Great War. We discover letters to Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Pablo Picasso or Henri Matisse. For some artists there are 100+ letters preserved like to Jean Cocteau. In the 1920s he composed music for shows at Montmartre, where the scenario was painted by Pablo Picasso and costumes designed by Coco Chanel. The sculpture by Brancusi must have been familiar to him, just as much as the cubist paintings by Georges Braques, as there are also letters or references to such letters in the impressive 1000+ pages collection. Like Ravel he was rejected by the Conservatoire de Musique de Paris in his early days as student. Montmartre allowed to live and create at the same time while living on a minimal budget. Erik Satie signed his letters with ES. In German this denotes a “neutrum”, maybe, beyond male or female differentiation, but also a tonality in music (E flat). There is no trace that this was a conscious choice. It is just another unresolved puzzle about the self-declared “Gymnopédiste” and composer of the “Parade” and the popular piano music the “Gnossienne”. 100 years after his death on 1925-7-1 he (ES) could be rather satisfied with his impact on the course of music in the 20th century and beyond.

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Memories updated

In Berlin and many other German cities it is a regular practice to scrutinize the memory inscribed into street names. In order to correct the honors given to persons with a past as fascist or responsible for mass killings street names were changed at several points in the history of the city. Streets named after battle fields, for example, are a continuous point of discussion. It is important to keep the perspectives of victims in mind. Therefore, changing street names is a little contribution to rethink the role of places and persons. Such changes are sometimes very controversial as people become accustomed to names, some might even not care much at all. Recognition and responsibility, however, have a lot of currency in historical perspective. Overpainting like in the paintings from Gerhard Richter has an important function in society and can be one way of coping with the demons of the past.

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Artist Development

For many artists it takes years before they find their idiosyncratic style. Testing different forms of art before zooming in on a particular style of art is the  common trajectory for most artists. Maybe the art marker and collectors of art are in search of a “defining style” for an artist so the uniqueness becomes more easily identifiable. Being part of a group of artists has been beneficial as well. The “Neue Nationalgalerie” in Berlin makes this development of an artist, in this case Lygia Clark transparent through the organization of a retrospective devoted to her evolution from abstract paintings towards participative and more organic forms of art. Berlin offers to interact with the pieces at the exhibition. You become part of the exhibition and the happening of art instantaneously. The form stays the same, the persons interacting change permanently. The piece of art is never the same. Just the idea of it thrives. In the Corpo Colletivo the performers wear an overall, all of them are linked to each other and movements happen organically as a group rather than individually. This is like a tutorial in sociology as individuals move as part of a collective body and feel the embeddedness and multiple links to other persons (Image: Corpo Collectivo 1970, exhibit in Berlin 2025)

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Odessa Berlin Odessa

With a sense of partnership, it is possible to travel between Odessa and Berlin in the “Gemäldegalerie” in Berlin 2025. Due to the war of Putin in Ukraine the “Museum of Western and Eastern Art” in Odessa had to relocate its treasures to safe places. The Gemäldegalerie offers a chance to view the splendid collection nevertheless. The curators’ team in a spirit of “art intelligence” propose, in a splendid way, most oeuvres from Odessa next to an example by the same painter from the Berlin collection. The visitor leaves the exhibition enriched by an experience of “jumelage” (engl. sister cities) of partnerships between museums, cities and their people.
In fact, we have shared the same imagery or visual heritage in Europe for centuries . The collections of paintings ranges from the 16th -19th century art  or from Frans Hals to impressionist influences.
We shall cherish the return of the collection to Ukrainian Odessa as soon as possible. The image below shows the places of origin (yellow dots) of the art works of the Odessa collection across centuries (map from the exhibition).

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Dépaysé in gallery

The installation ar the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin entitled „Fog Sculpture“ takes us from the sculpture garden of the Gallery into a tropical forest atmosphere. Just changing the humidity and visibility through the artificial production of fog transforms the perception of the artworks. A kind of Asian flair surrounds the western sculptures in the garden. The fog installs also a mystification whoch we know in art from the romantic painters like Caspar David Friedrich for example. All long-term followers shall appreciate the new perception of the artworks thanks to Fujiko Nakayo. It’s definitely more than old wine in new bottles. The artwork brings a more global twist to the preexisting sculptures and reminds us in Berlin even of the wrapping and unwrapping of the  Reichstag building by Jeanne-Claude Christo. We see the sculptures or architecture differently after they disappeared temporarily and reappear again.

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Dream together

„Dream together“ is the title of the exhibition of Yoko Ono at the „Neue Nationalgalerie“ in Berlin 2025. The title is an invitation or even an incitement to dream jointly with others. We need to dream of peace on all sides or parties in a war. Start with the dream and then move on to working together on it. The participatory art projects of Yoko Ono are a recurring event in Berlin and at the Neue Nationalgalerie (Cut piece). The installation „Wish Tree for Berlin“ in front of the gallery is popular with visitors who leave hundreds of written wishes to the windy spring days. Origami folding, stone assembling or a simultaneous chessboard playing with all white pieces and fields encourage to imagine a world differently, beyond the treaded belligerent paths. For more inspiration and imagination just continue to the Martin Gropiusbau for more artworks from Ono or just watch the clouds pass by changing the lighting of the olive tree carrying lots of wishes.

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Permanently anxious

„There’s a set of forces that want us to be permanently anxious“, is the phrase chosen by Tony Cokes in the exhibit just outside the „Palais Populaire“ in Berlin in 2025-5. International politics and the economic upheaval caused by Trump’s tariffs contribute to the already existing other sources of anxiety like nuclear energy and warfare. Global warming causing more extreme weather events add more man-made reasons for anxiety. The next generations will have to foot the bills we have left to them unpaid. Our current shortsightedness increases anxieties which previous generations have not known of a similar kind or in that combination. 

Community building and solidarity are ways to overcome such overwhelming anxieties. Supranational organizations like the European Union have an even stronger role to play to reassure its people with credible signs of solidarity. We are not alone in the struggle to overcome the anxiety that is creeping up around us. We are certainly stronger together than individually dealing with unspecified fears. „We shall overcome …“

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Lviv Ukraine

Small galleries can make a real difference. In Berlin the gallery “streulicht” has a selection of photos in an exhibition that portraits artist from Lviv in Ukraine. Hans Hugo Hoffmann manages in his photographs to depict the extraordinary resilience of Ukrainian creative persons who live through a protracted war of their country against the Russian aggressor. The persons embody the strength of resisting through their art work despite the wounds inflicted on their families or the people of Lviv and the whole of Ukraine due to the war. The persons portrayed try to continue their normal day to day work, knowing that nothing is normal anymore in Ukraine. “Bizarre Normality” characterizes our perspective on these artists, who are thrown into a world of events that we no longer thought might be possible in Europe. Bucha and other crimes by Russian soldiers in this Russian aggression leave traces in the faces of Ukrainian people and even beyond. We all wish that the people of Ukraine can return to “normality” as soon as possible, although we know that nothing will be normal as it was before the Russian invasion.

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Persistent beauty

The fashion industry is known for its fast turnover of beautiful designs from season to season. Some designs and often just single pieces survive the fast turnaround of the fashion industry. In many cities we find shops that sell so-called vintage cloths and objects. For men and women it is feasible to rediscover pieces of longer lasting beauty or even persistent beauty. The persistence of an image of beauty may follow the classics of designers and specific brands, but it may also have a very personal touch referring more to a person’s own life course (when we were young) or associated with freeing yourself from your family or societal context. The 60s and  70s were such time periods with radically changing images and ideas about beauty. Since then more individualised clothing seems to take hold, although there is an equally strong tendency of social or age groups to identify themselves through specific clothing, showing that you belong to the “in-group”.

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Archi Octagon

The architecture we see around us has lots of interesting mathematical features. Some are the basis for more complicated calculations. The octagon shape is not that common, but with some formulas the calculations become easier and construction in the real world is more feasible. Well worth to dig a bit deeper into this shape. The geometry of angles and circumference follows rules that have been laid out a long time ago. The webpages explaining this are manifold and it is a project of its own kind to compare them and recommend the best ones. My current favorite is: mathmonks. A reasonable choice is in most cases also wikipedia, the long running amazing knowledge project also for the octagon.

Image: Berlin Europa Center 2025.

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Liszt home

In Budapest we can visit one of the longer living places of Franz Liszt or Ferenc Liszt as some Hungarians would insist to call him. The Beethoven trained Carl Czerny offered piano and music classes free of charge to the young Franz Liszt in Vienna at the age of 11. In the biography by Klára Hamburger she describes the Paris years of Liszt from 1823 until 1839 as the most important ones for the pianist and particularly for his later compositions. Born in Hungary, the son of 2 Austrian parents he was trained in Paris by amongst others the Czech professor of the Conservatoire de Paris Antonin Reicha just like Chopin, Flotow or Offenbach. Writing an opera was the “must do” for a composer who aimed for the highest possible career at the time. In a letter to George Sand, Liszt (published 1937) complained already about the social status of musicians in society as servants to the higher ranks of society. Similar to Ravel many years later Liszt was rejected as official scholar by the Conservatoire de Musique and his wish to marry a daughter of noble decent was rejected early in his career. Such experiences probably contributed to his leaning towards the romantic form of expressions in music during most of his compositions. Literature, paintings of the French romantic period and the traveling artist “voyages et pèlerinages” became influential in his creative process. The competition between composers must have been fierce at the time and despite ample opportunities to perform in public and private venues making a living from music wasn’t always easy at the beginning. More than 100 years after his death his compositions are still a challenge for all pianists and the Hungarian Rhapsodies probably his greatest homage to his early childhood.

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Tchaikovsky home

During the time before the “Zeitenwende” it was easy to visit the home of the composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in St. Petersburg. Therefore, we refer to our memory of the visit and the already 10 years ago restrained liking and appreciation of the Russian officials for the aristocratic composer, even accused to not be sufficiently Russian in his music compared other Russian composers. The composer had diverse love affairs, which were also not conform to official doctrines. The world wide success of his compositions, mostly known for his ballet music, remains popular in the 21st century. Similar to Beethoven, the biography by Malte Korff (Tschaikowsky, in German), highlights the final symphony as his masterpiece. The seems to be a reason to study “the last works” of composers specifically. The mature compositions appear to reflect on previous work and build or comment on previous work. The 6. symphony “Pathétique” was completed in his last year of his life, only at age 53. The final IV-th piece of it is entitled “Adagio lamentoso” and ends in very calm tempo and almost silence like a withering away heart beat. To my surprise I found a similarly very quiet ending in one of his early piano composition when he was only 28 years old “Romance Opus 5, Andante cantabile”. This early piece also ended “più lento” and from pp to ppp. (compare extract of image of notes below).

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Beethoven Home

The home of Beethoven in Bonn is nicely preserved and full of objects related to his life and his creative work. For the musician and composer musical instruments have accompanied him throughout his life. The visit of his home of birth offers a chance to dive into the extraordinary accomplishments of this great figure of the late 18th and early 19th century. His 9th symphony is strong as ever and the European anthem has just more than 200 years since the first performance now. The visit of the museum is still the highlight of Bonn and the App of the Beethoven House offers unique insights into and listening of his manifold compositions. Handwritten notes and a pocketbook of preparations for the symphony demonstrate the all encompassing nature of music for Beethoven. From romantic letters to the romantic music pieces, the museum has it all. Even it is a rather tiny house from the outside the inner life is as huge as it can be. It is advisable to take at least half a day for the visit much more than you would usually take for visit of a museum. The link between the biographical information and listening to linked musical pieces with a chronological context are a unique experience. This spurs the interest to listen or listen again to some of the romantic masterpieces. The App is great also to listen directly to some of the music.

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Intimate housing

The housing of famous persons has always attracted a lasting fascination. The “esprit des lieux” or the experience of the surroundings of an artist, composer, author or otherwise famous person, where most of the work had taken place is of general interest. In today’s language we would describe this as the context of creation. Biographical information and references to specific objects central to the process of creation play a crucial role in understanding what is behind human creation as it is district from AI. There are objects ( compare MAD Paris) and there are the social networks of creators. Modern biographies include both, some even in graphic forms similar to ancestry diagrams. 

The design of intimate living spaces for private life or the adequate environment for creativity are becoming more clear with the consciousness of the importance of dedicated designs of furniture, accessories and even scent. Our brains are multimodal and working as well as processing lots of information even beyond our conscious realizations. This black box of creativity is rather unique to the human brain and AI will probably take decades to emulate such complex processing. The MAD exhibition reveals that intimacy is also related to housing design and interior design. It doesn’t seem to be a random process, but habituation is part of the continued creative process. 

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Private Intimacy

Intimacy has been reserved for private affairs for centuries. Although in the medieval ages formally the right of so-called noble men could be very far-reaching into intimacy of families when the permission to marry was quite restrictive. The private intimacy is the central theme of the Paris exhibition at MAD (Link) « Private Lives ». The organization into 14 almost private rooms around a larger center piece on design leads us through the major topics of intimacy. Maybe as a surprise to some, the exhibition starts with the major actors of change related to privacy and intimacy, i. e. women. Opening up enclosures gave women more room for intimacy and at the same time it made intimacy a conscious choice and decision. “A room of one’s own” is an important step in personal development of children particularly with respect to one’s intimate life. Restrooms are another issue of intimacy, just consider recent adaptations tor m/f/d people. A whole set of accessories are on display which previously were intimate products or even secrets prepared for public viewing. Of course odors are part of the experience with a test space of noble perfumes. The various manifestations of sexuality has brought about a growing number of pleasure objects, which might also be criticized as a growing commodification of intimacy as well. The connected bedroom and the risk of surveillance are raised to warn on overexposure on social networks. Intimacy in prisons or community shelters closes the exhibition before the final highlight the room on “conversations with oneself”. A whole literary form of keeping an intimate journal has arisen from the conversations not intended to be shared with others, at least not during one’s lifetime. After a person’s death for some persons of public interest even their private intimate journals will be published shifting the balance between the private and public parts of intimacy. (Image below from exhibition, photo bottom left, Matisse painting on wall while in bed in old age). 

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Intimate change

Society changes and with it so does intimacy. The major changes pass through the behavioral changes of persons and sooner or later the whole society adopts such changes as the new normal. Trends of individualization have moved over centuries as the exhibition in the Museum of decorative art (MAD) in Paris demonstrates. At the same time the changed individual approaches to intimacy have become more widely spread quickly over time. Social media have accelerated such new trends again. Social class is yet another intervening variable in this context which created different speeds of adjustment as well as sustaining differences in kind. 

Religious beliefs and practices have made claims about how individuals should handle intimate relationships and affairs. Legal issues are defined by each society to guide moral practices as well. Hence, the sociology of intimacy is a huge topic and comparing societies an interesting topic. The development of intimacy over a person’s life course, however, is given little attention due to a lack of adequate longitudinal data. From the exhibition we are encouraged to think about the relationship of hygiene and intimacy. Bathrooms accompany us throughout our lives and privacy was originally a bourgeois concept. Over the life course we move from dependency to independence and maybe dependency again in very old age. The images (below) from the MAD exhibition range from basics of bath tubs to a painting of Edgar Degas in the background. Instagramer or YouTuber share lots of images and stylized arrangements of bathrooms on social media. It seems that intimacy is moving further into the public domain. 

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Body Soul Membrane

The 40 art works from the Pinault Collection on display at the “Bourse de Commerce Paris” deal with a depiction of the body and soul in the broadest sense. The range of works from paintings, sculptures and video installations is impressive. The link between the body and the feelings or emotions is obvious. Contexts leave deep impressions on bodies and frequently embodiments do not fit emotions. The membrane between the two instances creates an additional barrier or chance to align both instances. Racism and discrimination are recurrent topics in the exhibition. This makes the exhibition a welcome antidote against the increasing risks of violence in many societies. Artists have a subtle emotional connection to suffering of people and their art work does not shun away from confronting us with violence experienced by large groups of society. Body and soul membranes are also an internal or intimate affair, which words can only address with difficulty. Many artists therefore chose other ways than writing or drawing to express or cope with this reflexive relationship of body and emotions. We do not leave the exhibition unmoved, maybe even a bit unsettled in our emotional state of mind. Our own membrane might be moved or become unbalanced after the visit. 

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Apocalypse Depicted

At the beginning of the 21st century we have a renewed interest in depictions of the Apocalypse. “L’Apocalisse di Giovanni” has been illustrated in various Christian monasteries and some traveled quite a bit. The version of the Apocalypse (Link) which was attributed to Cambrai is a copy of the older original version found in the City library of Trèves, which dates back to the year of about 825. A flemish version of the 16th century is to be found at the BNF in Paris. Throughout the centuries the “Apocalypsis”has been reworked. The version of Trèves has the “carolingish” depiction characteristized by a presentation of image on one page and text on another page. Nowadays we are used to futuristic images and have known even worse experiences of apocalyptic events (Nazi terror). Earth quakes or man-made climate change with heating of the planet, storms, draughts and floods testify for the renewed interest in the Apocalypse. Other man-made technological innovations like rockets. atomic bombs, chemical and biological weapons overshadow even the “natural” ones. The potential of AI to cause destruction is not fully assessed until today. Swarms of drones guided by AI might reach apocalyptic levels as well. We just remind ourselves of the bombing of walls of a water reservoir by Russia in Ukraine. The Apocalypse will remain the original example of a horror story and our strange fascination for such texts, images or movies is likely to stay. (Image: extract of anonymous 1st quarter of 9th century. Trier Stadtbibliothek, Schatzkammer. Wikipedia public domain).

Apocalypse
Screenshot
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Wall Membrane

Walls are meant to separate persons. In certain circumstances, however, they work more like a membrane, which allows for example sound to pass walls. We are sometimes surprised to find out that we might hear almost every word that is spoken in a neighboring apartment or home. Listening without seeing is in fact a perfect set up for a comedy to evolve around this theme. Unintentional listening might turn into noisy listening and 2 lives start to intermingle. This is predestined for a comedy to evolve as does the theatre play by Lilou Fogli “mur mure”. The turning tripartite scenario by Jérémie Lippmann makes the 2 rooms arrangement visible where listening and seeing both separated actors a delightful experience. Understanding without seeing is better than seeing without understanding. Misunderstandings are frequent with the focus on appearances of persons. It is somehow the opposite of what our social media platforms suggest with their focus on stylized images and AI-enhanced photo editing. Hearing maybe the better seeing. In that sense the theatre play is in the emancipating tradition of authors like Ibsen or Chekhov, emancipating us from the dominant and overwhelming presence of selfies and self promotion.

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Art from India

Indian music, art and performances have had a difficult time in traditional western cultures. Based on the historical collections and donations in the BNF, this WEIRD bias is challenged a bit. The focus on performances and art from India of centuries old traditions of high standards could have been a major source of inspiration to wider audiences already. The narrative language of for example dance as Bharatanatyam is a sophisticated ritual of expression. It appears to us like a spiritual performance which reaches our emotions much like our modern ways of expressing and performing. It seems amazing how the western world has omitted looking and listening to other continents. 

Of course, archers have played an important role in Indian culture as well. Such depictions have been common across cultures in previous times. These images can reflect the shared human heritage and this with a global perspective on art history. Flora Willson (2024 in Die Musikforschung) refers to this Indian cultural heritage in her book review and why Italian Opera never really became popular in India. 

(Image BNF, Paris Richelieu in Rotonde 2025).