Category: Uncategorized

Reminders of “An Early Frost,” A Dog Day Afternoon, And September in Bloomsbury

A Visit to the Whitechapel Gallery

My friend Tom who is bravely living with Parkinson’s has often urged me to visit this small but interesting gallery in the Aldgate area of London. The current exhibit was titled “Hamad Butt: Apprehensions.” The exhibit included three installations Butt created, as well as a series of drawings and paintings he created during his short career. He died at 32 in 1994 from complications of AIDS.

As the exhibit began, it included a discussion of the AIDs crisis as a historical evevent of the 1980s and 90s. It was strange for me to read of the events as a part of history that many alive today cannot recall. Butt, chose a conceptual rather than an activist approach to respond to the crisis.

The exhibit began with three istallations pictured below.

These three sculptures are called “Familiars.” They take three hallogens: bromine as liquid, iodine as solid crystals and chlorine as gas. They threaten the environment if released, symbolicly representing AIDS as it was perceived in the early days.

Much of his later work was untitled. Below are some examples.

I guess that I can say I left the exhibit saddened that so much artistic talent was lost to a disease that seemed to come out of nowhere and caused so much human destruction. In the artists work one can see so much passion, so much possibility

I am also reminded of the activism of those affected either directly or indirectly by HIV and AIDS. I wonder where that kind of courage has gone in our current world. We need to remember that the way to stop a scourge is to fight, to stick together and to work to save what is important as those who crusaded to find a cure for AIDS did.

Doggy Day Afternoon

After such a poignant topic, I turn now to a joyful one. Each September, the Brunswick Centre, a brutalist monument to the architecture of the 1960s that includes apartments and a shopping centre, holds “Doggy Day” where dogs and their people come in droves to see and be seen and to win prizes. This is one of my favorite events of my time in London. I have collected photos of some of my favorites. Indulge me.

Italian Greyound I fell in love with this one.

September in Bloomsbury

I took a stroll through two local parks today, the ones in Russell Square and neighboring Brunswick Square. There were so many late blooming flowers that I thought I should capture them.

With the London Underground on strike most of this week, I shall be looking for different kinds of adventures. I’ll let you all know if I find some.

Wellcome and Welcome

It has been a week of gloomy weather with rain and hints of sunshine. On a cloudy day I took a walk up to the Wellcome Collection, a museum with rotating exhibits focusing on health, medicine and the human experience. I always enjoy approaching the museum from Kings Cross, along Euston Road because that particular stretch of the Road has various interesting places along the way, including Euston Train Station Friends House, owned and managed by the Quiet Company, a subsidiary of the Quakers of Britain. It contains a lovely Quaker Bookshop and a small cafe, as well as a Quaker Meeting Room. There are also a Birkbeck University Campus that happened to sponsoring a graduation ceremony on that day. It is always great fun to see the gowned graduates with their loved ones. I’ll say more about another favorite spot, St. Pancras New Church later.

Wellcome

The Wellcome Collection is running an exhibit on the search and need for fresh water. The earliest example of a water war is found in the Epic of Gilgamesh (2100-2000 BCE). It is captured in this clay tablet (below).

The exhibition included interesting ways water was stored in different cultures.

Another interesting item is this depiction of “The Lifegiving Spring” from the 1700s. It represents an Eastern Orthodox belief that the Virgin Mary in 450 AD directed a soldier searching for water for a blind man to a spring.

I also enjoyed the display of diving rods used traditionally to find water in the ground.

There is also an interesting permanent collection that I have previously written about and a nice cafe with friendly staff.

Welcome

On my way back from the Wellcome Collection, I stopped in at St. Pancras New Church which I have also discussed in an earlier post. This is a wonderfully welcoming place and an important part of its community. Here are the three stained glass windows above the altar.

After sitting enjoying the peace of the church, I came upon a young man who happened to be a verger at the church. We had an interesting conversation about the Anglican Church and its differences and similarities with the Episcopal Church in America and with Roman Catholicism. He also told me about various upcoming events at the church and invited me to attend. St. Pancras New Church really is a welcoming place.

The Good, the Bad, and the Unexpected Bride

Let’s get the bride out of the way first. I was leaving my flat late one morning and was surprised to see a bride and groom (or perhaps two actors playing bride and groom, leaving a townhouse down the road.

Two Good To Be True

I like to mention the local shops and restaurants that give friendly service in Bloomsbury and Kings Cross, the neighborhoods that my current flat is bordered by. I have had several very nice encounters with the staff of “La Dolce London,” a charming cafe just a brief walk from my flat. Their coffee and other offerings, as well as their customer service are all excellent. As you will see below they also have some clever decorating.

They always have a smile and kind word for patrons. Stop in on Marchmont Street if you get the chance.

Ancient India-Living Traditions

The second good thing is the exhibit at the British Museum that looks at devotional art of three religions that have their roots in India-Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism. The period considered was 200 BC to 600 AD. It begins with a representation of an important figure from each faith tradition.

For those of us unfamiliar with the depth and intertwining of the three faiths, it is interesting to learn, for example, that Ganesha is a god revered by some in all three faiths, though primarily a Hindu god. A Tirthinkara is an enightened leader in Jainism. This figure looks something like a Buddha but has an an endless knot symbol in the middle of his chest.

Male Yaksha and Female Yakshi Nature Spirits

These ancient spirits were adopted by all three faiths and many Yakshis were given male consorts when they were adopted by the three faiths.

Vishnu and Shiva

These two are recognized as principal deities in Hinduism. As you will see below, Vishnu is represented in human form here while Shiva in a symbolic form.

This exhibit opens the door and the mind of those of us who are mostly unfamiliar with the traditions associated with the three faiths. I hope this small introduction may lead you into further exploration.

We Must Never Forget Evil and We Must Forgive

This is what i took away from my most recent visit to the Weiner Holocaust Library. It’s current exhibit, “Looted to Families, Nazi Theft and the Search for Restitution,” teach the lessons of never forgetting history and learning, through forgiveness. This was the story of the Wertheimer and Keitenhauser families. The Wertheimers were a Jewish family, the Keitenhausers were Austrians with a strong connection to the Nazi Party in Austria after the Anschluss.

The Wertheimer family were forced to sell their properties at a vastly reduced price. They could take very little with them. The Keitenhausers prospered with the head of the family, Josef,a Nazi Party member had responsibilities, including spying on his neighbors. He also secured a position as Head Teacher (principal, in US terms), replacing a man who was not a party member. As happened throughout Germany, Austria and all the Nazi occupied countries, the Wertheimer’s posessions that were left behind and looted by neighbors and among those posessions was a table that made it’s way to the Keitenhausers.

Auschwitz transfer list. A member of the Wertheimer family was on this list. None of these people survived.

Many years after the war, in the 2000s, Katherina Mayrhofer, an Austrian artist and great granddaughter of Josef Kaltenhauser Sr, found a table in the attic of the family home. She discovered the table was an item looted from the Wertheimers. She contacted Diana Jelinek, a Wertheimer descendant and her daughter, British artist Emily Davy. The two artists restored the table and had a new key cut for it.

The two artists restored these skirts from the pre-war era.

Handmade keepsake box belonging to Josef Kaitenhauser Sr.

If I could recommend one small exhbit space to everyone who visits London, it would be this small gallery at the Weiner Holocaust Library. Each exhibit reminds us of how Europe descended into madness and attempted genocide. But we are also reminded to be ever vigilant with our liberty and freedoms.

A Bit of Nature to Conclude

As I walked back from the Weiner Library, my mood was lifted by this view of the Kimpton Fitzroy Hotel through the ancient trees in Russell Square.

A Wander Through Covent Garden

Every now and then, I like to go off on an adventure–no plans, just choosing a destination, often a familiar one. This day, I chose to revisit Covent Garden.

Tom The Poet

As I walked toward the shopping and restaurant market that is the focal point of Covent Garden, I spotted a young man with a piece of ancient technology and a good idea.

This Tom, a sort of itinerant poet. I stopped to comment on the typewriter and was quickly drawn in by his clever idea. As a pair of American women described their friendship and asked Tom to put it into a poem, I decided that I would be his next client.

Tom asked afew questions about me and my loe of London and in 5 minutes, he created this:

If you get to Covent Garden, stop and see Tom. the poet with the typewriter.

Reminders of The History of this Place

If you have ever seen “My Fair Lady,” you may recall that Covent Garden was once London’s flower market where Eliza Doolittle worked. While the flower market moved long ago, there are many reminders of those bygone days in the lovely floral displays around the area.

Unique Shops

As I rambled through the cobbled streets, I came across a number of interesting shops and restaurants..

TinTin is a popular character in the UK andd Europe, his adventures are the subject of numerous books by the Belgian author Georges Remi under the pen name Herge’. The small shop is crammed with TinTin memorabilia and Tee Shirts. It was fun listening in on the conversation of a group of Spanish tourists and hearing one woman’s delight in her purchase that she thought would be well-received back home. I wonder how my newest Tee will be regarded in Florida or Virginia when I return to the States.

Through the Floral Archway, I found myself in the courtyard of a restaurant called Roseblood. The name comes from the French and I could not find out more.

Two more stops that deserve a visit.

Back in my early days at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, our offices were in pre-gentrified Silver Spring, MD. We would occasionally have lunch at a place called Jamaica Joes. It had the hottest and spiciest Jamaican food. A London local has assured me that Jamaican restaurants here, do offer less spicy varieties. And what could be more fun than a G & T at a place called the Gin Parlour?

A Closing Thought

If you get to travel far from home, do not be afraid to take the side streets and visit the courtyards. You never know what you will find.