I caught these guys installing the Berlinale Bear. It’s one week away, the very best moment of the winter, a yearly highlight, the largest cinema festival in the world open to the regular public. It’s the best way to see good movies from all over. And, strangely, this winter is sunny, so I can imagine very different vibes.
January 31, 2019
January 30, 2019
Metal wall — Zehlendorf 328/365
Coming from Monterrey, the city of Cemex, and from Mexico in general means that we only know building made of concrete and cement (and a few of glass). It still surprises me as a sort of little cultural difference when I see metal façades. Concrete is one of the poorest ecological materials, but it has been around since the Egyptians invented it. In Germany yo see tons of metallic buildings.
January 29, 2019
Bees — Zehlendorf 327/365
Well, my super clean-ecological-hipster neighbors are “producing” and selling honey. Yes, if Americans are dreaming of saving the political world, Germans dream of saving Mother Nature.
January 28, 2019
USB ports — Berlin bus 326/365
There has been a lot of inconvenience the last few weeks in Mexico due to shortage of fuel for automobiles. Pro-ecology guys say, Mexicans should use more bikes and public transportation, but the biggest part of the middle and upper middle class will hardly feel comfortable doing that. I was thinking about this today when I saw USB ports in a Berlin bus. Yes, you get the public transportation you deserve, but this is also a hint of who is the standard bus user in Berlin: one who has need to charge their smartphone on the road.
January 27, 2019
Holocaust Remembrance Day — Anywhere & Everywhere 325/365
People commemorate today the bestiality of the Shoah. Never again! My little contribution is having translated a book by Simon Laks to rise awareness in the Spanish speaking countries. The book, published by Herder, came out this week! Laks was the conductor of the prisoners’ orchestra in Auschwitz-Birkenau. After the war he wrote two versions of his memoirs, focusing on the impact of music on the daily life at the extermination camp. One of the most touching books I’ve ever read.
January 26, 2019
Former inmate cell — Moabit 324/365
The former prison next to the main train station was one of the very first in the world to offer individual cells for the inmates back in the 19th Century. Here, many suspects of attempting against Hitler were tortured and eventually killed. Bonhoeffer, for instance, was executed here. This is how the cells look like, now under the snow of this morning.
January 25, 2019
Artsy station — Schöneberg 323/365
Berlin has recently refurbished some train stations in an artsy way. @toylike has documented Christop Niemann’s artwork at Wannsee. I just found out that Schöneberg has beach motives, but still don’t know who is the artist behind this. It’s indeed a fresh way to cheer up what otherwise seems an anodyne place.
January 24, 2019
City library — Potsdamer Platz 322/365
I lived here for one year as I was finishing my dissertation back in the days, making a pause to attend the lunch concerts in the Philharmonie across the street. But today I read an article at the NY Times about how many books the Nazis stoled: around 30% of the books in this library were stolen. Incredible! Germany now needs to give back not only thousands of artworks but also millions of books.
January 23, 2019
Old age — Charlottenburg 321/365
This elderly man, who looks like Konrad Adenauer, sat next to me for half an hour. Despite his old age he was wearing modern clothes, because he has style. Most of the time he had this hard expression, as if something was bothering him. Old age is sort of a mystery for me (what are their joys and dreams, what their regrets and frustrations?), but elderly Germans have mastered independence.
January 22, 2019
Feather art — Humboldt Forum 320/365
Humboldt acquired this Señora de la Salud in Patzcuaro, so it has been in Berlin for over 200 years. It’s made of feathers, and will be displayed soon in the rebuilt Castle of the Hohenzollern now called Humboldt Forum. What I like the most is the staple of books: religion should be based on knowledge, otherwise it’s fanaticism and superstition.
January 21, 2019
Magnifying glasses — Zehlendorf 319/365
You know that your neighborhood is full of elders when the trolleys at the mini market have magnifying glasses attached to them. Indeed, this is the borough with the oldest people (46 years old in average).
January 20, 2019
Samurai Museum — Zehlendorf 318/365
If you were to establish a hierarchy among power, war and culture, what would be your ranking? Japanese bow: the lower in the hierarchy bows to the superior. Everyone had to bow down to the Emperor. But not the samurai. The art of war was not inferior to power. But even the Emperor and the samurai had to bow down to get into the tea ceremony, because culture is superior to power and war.
Well, Berlin possesses the largest samurai collection outside Japan. It’s full of impressive armors, swords and weapons. One of my favorite was this helmet from the 17th Century.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
