resolution 678

On this day in 1991 Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz and US Secretary of State James Baker held a conference in Geneva lasting some seven hours to try to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the invasion and annexation of Kuwait (August 1990).
Though the dialogue was overshadowed by the respective parties’ messaging, that George HW Bush was willing to continue talks and privileged peace and regional stability over any exercise of power—and that Saddam Hussain would not agree to an unconditional withdrawal, arguing that the region was put in turmoil over Palestine issue well before the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait and targeting their advances with the backing of the UN and the US-backed coalition was hypocrisy and an injustice. Both sides lost their leverage and no progress was made in finding a mutually acceptable solution, and the failure of the Geneva Peace Conference precipitated Operation Desert Storm (17 January 1991 – 28 February 1991) to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait.

7x7

franking privileges: Royal Mail (see previously) will issue postage stamp sets based on classic arcade games—via Boing Boing

cajun court: a resplendent Louis XV tower sequestered in the heart of Louisiana—via Messy Nessy Chic

cosmodrome: the busiest space ports in the world charted out—via Maps Mania

conurbation: the world’s largest megalopoli tracked on a bar-chart race

yugo.logo: a growing visual archive of brand enblems from Yugoslavia

team rodent: an intricate link diagram illustrating the connections between Disney properties and merchandising from 1967

tomorrow’s on fire: Australia needs our help and needs us to heed this stark warning—via Waxy

the ballad of rocket robin hood: a Canadian animated children’s show that aired from 1966 to 1969 featuring a team of Merry Men living in the “astonishing year 3000” and committed to protecting the poor and innocent from exploitation by Prince John and the Sheriff of NOTT (National Outer-Space Terrestrial Territories)

ポスター

We enjoyed reviewing this gallery of the official posters created for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games (previously here, here, here and here), the committee inviting prominent artist to contribute works promoting cultural understanding through sportsmanship and a celebration of friendly competition. We especially liked the piece entitled “Olympic Cloud” by graphic designer Taku Satoh and the vintage aesthetic it evokes. Be sure to visit the Guardian (see also) at the link up top to peruse all twenty and to learn more about the artists and studios behind them.

the last of the beothuk

Kidnapped during a raid on her encampment over some allegedly stolen fishing equipment that resulted in the deaths of her family and sent away to live with a priest in a parish house in the capital of Newfoundland who christened her Mary March (for the Mother of God and surname in deference to the month she was abducted in), Demasduit died day in 1820 (*circa 1796) from tuberculous contracted during a failed attempt to repatriate her with her tribe.

While in St. John’s, the governor’s wife Lady Henrietta Hamilton painted Demasduit’s portrait, the people of the city and broader Notre Dame Bay raising funds for her journey home. Having expired aboard the ship as it crossed Red Indian Lake, her coffin was deposited on the shore with members of the Beothuk—only some thirty left at this point reunited her body with the grave of her husband Chief Nonosbawsut and her infant child. Demasduit’s niece who died a decade later, called Shanawdithit (“Nancy April”), also from tuberculosis, is regarded as the last of her tribe.

nolle prosequi

Via the inestimable Kottke, we’re directed to a profile of illustrator and court reporter (see previously here and here) Wendy MacNaughton and her time visually documenting the 9/11 military tribunal held at the US detention facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba September of last year. MacNaughton’s experience of her journalistic commitment clashing with the strictures of censorship and a rather byzantine vetting process overshadows (but hopefully foreshadows the rigour overall) the arraignment and peremptory pleas.

braeburn and bismark

Our heirloom tree having taken this season off, we really enjoyed perusing this gallery of uncommon, and in many cases threatened, apple cultivars (a selection of the seven and a half thousand varieties out there) from around the world, beautiful captured by William Mullan and curated by the intrepid explorers at Gastro Obscura. We especially enjoyed learning about the Api Etoile (la pomme d’api) raised in orchards in France and Switzerland, so named for its star-shaped form.  More to explore at the links above.

tatoveringer

Archival research and interviews with other members of the Danish royal family has enabled a team at Denmark’s public broadcasting service to create a composite, three-dimensional image of King Frederik IX (*1899 – †1972), bearing his torso to show off his tattoos and to tell the authoritative lore (legends of course abound) behind his  affection for body art.
Reigning during a time of rapid and sweeping societal change and with the reputation as a monarch of the people and quite personable, Frederik would have probably appreciated the attention paid to his ink and those Johnny Weissmüller leopard-print trunks aren’t not just a bit of creative license on the part of the modellers but based on an actual article of apparel from the king’s wardrobe.

levensloop

Everlasting Blört shares with us the animated headers of the 1551 songbook compiled and published at the behest of Renaissance Brugge writer, textile merchant and city administrator Zeghere van Male (*1504 - †1601), the initials above the sheet music and in the marginalia mostly by composer Gheerkin de Hondt of ‘s-Hertogenbosch brought to life by Kajetan Obarski. The accompanying static image is an ex voto executed by Pieter Pourbus for the family in 1578.