Author: gertrud

THE AYVALIK MOSAIC – Brasilia studio third week

This week it happened: An aquaintance of Martin from the German embassy gave us the contacts for Hans, a plumber from Germany who works in the Embassy as a security guard. I called him to install our washing machine. Of course I could have taken a local plumber – but how would I have talked to him! Whilst Hans and I are waiting that the dashing new washing machine finishes her trial run he offers me all sorts of services for connection with the worlds far away, phone and internet installation, German TV, but I wonder if he could help cutting that  tree trunk that lies around  in our garden and seems to be perfect to become a stand for the hardie! Hans knows the gardener Benno who also works in the embassy and comes from the community living in the south of Brasil  that emigrated to Brazil from the Hundsrück, a region with a  strong  German accent near Frankfurt/Main. So Hundsrück – German – speaking Benno arrives at our house at the weekend and …

THE AYVALIK MOSAIC – Brasilia studio second week

We only have one table in the house as our furniture shipment has not arrived yet. But the family needs it for eating, homework, emailing and chatting! So I can impossibly use it for the very dusty work on the AYVALIK MOSAIC. I need to go to get my own table. This cries for a trip to the builders market. Hmmm! Where is the builders market and how do I get there? Google maps would help but how can I talk to the shop assistants ? I hate to expose myself again to the situation of not being able to communicate with the society I am living in. But what can I do? I will not be able to keep working on the mosaic if I stay in the house. Martin lends me his driver and off we go in our car. I insist on driving, because I want to practice, and he directs. But, I did not take into account that can not understand what he says, so we end up stopping at every …

THE AYVALIK MOSAIC – Brasilia studio first week

On Monday evening of Sept 21 I arrive in Brasilia, with a flight directly from Paris where I was together with our eldest daughter who just started to study in Paris. She had no choice but to come with me and see the part of the mosaic, depicting a scene of the judgement of Paris,  in the Louvre  which was found in the 1930 in Antioch (now Antakya/Turkey) and was split among the parties that sponsored the excavation at that time. Today you can see the parts of the mosaic in 4 different museums in the world: the Louvre Princton University, Worcester Art Museum and Wellesley College  in the US and some small parts of geometric patterns from the edge of the mosaic remained in Antakya Mosaic Museum I am fascinated by this story in archeological history. There is a great book about this and the mosaic: The Arts of Antioch: Art Historical and Scientific Approaches to Roman Mosaics and a Catalogue of the Worcester Art Museum Antioch Collection The book was one of the …