Mikhail Khodorkovsky

Prisons as Art...

The exhibition "Liquid Modernity" (OREL ART UK, 7 Howick Place, London) of the latest works of Andrei Molodkin (who will represent Russia in the 2009  Venice Biennale) was very illuminating. There is a long tradition of Russian art originated from a stay in a camp or a prison (Dostoievsky, Soljenitisine...). This time it's a look from the outside in more meanings than one. Inside the prison bars oil is flowing...

Cristiano Messi

Pane et circensis...



The bookmakers in London were on fire with the Rome fight between soccer-gladiators from Britannia and Hispania!

Ray Bradbury

 

                                                                             Al Kamandijati in Jenin

                                         A  Farenheit 451 situation, only now they burn ouds not books...

Julien Schnabel

 

Julians's Pajamas caught on camera at the American Colony Hotel, East Jerusalem

Alix de Meauny

 

                        Singing like a pro at the Legacy Hotel, East Jerusalem, last Friday.

                         A Brit-Frenchy Edith Piaf was born...

Silvester Stalone

 

Jericho Training Facility. last Sunday

The Presidential Guard (Palestinian Authority), in their macho black uniforms,

 when deciding what colour to use for fumes went for pink... 

Almost a Karl Lagerfeld fashion choice...

Michael Hendrickx

 

Drummin' on at the Legacy Hotel, East Jerusalem

Philip Barrett

 

Last Friday at Zan's, inspired gig from the Ramallah Jazz Squad ( Philip Barrett, trumpet, Christoph Schult, piano, Mike Hendrickx, drums, Oystein Bru Frantzen, bass plus a sax player I can't find his name). A young Palestinian tells me the story of when, drunk and fearless, he decided to fulfill his dream of finally seeing the Sea, and up he went, no ID, nothing, on his way to Jaffa. The Gods  granted him his wish (in the form of a breach of security at a check point) but he almost had to pay the feared 12 days in an Israeli prison for a West-Banker found in the wrong side of the Green Line without a proper permit. He confesses to have been overwhelmed by the experience of being close to the Sea. Someone told me that it might be as high as 90% the figure of  West-Bankers that never saw the Mediterranean, although it's never more than 50 km away... For a native of Lisbon, used to the companionship of the ocean, that statistic is horrifying...

Hani Amra

An exibition of Modern photography in Ramallah, where I found these impressive works by Hani Amra.

André Aciman

Another book-piece for the puzzling memoirs of Alexandria between Rommel and Nasser...

Michael Ondaatje

 

Some of the writing reminds us of the bon mot from JL Borges about his hope, on contemplating his oeuvre, that he had at least written in the end a couple of rather acceptable paragraphs... The 'acceptable paragraph' one spots in this novel with intimidating frequency shows Ondaatje, like Borges, attaining near-perfection, literature-wise... Simplicity, light deepness and an almost-poetical sense of rhythm ... As a bonus the best card table scene I've ever read with an unforgettable introduction to poker "mechanics" ...

Ytzhak Shamir

 

Approaching Jericho, on the desert road towards the Monastery of St George, one spots the essence of what settling is all about. A defiance, an arrogance but also a sense of romantic doom like the Fort of "Beau Geste"... The winter desert light is photovoltaic white... Who would live there but for the grand gesture?...

Gemael & al

Café Blanc in Beirut. Neo-Orientalist style...