russergrensa

Named after the first two saints canonised after the Kievan Rus adopted Christianity as the state religion Boris and Gleb, Roman and David—sons of Vladimir the Great, the Russian exclave of Borisoglebsky (Борисоглебский) on the Norwegian bank of the of the Pasvik river, beyond the Arctic circle came to our attention through a travelogue from February covering the annual friendship festival filed to the Calvert Journal.
As a celebration in microcosm of the experiment and showcase of open borders (previously) during the Cold War, the Barents Spektakel marks a détente of nearly two months in 1965 of cultural exchange—plus some freer-flowing vodka not subject to Norway’s alcohol monopoly, with the settlement isolated (see also) due to an oversight in negotiating the borders after a peace settlement between Finland and the Russian Empire having become a platform to highlight Soviet technological and industrial prowess. In later years the site of a few tense standoffs, since 2014, border controls are stricter than before the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the festival was not held in the off-limits community of Boris Gleb and only observed in the neighbouring Norwegian town Kirkenes. Hopefully one day tensions will dissipate and the communities can once again celebrate together. Learn more about the history of the border at the link up top.

8x8

it’s-a me francis: an upcoming immersive papal simulator

what wizardry is this: augmented reality copy-and-paste

in like flynn: weaponised US Justice Department dismisses case against former National Security Adviser for lying to FBI about Russian connections

the great realisation: or, why we say hindsight is 2020

4f: new rules prohibit individuals who have recovered from corona virus infections from enlisting in the US military

logic gate: cookie-consent walls ruled to violate GDPR (previously)

nation-building: a profile of the Home Shopping Club mercenaries that tried to topple the government in Venezuela (previously)

canvasing: though unable to visit constituents in person, one representative is island-hopping on-line

smrt in pogreb josipa broza tita

Four days after his death in Ljubljana due to complications during surgery to correct circulation problems in his legs, the government of Yugoslavia held the largest state funeral in history for president Josip Broz Tito (*1892), drawing guests—kings, princes, presidents and ministers—from nearly every polity in the world on this day in the streets of Belgrade in 1980.
Tens of thousands filed past his casket and paid their solemn, earnest respect for two and a half days prior to arrival of the foreign dignitaries to the only leader the citizens of the independent communist county had known. Leaders and delegates in attendance were from both aligned and non-aligned countries and both sides geographically and ideologically of the Iron Curtain. Amid the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and facing re-election, the US president opted not to attend, instead sending his mother Lilian Carter with vice-president Walter Mondale. A ceremony of pomp and fanfare to celebrate the progress the Tito’s leadership had brought for the worker, the occasion was also an opportunity for building networks, Chancellor Helmut Schmidt of West Germany met with his East German counterpart and Secretary Leonid Brezhnev and Margaret Thatcher met with the leadership of Zambia, Italy and Romania, trying to rally international condemnation over said invasion. The leader was interned in a mausoleum in Belgrade that became known as the House of Flowers (Hiša cvetja, Kuća cvijeća, Кућа цвећа, Куќа на цвеќето)—the space that was a covered garden outside of Tito’s auxiliary office internally referred to as the “flower shop.”

sip

With all proceeds and exposure redirected back to the original artists and the host studios, a new gallery in Boston—called Shelter in Place—has held no less than fifteen exhibitions in the last month, broadcast to appreciative visitors for a virtual experience though the new assessions are very real acquisitons, with this miniature loft space, like a light-box, created to display maquettes—that is a scale-model or rough draft of a sculpture or other work of art.
Such tiny versions, also called bozzetti are collectable in their own right and speciality of a museum in Pietrasanta and the size of which can be executed from a desk or tabletop, are dropped off with the curatorial team for showing. Local artists are being showcased currently, but in the future they may have a call for submissions via parcel posts and other miniature galleries could also always pop-up. Much more to see at Hyperallergic at the link up top.

wir sind die roboter

Our friends over at Open Culture have assembled a nice retrospective appreciation of the recently departed Florian Schneider-Esleben (RIP, *1947)—co-founder of the formative and highly influential electronic group Kraftwerk, adding to a mounting tributes and eulogies from performers of all genres that owe a debt of gratitude to his music and vision. Much more at the links above.

corn dollies

At the crafty crossroads where creativity meets cult, Messy Nessy Chic presents a thoroughgoing history and how-to on cereal and straw art—referencing the ancient customs of the harvest (which continue into modern times) that saved the first (see also) and last sheaves of grain to fashion them into corn maidens or matrons that would winter with the family, exchanged as gifts during Yule to be ploughed into the furrows of the next season’s planting to ensure the continuity of abundance. Straw is worked, plaited, woven, spun according to centuries old tradition into some rather fantastic monuments, costumes and handicrafts—certainly worth admiring and wondering about their meaning and power, if not trying to create charms of our own.

spy-in-the-sky

Having disappeared seven days prior whilst presumably over Soviet airspace and the US government issuing a detailed cover story to the press about a missing NASA research aircraft lost in northern Turkey with the possibility that the auto-pilot had kicked in and led the plane further afield, Nikita Khrushchev made the surprise announcement (previously) on this day in 1960 that CIA espionage operative Francis Gary Powers (*1929 – †1977) had been intercepted and was in Soviet custody, embarrassing the Eisenhower administration who faced a dilemma in either owning up to the act or denying responsibility and blaming inscrutable bureaucracy in the intelligence agencies—both alibis potentially endangering a settlement at the upcoming Paris Peace Summit.
In the summer of 1958, the US government negotiated with Pakistan to establish a base of operations to run secret intelligence-gathering sorties over the USSR, using U-2 spyplanes to photograph missile silos and other infrastructure—aloft in the upper stratosphere and out of range of Soviet countermeasures, or so it was believed. The captured agent and photographic evidence was impossible to deny and Powers acceded his actions. Caught in a lie, the US disclosed the full nature of the U-2 missions and the involvement of the Central Intelligence Agency—which was in itself another surprising revelation. Powers, though sentenced to three years in prison with seven additional years of hard labour, was treated very well by his captors and spent most of the time with handicrafts, was freed after two years in a prisoner exchange on the Glienicker Brücke (the Bridge of Spies that connected West Berlin with East German Potsdam) for KGB officer and Soviet spy Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (*1903 - †1971). After being repatriated, Powers retiring from the CIA and took a job as a helicopter pilot for a television station in Los Angeles, dying in a crash whilst filming footage of wildfires, reportedly wilfully diverting his descent to avoid children playing near his intended landing spot.

béton brut

Beginning with an overture on aesthetic differences immortalised in in the 007 franchise, 99% Invisible (both in written form and as a podcast) presents an excellent and comprehensive look at the landmarks of Brutalist architecture.
Aside from the distinct pleasure of revisiting a selection of these sometimes reviled yet unrivalled masterpieces of formalism that often courted condemnation as fallout shelters, urban blight or Soviet-era slab with a guided tour—sadly prompted by the premature loss of two architects synonymous with the vernacular—rather than the utopian and optimistic impulse the construction medium brought. Much more to explore at the link above.