RED CARDINALS AND A NEW POPE

And so it came to pass we have a new Pope, Francis I.

He looks like a bright and kindly man, who will lead the church into the future.

I for one am pleased to see the first pope from the Americas; it has been a long time in coming.

Furthermore, his humble life-style in Argentina, and care of the poor, are excellent attributes for the modern-day leader.

The Red Cardinal blog cannot miss the opportunity to admire the red cardinals;

Imagine trying to concentrate in the Sistine Chapel surrounded by the frescos of Michaelangelo...

The throne of St Peter..

Our one Australian Cardinal, George Pell, was there to vote, of course.

I don't think we will see an Australian pope in my lifetime.

The white smoke: a quaint traditional way to spread the news.

We are told the new pope takes his name from St Francis of Assisi ..

St Francis lived a life of poverty and founded the Franciscan order of friars.

He is known as the patron saint of animals and the environment, and created the first Nativity Scene.

He died in 1226.

And if you are easily horrified look away now -

Amid a chorus of lorikeets shrieking,

this little scene occurred just outside our window during breakfast this week:

Quite put me off, it did...

(Subsequent photos are too gruesome for publication)

It is a jungle here at the Red Cardinal nest.

Have a lovely weekend

xxxx

LEGAL CONUNDRUMS

Been busy this week, dealing with lawyers and legal matters on two issues affecting my life...

Time-consuming!

Pray-Way, 2012, Slavs and Tatars, Eurasia.

So let's go on a magic carpet ride of distraction..

Do you like this contemporary art installation, currently on display as part of 'The 7th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art' (APT7) at our local Qld Art Gallery?

Pray-Way combines two forms: the Rahle, a stand used for holy books like the Koran, and the Takht, a communal seat found in the tea salons of central Asia and Iran.  It is a staged combination of the sacred and the profane by Slavs and Tatars, an artist collective devoted to the area of West Asia. They seek to challenge the perceptions of East and West.

The piece is interactive - the public are invited to sit or lie on the carpet!

Artist/photographer Hrair Sarkissian presents a series of photos of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.

Beautiful Mt Ararat, just across the border in Turkey, a symbolic site for Armenian National identity.

Armenia has a long and difficult history.  Millions were killed and displaced in the 1915 genocide, creating one of the world's largest diasporas.  Now there are 8 million Armenians living throughout the world, and only 3 million in the country itself.

The images include the ruins of Soviet-era hotel complexes, now abandoned.  Yerevan was once a mecca for Russian tourists, but post independence, the tourists have vanished and economic hardship has followed.

Sad and haunting, yet also nostalgic, the snow-dusted images are a combination of the beauty and calm of the environment and the lingering memory of terrible events.

From Kazakhstan:

Seasons in the Hindu Kush: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. 2009, Erbossyn Meldibekov.

I love this quirky installation!

From left to right, four mountain tops represent the seasons in the Hindu Kush, a rugged mountainous region stretching from Afghanistan to Kazakstan.

Artist Meldibekov, of Kazakstan, another former part of the Soviet Union, uses sturdy enamel cooking pots from the Soviet era to create his 'mountains'.

The word 'kush' from the Persian verb kushtan, means kill or commit carnage.

Historically, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, Tamerlane and other warriors used the passes and frontiers for battle.  During the cold war it divided the soviets from the British in Afghanistan, and after 9/11 it became the site of the US campaign against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.

Meldibekov was a radio engineer for the Soviet armed forces during the 1979 war in Afghanistan.  He acquired lots of classified information, and as an artist, these days his work draws attention to competing political powers, border disputes and the social effects of transition from socialism to capitalism.

Ressort 2012, Huang Yong Ping.

Commissioned especially for the Water Mall, Ressort 2012 is an enormous aluminium snake skeleton sculpture.

Spiralling from ceiling to floor it metaphorically links sky and water.

Ressort was made by Chinese avant-garde artist Huang Yong Ping who now lives and works in Paris.  

He has made other snake skeleton sculptures, including Serpent d'ocean, permanently installed on the beach in Nantes in France.

Snakes are a central symbol in Chinese culture,

 and 2013 is the Year of the Snake.  

Local school children are visiting in huge numbers, enjoying the thrill of being horrified by such a huge creature!

And in stark contrast, here is the lovely Keira Knightly as Anna Karenina ..

Reader, I absolutely loved this movie.

My greedy eyes devoured every moment of its beautiful images.  

I'd go again in a heartbeat.

Apart from the charming theatrical device, the ballet-like movements, the tragic story which we all know and love, and the fabulous costumes ....

Keira Knightly wears the Best Collection of diamond and pearl earrings you will see all year!

This one is for beauty lovers.

Have a great week

XXXX