This made me smile

I can't entirely decide where I stand, when it comes to Hillary Clinton - part from quite a lot of woman-to-woman admiration for her toughness and resilience.

But I do know that this piece of political merchandise, or whatever this particular product category is called, is hilarious (get it?)...

You can buy right here, in the Hillary for America Shop...!!

Timbuktu

I saw the French/Mauretanian film Timbuktu last night, and it was one of those unforgettable experiences, that will just linger with you for the longest time. You must absolutely go see it, if you get the chance. It is still on in a few places in Copenhagen, if you are quick. It is stunningly beautiful to watch (and brutal, be prepared for that), and is really worth seeing on the big screen.

It is the story about what happens to peaceful civilized life in a small West African town, when islamic fundamentalists take over law and order, resulting in - among many other things - music, singing and football being prohibited. You could think a painful topic like this, would result in a film filled with rage and chaos, but it is a quiet, almost matter-of-fact story, that lets the events unfold (and tragedy approach) in a slow pace, without noise or any outer big drama. And that makes it so much more powerful.

I promise you, there are faces and landscapes in that film you will never forget.
Also, that it will break your heart, but in a necessary and most relevant way.

You can see the official trailer here - but I recommend you simply go see the whole thing, asap!

There is a wonderful scene in the film, where the village boys play football, but without the ball itself (thus making it non-football, and therefore acceptable?), to mock the Police Islamique. In the beginning of it, you see a youngster being sentenced to forty whip lashes, for playing football, and then you see them playing - or not playing!. I've had to see that scene again and again, and you can too, right here.

One of the most wonderful young actors I have seen for a long time, is the 12 year old Layla Walet Mohamed, who plays Toya, one of the main characters. I googled her, and found a surprising story.

While searching for actors, the director Abderrahmane Sissako visited a refugee camp in Mauretania. He was actually looking for a younger girl, but this particular, much older girl just keept popping up everywhere, and Sissako was persuaded to change the script, simply to create a role for her.

She is so beautiful and touching and you simply cannot forget her face. I hope that her acting debut will be a step towards a proud future for young Layla!

Music plays a very important role in the film, and  to get a taste of what the jihadists forbid in the story (as well as in real life), I will end this heartfelt recommendation with the wonderful Malian singer Fatoumata Diawara, who also plays a role in the film, as a girl who gets in terrible trouble for singing. 

Listen to her here, from the official soundtrack: 'Timbuktu Fasso'

Fabric Art by Martine Myrup

I am blown away by the work of this lady. 

She is the Danish textile artist Martine Myrup, and she has chosen a method, for creating most of her strikingly beautiful pieces (she works in many fields, but these words will focus on her work with re-used fabric); she rummages thrift shops, flea markets and garage sales for old men's shirts, aprons, tattered bed linens, table cloths - well you know: those things you find in heaps, and for next to nothing, sometimes.

Then she creates these incredibly sophisticated garments and objects, with painstaking care and craft.

Explore her blog, where she often shows steps of the process, starting with the original thrifted garments and scraps, and ending up with some very surprising designs. Her blog is called Elusive Owl.

I borrowed all these images from Martine's blog, and you can also follow her interesting work on Facebook and Instagram.

Pillows must be a special love for her; she has made so many, and her awesome patchwork skills really shows, when she turns a couple of nondescript old men's shirt into these:

The pillow above (which is made from some rather plain gingham pattern cloth, by the way), she also shows seen from the backside, and that is almost as beautiful as the front (the true mark of an excellent seamstress):

Another specialty of Martine's is her urns (see also the first two images).

This one is made from a ladies blouse, and the not-so-interesting floral print, becomes so elegant, in this delicate 3D object. Check out how she saves a color detail for the bottom of the urn!

And see what becomes of this lovely old peach and blue embroidered table cloth, when she gets her hands on it.

A sleek, stripey pillow - and the most adorable little Christmas ornaments from the leftover square embroidered details.

May 5th is Children's Day

Readers of this blog will know that I have a thing for Japan. And today, May 5th, it is a national holiday in Japan, the Children's Day - or the Kodomo no Hi, celebrating children and their parents. It used to be about fathers and sons only, but that has been officially changed to include all children, and even mothers as well! Read much more about that here.

The reason I even know about this, is because I have always loved those fish streamers you see around this time of year in Japan. They are called Koinobori - literally meaning carp (= koi) banner (= nobori) - and the carp fish symbolizes strength and determination (as it swims upstream) something all children can use a bit of!

The Koinobori are flown from tall bamboo poles, in 'families' - a large black on top, representing the father, a slightly smaller red, representing the mother - then a blue one for the eldest child, and so forth in various colors.

I have them in several colors and sizes, and use them as decorations here or there, all year round, by the way! My son's birthday is on May 28th, and we have a large red and white one (= Danish birthday colors) we usually fly on that day. Mine are from here, they have a variety of different types. 

(pics from top: woodblock print by Haruki Kobayashi via www.sakurafineart.com / color photo via ganref.jp / traditional red and blue koinobori found on amazon.com)

I like how the way these carps are depicted seems to have become very traditional, the way the scales and eyes are drawn, for example. If you would like to print and make a black one yourself, you can find it right here. 

Sometimes you see a more free use of the motif, as seen here below...

Top: Clifton Karhu cotton furoshiki (wrapping cloth) from Etsy shop 'kyotocollection' 

Bottom: 2009 Reebok Freestyle in a koinobori design

Cherry Blossom Viewing in Copenhagen

It has been an unusually warm and sunny week in Copenhagen, and everybody seems to have been struck by mild spring craziness. Cherry Blossom Viewing was the thing this whole past week, and much like in Japan, the most perfect cherry trees made the TV evening news. Hereabouts, the cherry blossom alley in Bispebjerg Kirkegård  (the park and cemetery near the impressive Grundtvigs Church), was the most popular site for an improvised hanami.

I took these pictures a few days ago, and today we will be checking out the Copenhagen Sakura Festival at Langelinie, even though the weather looks a bit dodgy. They have a lot of activities the whole weekend, and it is a really fun place to visit, I did last year!

Instagram and facebook were bursting with pink flowers as well, most popular hashtags were apparently #sakuraweekcph and #bispebjergkirkegaard - I checked out the first tag a couple of days ago, and this is what it looked like....

Pink, pink, pink. One of my favorite colors. And spring is indeed here.

Pssst, it's World Book and Copyright Day!

Actually I didn't know, and I just discovered. I did know about an event here in Denmark (Danmark Læser, read more here), but not that it was part of an international event!

Read more about World Book and Copyright Day.

Reading is one of my absolute favorite pastimes, and I can safely say that not many days in my life, since I learned how to read, has passed without reading. I did not grow up in a particularly intellectual home, and none of my parents were very enthusiastic readers, so I have no idea what lead me. Only that I have binge read myself through many a rainy day, sleepless night or dreary holiday in my childhood, and I just never stopped. I practically only read fiction, and if I read non fiction it is for work, or maybe the occasional autobiography (I have Barack Obama's 'Dreams From my Father' somewhere, and will definitely read it some day. Also Lena Dunham's 'Not That Kind of Girl' was lots of clever fun, and I plan on reading some more bios on one of my heroes: Astrid Lindgren).

To celebrate the day, here are five of my top reads from the last six months or so, I recommend them all with enthusiasm, read a bit more below the photo...

Click links in the text below, for more info on the books.

From top left: Marge Piercy's Braided Lives, I found on the recycle shelf in our local garbage recycle facility (I often find great things there, and also leave plenty of books for others). It was so good! First book by Marge Piercy I ever read. 

Donna Tartt only seems to write books you get completely swept away by, and The Goldfinch is no exception. Sad, but not as dark and uncomfortable as 'The Secret History', which is my favorite. Very, very entertaining. 

The French autobiographical novel, Delphine de Vigan's Nothing Holds back the Night (a portrait of the writer's emotionally unstable, self destructive, but also charming mother) was very well reviewed everywhere, and that just made me curious. It was moving, but what I really liked was that it was quite unsentimental, and yet so loving. It didn't bring tears to my eyes, until I reached the very last pages, but those pages were unforgettable. 

And then: Hemingway's collected short stories, such a classic. But actually not a writer I had read much of, and I didn't think I cared much for him. But last spring I fell in love with Key West, one of his many home towns, and visited his house and little museum there. I picked up 'The Sun also Rises' in the museum book shop, and that was it! That lead me to a rather extensive Hemingway binge, and this is the top edition of his short stories. This is in a class of it's own, especially as short story writing goes (I love reading short stories, and I love how you keep coming back to your favorites). Give the old sailor, war correspondent and compulsive womanizer a try, if you, as I, haven't before! He is so worth it.

The last one, Emma Donoghue's ROOM, is like nothing I have ever read before. The topic is very shocking and at times the story is almost physically upsetting to read. But - you will be richly rewarded. It is an amazing and beautiful book, one you will never forget.

Visiting ARoS part three - Your Rainbow Panorama

As I mentioned the other day, I had to cover Your Rainbow Panorama in a separate post, mainly because it looks so gorgeous that you take a thousand pictures, and then a few just doesn't do it. It is a surprisingly elegant and minimalist structure, and a quite vertiginous experience to walk around in the dizzying, psychedelic color cloud, where the fantastic view of the city gets this eerie and unreal quality, because of the intense color filter you see it through. 

The roof terrace under the panorama walkway is a great place to hang out as well, and the whole thing is basically a do-not-miss must, if you go to Aarhus. I will not attempt to interpret Olafur Eliasson's artistic intention here, but the whole building is said to be a paraphrase of Dante's Divine Comedy, and the panorama is supposed to be the Paradiso. I think?

Here we are, perhaps in Paradise. The weather was great, that's for sure.

Happy birthday, Daisy*

It is Queen Margrethe's 75th birthday today, and it is celebrated everywhere. Here she is, on the cover of a big Danish weekly woman's magazine - and one of the best covers they have had for a long time (fine work by photographer Les Kaner). She is a great looking 75 year old, and I have to say that even though I am not a royalist or monarchist, even, I have a soft spot for this quirky, tall, chain smoking aristocrat. She is something else, all right, and I acknowledge her enormous importance for Denmark as a quite edgy and hard-to-miss PR person. So, happy birthday to you, Daisy!

*Daisy is her very official nickname, and one handed down to her her by her parents when she was a girl (it was originally her Swedish maternal grandmother Margareta's nickname. It is a word play between girl's names and the Danish end English names for the flower), and the daisy has become her signature flower. I think we are going to see a LOT of daisies today! Even the iconic Georg Jensen brooch was named after her, and modeled after her grandmother's original gold, diamond and enamel brooch from Stockholm. That daisy has a lot of history, and you won't find many Danes that can't tell you at least some of it.

Visiting ARoS part two - go see some art!

We mainly went to see Something Strange This Way - Janet Cardiff & Georges Bures Miller, and you can too, but you really have to hurry (it ends on April 19th). For the rest of this year you can see Out of the Darkness, a curated view on some of the works from the ARoS collection, and The 9 Spaces in the basement will be arranged as they are now, until late 2016. Which means that you can see - among many, many other things - the fantastic Shirin Neshat video installation (which you should, even though it is more than an hour long). See a bit about the stunning ARoS building in part one.

Here are some glimpses from four very intense hours the other day:

From top:

Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller: The Carnie (2010)
Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller: Opera for a Small Room (2005)
Janet Cardiff & George Bures Miller: Storm Room (2009)
Carsten Höll: Sphäre Rosa (2001)
Maurizio Nanucci: My Sense of Your Sense of Language (1994)
Tracey Moffatt: Doomed (2007)
Tal R: Rumdi, rumdi, rumdi (1989-2013)
Shirin Neshat: Women Without Men (2004-08)
Olafur Eliasson: Your Atmospheric Colour Atlas (2009)
Olafur Eliasson: Omgivelser (2007)
Mariko Mori: Tom Na H-ui (2006)
Olafur Eliasson: Your Condensation (2013)
Tony Oursler: Unk (2004)