goulden eeuw

In attempts to be more inclusive, “polyphonic” about its storied past, Amsterdam’s museum system is dropping the non-contemporary term Golden Age from its exhibits going forward, instead using the label of seventeenth century.
While some are cautioning against judging the past by modern standards or historic revisionism, Rijksmusum director Taco Dibbits (previously) believes it is neither but rather tempering the celebration of the era when the Netherlands was at the forefront of trade, art and the sciences with the acknowledgement that not everyone was the beneficiaries and others paid the heavy toll of accomplishment—wars, exploitation and trafficking.

7x7

alltid öppet: McDonald’s franchises in Sweden (previously) install insect hotels in their signage and billboards

.xlsx: a concerning amount of scientific research contains data misinterpreted by spreadsheet software

glory to hong kong: protestors create their own anthem and rallying cry

metallic wood: researchers create a porous nickel-based matrix (see also) as strong as titanium though exceedingly light

schism: Pope Francis unafraid of conservative groups calling his leadership too progressive

k2-18β: astronomers detect water vapour in the atmosphere of a distant super earth that could harbour life as we know it

gravy train: bug-based pet food better for canine and feline companions and for the environment

zwei plus vier

On this day in 1990, representatives of East and West Germany plus the Four Occupying Powers met in Moscow (previously) to sign the Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany (Vertrag über die abschließende Regelung in Bezug auf Deutschland).  In exchange for renouncing any territorial claims, like Kaliningrad, Gdansk and other concessions, and limiting its armed forces, France, the UK, the US and the Soviet Union relinquished their mandates on the respective countries—which although entered into the agreement as separate parties would ratify the treaty as one nation, the reunification process facilitated by the terms of the settlement.

ponderosa ranch

Running until 1973, the Western television series Bonanza (a Spanish mining term used on the discovery of a major lode of ore) premiered on NBC on this day in 1959. Set during and shortly after the US civil war, the programme, rather uniquely for its time, addressed pressing societal issues directly including racism and bigotry. For continuity and for the convenience of stunt-doubles, the recurring cast of this long-running show wore the same outfits each episode.

head and shoulders

We are introduced to the portfolio of photographer Max Siedentoph through his latest series on passport photos that zooms out from a headshot to limn what is going on out of frame. Take a further look outside of the box and peruse a whole gallery of what might lay beyond to discover and consider at the link above.

the ghost of a flea

Sadly unrecognised during his lifetime, poet, painter and free love advocate, William Blake (*1757 - †1827, see also here and here) produced a large and diverse body of work under the ethos that to exercise the human imagination and push its limits was itself next to godliness. Misunderstood and dismissed as mad, Blake’s single showing while still on this plane was disastrous, one critic calling him an ‘unfortunate lunatic whose personal inoffensiveness secures him from confinement.’
The retrospective exhibition currently at London‘s Tate Gallery (see also from friend of the blog, Nag on the Lake) is certainly a belated vilification and underscores the resonance of his vision.  Perhaps most well known for his illustration of The Book of Job and Dante’s Divine Comedy, like the pictured vignette of Capaneus the Blasphemer, a besieger of Thebes whom Zeus struck down with a lightning bolt for his arrogance, and is confined to the Seventh Circle of Hell with the other souls whom have committed violence against God, though the form of his extinction make him impervious to the torture of the flames and as a pagan he addresses the deity as Jove and still curses him. The titular episode refers to a miniature panel inspired by a vision that came to his friend and collaborator John Varley during a séance and evokes comparison to Henry Fuseli’s 1781 The Nightmare.

iou

As if it wasn’t chilling enough that the grifter and bully in the White House would compel his own weather monitoring services to revise their forecast map to match his own mischaracterization, covertly disclosed communications suggest that United Nations’ International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is practising self-censorship in its agenda to skirt issues not aligned to US policy and politics for fear the US would pull funding and support.

While it might be seen as just a shrewd measure by some at the organisation to de-emphasise certain points for the pitch and focus on climate change and sustainable growth any way, the agency is compromising itself too far by conceding—however superficially—to Trump and his outlook on the world.  A rather nominal philanthropic donation could ensure that the programme could maintain its independence and integrity for decades.