These are the photos from the Walsall Museum in Birmingham. Since all the photos didn't upload for all the museums, I will put them in separate posts.
The festival is also associated with Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth.
The decoration features two distinct rangolis, there are the two colour pattern at the side of the lit candle. The rangoli is made of beautiful patterns using bright colour powders. I think this will be helpful for my theme of Culture because this festival is very important to my family and friends, we have been celebrating this tradition for many years. Since my theme is about culture, I need to gather as much cultural objects and note significant events for my studies. I could try to recreate a small rangooli mixing the two designs above with chalk powder or colour powders. Since rangooli and Buddhist's mandala have similar forms, I could mix those two as well. I think collage would go well with it, using newspaper for the back ground and then coloured papers and crepe papers for the rangooli design.
Jacob Epstein's Self Portrait in a Storm Cap resembles iconic Roman figure busts. At first I thought it was a bust of Julius Caesar so I was excited to take a photo of it because of its cultural and historical significance until I found it was a self-portrait which was a bit disappointing. However after reading the work description further, I was intrigued by the fact that the work was inspired by his military service. From his description and the use of material it makes you think that he did not enjoy his military service, the use of bronze in a bright environment made the material look even more dark. The statue looks more depressing and using a dark material makes the face difficult to see as if the artist doesn't want people to see his expression and how he feels drained of any signs of life or how he doesn't want to remember that event so he tries to obscure himself. Just like Jacob Epstein, I could make a statue but out of clay of a iconic cultural figure and then painted it black or dark colours to obscure the figure. So it would make the viewers recognise the figure but at the same time unable to identify who it is, so it goes with the theme of fading memories where the significance of culture in society is overshadowed by modernisation.
Aaron Williamson's Spike Island shows a collection of items ranging from a dagger to obscure figures. They are valuable items with cultural significance, he displays them as if they are on a window stall and on sale or like a collection of items from a certain place or people. He tries to show that culture has become more of commercial subjects where they can be bought and sold easily and used for aesthetic values. This shows that modernisation has lowered the importance of culture to something to see rather than follow. The way the collection is placed; right in front of the audience but far at the same time, its sealed in and the audience cannot reach it, this represents how people are gradually moving away traditional values and embracing modern ideologies.
A cockerel from 4th Century BC Greece. This sculpture shows the parts of life in Ancient Greece. many cultural subjects of Ancient Greece survive in forms of art from Vases to paintings, it shows that art was an important part of the nation.
A statue of Goddess Parvati from 11-12th century India. Religion and culture have always been important in India, they have many statues dedicated to the Avatars of God. Lakshmi is another of the avatars/reincarnation of Parvati. The statue has lots of detail despite its small stature, this is because the artisan was a devoted religious person who was vastly interested in their culture. This shows that in the past, culture was an important part of people's lives and in India it still might be a highly significant part of them, they have the highest number of Hindus in their population.
Figure of a woman with a cloak from 4th Century Greece.
Figurine of a man from Northern Wei Dynasty (China). This figure shows a man in traditional attire, hanfu and a small hat.The Hanfu (deep robe) might not be the actual name because it is considered the dress of Han people. (Simplified Chinese: 汉服; Traditional Chinese: 漢服, both of them mean: "Han clothing").
Figurine of Buddha from 1750-1850 Siam (Thailand). A small statue made of gold and silver, using valuable metals shows that even during the 18th century religion/cultural had major role in people's lives. Buddhism had spread from Nepal/India to others countries like Thailand and Tibet/China, showing how influential culture was.
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