Hermitage post #2

Where do I start?

How about with: 'my feet hurt'! And so does my back (bad hotel bed), my shoulders (carrying heavy bag for 20kms a day) and my legs (going up and down stairs trying to find rooms that end up being closed off).

Peter the Great was fascinated by all things new and particularly scientific. He even self-trained in dentistry, anatomy, carpentry and metalurgy. Here are some interesting tools from his collection...



rolling mills




a lathe or mill

and a close up




Being a jeweller, I was fascinated by the details of the palace that other people probably don't even notice, like...



door handles



and hinges.


The interiors of the palace are amazing. Apparently Catherine the Great redecorated and got rid of most of the baroque decor but a lot of it remains...







yes, those walls are gold.


And, of course, there's the art and artefacts. The well known highlights of the collection can be seen at the Hermitage website but here's just a taste of a few things that caught my eye...




for some reason, I was intrigued by these earrings, perhaps because they look like maggots and then I started thinking about a whole range of maggot jewellery...

They say about the Hermitage "There are art museums, and then there's the Hermitage" so when I saw this, I thought. "There are folding chairs and then there's this folding chair..."






a child's sleigh




pierced and carved ivory.


And, I'm not sure but, are these pineapples...?






So, I saw more today but I'll have to post about that tomorrow. The Hermitage reminded me of my experiences in Ireland; there are so many site of archeological significance there that most of them haven't been examined or documented. You'll be walking around the countryside and stumble upon a cairn or standing stone or burial mound. It won't be signposted and it won't be on your map. The same thing happens at the Hermitage. You'll be wandering around and spot something really interesting in a corner, there won't be a sign, it won't be behind glass and the babooshka (see definition 2 at the link) will just grunt when you try and sign language your interest in it.

One last thing...



I found a bride in the dunny

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Hermitage post #1

I have just enough batteries to write a quick post. I'm in a restaurant and there's nary a powerpoint to be seen.

Today was day one at The Hermitage...




And low and behold there was a contemporary jewellery exhibition on! It was the collection from the Montreal Museum of Fine Art and here are some of the highlights.



A Ted Noton! I've always wanted to see one in real life. I've admired his work in books for ages and here was the real thing. And I just stumbled upon it! It's called "I Love Modern Rings But I Hate Wearing Them Handbag"




Daniel Harmon Jocz's "Candy Wear Bracelet" - it's flocked! I thought Liana might like it.




Gjis Bakker


And... Is that?...Why yes, it is!...



Our very own Pierre Cavalan




Ramon Puig Cuyas




Stephan Seyffert




Blanka Markova Cepkova (fabric, gold-thread, gold-plated metal




Peter de Wit (from 1999, for some reason I thought it was much older than that)




Daniel Kruger




Martinazzi




Dali!!




Picasso!!




And Calder and Gerd Rothmann


I saw much much more today but it will have to wait until tomorrow (when I'll have seen even more!!)

until then, anna

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It's snowing in St Petersburg

and it's just beautiful. This is the beginning of the journey...



Tallinn railway station, trying to feel all Anna Karenina but it's just not cutting it.


And this treasure...



sits on the mantlepiece in my hotel. I've put him in because he relates to my previous post.


I haven't seen any jewellery yet but I've only been here one day and my Hermitage visit starts tomorrow.

The city is beautiful and romantically so. There are so many beautiful palaces and grand drives and vistas - parts of it remind me of up-town 5th avenue, New York. But most of the city is also in such a state of decay that it has a Blade Runner-esque feel to it as well.



Canal view


I visited the kunstkamera or 'museum of ethnology and anthropology' which contains the original collection from Peter the Great's wunderkamera. Lots of examples of "monsters": deformed babies and small animals in cylindrical jars of formaldehyde, skeletons of siamese twins and a stuffed 2 headed calf, it was quite unnerving. Peter set it up to educate his citizens and enticed them there by serving free vodka, no such luck for me.




And I found this kit for making artificial flowers in the 'history of St Petersburg' museum.




And I just love all the beautful tools.




And now for the obligatory tourist shot. Me and Peter the Great! According to Lonely Planet, it's good luck to fondle his right index finger.




I'll probably post again before I leave here. I'm in love with this city.

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St. Petersburg

I'm off to St. Petersburg this weekend to spend a couple of days wandering around the Hermitage and immersing myself in 18th century architecture.

Before i leave I want to point you in the direction of the blog of Mel Robson. She is a Brisbane based ceramicist (ceramist - I'm not sure which one it is) and her recent post shows images of dolls she's making which I think are quite delightful.




I particularly thought of the knitter when I saw them.

more next time

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Tallinn Tales

I have now been in Tallinn for 2 weeks. I think time is starting to speed up for me and I'm already panicking that I have to make the most of every day. Tallinn is absolutely stunning right now, the days are still quite fresh, 5 - 10 degrees, but we continue to have cloudless day after cloudless day. The old town is getting busier with tourists as the weather warms up so I'm trying to take advantage of the relatively quiet streets and museums before the summer rush.

I visited the Estonian Museum of Applied Art and Design this morning and unfortunately I was unable to take photos. It's a shame because the collection has a quite a few very interesting pieces and there was a very good British design exhibition on with works by Danny Brown and Doshi Levien.which I really liked.

Danny Brown's exhibit 'Software as Furniture' consisted of blank ceramic tablewear and bedlinen which had patterns projected onto them from above. The patterns evolved and changed according to "random" selections by the software. It was quite beautiful. Doshi Levien are a design team of Nipa Doshi and Jonathan Levien. According to the catalogue, Nipa Doshi grew up in India and their work in the exhibition (a low table, a water cooler and an embroidered mattress) represents a blending of contemporary design with traditional Indian craftsmanship customs - and you gotta love that.

I bought a few catalogues from the museum shop to add to my collection, I'm gonna have to look into shipping rates to Australia as there'll be kilos of them by the end of this trip!

Anyway, after two weeks here are some things from my bench...






Matryoshka onion rings (thanks to the knitter for the spelling heads up)




cobbled matryoshka




easter matryoshka




minnie matryoshka


and empty matryoshka...



which might have become...



koala matryoshka

but, instead will become...



brown bear matryoshka


Here's the ensemble...



which includes some traditional Estonian dolls (rather than Russian) that haven't yet worked out how they want to be Davernated. I've asked my fellow students whether I'm being culturally insensitive and it seems that the concept of cultural insensitivity isn't even a minor issue here (although someone did call me a 'monster' for removing the Estonian doll's head - but this was in jest. I think)

More next time.

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