World Bodypainting Festival

What an exciting event: the World Bodypainting Festival. It takes place every year and there are contests in several categories. Artists from all over the world get together, next year it will take place in Austria. I realized that body painting is my true vocation at the age of 10, when I painted my body from head to toe with black gouasche. Maybe I should take part. These are amazing:

These ones got photo awards:

You can visit the festival website to see all the galleries. This is a link to the results of the awards.

Smile today

"I want draw my husband's attention. Do you have any perfume that smells of computer?"

Question without an answer III

Are high heels the new corset?

Shoes by Juan Antonio López

Flickr find: Kelly L Watson's ephemera album

I've really enjoyed browsing through Kelly L Watson's flickr photostream where she has a lovely album with paper ephemera

Seen in a card

" It's never too late to have a happy childhood"

Representation of the Goddess in Minoan Crete

Deities were depicted in small figurines.

Clay seated female figure, 5800-4800 BC

Clay vase with representation of a goddess, 850-800 BC

The snake Goddesses (or priestesses), 1600 BC

I just love terracotta figurines

Dolls? Apparently they are "votive robes"

These people really enjoyed dancing

Female figurine, Agia Triada, 1450/1300 BC

Definitely a classic of entertainment

These are from a later period, III or II BC

All these are exhibits in Heraklion Archaelogical Museum.

More images can be found here and also in this website

More about Minoan culture in Crete

Time traveller:Representation of women in Minoan frescoes

The dancing lady, Palace of Knossos, 1400/1350 BC

They call her "la Parisienne", (people do have imagination)


From Agia Triada Sarcophagus


Not my photo, but I had to post this here: The Blue Ladies

from the Palace of Knossos


Not my photo either, The seated goddess or priestess, from Pseira

Surf in USA?

No, bull leaping in Knossos, 1600/1500 BC

Postcard from Crete

Colours of Crete



Mosaic floor in early christian basilica, Hersonissos

Door detail


Turkish minaret, Chania

Shop window

Street in Chania

Peculiar entrance!

Shop front

Street in Chania

Colourful !

The Venetian harbour in Chania

Taking a walk

Archanes

Detail in St. Titus Church, Heraklio

Siesta

Oops,


More than one month since I wrote the last post !

I guess I've been taking too many siestas...I am such an expert now.

This is definitely a

But now I'm absolutely looking forward to sending out a few postcards of beautiful Crete.

Travel

Theorias, ideologia,etnikos,demokratia, akadimia...

Whether our mother tongue is French, English, Spanish, we can all understand these words even though I have not written those words in any of those languages.

I'll be away for a few days to the place where it all started. By all I mean a great deal of who we are today.The home of this lady to your left. (How on earth can a sculpture be sexy, can anyone explain that to me?)

By the way, in this place Zoe means life and Irene means...peace. Hope to see you soon.

Photo: Snake Goddess, from www.dilon.com

Fatema Mernissi

I'm reading and loving this book by Moroccan sociologist Fatema Mernissi:

It's a book about the crossing of borders at many different levels, but also about a very special grandmother, about her sufi heritage, about intelligence, about story tellers whatever the medium used, about curious translations, about a woman's intellectual curiosity.

I've learnt that the fabric muslin is named after the Iraqi town of Mosul, where it used to be manufactured, and also discovered the concepts of majliss, lawami, samar...whole new worlds to explore.

I once heard her say that when you travel and show yourself in front of strangers you unveil your self, you get to know who you are. I'm looking forward to reading another of her books "Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Haren girlhood"

This might be the right moment for you to listen to some music by Omar Faruk Tekbilek, the Turkish musician. But beware because "I love you" and "Moment of doubt" can make funny things to your heart.

Remember Rwanda

This post is just a link to My Marrakesh blog and to a voice that needs to be heard, one amongst so many.


I think that horror and cruelty is part of our humanity, but a part that can be subverted. Not fighting for peace, or against anything, not struggling painfully through the years to reach peace, but adopting peace as a principle. Just like that, with a leap of consciousness that could take half a second. A small step that could become the greatest.