Botanical garden since 1638!
http://www.dehortus.nl/
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Alfred Stevens (Van Gogh, Amsterdam, 11-12-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
After being taught at a Belgian art-academy he moved to Paris where he was a big success. He was befriended with well-known people like Eugène Delacroix, Gustave Flaubert and Edgar Degas.
His style is academic and realistic but most notable about his work is the fact that he depicted the "modern" woman of the higher societies in everyday scenery when other academic painters mostly painted historical, mythical and biblical scenes. His women are indeed quite "ordinary".
Another interesting fact is that he didn't really paint portraits of higher class women but used a model dressed up in expensive dresses.
This exhibit runs un till 24-1-2010. If you want to see this exhibit or go to the Van Gogh at any other time you'd best go at friday night. The museum is usually open un till 22:00 and it's nice and quiet for a change! There may also been interesting events like plays, music, etc going on so check it out!
http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?lang=nl
At the Russian court (Hermitage, Amsterdam, 11-12-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
The Hermitage in Amsterdam is the foreign part of the real Hermitage in St-Petersburg. The building has recently been renovated and now has loads and loads of exhibiting space so it's great to get the feel of a real Russian royal court.
The objects are all very pleasant and interesting to look at. And by reading the texts you learn a lot about the live at the Russian court and Russian history itself.
Check it out: http://www.hermitage.nl/en/
Exhibit un till 31-1-2010.
The Raveonettes (Depot, Leuven, 10-12-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
But now I finally had a chance to see them!
I love the retro-sixties sound of The Raveonettes. It makes me feel happy and alive even though the songs on the latest album are mostly about broken hearts, rape, drug-abuse and criminal acts. I guess that this paradoxical contrast makes their music more substantial than it otherwise would have been and so more enjoyable.
I love all their songs so the gig was great even though the sound wasn't always that good. Hopefully we ill get to see them again some other time!
Check them out: http://www.theraveonettes.com/showscreen.php?site_id=419&screentype=site&screenid=419
Sunday, December 20, 2009
A Place to Bury Strangers (Botanique, 11-11-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
Actually I had only really heard this band a few days before this gig but I loved their new record so much I just had to see them live :-)
They make this very enjoyable retro-new-wave-noise which isn't a genre yet I guess but is still the only way to describe them ;-)
And I must say that it was a great gig even-though it was pretty short (an hour I think). It was loud, dark, energetic, noisy and refreshing.
Check them out: http://www.aplacetoburystrangers.com/
Controverses (Botanique, 21-11-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
This exhibit is about controversial photographs ever since the start of photography so it will not be very interesting if you are not interested in photography or ethics.
Included are a lot of pictures of wars and disasters but don't worry there are also pictures with a lighter content.
The best thing about this exhibit is the explanation every photograph has about why it is or was controversial. You will recognize many of the pictures but you may not know the full history.
So if you want to know more about history's most controversial images check out this exhibit un till 3-1-2010.
http://www.botanique.be/cgi?usr=tdjhncxz9p&lg=fr&pag=877&rec=736&frm=0&par=secorig866&id=4821&flux=16665269
Yo la tengo (Depot, Leuven, 11-11-2009)
| Rating: | ★★★★★ |
| Category: | Other |
This band has been making interesting Indie music for 25 years but I must admit that we only recently discovered them so no worries if you've never heard of them. If you like bands like Elbow, Magnapop, the Breeders and even Sonic Youth you'll probably like them too.
This is the second time we have seen them live and they rock! But don't expect cool people and some kind of show: it's just great music played by musically versatile persons.
Live they are even better than on record so be sure to check them out if you like their cd's!
http://www.yolatengo.com/
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