Pieces

Man Buys 10.000 Undeveloped Negatives At a Local Auction and Discovers One of The Most Important Street Photographers of the Mid 20th Century

“Man Buys 10.000 Undeveloped Negatives At a Local Auction and Discovers One of The Most Important Street Photographers of the Mid 20th Century”

by Vivian Maier via “Weburger

Imagine this : perhaps the most important street photographer of the twentieth century was a nanny who kept everything to herself. Nobody had ever seen her work and she was a complete unknown until the time of her death. For decades Vivian’s work hid in the shadows until decades later (in 2007), historical hobbyist John Maloof bought a box full of never developed negatives at a local auction for $380.

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John began to develop the negatives and it didn’t take long before he realised that these were no ordinary street snapshots from the 50’s and 60’s — these pictures were a lot more then that. Maier’s work is particularly evocative for those who grew up in the 50′s and 60′s because she seemed to stare deep into the soul of the time and preserve the everyday experience of the people. She ventured outside the comfortable homes and picturesque residential neighborhoods of her employers to document all segments of life in and around the big city.

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1953. New York, NY

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Islamic Coins Discovered in Viking’s Shield Boss

“Islamic Coins Discovered in Viking’s Shield Boss”

via “Archaeology.com

Last year, a metal detectorist discovered a sword from the Viking Age in a field in central Norway. Archaeologists from the Museum of Natural History and Archaeology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology excavated the site, and found a grave dating to about A.D. 950 that contained the remains of a Viking and his shield, in addition to the inscribed, high-quality sword. Hidden inside the shield boss they found a leather purse that contained several Islamic coins. Norwegian Vikings arrived in Spain in the 800s, where they may have come in contact with Islamic culture, or perhaps the coins were obtained through trade. “We have not managed to find out who owned the sword, but we know that he was a well-traveled man,” archaeologist Ingrid Ystgaard told NRK, as reported by ThorNews. The shield boss also bears combat scars. “The shield boss has a clear cut mark by an ax or a sword. If he died in combat, we do not know,” added Ystgaard. To read about the earliest Norse raids, see “The First Vikings.”

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“More than 100 relics from Yuanmingyuan displayed”

This is where my specialty lies! It’s really amazing to see these on exhibition in China again.**DB

“More than 100 relics from Yuanmingyuan displayed”

via “China Daily

More than 100 relics from Yuanmingyuan displayed

A vase is on display during an exhibition of treasures of the Yuanmingyuan at the Shandong Provincial Museum in Jinan, capital of east China’s Shandong province, Jan 9, 2015. Bronze heads of cow, tiger, monkey and pig, and more than 100 relics from the Yuanmingyuan were on display in the exhibition.

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Shanghai collector tries to list chopsticks as a cultural heritage

“Shanghai collector tries to list chopsticks as a cultural heritage”

via CCTV

Chopsticks have been around in China for 3,000 years and have deeply influenced Chinese life in terms of etiquette, cuisine and even philosophy. And they could be listed as an intangible cultural heritage in Shanghai this year, thanks to the efforts of an enthusiast.

Lan Xiang’s pride and joy is collection of more than 2,000 pairs of chopsticks, ranging from the largest to the smallest kind.

Now in his eighties, Lan has been collecting chopsticks for more than 30 years, and in 1998 he set up a museum, the first of its kind in the country.

Lan Xiang

Lan Xiang

It is his way of sharing his passion with others and to preserve and promote the culture of chopsticks.

“Chopsticks have a history of more than 3,000 years in China,” Lan said.

“As something that we use on a daily basis, the chopsticks are not that well preserved in China. I’ve visited Japan several times, and it struck me how highly they regard the culture of chopsticks. It’s not just the organizations that study it; they’ve also made every August 4 the Chopsticks Festival. So I’m applying to list the chopsticks as an intangible cultural heritage in Shanghai.” . . . .

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“Paper Landscape Illustrated by Eiko Ojala”

“Paper Landscape Illustrated by Eiko Ojala”
by Christopher Jobson via “Colossal

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