The Arctic in Venice: glace/glass, the art of Bertil Vallien

In Venice, an exhibition of glass works by swedish artist Bertil Vallien is displayed at Palazzo Cavalli-Franchetti.

Bertil Vallien's work is inspired by his experiences in the far north, in the glaces and glaciars of the arctic, and among inuit population.

Kayaks, the sacred myths, blue transparences, silence and light, the suspension of space and time...

All this in a venetian palace, looks ruther surreal; but the dialogue with the Murano glass works is rich in contrasts as well as in surprising points of contact.

The exhibition is called 9 Rooms, showing around 60 works in the first floor of the venetian palace.

Some of the works I liked the best:

The pendulum, glass, the tides, eternity...

This is glass - cobalt glass ! Not black, but a deep, deep blue.

More:
http://www.bertilvallien.nu/startsidan.html

Mykines, an island and a village in the Faroe islands

The village of Mykines is the only settlement on Mykines Island, the westernmost of the Faröe Islands.


Few people live in Mykines these days. Altogether there are 40 houses but only 6 are inhabited all the year round.


Population: ~ 21
Location: 62°6′ N, 7°38′ W



It is a beautiful little coastal village of bright houses with turf roofs, and a small stream flowing through. Almost a miniature of all the wonderfully preserved character of the Faröes.

Mykines island has no roads, and Mykines village has no streets: only well used footpaths weave between the buildings.


The old turf-roofed stone Church dating from 1878:


Houses around the church are among the oldest:




Mykines has a small harbour; a flight of about a hundred steps leads up to the village.

The ferry taking passengers, the way down many steps (at right).


Mykines Holmur


Mykines Holmur is a freestanding rock that is connected to Mykines by a small steal bridge, high as 35 meters. A lighthouse was built there on top of the cliff , in 1909.

The Lighthouse on Mykines Holmur

The access from the village to Mykines Holmur is cutted by a deep gorge called Holmgjogv:


Only recently a bridge was built across the straight, to allow tourists an easy visit to the bird sanctuary.

On the new bridge over Holmgjogv (the Holmur gorge).


The rock is inhabited by thousands of seabirds. The most large population is of Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica), the only puffin species which is found in the Atlantic Ocean. The curious appearance of the bird, with its colorful huge bill and its striking piebald plumage, has given rise to nicknames such as "sea parrot".

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica)

---------------------------------

Though the regularity of ferry services can be disrupted by inclement weather, the ferry visits one to three times a week, except in winter.

It is possible, though, to reach Mykines three times a week by helicopter:

View from a helicopter as it lands on Mykines

HISTORY

The first settlers were most probably Irish monks. The first settlements of people from the northern countries is probably from around the 9th century. More placenames on Mykines are thought to have Irish or Celtic origin, and in this way are indicators of early Irish settlement.

896 - Mykines first school opened
1906 - painter Sámal J.- Mikines was born on 22 February, baptised Samuel Elias Frederik Joensen, but later changed his name to Mikines.
1909 - building of the first bridge over Holmgjogv, the narrow strait between Mykines and Mykines Holm.
1961 - work started to build a ramp to haul the boats ashore.

The painter Sámal Joensen-Mikines was born in Mykines in 1906 and died in 1979. He is the most famous painter in the Faröe Islands, and I published some of his pictures and facts in my previous post here.

The Kristianshús was Mikines' atelier; now it's the only visitors accomodation in the village, a nice guest house.



Sources and more about Mykines:

http://heima.olivant.fo/~mykines/
http://www.heinesen.fo/faroeislandsreview/

Sámal Joensen-Mikines ,a faroese painter

Sámal Joensen-Mikines (1906-1979) was a Faroese painter, born at Mykines, one of the Faröe Islands, in the North Atlantic sea. He was recognised as one of the most important artists there, and many of his paintings have been displayed on Faroese stamps.

I have just recently discovered his work, during some research on the net.

Tualsgården, 1957

The most early works of Mikines are from the middle of the 1920s. He then painted in a dark expressionist style.

Faroese dance, 1944

Mikines' symbolic, expressive, sombre and dramatic paintings often portray scenes where death plays a major role. The darkest paintings are dated soon after 1934, which became a fateful year for Mykines. The village was struck by grief when a large part of its male population was drowned because of the wreck of two ships in a collison.

At the Death Bed, 1940

Two of my favorite paintings belong to the final years of this phase:

"This painting shows a woman standing beside the sea coast, looking out for her husband just departed to the sea. Although this set is dedicated to "Famous Women", the women are anonymous, but Mikines intended it to represent the Faroese Woman."

The ships depart, 1947

This rising of the sun strucks me for its bauty - a dismal, gloomy expressionism giving way to hope for the new day:

The Morning Sun, 1947

But later paintings of, for example, his native village were noticeably light and idyllic, more naturalist, fresh colored and precise:

Vew from Mykines islet, 1959

On his native village he draw and painted, and also made rough sketches which later became paintings during the winter spent in Denmark.

Mykines, 1959

Mykines is the westernmost of the Faröe Islands, and also its only and beautiful little coastal village - rows of bright and coloured houses with turf roofs, an old turf-roofed stone Church dating from 1878, and a small stream flowing through.

The village of Mykines, violet evening, 1955

Mykines houses, 1950

But then later paintings show the return to some drama and more dimmed colours:

North wind, 1957

Breaking the Waves, 1952
(clic to enlarge)

The Mailboat, 1955

Apart from Listaskálin in Tórshavn, where a great permanent exhibition is displayed by the Faröe Islands Art Gallery, paintings of Sámal Joensen-Mikines can also be seen in the Faroese Parliament as well as in many banks all over the Faröes. Paintings of Mikines can also be seen abroad, in Copenhagen's "Statens Museum for Kunst" .

-----------------------------------------
My next post, in continuation, will be a short report on Mykines village and island. I published here before about some other locations on this fabulous Faröe archipelago, one of the most remote places in Europe.

Signy , in the South Orkneys - a british base in Antarctica

The South Orkneys, an extension of the antarctic peninsula, consist of four major islands - Coronation, Signy, Powell and Laurie.

At Latitude 60°43' S, longitude 45°36' W, Signy Island is roughly triangular in shape and has a low profile.

As Signy is attached to the Antarctic continent, you would expect low temperatures (record minimum -39.3°C) and relatively clear skies, generally positive in summer although sudden falls in temperature can occur throughout the season (December and January).

The bay called Factory cove, where the first whaling station was built, is now shelter to Signy research base.

Knob lake, one of the main geological features of the island

Approximately half the island is covered by a permanent ice-cap. The ice-cap descends to the sea via two glaciers; the McLeod is by far the largest and terminates in an ice-front along a large part of the south coast, the Orwell is much smaller and terminates in Shallow Bay to the east.

Icebergs remain in the area all year. During the summer, the pack ice retreats.

The small Signy station is barely visible on the ice cap.

The Signy base was opened on 1947, on the site of an earlier whaling and sealing station.

Signy Base at Factory Cove bay.

Today, the base has four buildings with capacity to house 8 people, although this may be increased to ten for short periods.

The main building, Sørlle House, was erected in the summer of 1995/96 with living accommodation, laboratories and offices.

Other buildings on site provide services such as power and water production.

There is a jetty with slipway at the north of the station, this is the preferred point for landing by zodiac.

The power cabin; the jetty can be seen farther behind

Research ship RRS Ernest Shackleton is a frequent visit to the station.

She is primarily a logistics ship used for the resupply of scientific stations.

Historic Tønsberg house

In 1955, a new wooden hut, Tønsberg house, was built on the site of the whaling station, a little way up the back-slope.

Signy hut, "Tønsberg House", 1962

It has been demolished and removed in 2001-02 as part of BAS clean-up of disused bases and facilities.

Relics from Tønsberg house.

In addition there are four small huts around the Island.

--------------------------------------

Only two flowering plants are found in South Orkneys: the Antarctic hairgrass and the Antarctic pearlwort.

Antarctic pearlworth

Both of these are restricted in distribution, usually being confined to sheltered north-facing slopes. The dominant plants are mosses and lichens.

Adele Penguin

Large colonies of these penguins populate the island, mainly in the south-eastern Gourlay peninsula.

Adele penguins hanging out on an iceberg, Signy

History

The South Orkney Islands were discovered by American sealer Nathaniel Brown Palmer and British sealer George Powell on 6 December 1821. British sealer James Weddell, who visited in February 1822, gave the islands their present name.

The whaler ship "Orwell" at Borge bay, 1925.

Scientific research was started on Signy Island in 1947 when a three-man team occupied a site in Factory Cove above the old whaling station. The wooden cabin Tønsberg House was built in 1955, and further major expansions took place in 1963-64 (the recently demolished Plastic Hut) and 1980-81 (Sørlle House) at which point the station attained its largest complement of 27.

For much of this period Signy was the prime site for biological research within the survey, supporting important programmes in marine, terrestrial and freshwater biology.

-------------------------------------------------------

Parhelion caused by reflection of ice crystals in the air

Sunrise at Signy

The station in the antarctic night.

-----------------------------

Post in hommage to the brilliant TEAM GB, the most successful olympic team after the usual two huge leading superpowers.