The magic house, Conakry, Guinea, West Africa, c.1962. I’m sitting on the table, pondering the day’s next play. Little Sis walks down the stairs with her cast on her arm. Keep a safe distance lest she clubs you. The house may be long gone, the African village at the back has been replaced by rows…
I grew up in Africa. West and East. I was born in what my family called India, Pakistan after the Partition, but I left at too young an age to really remember. See here for my earlier days in Karachi: https://equinoxio21.wordpress.com/2017/08/17/snowball/ Africa is where I was raised. First in Conakry, Guinea, in West Africa then…
Dolores del Río, 1938, by Diego Rivera, at the artist’s house in Coyocán, Mexico city. Dolores del Río (1905-1983) was one of the major actresses of the Golden age of the Mexican cinema and a strong “player” in Hollywood too. There will be more soon on Diego Rivera. Death by Evelia Evelia, Mexico, 2019.…
Painted smile by Ernesto “the Monkey” Cabral (1890-1968). Cabral was one of the greatest Mexican illustrators of the first half of the 20th century. I could well buy – or steal – one of his works. (Expo at the local city hall, Tlalpan, Mexico city, 2018) “Where did I leave my cel?” Maillol. In the…
King Tut. The 100 years expo. 150 original objects. That last phrase should have caught my attention. 30 years in Marketing and I fell into the trap. “Original objects”. As in “never shown before”. What about those that had been shown before? Fifty years ago? Didn’t see them then… The place was packed despite specific…
G. had finally found a door to his size. (Montreal, June 3019). And he opened it… An old pick-up & radio was playing a Charleston. Absolutely nothing happened. Ai Weiwei expo. Mexico, 2029. “The wire” wrapped its final season. Then came the eagle, looking for the rabbit. The Chinelo dancer froze. The young girl finished her ice-cream.…
In the old days, Montmartre was the end of some Metro lines. “Direction Montmartre”. Not any more. It’s actually hard to find the appropriate station to go to “Matha’s hill”. I recommend Lamarck-Caulaincourt. No stairs, just walk up from the back. (The first half of this post has just been wiped out by WP. Grrr.…
Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois. This pretty little church sits at the side of the Louvre. Though the oldest standing part dates back to the 12th century, there was a church there as early as the 6th century. It is often closed, for lack of personnel but well worth visiting. No queues. Adam and Eve at Saint-Germain l’Auxerrois.…
Red. Cuernavaca. Easter 2019. Beige. (Fallen) angels, Cachivaches, Bogotá, December 2017. Blue. Breaking news: “Where has Theresa May(be) been (hiding) in the past few weeks? Some sources in Blackburn, Lancashire put her on holiday. But no. She has eloped with Macron. Brigitte is reportedly devastated.” Terre de sienne. Amboseli National park, Kenya, 1988. Azul. Mexico…
Wildlife is under a death sentence everywhere. Those giraffes (and ostrich, look closely) I saw in Kenya in 1969, fifty years ago (!) are being snared by poachers. What for? For giraffe hair bracelets? To turn their skin into a carpet? Pointless. As a teen, I was fortunate enough to see the last of the…
