Welcome to my Blog!
I hope to share here my irrepressible thoughts on news, music, books, arts, history, cultural events and such like.
In general these will be items, events and issues which I feel have no place on my website (which focusses on aviation history and my travel photography).

The item immediately below this would be the latest posting.

"Anybody, providing he knows how to be amusing, has the right to talk about himself. - Charles Baudelaire
Esse est percipi (To be is to be perceived)" ¬Bishop George Berkeley

"Not even I understand everything I am" ¬Aurelius Augustinus of Hippo

"I'm only myself in front of my typewriter" ¬Joan Didion (I'd replace 'typewriter' by 'desktop PC'..)

In 2013 I started a series of photo albums on Blurb.com, named '36Exp' (a subject adressed in 36 exposures, a reference to the exposures on most common rolls of 35 mm film: 12, 24 & 36.) back in the day.
The books can be ordered directly from the Blurb.com or Amazon.
www.blurb.com/user/ruudleeuw

CURRENT BLOG

The baby boomers and generation X suddenly no longer only did the needed shopping, but went fun shopping. It turned into an experience.
The shops benefited from it. Suddenly, numerous chains were set up.
We bought the ABBA single and the Dire Straits CD at the Free Record Shop, the first hi-fi system at Wastora or Harense Smid, the school diary at V&D, the jeans at Vet, the first communion suit at Kreymborg, the plus-size clothing at Miss Etam, the ball gown at De Bonneterie and the cutlery at Hoyng.
De Gruyter had his free candy of the week and C1000 his formula.
The shopping streets flourished and the landlords of buildings walked in. Investors, socalled Privat Equity Predators and asset strippers followed suit.
So now we find the tide has turned and the shopping streets are in danger of becoming ghost dens due to the arrival of webshops, an aging population and consuming less.
Peter de Waard lists, in a pleasant & relaxed style, well known brand names that have faded into the past, footnotes in commercial history.

Peter de Waard (1955) was a correspondent for de Volkskrant in London from 2000 to 2007.
He has written the books Tony Blair (2007), Quirky London (2008) and A Quirky Kingdom (2011).
In recent years, he was part of the Brexit panel of the radio program Met het Oog op Morgen and analyzed the Brexit vicissitudes for BNR Radio.

uitgeverijprometheus.nl/auteurs/peter-de-waard

Xiaoxiao Xu is a photographer who managed to publish this book through crowdfunding, her 6th photo book.
"This Looks Better IRL: Exploring Cosplay Cons" has her immersing herself in cosplay conventions for two years. She met superheroes, villains, monsters, and magical creatures, and was overwhelmed by the unlimited creativity and dedication of this passionate community.
Merel Bem contributed with an informative essay.
Ever since I walked into a streetperformance of Cosplay in Tokyo I hope to find myself attending
a convention for my photography!

xiaoxiaoxu.com/work/this-looks-better-irl

Today completed my folder Angerlo 3-2025, yesterday the 'Halfvasten' carnaval parade graced the streets again of Angerlo (Gelderland).
It was a good opportunity shooting, besides my Sony A7IV, with my new 'back up' Canon G5X II, it performed well.
I kneeled so often for the posing groups (THANK YOU!) that the next day I had suffering hamstrings.. ☺

Laetare Sunday is the 4th Sunday in the season of Lent, in the Western Christian liturgical calendar. Traditionally, this Sunday has been a day of celebration within the austere period of Lent.
As always it was a joyful parade!

More (230 total!) on my www.flickr.com/photos/dutchsimba
A smaller selection can be found on my STREETPHOTOGRAPHY: Colour 2025 + B&W

Visited 19Mar25 FOAM (FOto AMsterdam) for 3 exhibitions: Saul Leiter 'An Unfinished World' + 'Father' by Diana Markosian + Sakir Khader with 'Yawm al-Firak'.

Foam proudly to present a major retrospective of the celebrated American artist Saul Leiter (1923-2013).
I noticed it had also been presented at Les Renontres d'Arles, whci I visited last year (but I don't know when it was displayed there).
Leiter was one of the most important photographers of the 1950s in the United States and a pioneer of color photography.
This exhibition brings together a selection of 200 works, consisting of his photography, both black and white and in colour, and his abstract paintings.
His eclectic body of work reveals a practice that uses shadow, light, and reflections to create layered compositions.

The 'FATHER' exhibition captures the journey of reunion of Diana Markosian (Moscow, 1989) with her estranged father, through a mix of documentary photographs, family snapshots, archival material and Markosian's diary writings.
Diana Markosian was born in post-Soviet Moscow, where she spent her early childhood.
When she was 7 years old, her mother decided to leave the country and she left for California with Markosian and her older brother. They have never been able to say goodbye to their father.
This drastic move widened the rift in the family. In California, her mother cut out the image of Markosian's father from all family photos, as if she wanted to erase him from their lives.
His absence caused a deep sense of mystery and confusion in Markosian as she searched for him, both literally and emotionally, in other men.
Fifteen years after she last saw him, Markosian went back to search for her father, whom she eventually found in their grandfather's house in Armenia.

Sakir Khader with 'Yawm al-Firak', Arabic for Farewell Day, is the first museum solo exhibition by the Palestinian-Dutch photographer Sakir Khader. Since 2024, he has been the first Palestinian photographer selected to join the renowned photographers' collective Magnum Photos.
His work explores the fragile boundary between life and death.

www.foam.org/en:_saul-leiter
en.wikipedia.org:_Saul_Leiter
www.foam.org:_diana-markosian-father
www.foam.org:_sakir-khader

Unforgettable images of the beauty and brutality of a nation.
From news and advertising photos to photographic art and family snaps, no country embraced photography as quickly after its invention as the United States. This exhibition of more than 200 works shines a light on the multifaceted history of photography in America.
American Photography shows how the camera has been a witness to the hopes and dreams of an entire society, and to watershed moments in history. From the very first photographs of a human being to Robert Frank’s famous series The Americans, American Photography tells the story of a country in constant flux.
Like Golden Age paintings in 17th century Holland, photography – democratic, accessible, fast, innovative – created American identity. The Rijksmuseum’s far-ranging exhibition expresses that open spirit.

www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/ - - /american-photography

Ever since I came across 'On Reading' by André Kertész (1971, 'rediscovered' in 2000's) I too was extra focussed on people reading in the public domain. Also for my love of books and reading. I don't include e-books and looking at smartphones.
I've also the books on this theme by Steve McCurry and the New York-based photographer Lawrence Schwarzwald (died 2021). On Blurb I published 2 volumes of 'On Reading' in the theme '36 Exposures'.
So when I read about David Hurn's 2024 publication by RRB Photobooks I immediately ordered a copy, and fine work it is.

Reading is usually a very private, intimate experience, where the reader withdraws from everyday life for a brief period of time. Photographer David Hurn is also a passionate reader and, over his long career, has collected countless pictures of people reading. He is obviously fascinated by observing people immersed in another world, which can not be captured photographically.
With 64 black and white pictures, taken between 1957 and 2023, a journey around the world unfolds, from the USA, right through Europe, on via Qatar and all the way to New Zealand, while returning time and again to Wales, the epicentre of Hurn’s life. And so, the book also provides insight into the Magnum photographer’s huge body of work.

David Hurn is a Welsh documentary photographer and member of Magnum Photos, who lives in South Wales.
He was born in 1934 in Redhill, Surrey, England. He is of Welsh descent and was raised in Cardiff, Wales. Because of his dyslexia he joined the school camera club.
He gained his reputation as a photojournalist for his documentation of the Hungarian revolution of 1956. In 1965 he became associated with Magnum Photos and became a full member in 1967.

Hurn has been an avid collector of photography. He built his private collection of other peoples' work by swapping prints with them. In 2017, he donated 1500 of his photographs, and 700 of other peoples' photographs (including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Eve Arnold, and Bill Brandt) to Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales.

lfi-online.de/en/stories/david-hurn-book-tip-on-reading
en.wikipedia.org:_David_Hurn
en.wikipedia.org:_Amgueddfa_Cymru_- Museum_Wales

Donna Leon has won heaps of critical praise and legions of fans for her best-selling mystery series featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. With The Jewels of Paradise, Leon provides her fans & readers on her first standalone novel (2012), albeit the location is again Venice, Italy.

Caterina Pellegrini is a native Venetian, and like so many of them, she’s had to leave home to pursue her career. With a doctorate in baroque opera from Vienna, she lands in Manchester, England.
When Caterina gets word of a position back home, she jumps at the opportunity.

The job is an unusual one. After nearly three centuries, two locked trunks, believed to contain the papers of a baroque composer have been discovered. Deeply-connected in religious and political circles, the composer died childless; now two Venetians, descendants of his cousins, each claim inheritance (hoping for a treasure.
Caterina’s job is to examine any enclosed papers to discover the “testamentary disposition” of the composer. But when her research takes her in unexpected directions she begins to wonder just what secrets these trunks with documents may hold.
While 'The Jewels of Paradise' may well be a well-written novel, with tales of intrigue, music, history & greed, for me it went to deep into classical music and was somewhat of a struggle to the (surprising) end.

www.goodreads.com/book/ -the-jewels-of-paradise
en.wikipedia.org:_Donna_Leon

On March 15, 2025, the annual lantern parade washeld in Rheden. From 6.30 pm parents and small children gathered at the pump on the village square.
The parade started marchingaround 19:00, and before that I took my pictures. Afterwards there was hot chocolate for the children and mulled wine for the parents, of course with some goodies.

The children who attend a daycare center and the primary school children up to and including group 4 received a lantern from the Orange (NL: Oranje) Association a week in advance, the children received this lantern at school.
The primary school children from group 5 received a voucher for a glow stick (popular!) a week in advance, this voucher could be handed in at the tent of the Orange Association on the Dorpsplein at the pump.
In the tent of the Orange Association, lanterns, LED sticks and lights for the lanterns were also for sale before the start.
Alas, no glühwein before the start for me! But I had a hot pizza waiting for me at home, all good.

More on my 2025 colour street photography

In recent years, photographer and filmmaker Kadir van Lohuizen (B.1963) documented the global food industry. He has worked as a photojournalist for national and international media for decades already and has won several awards.
Kadir has won many prizes and awards in photojournalism and is co-founder of NOOR Images.
In 2000 and 2002, he was a member of the jury in the World Press Photo competition, and until recently he was a member of the World Press Photo Foundation's Supervisory Board.
Kadir frequently gives lectures, is a photography teacher and lives in Amsterdam.

At the beginning of this research, he recorded the entire Dutch food chain: from the development of high-tech modified seeds to the Edammer-cheese for export. For Food for Thought, he looked beyond the Netherlands and went all over the world: from Kenya to China and from the United States to the Middle East.

The rallying cry in the Netherlands started two decades ago, as concern mounted about its ability to feed its 17 million people: Produce twice as much food using half as many resources.
The country, which is a bit bigger than the US State of Maryland, not only accomplished this feat but also has become the world’s second largest exporter of agricultural products by value behind the United States....
Perhaps even more significant in the face of a warming planet: It is among the largest exporters of agricultural and food technology.
The Dutch have pioneered cell-cultured meat, vertical farming, seed technology and robotics in milking and harvesting — spearheading innovations that focus on decreased water usage as well as reduced carbon and methane emissions.

www.washingtonpost.com/ - - /2022/netherlands-agriculture-technology/

Between Worlds, Gruyaert’s 2022 photobook by Thames & Hudson, is a wonderful collection of images taken throughout his career, a selection to a particular theme.
In every one there is a border, a threshold, something that interrupts the immediate image.
Most often, there is some version of a window that separates the scene, creates dissonance, and includes reflections that bring in unexpected content.

Every image is doubled, if not more. This produces a number of effects. First, it makes the identification of the image’s subject appealingly complex. Am I looking at the foreground, or the background on the other side of a sheet of glass?
What about the inclusion of reflections? How many layers does this image actually have? Where am I in relationship to the perceiver’s point of view? Am I inside or outside of the image’s intent?

Gruyaert has had the good fortune to travel widely, and whether he’s taking images in Belgium or Morocco, London or Paris, airports or alleys, it’s not that he sees things differently. He emphasizes differently.

Harry Gruyaert (born 1941, Antwerp) is a Belgian photographer known for his images of India, Morocco and Egypt as well as of the west of Ireland and for his use of colour.
His work has been published in a number of books, been exhibited widely.
He studied at the School for Photo and Cinema in Brussels from 1959 to 1962 and he began freelance work in Paris, while working as a director of photography for Flemish television.
In 1969 Gruyaert made his first trip to Morocco. The resulting work won him the Kodak Prize in 1976 and was published in the book Morocco in 1990.
He travelled to India for the first time in 1976 and to Egypt in 1987.
Gruyaert joined Magnum Photos in 1982 and became a full member in 1986.

readframes.com/ -between-worlds-by-harry-gruyaert
en.wikipedia.org:_Harry_Gruyaert

Around 1050, a motte castle was built in the swampy stream valley of the river Aa: a wooden fortress
on a hill within a moat. The Lord of Heeswijk can dominate his territory from this location.

1200-1300
The lady of the castle Agnes van Heeswijk married the nobleman Walraven van Bentheim, now Heeswijk and Dinther were definitively connected.

1300-1400
There is regular war between the dukes of Brabant and Gelderland. Gelderland soldiers then crossed the Meuse and plundered these regions.
The people of Heeswijk fled within the castle walls in 1371, 1372 and 1398 and were safe there.
The castle will have brick walls and towers, with a large gatehouse.

1400-1500
The castle was bought by Willem van der Aa. He and his descendants owned several lordships, such as Moergestel, Schijndel, Polanen and Asten. Heeswijk Castle is a valuable possession for a Brabant nobleman.

1500-1600
The castle was owned by the important noble families of Glymes and Cirksena. After 1555, Jan Cirksena, Count of East Frisia, lord of Valkenburg and Durbuy, built an outer bailey with brick and stone.
Around the courtyard are the stables, coach house and other service buildings.
The west and south wings have been preserved.

1600-1700
In the 17th century, North Brabant was a war zone. In 1629, the princes of Orange besieged and
occupied Heeswijk Castle to conquer Den Bosch.
The castle came into the hands of wealthy Dutchmen who called themselves Lord of Heeswijk and Dinther and turned it into a luxurious country house.
The French Sun King Louis XIV (a.k.a. the Great King) made his headquarters here in 1672 to overthrow the whole of the Netherlands.

1800-1900
In 1835, the Speelman family sold the castle to the King's Governor in North Brabant, Baron André van den Bogaerde van Terbrugge. The wealthy baron and his sons turned it into an extensive medieval castle, complete with a south wing, gallery, Armory and Yser Tower, a throne of Heeswijk and furnished with many art treasures and curiosities.

1900-2000
The young baron Willem inherited the castle, but according to his uncle's will, he was not allowed to live in it.
Most of the rich inventory is sold for more than 600,000 guilders. The baron moves into the coach house. After his death, Baroness Albertine decided to turn the castle into a museum.
Since 1995, the Heeswijk Castle Foundation has been restoring the entire castle and opening it to visitors.

2000-present
Heeswijk Castle was given the title of 'Castle of Brabant' and became a Top Monument of North Brabant.

www.kasteelheeswijk.nl/kasteel/geschiedenis (NL)
en.wikipedia.org:_Heeswijk_Castle
More images in the Noord Brabant folder on Flickr.com

From 2010 to 2014, photographer Nick Hannes travelled the length and breadth of the Mediterranean shores, documenting various contemporary issues such as tourism, urbanisation and migration.
While he was working on this project, the region continuously hit the headlines: crisis in Greece, the Arab Spring, boat refugees on Lampedusa, wars in Libya, Syria, and Gaza.
One thing is for sure: the Mediterranean was centre stage once more.
Nick Hannes' images capture the paradoxes of this region and the spirit of the time most significantly. They put things into perspective. Serious and moving in one moment, hilarious and ironic in the next.

The photographs form a kaleidoscopic portrait of the Mediterranean region, sharpening the zeitgeist and putting things into perspective. Sometimes with a wink and a lot of irony, sometimes unvarnished.

Nick Hannes (b.Antwerp, 11Mar1974- ) is a Belgian documentary photographer.
He studied photography at KASK in Ghent from 1993 to 1997, where he has been teaching part-time since 2009.
In his work, Hannes focuses mainly on the themes of globalization, urbanization and migration.
In 2023, he won the World Press Photo Award in the category "Africa, Stories" with a photo series about the construction of the new capital of Egypt.

nickhannes.be/ - - /mediterranean-the-continuity-of-man
nl.wikipedia.org:_Nick_Hannes (NL)

Arnaldur Indriðason's 'Lange Schaduwen' (Sæluríkið, while translated in Dutch there's no English translation yet) is the latest Konráð thriller (#6) by the Icelandic writer Arnaldur Indriðason I so enjoy reading.
In 04Feb2025, Volt Publishers published this Dutch translation of Sæluríkið, and I bought it as soon I found it in the shops.

Narrative: A dead man is found at a lake near Reykjavík. When he is identified, it turns out that the police had been in contact with him years ago when a good friend of his had disappeared without a trace, and that he emigrated to Norway shortly afterwards.
The retired policeman Konrað was working on that case at the time and becomes intrigued: why was the man in Iceland now, why had he returned?
And does his death have anything to do with that old disappearance?
At the same time, Konrað gets caught up in his own past when there is an unexpected development in one of his other old cases, which causes a stir within the police.
The more he is known, the more he realizes that old sins cast long shadows... The translation of the Dutch title, 'Long Shadows', is the new book by multi-award-winning bestselling author Arnaldur Indriðason.

I did think that where the narrative went back to Konrad's investigation into the murder of his father, Seppi, it is best to have read the previous Konrad editions.

www.hebban.nl/boek/lange-schaduwen-arnaldur-indridason (NL)
en.wikipedia.org:_Arnaldur_Indridason

The Silver Camera is the prize for news and documentary photography in the Netherlands.
It brings together the most impressive photos of the past year and gives a unique look at the power and relevance of photojournalism in the Netherlands. It's all in our collective memory!
Dutch professional photographers, photography students in their final year and foreign photographers living or working in the Netherlands could submit their photos from 2024. The best photos are displayed in the exhibition here in Museum Hilversum, later on it tours The Netherlands visiting various locations.

News photography is about everything that is going on in society, puts topics on the agenda and records developments that form the basis of the collective memory.
The Silver Camera is the most important prize for photojournalists in the Netherlands and is traditionally the first to be shown in Museum Hilversum (this year started on Feb. 15th).
A beautiful, endless wandering along big and small stories. All winning photos and the photos of the other nominees can be seen during this exhibition. Don't forget to buy the catalogue, browsing it will bring the news closer and you'll enjoy the fine photojournalism all the better.

www.museum.nl/en/museum-hilversum/ - /zilveren-camera-2024

Visited Klarenbeek Carnaval Parade yesterday (01Mar25).
One of the largest parades in Gelderland (so I am told), it started at noon from the Klarenbeek Station (which has a steamtrain museum).
Many participants participated again this year with floats and running groups. 'Boom-boom-boom' goes the music...
My first visit, but certainly the best since recent years.

More on my Streetphotography (Colour)
Even more on Flickr.com

In the medieval town of Doesburg, on the industrial estate of Beinum, one will find the thrift store of 2Switch. A clear assortment of second-hand items.
In the cozy coffee corner you can enjoy a nice cup of coffee as well as a delicious sandwich or filled cake. Nice second-hand stuff!

2switch.nl-doesburg/

Once built as a modern artificial silk spinning mill and later serving as a fly ash factory, De Vasim is now an inspiring place for everyone.
The building houses a lively mix of functions including culture, sports, events, food and drink, education and creative entrepreneurs.
I came here for Fotobolwerk, supposedly for an exhibition by those who'd taken a course. I wasn't impressed, esspecially not by the way the photographs were displayed. 'Fotobolwerk' is located in a part of the building called 'Werkstad'.
But the building and the graffiti made it worthwhile!

The Vasim is part of the NYMA industrial site.
This former industrial site in Nijmegen-West is being transformed into a lively hotspot with other creative entrepreneurs, hospitality & catering establishments plus facilities of all sorts.
In an industrial atmosphere, "you will experience unforgettable activities and events here."

www.devasim-nijmegen.nl
fotobolwerk.nl

Today visited the Jan van Teeffelen retrospective. While I had the book already, here are far more of his photography on display.
The Stevenskerk is a great location to put such a large collection on display and is magnificent in itself!
More about his work see below, where I reviewed his photobook.

www.flickr.com/photos for mor eof this visit.

On Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 February 2025, the 9th edition of STRTFSTVL Showcase took place at DRU Industriepark - Ulft.
For two days, this industrial complex hosted many performances featuring street theatre, acrobatics, jugglers and fantastic musicians.
It was my first visit to such an event. I could not attend the entire day as that morning I had to make a considerable detour to purchase a secondhand Sony f4/70-200mm G OSS lens. I also made use of my 'all-purpose' lens, the f4/24-105mm G OSS lens.
I tremendously enjoyed the event, and my 'new' lens!

www.strtfstvl.nl
My Streetphotos B&W which includes more of this event
My Streetphoto Colour which include more of this event
A large selection on Flickr.com
www.ute-classen.de/ seems to represent many of the artists.

For more than 50 years, Jan van Teeffelen (1930-2011) photographed everything he saw and encountered in Nijmegen. Fellow photographers see him as the primeval father of Nijmegen photography.
Jan photographed his city of Nijmegen for half a century. And that is a historical treasure trove of images.
His archive is estimated at one million photos! The Jan van Teeffelen Foundation has digitized all those photos and that eventually lead to this beautiful photo book, 'Jan van Teeffelen'.

Hundreds of photos here remind us of the history and together they form the DNA of Nijmegen, a picture of a city in development.
One big feast of recognition from the Roman castle that was Nijmegen to the Havana on the Waal. For more than fifty years, Jan was always there with his camera to capture the family album of the Imperial City with a 'click'.
Memories of parties, carnival, golden weddings, processions, dancing in the Swing, heartfelt kisses, the old lower town, the reconstruction, pubs, but also moving images.
Fantastic and superb initiative by Henk Braam & Ger Loeffen (also photographers) to share this by an immense photobook and an exhibition.

The Jan van Teeffelen Foundation manages and conserves the immense photo archive of the Nijmegen city photographer. They want to make the archive, which consists of more than 1 million images, accessible and preserve it as cultural heritage for the city of Nijmegen.

www.facebook.com/ - /Jan van Teeffelen Foundation

The iconic figure Philip Marlow, created by Raymond Chandler as a detective, is re-imagined in present-day Los Angeles. Here is a city of scheming Malibu actresses and ruthless gang members.
The author Joe Ide imagines a Marlowe very much of our time: he’s a quiet, lonely, and remarkably capable and confident private detective.
Spoiler alert: Joe Ide's Marlowe can't hold a candle to Chandler's wise-cracking detective!
This 'Marlowe' lives beneath the shadow of his father, a once-decorated LAPD homicide detective, famous throughout the city, who’s given in to drink after the death of Marlowe’s mother. He's of course privy to the most fantastic restaurants, Ide as an author of present day describes the meals he selects and is also of course a more than capable Salsa dancer. Very 'woke'.
The agression and violence is very descriptive, as we know from most if not many American authors, but which no good novel needs...

Marlowe, against his better judgement, accepts two missing person cases, the first a daughter of a faded, tyrannical Hollywood starlet, and the second, a British child stolen from his mother by his father.
It was only with considerable difficulty I managed to read it until the closing pages.
I gave it one star on Goodreads.

www.goodreads.com/ -the-goodbye-coast
en.wikipedia.org:_Raymond_Chandler

At the beginning of the 20th century Czarist Russia was considered one pf the world's great dominant powers yet was, in many ways, an anachronism.
The shock in 1904, at having lost the Russo-Japanese War to what was considered an inferior eastern power reverberated throughout the entire society.
It was to usher in a tumultuous period of war, revolution, social upheaval and famine...
The drama that was played out caught the world's attention, exciting both its horror and its imagination.

The striking photos presented here not only capture this panorama of events but evoke the atmosphere of these turbulent years. The photos depict the devastation of war and ravages of famine but also reveal the glitter of a decadent society and rythms of a peasent [sic] life tied to the soil.
This is an unforgettable look at an unforgettable time which 'shook the world'.
¬text from the inside cover.

CONTENTS-
Preface, by André Kaspi
A Life of Squalor
The Russo-Japanese War
Battleship Potemkin
The Revolution of 1905
The Imperial Duma
Oppresion and Exile
Anarchists Strike
The Authority of the State
Leo Tolstoy
1914-1916 The Holy War
The Polish Exodus
February 1917
The Funerals
War or Peace
Octobre 1917
The End of the Romanovs
The Red Government
The Decline of the Capital
The Red Army
Civil War
Famine
Help From Abroad
The N.E.P. (New Economic Policy)

en.wikipedia.org:_Russian_Revolution

In April 1971 the school I was on, Coolsma Institute, organized a student exchange with pupils of 3rd grade (M.A.V.O.) to London. As it turned out it was one sided because the Brits didn't come to Holland.
Teachers Mr A.A. Vellekoop (English) and Miss G.W. van Ankeren (History) were the organizers and joined us.
My mother had doubts because she considered the fee (Dfl 500?) considerable but my father was the positive supporter and joined the briefings at school previous to the trip. I was 15 years old at the time.

Upon our arrival (April 19th, 20:00) at Liverpool Street Station and transfer by coach to Odeon Cinema (21:00) we were met by our respective host families.
We were handed out a day-to-day program which included the adresses in London of both our teachers and also on the daily program were named the metro stations or meeting points for our map.

We were issued with a London busmap and the London Transport Underground map of lines.
April 19th-23rd we had English (conversation) lessons in the morning, coach trips afterwards. Same 27-30/4. Monday May rd was our departure.

{Note aside: why did my father never mentioned he had stayed in Feb 1946 in Cadogan@London, after WW2 had ended, after his arrival @Southend docks as a refugee from prison camps on Java? I found out only after his passing in 2008}.

I kept the 1971 essay I'd made for school to this day, including the various souvenirs.
The family I stayed with resided in (New?) Barnet, Herts. They were very kind but she hailed from Jewish ancestry so I ate few English meals (but I welcomed her more exotic cooking!). I had a very pleasant stay and it proved to be a milestone in my growing up (and liking England probably!).

Keep your eyes peeled as you wander through town and you can spot art all around you...
A hydrant, a rubbish bin or a tree that have been transformed – by simple means – into a bizarre figure; over there, large scale graffiti emblazoned on a pillar of a bridge; or here the ironic “reinterpretation” of an advertising poster.
Street art artists use the urban infrastructure as a canvas, often demonstrating huge creativity and great artistic talent.
Since 2011, the Facebook page “StreetArt in Germany” has been presenting the most impressive, most beautiful and craziest artworks in public places and enthrals around one million fans across the world. And this number is growing all the time.
The street art scene is growing just as fast and many artists are already well known on a national and international level.
This unusual, bilingual picture book (in German and English) collates the best pictures from the facebook page as well as other exclusive picture material of street art.
Sometimes it is amusing, sometimes “off the wall”; frequently it critiques society and is always full of surprises. Enjoy!

In Doesburg I visited 'Fototrefpunt Robbin van Turnhout' (portrait photography) on the Ooipoortstraat 3, a historic monument dating back to 17th century. Refurbishments 1904-1922, also after a fire. 'ZADELMAKERIJ' ('Saddlery') painted on the façade, the inscription dates from 1922. The left window still contains the pre-war inscription 'Lederwaren' (Leather goods), the right one was replaced.

About the (temp) exhibition until 03/3: photos by Frederike Kleijn during her year (2024) as Doesburg's City Photographer. Photos with my idiot-proof Canon S120.

Theme exhibition arose from the idea that the torso - the faceless statue - does not reveal its own personality in all respects. This raised the following question: What associations do specific images from Het Depot evoke and how do these images inspire the creation of one's own work?
For the answers to these questions, we consulted a new generation of artists: students from ArtEZ Arnhem.
Four floors showed a wide range of materials for the use of the creations: different sort of stones, cloth, natural wood, re-use of wood, concrete, steel, and combinations of materials. Mind blowing!

The parent foundation of the Sculpture Gallery Het Depot is the Utopa Foundation (founder Loek Dijkman).
The objective of this foundation is to update the creative talents of people where the talent of individuals, for whatever reason, does not get a chance,
The Depot offers sculptors the opportunity to develop themselves and wants to be a stage for artists in this realm. Precisely because it is about people, Het Depot has chosen sculptures of torsos and fragments as its theme.
The Sculpture Gallery Het Depot is not only aimed at the museum and gallery public. People who cannot or do not come to see art easily, or often enough, are also particularly welcome.
So my person!
The depot offers visual art, a beautiful garden, and a delicious restaurant within a museum setting.

www.hetdepot.nl/en/exhibitions/masquerade-with-artez-arnhem
www.flickr.com/photos/

Junushoff is not only a place for theatre, but also for art! The Park Foyer regularly hosts a variety of exhibitions by (regional) artists. At this time, one can discover the world through the lens of photographer Ron Giling.
He started photographing at a young age, armed with an Agfa Clack camera belonging to his father. His talent was soon noticed; at the age of 14 he worked on weekends for a news agency in Arnhem and recorded sports matches for the local newspaper.

After high school, he started his career as a press photographer at the Arnhem Press Agency APA.
Already in his first years, he made an impression with photos of historical events, including the Moluccan train hijacking and the hostage-taking of the provincial government building in Assen. During this last event, he himself was hit by a bullet, a dramatic turning point that made him decide to resign and go out into the world with his camera.

Giling's photobook 'Places, People, Pictures' shows an amazing array of analogue black and white photos taken during his travels for work on locations from Africa, Asia and South America; they were made in the 1980s and 1990s for the Ministry of Development Cooperation and many aid organizations.
I have detailed his photobook on MyBlog_2022Q4

RonGiling.com

Inge Morath (Graz b.27May1923 – d.30Jan2002, Austrian photographer) was the first woman to become a full member of MAGNUM Photos, the legendary agency for high-quality photojournalism that has been dominated by men until the present day.

Born in Graz, Austria, Morath grew up in Darmstadt and Berlin and spoke 5 languages, among them Russian and Mandarin.
She studied photography with Ernst Haas in Vienna, Simon Guttmann in London, and Henri Cartier-Bresson in Paris. In 1955, Robert Capa recruited her for MAGNUM. Associating with intellectuals, artists, and actors, she created memorable portraits and also produced photo reportages from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia, and China.
Exclusively for MAGNUM she took pictures on many film sets such as Marilyn Monroe's last movie The Misfits, written by Arthur Miller, Marilyn's then husband.
After their divorce, Inge Morath married the playwright.
There's a good section of the celebrities in this book, including Marilyn (a.o. on the set of Misfits).

Inge Morath. Hommage, published on the occasion of the photographer's centenary, presents a fine selection of her considerable portfolio and the - maybe female? - subtlety of her work.

The main text of this English/German publication that accompanies a major retrospective exhibition in Munich is an autobiographic lecture Inge Morath gave in Berlin in 1994.
Filmmaker and novelist Rebecca Miller, the daughter of Inge Morath and Arthur Miller, has written an intimate foreword.

en.wikipedia.org:_Inge_Morath

One of the most famous Dutch chocolate makers, Droste, is in danger of closing for good. The German owner of the company from 1863 (!) has requested resignation for the entire staff.
Droste's chocolate factory is in Vaassen, Gelderland.
My mother used to work in the packaging department, in Haarlem. Once in a while they could pick from a selection of 'failed' chocolates but the workers needed to pay for them. This was c.60 years ago.

The company was founded by confectioner Gerardus Johannes Droste in the Grote Houtstraat in Haarlem, but now dismissal has been requested for the remaining 27 employees.
Droste once flourished as a family business.
In the 1960s, more than a thousand employees poured liquid chocolate into the molds of the well-known pastilles. 'Royal' Droste became a successful export product.

www.volkskrant.nl/economie/sluiting-dreigt-

The Berlin Wall Memorial Center on Bernauer Strasse is the main memorial site of divided Germany, located in the center of the German capital.
Alongside the exhibit at the former border strip, a permanent exhibition entitled 1961 | 1989.
The Berlin Wall was opened in November 2014, providing information about the political and historical context.
The exhibition catalog amply illustrates the history of a divided Germany.
With essays by Marianne Birthler, Katja Böhme, Klaus-Dietmar Henke, Elke Kimmel, Axel Klausmeier, Kay Kufeke, Susanne Muhle, Maria Nooke, Gerhard Sälter, Günter Schlusche, Cornelia Thiele and Hermann Wentker.

The book has a multitude of historic photographs of people versus The Wall in all stages, the initial start and later modifications and expansion (e.g. removal of buildings). Also colour photographs in colour of the situation ca.2014.
The catalog is divided in "Open-Air Exhibition and Memorial Grounds at Bernauer Strasse" and "Permanent Exhibition in the Documentation Center on Bernauer Strasse 111".
The first part includes the chapters: #1 The Wall and Border Strip p.34 + #2 Human Suffering p.46 + #3 Rebuilding the Border Fortifications p.72 + #4 Escapes and Escape Agents + p.100 + #5 The Victims p.120 + #6 The Wall in the Cold War + #7 The Fall of the Berlin Wall at the Bernauer Strasse p.150.
The second parts includes the chapters: #1 Leading Up to the Wall p.186 (Berlin before the Wall. The Occupied City from 1945 to 1961 p.162) + #2 Building the Wall p.198 + #3 Division Becomes Permanent P.206 + #4 Dictatorship of Borders P.224 + #5 Leading Up to the Fall of the Berlin Wall p.242 (The Last Years of the Wall p.263 + The Emigration Movement and the Political Opposition in the GDR p.278) + #6 The Peaceful Revolution and Fall of the Wall p.282 + #7 The Path to Unity.

www.stiftung-berliner-mauer.de/ - - /berlin-wall-berlin-wall-memorial-exhibition-catalog
en.wikipedia.org:_Berlin_Wall

About today's visit to Verwolde House, Gelderland.
The history of Verwolde goes back to the middle ages, when a fortification was on this location. The present house was built in 1776, and six generations of the Van der Borch family lived there until 1977.
The upstairs living quarters are decorated in the original 18th century style. Downstairs, an interactive presentation will introduce you to the residents and their staff.

When the family Van Der Borgh took ownership for the first time, in 1927, the residence was modernised to include the tower, central heating, warm water and an elevator.
Downstairs, the staff quarters, were renovated with larger windows.
The guided tour included pleasant details to keep it light, beyond the obligatory dates and use of the rooms.
Well worth a visit!

www.glk.nl/seven-castles-and-houses/verwolde-house
www.flickr.com/photos/

I picked this photobook up at a secondhand market, struck by the spooky, haunting images. In large format I might add. While it was unmistakenly in a 'used condition' I did not hesitate purchasing it.

Witnesses of Time is Flor Garduño's stunning first book. Her images are inspired by the ancient
Mexicans' sense of magical time, of its mysterious and infinite dimensions.
The photographs include portraits of the Indians of Mexico, as well as the rugged and inviting landscape of open desert and vast sky which is their home.
Garduño captures the myriad elements which make the fabric of life in this extraordinary culture.

In remote corners of Central and South America, native Indians continue to practice ancient rituals as they have for millennia. Their rites embody a distinct worldview and a unique perception of time. The result of travels through ritual towns in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador, Witnesses of Time encompasses landscape, architecture, ceremonies, tableaux, and individual portraits.

Complemented by an introduction by the renowned Mexican novelist Carlos Fuentes, Witnesses of Time is a tribute to a fascinating way of life, portrayed with an unparalleled grace.

www.lensculture.com/ -witnesses-of-time
www.goodreads.com
www.florgarduno.com

Prussian Blue. London: Quercus, 2017. Set in 1939, with framing scenes in 1956 .

Prussian Blue by Philip Kerr (b.22Feb1956 – d.23Mar2018) is the 12th Bernie Gunther novel, where the former Berlin bull and unwilling SS officer Bernie Gunther’s cover is blown while having fled to France, so he must re-enter a cat-and-mouse game that continues to shadow his life a decade after Germany’s defeat in World War 2.
This was in 1956 and the Stasi agent assigned to his capture was Bernie's assistent in 1939 in Berchtesgaden - Adolf Hitler’s mountain retreat and stronghold—where he was sent to investigate the shooting death of a civil engineer Karl Flex and find the culprit before The Leader's visit in a week's time..

As the story opens, it is 1956, and Gunther is living in a sort of limbo on the French Riviera, which is not as pleasant as one might expect in the winter when the hotels close and leave men like him—ex-law enforcement with dubious papers—without gainful employment.
But there is a ray of sunshine: his estranged wife has sent him a letter saying that she’s left Berlin and would like to see him again. It is not Elisabeth, however, who keeps their appointment but a man whom Gunther would rather never see again: Eric Mielke, the deputy head of Stasi, who only recently set Gunther up as the fall guy in an operation to protect a British asset.
Gunther escaped with his life, but now Mielke wants him to eliminate the Stasi agent who links them to the operation, an Englishwoman with whom Gunther was briefly involved. Gunther knows that if he finishes the job, he’ll be next on the hit list himself, so he decides to make a run for it.

Gunther is an understandably cynical man, quite the anti-hero with a sardonic humour.
Bad enough to be a leftist trapped in the hellscape of a country whose fascist government is descending inexorably into the madness inherent at the heart of Nazism.
But Gunther is also a passionate believer in the morality of justice and the necessary work of law enforcement, both values undermined by the hysterical cult of personality that has sprung up around Der Fuhrer’s every whim.

Mr. Kerr describes in horrifying detail not only the criminal atrocities perpetrated by Hitler and his followers but also the psychological manipulations that allow monsters like these to gain and hold on to power.
Prussian Blue is a powerful reminder of how ordinary, even decent people can be induced to support evil. Painstakingly researched and breathtakingly crafted, this densely plotted novel isn’t afraid to draw parallels between fact and fiction, past and present.

Many of the influential people in this narrative were existing persons and many of those died in their beds because of old age many years, decades even, after WW2 ended..
A book that speaks volumes about its author’s commitment to freedom and reason.

www.criminalelement.com/review-prussian-blue-philip-kerr
en.wikipedia.org:_Philip_Kerr

Booktown Bredevoort sees the number of secondhand bookstores declining, owners are getting on in age struggling with their health and sales. There's still a number of 'honesty cupboards' around, it's still a 'booktown'.
It's a nice historic town to visit, for books or otherwise.

boeken-bredevoort.nl (NL)
www.bredevoort.nu

's-Heerenberg is a city on the Dutch-German border, in the Province of Gelderland, Netherlands.
It is located about 5 km north of the German Emmerich.
This weekend, from 15:30 to 22:00, the food square on the Bleek in the center of 's-Heerenberg was open and there are children's activities organized.
Elza, from Frozen, was present on both days, and kids could have their photo taken with her. I ran into her by accident and did not recognize her at the time...
The light route, with spectacular light show, can be seen from 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm.
This 'winter festival of lights' draws a great crowd and 's-Heerenberg is flooded by visitors and you'll find yourself having trouble parking your car, we found, by 17:30.

www.kasteelstadverlicht.nl
en.wikipedia.org:_'s-Heerenberg

'The Dry' is the 2016 debut novel by Australian author Jane Harper.
The book has won numerous international awards and has sold more than one million copies worldwide. A film adaptation starring Eric Bana was released on 01Jan2021 with great success, placing it as one of the highest grossing Australian film opening weekends ever.

A small town hides big secrets in this atmospheric, debut mystery by award-winning author Jane Harper.
In the grip of the worst drought in a century, the farming community of Kiewarra (you guessed it: Australia) is facing life and death choices daily when three members of a local family are found brutally slain.
The author is relentless in describing the heat and drought, greatly enhancing the narrative.

Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk reluctantly returns to his hometown for the funeral of his childhood friend, loath to face the townsfolk who turned their backs on him 20 years earlier.
But as questions mount, Falk is forced to probe deeper into the deaths of the Hadler family.
Because Falk and Luke Hadler shared a secret. A secret Falk thought was long buried. A secret Luke's death now threatens to bring to the surface in this small Australian town, as old wounds bleed into new ones.

'The Dry' is the first installment in Harper's Aaron Falk trilogy, followed by 'Force of Nature' (2017) and 'Exiles' (2022).

Born in Manchester, England, Harper moved to Australia with her family when she was eight. There, she lived in the outer Melbourne suburb of Boronia, and eventually acquired Australian citizenship.
As a teen, Harper returned to the UK with her family and resided in Hampshire.
Later, she attended the University of Kent and studied English. After spending time working on her journalism career, she moved back to Australia.

www.goodreads.com/ - harper-the-dry
en.wikipedia.org:_The_Dry_(novel)
en.wikipedia.org:_Jane_Harper

The photographs in this volume were made during a five-year period in New York by Nicolaas Biegman, with a Leica R 3 camera equipped qith 21, 35 and 90 mm lenses by Leitz and Leica. And Kodak 400 ASA film.
Black-and-white developing was done by Prolab Chominsky in New York, printing Laurie Dool in Rotterdam.

The photographs 'Mainly Manhattan' were made during a 5-year period in New York by Nicolaas Biegman, using a Leica R 3 camera and 21, 35 and 90 mm lenses (by Leitz and Leica). The film Biegman used was Kodak 400 ASA film. Black-and-white developing was done by Prolab Chominsky in New York, printing by Laurie Dool in Rotterdam.

Subjects are divided categories: Subway - Buildings - Wheels - Windows - Buying & Selling - Street - Food - Dogs - Kids - Idols - CK - ADS - Women - Men - Phones - Couples - Hanging out.
What I did not like about the lay-out of the book is that there are too many photographs over 2 pages
with the subject (person or object) obliterated by the book's fold. But, one notices that there remains plenty to enjoy among the 233 photo pages.

The author wrote: 'I complied this composite portrait of New York, focusing on the streets of Manhattan with an occasional excursions to places like Red Hook, Greenpoint, Williamsburg and Brighton Bridge. All this over a 5-year period, in a state of never-ending amazement at the urban landscape and the multicolored inhabitants.
Amazement at the shapes and sizes of buildings, bridges, parks (“If you have a Park Related Problem call 1-800-201-PARK) and parking lots, at the sculptures and monuments in the squares and plazas and the graphics of the bold white arrows, lozenges and words on the asphalt; and the general friendliness of the natives…
If the visitor, struck by the fact in the subway people do not look one another in the eye, concludes that New Yorkers are an unkind lot, he is mistaken. Rather, protecting one’s space in a means of defending one’s visual and physical integrity in the crowded environment in which New Yorkers have to live.
Therefore, the golden rule in the New York code of conduct reads: avoid contact, whether eye or physical, save by mutual consent. If you bump into a stranger, or touch him inadvertently, apologize him humbly. You may look at someone, but when you see his eyes turn in your direction avert your gaze unless you wish to strike up a conversation, which is usually no problem .

'Mainly Manhattan'
Language: English | Author: Nicolaas H. Biegman |
Pages: 233 | Published 1997 by Goose Press (Amsterdam)
ISBN-10907157055XISBN-139789071570551

About the author:
Ambassador Nicolaas Hendrik Biegman
1998 – NATO Permanent Representative of the Netherlands

Born on 23Sep1936 in Apeldoorn, The Netherlands. Married to Mirjana Cibilic
Education : University of Leiden, The Netherlands. (Ph.D. 1967), Turkish, Arabic, International Law.
Career : Since 1963 Dr. N.H. Biegman has been employed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Hague, The Netherlands.
As a junior diplomat he was posted, from 1963 until 1977, in respectively, Cairo (1964-1967), Canberra (1967-1969), Dar es Salaam (1969-1972), Atlantic Cooperation and Security Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1972-1977).
1977-1980 == Counsellor with Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to NATO, Brussels
1980-1984 == Head of the International Organisations Department of Foreign Affairs, The Hague
1984-1988 == Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of The Netherlands in Cairo, Egypt
1988-1992 == Director-General for Int'l Development Cooperation, Min. of Foreign Affairs, The Hague
1992-1997 == Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, New York

www.skrototeket.no/ - t/mainly-manhattan-nicolaas-biegman-goose-press-1997

China is a challenging book (my hardcover numbered 859 pages), but the more you read the more intriguing it becomes, as the reader is slowly captivated by this strange and complicated nation. The characters, both Chinese and British, are solidly real people with the same human frailties that all people have...

Now, in China: The Novel, Rutherfurd takes readers into the rich and fascinating milieu of the Middle Kingdom.
The story begins in 1839, at the dawn of the First Opium War, and follows Chinese history up to the present day.
Rutherfurd chronicles the rising and falling fortunes of members of Chinese, British, and American families, as they negotiate the tides of history. Along the way, in his signature style, Rutherfurd provides a deeply researched portrait of Chinese history and society, its ancient traditions and great upheavals, and China's emergence as a rising global power.

The story begins in 1839 and is told from different points of view: British, Chinese and also American. For example, we follow the vicissitudes of the British John Trader, a colonial in Calcutta who wants to get rich quickly in order to conquer the heart of Colonel Lomond's daughter.
As a result, he became involved in the opium trade and left for China. His cousin Cecil Whiteparish is a missionary and tries to convert the Chinese rural population to Christianity.
Another protagonist, Jiang Shi-Rong, failed the big Chinese State Exam to become a civil servant, but now he is trying to get back on top through another way. As a result, he, together with lord Lin, takes on the Barbarians and their opium trade.
And Nio would like to earn a lot of money to give to his beloved sister Mei-Ming. This makes him a pirate who helps the British with their opium trade. Later, he joins the dreaded Taiping and opposes the empire.
From the second half of the book we get to know another protagonist so the Chinese history is told from the Chinese perspective (instead of the British). This person, by misadventures and poverty accepts a position as a eunuch at the royal court and befriends Cixi.

As always, we are treated to romance and adventure, heroines and scoundrels, grinding struggle and incredible fortunes.
China: The Novel brings to life the rich terrain of this vast and constantly evolving country. We can feel how China was humiliated by the Brits, the French, the Germans, the Japanese, which led to a national trauma reverberating to this very day and age.
The final chapters conclude with the Boxer Rising and final notes on Cixi's death and Sun Yat-sen appearing on the political scene.

From Shanghai to Nanking to the Great Wall, Rutherfurd chronicles the turbulent rise and fall of empires as the colonial West meets the opulent and complex East in a dramatic struggle between cultures and people.
Extraordinarily researched and majestically told, Edward Rutherfurd paints a thrilling portrait of one of the most singular and remarkable countries in the world. Then and now.

Edward Rutherfurd is a pen name for Francis Edward Wintle (born in 1948). He is best known as a writer of epic historical novels that span long periods of history but are set in particular places.

Rutherfurd is no stranger to the world of literature at all. His novels Paris, New York, Russia and London were bestsellers. His latest work is about Chinese history of the 19th century, in which the Opium War and the Boxer Rebellion are central and he has completed a masterpiece.
His books have sold more than 15 million copies and been translated into 20 languages.
He settled near Dublin, Ireland in the early 1990s, but currently divides his time between Europe and North America.

www.goodreads.com/book-china
en.wikipedia.org:_Edward_Rutherfurd

Vakantiebeurs is the travel event of the year and has been around since 1970!
As a traveler, you are in the right place for everything that has to do with your upcoming trip. Get new holiday inspiration and get informed by our travel experts.
Expect a wide range of organizations, hotels and destinations that can offer you the perfect holiday.
Pity the one travel agent I was looking for, SRC Travel, with a few clear questions, they weren't present.

We had a nice day out, there is much to do and see (including a stage where a number of subjects were adressed), but for our travel limitations we weren't much the wiser when we left.
The Vakantiebeurs is taking place from 9 to 12 January 2025 and the Travel Trade Days will take place from 8 to 9 January 2025.

www.jaarbeurs.nl/agenda/vakantiebeurs-2025
More on Flickr.com

What does the ideal capital city look like? Nick Hannes travelled to 6 countries - Egypt, Korea, Nigeria, Kazakhstan, Indonesia and Brazil - that have recently built or are in the very process of building a new capital.
Each is a typical example of what Rem Koolhaas calls the Generic City - a planned city without historical stratification, local identity or a character of its own.
Like a visual anthropologist with a keen eye for detail, Hannes sets out to discover the human dimension in a setting full of spectacle architecture and pompous prestige projects.

NEW CAPITAL is a critical reflection on unbridled neoliberal urban development and its social and ecological impact, laced with subtle humour and surprising coincidences. Meandering between pride and sadness, NEW CAPITAL shows how utopia and dystopia are sometimes surprisingly closely related.

This book was launched at Be-Part / Platform for Contemporary Art in Waregem (BE).
The book (Lannoo, 2024) is available his my webshop.
The chapter on the New Administrative Capital of Egypt won the World Press Photo Award in 2023 (category Africa, Stories). The series was nominated for the Prix Pictet in 2025.
NEW CAPITAL has been exhibited at Fotoforum Innsbruck (AT, 2024), International Meetings of Photography Plovdiv (BG, 2024), CC Ter Dilft Bornem (BE, 2025).

nickhannes.be

Ice sculptures and Street Art merge in Biddinghuizen!
The Dutch Ice Sculpture Festival opened its doors this year at a brand new location in Biddinghuizen and comes with a unique scoop. In addition to the spectacular ice sculptures that make the festival an enchanting winter experience every year, this year visitors can also enjoy SubZero, an impressive Street Art exhibition by 22 artists, set up in collaboration with Kings of Colors.
This collaboration brings together two dynamic art forms and offers visitors a double experience full of art, creativity and craftsmanship.

Known as the largest ice sculpture festival in Europe, the Dutch Ice Sculpture Festival attracts more than 130,000 visitors annually with its beautiful ice sculptures up to six meters high, made by the 45 best ice artists in the world.
This year, the artists immerse the public in 'An Undiscovered World', a magical journey from the depths of the ocean to the mysteries of the universe.
New this year is the addition of SubZero, a unique street art exhibition that takes the festival to the next level. These works of art transform walls into stories and let the magic of street art speak.

The Kings of Colors Foundation is a platform for promoting street art by producing high-quality iconic murals, enthusing and inspiring aspiring artists through workshops and demos, and guiding artists in their ambitions to create murals themselves.

kingsofcolors.com

About the Ice Sculpture Festival @Flevo Nice (Biddinghuizen).
Imagine a place where every ice crystal warms your heart. Alas, not your hands..
Where the cold transforms into pure wonder. This is not an ordinary winter experience—this is the
Dutch Ice Sculpture Festival.
The place where the magic of winter comes to life through breathtaking artworks made of snow and ice. Discover a frosty wonderland at a new location filled with impressive ice sculptures and delicate snow art. The international artists give their creativity a frosty twist.
And yes indeed, the result is simply stunning!

ijsbeelden.nl/en/the-festival
www.flickr.com/photos/

Sabbia Nera (2019),
translated by Rianne Aarts & Annemart Pilon (2024)

Vanina is an old-fashioned police officer. Tormented by her past and driven by a quiet fighting spirit, she leads the reader through a fascinating investigation.
This was my first crime fiction novel by this author, one in a series with her protagonist Vanina Guarrasi. It seemed to have helped to have read earlier novels for Guarrasi's past, but it was no great handicap for me to have started with this one. And then I found that 'Black Sand' was her first Guarrasi novel!
I guess have to read later novels to learn about this protagonist.

Vanina Guarrasi is police commissioner in Catania, at the foot of Mount Etna, where she and her team solve the most complicated crimes. Vanina always carries a weapon, has a small but expensive wardrobe and loves food, although she will never cook herself. She is determined to fight Sicilian crime, even if it endangers her own life.

While a small village at the bottom of Mount Etna is shrouded in a mist of ashes, a gruesome discovery is made in an ancient villa: at the bottom of the elevator shaft lies the mummified body of a woman, a silk scarf still hangs around her skull. Her expensive torsolette, pearl necklace and make-up box look like they come from a time long gone.
The police are puzzled. Vanina Guarrasi, head of the Serious Crimes Department, is in charge of the case. It turns out to be more difficult than expected to determine the identity of the body, and she calls in the help of the retired commissioner Pananè.
The memories of the old policeman take Vanina to the past, to a close-knit community and a trail of blood that continues to the present day.

It's obvious that the author is a young women of a different generation than me and the book is scattered with references of the best places in the Catania region to find 'the very best' eateries, snacks, cocktails. I don't see references to Instagram but there might as well have been. I could have done without, grazie.

Cristina Cassar Scalia (1977) is Sicilian, born in Noto and currently living in Catania.
In addition to being an author, she is also an ophthalmologist (eye care). For her debut in 2014 (La seconda estate) she received the Premio Capalbio, but she really broke through to the general public with Black Sand, the first part in the Vanina Guarrasi series.
The books in this series – 8 titles have now been published – invariably enter the Italian bestseller lists and have sold more than half a million copies.
Vanina Guarrasi's books have been made into a television series, which can be seen on the Italian channel Canale 5.

uitgeverijmarmer.nl/auteurs/cristina-cassar-scalia/ (NL)