“Disquieting presence”. 1959. By Remedios Varo. (MAM, Mexico city) Remedios Varo (1908-1963) was born in Spain. One of the first women to study art in Madrid. She went to Paris in 1937. As many artists did then. Like Leonora Carrington, she left Europe in 1941 for Mexico. Never came back. She is one of the…
“I remember the day he came. It was a Sat’day. The day it began to rain. I didn’t see him myself that day. Freddy told me.” “Freddy Henderson?” “Yes. Freddy was… he was… comin’ back from the lake. He’d gone… fishin’. Yep. Fishin’!” “At night? Freddy must’ve been poaching. Never mind. I’ll talk to him…
Kabul, 1953. Long before the many wars. My father Cyril was Air France General Manager in Pakistan. Karachi was the road to the Far East. Paris sent him to Kabul to investigate the possibility of opening a line to Afghanistan. My parents had lived in Pakistan for 6 years already. They spoke Urdu fluently. He…
“TEN-SHUN! Heels clap. Hands slap the fatigues. Backs straighten up. Just look ahead to a far and distant horizon of glory. Wait for the orders. “AT EASE!” Relax a bit. Spread your legs. Clasp your hands behind your back. Wait. “Today we shall do an explosive drill.” The Adjudant says. An ‘Adjudant’ is a non-commissioned…
The pyramid of the Magician. Uxmal. c.1882. Désiré Charnay expedition. Charnay was a French explorer who documented a number of abandoned Maya cities in the peninsula of Yucatan, Mexico, in the second half of the 19th century. See the pyramid then: a heap of stones and earth, invaded by vegetation. The very same pyramid of…
I haven’t slept in three years. Tomorrow will be the exact third anniversary. I can’t believe time went by so quickly. Three years! A little more than a thousand nights! A thousand white nights. Not even insomnia. I just gradually stopped sleeping. In the course of three months. Started on a Monday. I woke up…
“From the faraway, nearby”. Georgia O’Keefe, 1937. Met. Born in 1887, she was fifty when she started experimenting with those paintings. I didn’t realize she’d lived until she was almost a hundred, she died in 1986. Sadly, she lost most of her eyesight in the 70’s which must be a curse for an artist. She…
Early morning under the African sky. The sun is already peaking over the palm trees behind the military airport. I tie the laces on my second-hand army ranger boots for the third time. What time is it? Seven thirty. What a ghastly hour. I have a slight hangover. I really shouldn’t have gone to the…
Two men were lying facedown on the ground. Both covered their head with their hands in a futile attempt at protection against the bullets and rockets that flew above. They were about twenty yards away from each other. Separated by an imaginary line. Border or combat line. Who knows? Who cares? Were they civilians? Soldiers?…
The heat in Paris last summer was unbearable. I figured Brussels would be cooler. I grabbed the train to the Gare du Midi. The Southern Station. (Above at the Gare du Midi: Tintin in America, second Tintin album) I had a drink at a local friendly bar. Try the new shot. Only 5 Euros. “Feck…
Equinoxio 