Cultural Development
Meissen Porcelain – Princely Power and Prestige
Today we have our morning cup of tea, or latte, from a cup, or mug without much thought about the ‘China’ we drink it from, because it has become such an integral aspect of twenty first century lifestyle. However, as a commodity, the ceramic ware it derived from, known as porcelain, aided the growth of both the east and western world’s economies and benefited their social and cultural development for centuries.
Palladio – In Pursuit of the Perfect House
A villa by architect Andrea Palladio was a place where the owners could feel happy, secure and content, which is after all, what most of us still require and aspire to, a place where one can cultivate the head, heart, body and the soul.
A Passion for Gothic Decoration
The decorative arts were never considered secondary by Augustus Welby Pugin. As an architect he might design the structure of a house, church or institution, but he conceived of the building, its fittings and furnishings as a ‘complete work of art.’
Flash Mob to Smart Mob – Enjoying Random Acts of Culture
A musical Flash Mob provides people from all walks of life and all backgrounds with an opportunity to come together on the spur of the moment to create a memory that when remembered, will for a long time in their lives cause them to smile.
Fashion, is it more than a Frock?
From skinny self sacrificing super models to those demanding the use of ‘real people’, costume accommodates a desire to be noticed. It is the look at me, look at me syndrome, which has been in play for thousands of years. Today it collectively reflects a western society in which privacy has been stripped completely bare. But is fashion about more than a frock?
A ‘Compleat’ Gentleman, more than a leader of style
In London much of the development in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century was in the hands of aristocratic landowners. But were they ‘compleat’ gentlemen?
Kafka’s Letters of Consequence & Culture at Oxford in Autumn
The Bodleian Libraries at Oxford in England have announced the newly acquired letters of renowned Czech author Franz Kafka (1883 – 1924) to his favourite sister Ottla, who died in the death camp at Auschwitz during World War II, are on public display for the first time.
Martha Nussbaum’s Call – Hug the Dragon for Social Profit
American Philosopher Martha C. Nussbaum is the Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor of Law and Ethics in the Philosophy Department, Law School, and Divinity School at the University of Chicago. In her short and powerful new book called Not for Profit: Why Democracy Needs the Humanities she makes a passionate case for the importance of the liberal arts at all levels of education. She challenges us all to strive be truly human – ‘to remain childlike, to keep an open mind, to refine an ability to remain humble, to eschew pride and arrogance and to be reverent towards other people and towards the natural world’.
Progressing and maturing by fault, leadership for a new age
Progress hinges not on eradicating mistakes but on our success at perpetuating them? By making good mistakes we learn to forgive, progress and mature by fault
What is a Mirror, more than just Glass?
The mirror, more than just glass, has occupied a unique place in his imagination as a site of the divine or demonic, of lucidity or madness. It is the ‘matrix of the symbolic’ and accompanies the human quest to know and understand our identity.
Sartorial Splendour
I am an Englishman, and naked I stand here, Musing in my mind what raiment I shall wear, For now I will wear this, and now I will wear that; Now I will wear I cannot tell what. All new fashions be pleasant to me; I will have them, whether I thrive or thee Sartorial [...]
Remembering 9/11 – Liberty, enlightenment through knowledge
Remembering 9/11, lest we forget what liberty, freedom and democracy really means. The Statue of Liberty in New York is an eternal symbol of hope that we can, by the sharing of knowledge enlighten and illuminate the future, finally bringing about peace in our world.
The Culture Concept Circle
‘This site takes the often complex world of history, design and the arts to a whole new level. It’s a cultural journey filled with beautiful images and fascinating stories. I love the simplicity and richness of the content and I’m sure you will too – never boring always fascinating! In the 21st century creativity is [...]
Towers – Symbols of Hope and Freedom
Prior to the twentieth century towers were built as symbols to the heights of material wealth and prosperity the western world had yet achieved.
Aussie Baby Boomers, The Generation Thinking Outside the Box
It is always intriguing to read statistics about the so-called Baby Boomers, that generation of people born following World War II. As they continuing to face challenges, like they have during the last six decades and more, they will offer up their experiences and mentor those who come after, quite simply because they are a generation still thinking outside the box
Bentwood Classic
The decorative arts magazine The Studio was devoured in the coffee house culture of Vienna’s cafes at the turn of the 20th century with English fashion, sport and food debated endlessly. The attractiveness of handicraft items issuing from Vienna was demonstrated at the World Exposition in Paris of 1900. Michael Thonet designed the coffeehouse chair, [...]
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