Tips and stories from our travel adventures.
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Showing posts with label Works of Art. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Works of Art. Show all posts
Monday 30 September 2019
Holodomor Memorial Project
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: Canada Blvd.
Date: July 2019
Website: https://www.explace.on.ca
On the grounds of the National Museum of the Holodomor-Genocide in the Ukraine is a statue of a small girl. There is now also a copy of this statue in Toronto just steps from the Princes' Gates. Other Canadian cities have a statue too, such as Winnipeg and Regina. The statue represents a horrible event where millions of Ukrainians starved to death in 1932 and 1933. Canada believes that this genocide was caused by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin who created a man-made famine in the region.
When you see the face of this thin girl you can't help but feel for anyone affected by hunger. The statue is called Bittersweet Memory of Childhood. Millions more people continue to die of starvation all around the world. Hopefully this memorial causes us not to forget what has happened and to see how we can help those in need right now.
Map of Our World
Holodomor Memorial
Post # 264
Tuesday 30 July 2019
Safety Orange Swimmers
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: Harbour Square Park
Date: July 2019
Website: annhirschstudio.com
S.O.S usually stands for Save Our Souls and is a cry for help. In Boston, in the fall of 2016 it stood for Safety Orange Swimmers. It is still a cry for help. The art exhibit included 22 bright orange people holding onto inner tubes. It was created by artists Ann Hirsch and Jeremy Angier.
The art exhibit will be in Toronto until September 2019. It now includes 25 orange swimmers. Each person represents more than one million refugees. There are estimated to be nearly 26 million refugees risking their lives crossing oceans and dangerous terrain to reach safety and freedom for their families.
The orange figures all look identical and are only torsos. As they get caught in the wake of a boat you can clearly see that there is no mid section or legs attached. The figures cling to their inner tubes but are anchored so they do not drift away further into Lake Ontario.
The artwork represents people who are so desperate to flee their country that they leave everything behind and risk death by drowning or dehydration as they cling to homemade rafts. A boat approached and we imagined what these orange people would be thinking as they faced an uncertain future in a new land.
Map of Our World
Safety Orange Swimmers
Post # 258
Wednesday 10 July 2019
Washed Ashore
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 2000 Meadowvale Road
Date: May 2019
Website: washedashore.org
Each year thousands of pounds of plastic wash ashore on one Oregon beach. A group of volunteers have been cleaning this debris from the beach. This plastic has been made into artwork that reminds us that we need to stop our plastic consumption. We visited the Toronto Zoo to see the giant animal ambassadors created by Washed Ashore. The exhibit runs until November 2019.
On the day we visited, Angela Haseltine Pozzi was there to talk about the organization. She founded Washed Ashore in 2010 and is one of the main artists. Since 2010 she has worked with volunteers to put in countless hours, collected over 40,000 pounds of plastic from the ocean and turned it into over 70 works of art. There are eleven sculptures on display at the zoo. Angela is standing beside Sebastian James the puffin.
This sculpture by the zoo entrance is Flash the marlin. Marlin are one of the fastest swimming fish in the ocean and travel many miles through the water. They need the water to be clean and free of plastic that gets in their way.
Sebastian James the puffin stands outside of the zoo's main gift shop. Just inside the doors to the gift shops hangs a jellyfish made out of water bottles.
Outside of the Australasia pavilion is another jellyfish. This jellyfish is also made from plastic water bottles. We should try to drink from reusable containers and at home drink Brita filtered water from glasses. The large packs of bottled water are a huge plastic waste, not to mention breaking your back by lugging them home. Sea turtles like to eat jellyfish and sadly cannot tell the difference between floating plastic and a swimming jelly. They end up filling their bellies with plastic instead of food.
Just around the bend from the Australasia jellyfish is Grace the humpback whale. Humans almost hunted humpback whales to extinction but today they can be found in all of the world's oceans.
A closer look at Grace shows some of the plastic from toys, umbrellas and other items. Sadly, the real humpbacks are forced to swim through this garbage every day.
Poly the polar bear was made with the help of staff from the Toronto Zoo. Poly's name comes from polyethylene, polystyrene and other names for plastic. Poly is supporting the idea that we all try to reduce, reuse, recycle and refuse when dealing with plastics. The best option is to refuse single use plastics.
Poly is also made from plastic trays, containers and more garbage which came from the Rouge Valley surrounding the zoo.
Nora the salmon is found near the Kid's Zoo. Salmon travel up streams to mate and spawn. The new salmon swim back to the ocean. Unfortunately, millions of pounds of plastic polution also head downstream into the ocean each year.
Octavia the octopus was sitting outside the Americas pavilion. One of her arms was around the neck of a plastic Canada goose, but it should be trying to shake some sense into people who don't realize the consequences of their actions.
In the African savannah you can find Sylvia the silvertip shark. Sharks eat other small fish who eat plastic and this means the sharks end up eating the plastic too.
Rufus the triggerfish is near the Indian rhino house. He is made up of children's beach toys, flip flops and even parts of chairs.
Triggerfish have sharp teeth and strong jaws that let them eat urchins and mollusks. Plastic has been found with their bite marks, which means they are also eating this harmful human product.
Oil pollution is the main threat to penguin populations. Next to the black-footed penguin exhibit is Gertrude the penguin.
Gertrude looked down on us as if to say "You can do better!". We all need to think about how we can help the animals. Washed Ashore vows to keep on spreading their message as long as there is debris floating up on their beach. They dream that they will one day run out of supplies for their art.
Click here to take a virtual tour and see our collection of Toronto Zoo animal photos.
Map of Our World
Toronto Zoo
Post # 256
Sunday 30 June 2019
Unconditional Surrender
Location: San Diego, California, USA
Address: Tuna Harbor Park
Date: June 2019
Website: en.wikipedia.org
As you walk past the USS Midway Museum in San Diego and head into Tuna Harbor Park you come across a couple locked in an embrace. This is a sculpture by artist Seward Johnson and is based on a photograph taken in Times Square at the end of World War II. It is called Embracing Peace.
San Diego is a huge naval town and the USS Midway is an aircraft carrier with fighter jets parked on top.
Behind Embracing Peace out in the harbour are active naval ships that are ready for action as needed.
The 25 foot tall couple doesn't notice as passerby snap photos. They reminded us of the couples in an old commercial for Big Red chewing gum.
The original artwork was in Sarasota, Florida and then moved to San Diego. The artist then made several versions of the statue available. The original was foam filled and stayed in San Diego until 2012. It was originally called Unconditional Surrender.
About a year later a bronze replacement arrived in San Diego. This is the strongest version offered by the artist. As the couple continues to stand in the habour, that is one strong kiss as well.
Map of Our World
Unconditional Surrender
Post # 255
Monday 10 June 2019
Bulle & Bar
Location: Frankfurt, Germany
Address: Börsenpl. 49, 60313 Frankfurt am Main
Date: Oct 2018
Website: www.kunst-im-oeffentlichen-raum-frankfurt.de
On our way to South Africa, we had a layover in Frankfurt, Germany. We took this opportunity to leave the airport and check out the town. As we walked along we found ourselves in the middle of a showdwon between a bull and a bear (or a bulle and bär in German).
In front of the Frankfurt stock exchange stand two sculptures by Reinhard Dachlauer. They have been there since 1987. The bronze to make the sculptures was donated by the stock exchange on its 400th anniversary.
The bull represents a rising stock market where investors are optimistic.
The bear represents a recession where investors are wary.
Both sculptures had a cartoonish quality and lots of personality. We found them very endearing regardless of which way the stock market is headed
Map of Our World
Bulle & Bär
Post # 253
Thursday 30 May 2019
Toronto Humane Society
Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 11 River Street
Date: May 2019
Website: www.torontohumanesociety.com
The Toronto Humane Society always has its doors open for stray animals. During Doors Open Toronto it welcomed people to tour behind the scenes. The Humane Society is always a place of great sadness when a lost or injured animal is brought into the shelter. It can also be a place of great joy when these animals find a new home.
The Humane Society building is hard to miss thanks to a bright mural by artist Uber 5000. The mural fills the entire wall of the building which is located where King Street East meets Queen Street East. As always in any Uber 5000 artwork there are little yellow birds hiding in the background.
As we entered the building we noticed a dedication to thank Canadian pianist Glenn Gould for his contributions. Glenn was alway known for his love of animals as well as his piano playing.
The first animals we visited were the dogs. As our group gathered, a volunteer brought out a small black dog and worked his way through the crowd. Behind him followed an older man who said "He's going to be my dog". A huge smile stretched across his face. This was not the only dog to be successfully adopted. As the dogs yipped and barked for our attention we could see from the signage that most would be on their way to new homes soon.
After the dogs we visited the special species section. A bunny door stop held the door open for us.
Just inside the doors was Carmel the bunny. Carmel was doing her best to look cute and adoptable. Getting a pet on impulse is a bad idea without understading the long term cost and comittment.
There were lots of information packages on caring for different animals. We know a family who recently took in an African pygmy hedgehog so we picked up a booklet for them.
At the exit was a bearded dragon who was wearing a cone so he didn't touch or scratch where he shouldn't. A note next to him stated that he was headed to a sanctuary.
A lot of feral or street animals come into the shelter. The only way to stop more and more of them from coming is to have them spayed or neutered. This way they can no longer reproduce.
A sign in the operating area shows how they clip the ears of spayed or neutered cats so they can easily be recognized. This prevents cats being rounded up for repeat surgery that they don't need.
The shelter is also home to many cats. Cats like yarn and thread which can be a problem.
We were shown some animal x-rays that showed broken bones and some that showed needles stuck inside a cat. Cats love the thread but dont realize a needle is tied to the end. Any metal in an x-ray shows up bright white like bones do.
The Toronto Humane Society does a good job looking out for animals in our city. They also do a good job for people who get the gift of a pet in their life.
Map of Our World
Toronto Humane Society
Post # 252
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