#85 One, two, three
One:
Congratulations to the Rijksmuseum and their collaboration with Guerrilla in Horizon Forbidden West. It’s lovely to see old and new art merge and see art depicted in both its roles in a post-apocalyptic world: timeless and timely. While the headquarters of Guerrilla and the Rijksmuseum are within walking distance, I love how their collaboration takes place far away in time and place. The partnership is befitting that new Rijksmuseum built on the mess of their renovation, which isn’t all that new anymore but keeps feeling fresh.
Two:
“if it leads to someone better, someone with just minimal decency and an ambition to rebuild Russia’s dignity and spheres of influence based on a new generation of Tchaikovskys, Rachmaninoffs, Sakharovs, Dostoyevskys and Sergey Brins — not yacht-owning oligarchs, cyberhackers and polonium-armed assassins — the whole world gets better.” (source)
I have an ambitious relationship with Thomas Friedman’s writing since I looked forward to Thank You For Being Late only to wish this book hadn’t been late, but never. Yet his essay How Do We Deal With a Superpower Led by a War Criminal? in the NYT this week struck a chord. Taking his message above one step further, we should hope to rebuild a world (on the ruins of war, climate disaster, global inequality) that values the right things.
Two b:
How many heads of state can you name that were artists first? Václav Havel, of course, the Czech playwright. Ronald Reagan, actor. And now, Zelensky, comedian, and voice of Paddington.
It strikes me how utterly unadorned, and ‘naked’ Zelensky’s dress is. He no longer wears the politician’s suit but also avoids the military uniform. Instead, he opts for something that looks utilitarian and allows him to hide absolutely nothing. Very few people (especially at a certain age) can wear an olive green t-shirt and get away with it.
Three:
Culture is often about the past, but it is always about the future.
When we dress conservatively, hide paintings in games, or long for Rachmaninoff, we preserve for the future, shaping and influencing what we hope comes next.
Thank you for reading. As always,
Have a wonderful week!
— Jasper