art – azmeera001

Team 7: Catalog Entry

Pair of side curtains for a bed with chinoiserie and bizarre designs
French
Early 18^th century
Linen, embroidered with wool and silk
Panel .1a-c: 134 × 34 in. (340.4 × 86.4 cm); panel .2a-c: 137 × 34 in. (348 × 86.4 cm)
Irwin Untermyer (until 1953; to The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, 1945. The Human Story in Needlework, no. 56.
A. Standen, Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, December 1954.

Chinoiserie (French for Chinese-esque) is a decorative style in European art, design, and architecture influenced by Chinese motifs and techniques. It began in the 17^th century and gained its popularity in the 18^th century. It assimilates into rococo by the works of Francois Boucher thus the two shares various similar qualities and characteristics such as the asymmetrical designs, curves, light colours, ornate, and playful both in theme and style.

This pair of side curtains, embroidered with chinoiserie designs, would have decorated the sides of a European state bed of about 1700, usually reserved for important guests. The decorative style reflects a romantic view of China derived from illustrations in books by Western travellers. The floral motifs, figures dressed in vaguely Chinese garments characterized by the wide-sleeve and the over and under skirt, fantastic creatures such as phoenixes and dragons highlight the interest in the theme of fantasy and the exotic. Bizarre silks are a style popular in Europe during the late 17^th to early 18^th century yet its precise origin is still undetermined. The style “bizarre silk” is characterized by the bold colours, large-scale, and asymmetrical patterns of silk fabrics featuring stylized leaves and flowers. Asymmetry, a characteristic prevalent in Chinese design and architecture is distinct from Europe’s artistic style focused on balance and order. These early chinoiserie embroideries display an attempt to capture the aesthetic of disorder that Europeans were intrigued by.

Consider the figures and the clothing styles on the embroidery. Some of them look European and are florid faced, a characteristic of the rococo style. Some figures are wearing loose gown with wide-sleeves called banyan, a garment worn by men in the 18^th century influenced by Asian clothing. This choice of inexpensive yet durable garment also reflects a sense of informality and practicality. Men of intellectual and philosophical bent were usually painted in portraitures wearing banyans. It could then be interpreted that the figures holding various kinds of instruments are learning the art of their occupations while being stimulated by the natural environment outdoors surrounded with flowers and fantastic mythical beasts. It is interesting to note that there are both men and women figures practising studious habits outdoor. This could reveal the desire, and perhaps reality, of equality between men and women as women are not merely contained to the domestic space. They too belong in the intellectual domain and exterior environment hence the sense of equality. Though the floral motifs reflect the theme of feminity, the mythical beasts suggests the theme of power. It seems like women are able to gain a sense of agency even within the bedroom space and through imagination. However, only the Chinese-looking man with drooping moustache and full robe in panel .1a-c is depicted as most powerful as he is able to control two dragons with either a robe or a chain.

The curtains are made of linen embroidered with wool and silk. These materials emphasize the significance of textiles in Chinoiserie during the 18^th century. It was not Chinese textile design but the designs of Chinese porcelains and lacquers that influenced the European textile chinoiserie. The two main decorative textiles produced in China for the European market during the 18^th century were embroideries and painted silks. Embroidery is a form of compound cloth construction where a fabric is ornamented with designs from a threaded needle. The bed curtains reflect the form of embroidery called the needle-point. It is a hand-embroidery form where rounded stitches fill the base scrim or needlepoint cloth completely. The resulting piece is heavy and stiff. Needlepoint is used for upholstery, pillow tops, hand-made rugs/carpeting, and framed wall art. Very small stitches are termed petit point and very large stitches are called gros point (Nielson 83). All the designs are depicted in an extraordinary range of colours on a brilliant yellow silk ground that seems to mimic gold threads which was incorporated greatly during the 16^th-18^th century in embroidery.

Complete bed furnishings from the 17^th and 18^th centuries are rare thus making this well-preserved curtain pieces gifted from Judge Irwin Untermyer a significant and precious material to be studied and appreciated by all at the museum. Furthermore, it is interesting to realize that such style, seen frequently in early 18^th century, French canvas work, represents the early ungainly struggle before the elegant French rococo style.

Works Cited

Brett, Katharine B.. Bouquets in Textiles: An Introduction to the Textile Arts. Toronto: Royal Ontario Museum of Archaeology, 1955. Web. 2^nd November 2015.

A. Standen. “Embroideries in the French and Chinese Taste”. Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. December 1954. 144-146. Antiques, LXVII, 1955. P 420, fig. 6 (detail); Untermyer Needlework, 1960. Pp. lxiii-lxiv, 59. fl. 144, colour pl. 145, figs 187, 188. Web. 2^nd November 2015.

Highlights of the Untermyer Collection of European and Continental Decorative Arts. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1977. GoogleBooks. Web. 2^nd November 2015.

Pair of side curtains for a bed. 18^th century. Linen, embroidered with wool and silk. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Web. 2^nd November 2015.

Nielson, Karla J.. “Yarns and Fabric Construction. Interior Textiles: Fabric, Application, and Histories. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2007. 63-88. GoogleBooks. Web. 2^nd November 2015.

Team 7: Object label (Revised)

Gathering from the past advice by the professor, I am advised to change the object that I have previously chosen (“At-home dress, 18th century”). As my group is focused on Chinoiserie in the bedroom space, I have tried researching for other objects to choose from. Instead of dresses, I decided to look at other textiles such as curtains, carpets, upholstery, etc. I have decided to choose the following as my new Chinoiserie object:

Pair of side curtains of a bed
Early 18th century, probably French
Linen, embroidered with wool and silk
Gift of Irwin Untermyer, 1953
The Museum of Metropolitan Art

This pair of side curtains, embroidered with chinoiserie designs, would have decorated the sides of a European state bed usually reserved for important guests. The decorative style reflects a romantic view of China derived from illustrations in books by Western travellers. The floral motifs, figures dressed in vaguely Chinese garments characterized by the wide-sleeve and the over and under skirt, fantastic creatures such as phoenixes and dragons highlight the interest in the theme of fantasy and the exotic. Bizarre silks are a style popular in Europe during the late 17^th to early 18^th century yet its precise origin is still undetermined. The style “bizarre silk” is characterized by the bold colours, large-scale, and asymmetrical patterns of silk fabrics featuring stylized leaves and flowers. Asymmetry, a characteristic prevalent in Chinese design and architecture is distinct from Europe’s artistic style focused on balance and order. These early chinoiserie embroideries display an attempt to capture the aesthetic of disorder that Europeans were intrigued by.

References:
Pair of side curtains for a bed. 18^th century. Linen, embroidered with wool and silk. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Web. 2^nd November 2015.
http://www.metmuseum.org/collection/the-collection-online/search/227617

8: Asian Civilizations Museum

What was your favorite object from today’s visit to the Asian Civilizations Museum?

This sculpture is my favourite object from the visit to the Asian Civilizations Museum (ACM). It’s interesting to witness an unconventional depiction of Buddha or a bodhisattva. Sure it has recognizably Asian features such as the arched eyebrows, slanted eyes, and mouth. The figure looks like a fierce ancient Chinese warrior. Yet the mustache, beard and stylized Mediterranean curly hair portray Hellenistic influences. The elaborate crown on the figure’s head allows for interpretation of the Buddha as a Greek king. This could be one of the many representations of Siddhartha as a princely jeweled figure prior to his renunciation of the palace life.

Early Buddhism and Buddhist art represent Buddha through symbolism (remember: aniconism). Buddha is usually represented through symbols such as the stupa, empty throne, footprints, parasols, wheel, Bodhi tree, etc. Some scholars suggest that the first anthropomorphic representation of Buddha is a result of Greco-Buddhist interaction, probably in Gandhara. Look at this… Familiar isn’t it? The wavy hair tied into the typical Buddha top-knot, the Greek himation (toga covering both shoulders), the halo, and contrapposto stance of the upright figure, and also the realism of the sculpture.

Greco-Buddhist statue of standing Buddha, Gandhara (1st–2nd century), Tokyo National Museum.

Another interesting historical and artistic aspect is the suggestion that the Greco-Bactrian king Demetrius I may have been the prototype for the image of Buddha. The earliest Hellenistic statues of Buddha portray him in a style reminiscent of a king. A characteristic associated to both Buddha and Demetrius is that they share the same protector deity. Vajrapani is the protector and guide of Gautama Buddha. In Gandharan art, we can see the Buddha being protected by the Greek god Heracles (similar to the back of Demetrius’ coins that portray the king protected by Heracles). The Greek hero Heracles is adopted to represent Vajrapani.

Edit / 20th October 2015: Something interesting! Just read a news update on ACM tonight.

ST’s headline: Asian Civilisations Museum to return ‘ stolen’ 11th-century artefact to India (link).

ST_20151020_VNUMA_1772675 — This 11th-century bronze sculpture depicting Hindu goddess Uma Parameshvari will be returned at the request of the Indian government. The ACM said it had bought the sculpture from disgraced New York art dealer Subhash Kapoor’s now-defunct gallery Art of the Past for US$650,000 (S$900,000) in 2007.PHOTO: ASIAN CIVILISATIONS MUSEUM

Citation:

Dehejia, Vidya. “Buddhism and Buddhist Art”. In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–.

Sanujit. “Cultural links between India and the Greco-Roman World”. Ancient History Encyclopedia. 2011. Web. http://www.ancient.eu/article/208/

7: Chinoiserie / Japonaiserie

If you could have a room of your own, how would you set about decorating it? Chinoiserie? Japonaiserie?

I’d choose Chinoiserie if given the choice between the two to design and decorate a room/apartment of my own. Chinoiserie gives a soft, sweet and feminine touch to the interior. The wallpaper and pillow fabric covers depict the typical Chinoiserie imagery of pretty florals, green leaves, and little birds gracefully perched on gentle branches of the trees. The clean design and opened windows allow the sunlight to enter the living space thus creating a wonderful area to read or indulge in afternoon tea sessions comfortably be it on your own or with your friends.

I believe this could be the small corner of either a dining room or a bedroom. I love the reflection that gives a sneak peak of the blue and white porcelain vase placed on top of a wooden wardrobe. The wallpaper design is faint yet soft and pretty still. Black lacquer furniture with golden details gives the room an elevated sense of beauty and sophistication. It reflects the owner’s high taste, eye for details, and status. I absolutely love the white-blue design and texture of the seat’s fabric cover!

I’d keep the palette to white, cream, brown or mostly blue and white. I love the blue and white design of this sink and water tap that has both Chinese and Turkish influences.

Islamic Art Conference

I was kind of excited when I heard that there would be an Islamic Art conference in ADM/National Design Centre. I’m intrigued by Islamic Art, especially art in the Islamic Golden Age. In schools and on the national level, we are mostly taught on Western and Asian Art hence I think it’s great that there’s an opportunity to gain greater insight and exposure on other arts and cultures around the world that would help in widening our perspective and knowledge.

I attended the lecture “Transcultural Suits” by Bosnian Austrian artist and architectural historian Azra Akšamija on the 8th of October. Her works explore the role of cultural and religious identity in conflicts, especially in the recent history of the Yugoslavian war and its aftermath. Her main medium is the use of fabric/textile. By designing wearable art, she aims to “link ideas and people across physical and psychological borders, thereby creating shared forms of future heritage to promote cross-cultural empathy”.

Wearable Mosques: The Nomadic Mosque, The Survival Mosque, The Frontier Vest (click on titles to get more info on the works!). I will focus more on The Nomadic Mosque.

The Nomadic Mosque: To explore the various ways of negotiating spatial relationships between Islamic traditions and modernity in the US and Western Europe. Clothes that can be transformed into prayer rugs.It aims to redefine the traditional forms and function of mosques, thus the exploration of the formal limits of mosque architecture. The wearable mosque transcends time and space, allowing users to perform their prayers in other spaces in public or so instead of a mosque.
Dirndlmoschee [Dirndl Dress Mosque] is inspired by the dirndl which is a traditional Austrian dress. This depicts an assimilation of cultures. This prayer piece can accommodate three people. When the water-resistant apron is unfolded into three connected prayer rugs, it resembles a triptych which is a popular format of altar paintings from early Christian art hence once again emphasizing the idea of cross-cultural and religious identities; to highlight the similarities between Islam and Christianity and to suggest the possibility of peace between the two.

One of her recent works is Yarn-dez-vous (2014/15-). It features textiles from the Middle East and US. The jacket unzips into a geometrical elements that form the larger quilt. The term “yarn” refers to threading and on the symbolic level, storytelling (In Homer’s The Odyssey, Penelope performs the traditional feminine role as a weaver, weaving to keep the suitors away until Odysseus returns). The term “rendezvous” refers to a meeting. Together, the art piece combines the stories of individuals from various cultural, historical, and religious backgrounds.

Overall, I find Azra Akšamija’s ideas on wearable art and architecture interesting. It reflects a progressive ideal, to overcome the violent past and suggest a possibility of reunion and people despite differences. It is enlightening and interesting that the lectures include a perspective on Islamic art and Islam in Bosnia, a slight diversion from conventional focus on the Middle East.

13th century illustration depicting a public library in Baghdad, from the Maqamat Hariri. Bibliotheque Nationale de France.

I’ve always been interested in the Islamic Art especially during the Islamic Golden Age (around the 8th-13th century). I even grabbed the opportunity to join GEM Discoverer program to Turkey to witness the majestic beauty of Hagia Sophia, The Blue Mosque, Chora Church, and every other little things 🙂 The idea of interconnection between cultures is not new and modern. It has always existed when people are more concerned with the progress of humanity and its civilization instead of destroying each other due to differences. At the heart of the golden age is the House of Wisdom in Baghdad where scholars from various parts of the world and from different cultural and religious backgrounds come together to learn, exchange ideas and information, and also translate classic works of antiquity (Greek, Roman, Indian, Chinese, Egyptian) that might otherwise be lost into Arabic or Persian (later into Turkish, Hebrew, and Latin). With a new and easier writing system and the introduction of paper (supposedly the art of papermaking was obtained from Chinese prisoners of wars after the Battle of Talas), information could be disseminated all over the empire more effectively. Scholars could translate works, write their own works, and sell books. The Quran and hadith inculcate the importance of education and the pursuit of knowledge hence influencing the intellectuals’ thinking and practice. This thus led to the great success and peak of scientific and engineering discoveries and inventions during that period.

I’ll end this post with a short video clip from 1001 Inventions and the Library of Secrets (2010). Starring Sir Ben Kingsley, it features the history of science and technology in Muslim civilization during the Islamic Golden Age. A group of schoolchildren is assigned to research on the impact of the Middle Ages/Dark Ages on the modern world. Was it really dark? Was Europe really, totally dark and doomed? In Spain, Cordoba is the centre of art and architecture. Aqueducts brought drinkable water into the city and also the improvement of agriculture that yielded crops for the society. As the librarian/Al-Jazari character said, it’s all a matter of PERSPECTIVE. Watch this clip and let it illuminate and enlighten your mind…

4: Allan Sekula / Trade in 16th c.

Allan Sekula mainly employs the medium photography, infusing it into exhibition, film, and books. He claims that the sea is the “forgotten space – out of sight, out of mind”.

Allan Sekula, "Fish Story". — Allan Sekula, “Fish Story”.

People living in cities are too busy occupied with routines and focused on their daily attempts to climb higher the social ladder. Some may take it for granted that products and materials we have today actually travel far and wide by sea from different ports all around the world. The raw resources experienced being cut, hit, heated, sewed, molded, assembled by various skilled laborers all around the world. They are exported, imported, re-exported, and so on. The exchange of goods and services (Oh, the exploitation of cheap labor and neo-colonialism). The economy – capitalist economy, to be precise.

Sekula argues that international trade, globalization, and everything else that contributes to capitalism throw the world out of balance. In the pursuit of striving greater efficiency and economy success to support our culture of materialism and consumerism, we are usually blinded by the exploitation and increasing inequality between the different worlds in our social reality. Are we forever trapped and enslaved by a system we’ve constructed and followed after all these years? Can we ever escape? Can we create or adopt an alternative that is entirely free of corruption and exploitation? Will the system, or life in general, be completely balanced and just to all? Or are we all slaves, serving both the bigger powers and our own self-interests?

The 16th century – the Age of Discovery… for the Europeans. They traveled in search for new trading routes to the East Indies so as to provide for the growing capitalism in Europe. They wanted to gain wealth by possessing gold, silver, salt, and spices (Oh! and slaves). From the 8th to the 15th century, the Republic of Venice monopolized the spice trade between Europe and the Middle-east. The spices were imported from Africa and Asia.

The Portuguese challenged and dominated Venice by exploring Africa and Asia by sea. Henry the Navigator commissioned sailors to search the path to the Indian Ocean to gain control over spice trade and also to find Prestor John, a legendary king and patriarch that rules over a “Nestorian” (Church of the East), so that he would attain help in the Crusade. The mission was both gold and God (Christianity). Vasco da Gama made it around Africa and across the Indian Ocean to Calicut, on the Malabar Coast. The wealth of the Indies was opened for Europeans to explore and exploit – thus allowing the growth of Portugal’s economy. However, there was tension between the Arab merchants and Portuguese traders in Calicut. The latter were later expelled after the Calicut Massacre. They sought refuge in Cochin. This led to the war between Calicut and Cochin, war between Calicut and the Portuguese, and later alliance between the two against Kunjali Marakkar who defied the Zamorin. In the pursuit of wealth and power, many lives were lost. That seems to be fundamental throughout all these years.

A steel engraving from the 1850s, with modern hand coloring - It shows meeting between Vasco da Gama and Zamorin of Calicut. — A steel engraving from the 1850s, with modern hand coloring – It shows meeting between Vasco da Gama and Zamorin of Calicut.

Spanish and Dutch merchants and missionaries began to enter the picture as Portuguese’s power dwindles during 16th century trade by sea routes. Furthermore, Christopher Columbus was ordered to compete with Portugal for the spice trade with Asia. He accidentally landed in the Americas instead of East Indies. That, on the other hand, begins another narrative on the New World in which the evangelical effort went hand-in-hand with colonial conquests.

3: Female Patron of Art

Some may regard Gertrude Stein as the mother and muse of Modernism. She is best known for collecting and developing modernism in both Art and Literature. As an American author and poet, on the other hand, she does not receive recognition and popularity compared to her male counterparts during the era. She was born in America to upper-class Jewish immigrants and later moved to London then Paris with her (art collector, critic, and painter) brother Leo in 1902 and 1903 respectively.

Together they became avant-garde art collectors, investing and buying Gauguins, Cezannes, and Renoirs at Vollard’s Gallery. They opened up their living quarters at 27 rue de Fleurus to hold Saturday evening salons. That was where many minds of Modernism came together to interact and exchange their intellectual and creative ideas. That was where artists and authors such as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Henri Matisse, Ezra Pound, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson frequented. That was also where Stein recounted a story and said to Hemingway: “That is what you are. That’s what you all are … all of you young people who served in the war. You are a lost generation.” Writers that usually come to mind when we think of the Lost Generation are Hemingway, Fitzgerald and T.S. Eliot. Stein was particularly close to Picasso (and Hemingway). She sat for a portrait by Picasso whom had never had anyone pose for him since he was 16. He was then 24 and Stein had never thought of having her portrait painted. When someone commented that Stein didn’t look like her portrait, Picasso replied, “She will”.

Gertrude Stein sitting on a sofa in her Paris studio, with a portrait of her by Pablo Picasso, and other modern art paintings hanging on the wall behind her. May 1930.

The relationship between women and patronage has existed for centuries despite many silences in documents regarding women’s role in the arts. Traditional patronage conventionally belonged to the middle-upper class domains as they own wealth and resources to commission art works. Compared to traditional female patrons of art, I believe Gertrude Stein is more active in her engagement with art and artists. Besides recognizing and collecting avant-garde pieces, she attempts to build her own literary career. She experimented with language and linguistic conventions, typical of other Modernist writers. Some may regard it as incoherent and unimportant, yet she has participated and contributed her part to modernist literature. Some may also argue about her political affiliations as they regard her ability to survive the war with her possessions intact suspicious despite her being a Jewish under Nazi Germany’s occupation in France. They claimed that Stein was protected by her friend Bernard Fay who was a Vichy collaborator (a regime responsible for the deportation of Jews to concentration camps). Should we critically view an artist distinct or connected to their political affiliations? That is a debate that will go on seemingly forever.

2: African Ivories

Africa is not a country, it is a continent. There is a problem of image and perception when many people conflate Africa into a single country. There are 54 internationally recognized countries and people of diverse cultures, languages, religions, and ethnicity. The way we think, talk, teach, and report news about Africa in the media should change. Africa is immensely huge that it could fit in the USA, China, India, Europe combined! This image by German software and graphical user interface designer Kai Krause serves to change how we think – Africa is immense, much larger than what we thought.

"The True Size of Africa". A small contribution in the fight against rampaint Immappancy, by Kai Krause — “The True Size of Africa”. A small contribution in the fight against rampaint Immappancy, by Kai Krause

Many westerners claim that Africa had only an oral tradition and non-literate culture – that Africa had no written history, literature, and philosophy. A different truth is emerging, thus the rewriting African history – The discovery of manuscripts in Timbuktu, Mali. The majority of the manuscripts were written in Arabic and the dates ranged between late 13th to early 20th centuries. From the National Geographic:

“Since the 12th century, accompanying the camel caravans rode the intrepid scholars of Islamic learning, bringing with them over time hundreds of thousands of manuscripts. These bound texts highlighted the great teachings of Islam during the Middle Ages. These sacred manuscripts covered an array of subjects: astronomy, medicine, mathematics, chemistry, judicial law, government, and Islamic conflict resolution. Islamic study during this period of human history, when the intellectual evolution had stalled in the rest of Europe, was growing, evolving, and breaking new ground in the fields of science, mathematics, astronomy, law, and philosophy within the Muslim world.”

Furthermore… “With the pressures of poverty, a series of droughts, and a tribal Tureg rebellion in Mali that lasted over ten years, the manuscripts continue to disappear into the black market, where they are illegally sold to private and university collections in Europe and the United States.” This reveals another face of neocolonialism as Western nations demand and buy these manuscripts. Perhaps their excuse will be – for the safety and security of the books against the threat at home.

Throughout history, Africa has been colonized, its resources have been plundered, many of their languages are extinct/dying out, etc. In this post, I will focus more on the trade of African ivories. The problem of ivory is not a new phenomena despite it being undeniably a global problem now. During the late 15th/early 16th century, Afro-Portuguese ivories were transported from West Coast Africa to Europe. The Portuguese wanted to gain greater wealth (gold and ivory in Africa) and also to secure a route to India for salt and spices. Portugal’s extended contact with Islam during the medieval period (al-Andalus) provided the people with math knowledge and sailing techniques. The knowledge and skills in sea navigation and maritime technology led to their success in exploring Africa.

Afro-Portuguese ivories reflect both indigenous African and Renaissance Europe aesthetic and cultural elements. The ivories were carved into salt-cellars, spoons,pyx, oliphants (side-blow horns), etc. They were intended for the patrons of Portugal’s voyages. It should be noted that the Portuguese were not the first to obtain ivory from Africa into Europe. For more information on the power of ivory throughout the ages, do take a look at “Ivory’s Ghosts: The White Gold of History and the Fate of the Elephants” by John Walker.

2009-03-28-ivorysghosts1 — “Ivory’s Ghosts” by John Frederick Walker.

It should not be that much of a surprise finding Christian religious imagery of the Mary and Child on the ivories as Christianity in Africa started ages back in the middle of the 1st century. The conquest of North Africa by the Islamic Umayyad Caliphate ended Catholicism for several centuries (it still persisted in several regions!). Christianity came to Sub-Saharan Africa with the arrival of the Portuguese in the 15th century, and from then on the increase in Christian missionaries and colonialism in Africa. Other early ivories in Europe from Africa would be the Byzantine ivories. Majority were transported via Egypt from East Africa into Constantinople.

Salt-cellar with the Virgin and Child. From Benin, probably 16th century.

h2_17.190.103 — “Icon with the Virgin and Child”. Carved mid–10th–11th century Byzantine; Probably made in Constantinople

In the 15th century, many elephants were disappearing from along the West Coast of Africa due to over-hunting and relentless demand. Similarly, African elephants could be extinct within a decade. Today, we are facing a huge problem with illegal poaching and trade of ivory around the world. One of the main roots of this problem is the relationship between ivory and ammunition. Terrorist groups such as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) led by Joseph Kony killed elephants for ivory that serves as finance for their fighting. They trade ivory for arms, sugar, salt, etc. Click here to follow the interactive map: “Tracking the Illegal Tusk Trade” by National Geographic.

Trade in ivory helps bankroll the Lord Resistance Army (LRA), infamous for killings and abductions in east and central Africa. Former LRA child conscript Michael Oryem says he poached and hide ivory: Once he escaped, he led U.S. and Ugandan forces to a cache. — Trade in ivory helps bankroll the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), infamous for killings and abductions in east and central Africa. Former LRA child conscript Michael Oryem says he poached and hide ivory: Once he escaped, he led U.S. and Ugandan forces to a cache. (National Geographic)

Ivory, or white gold, has always been associated to religious imagery. Beautiful, pure, and sacred. How can we ignore the reality of the slaughter and near extinction of wildlife animals, how can we ignore the killings and exploitation of the African victims in the hands of rebel groups surviving mainly due to their dependence on the ivory trade?

1: What is Art?

As seen throughout history, art has always been a part of human civilization and humanity. Art is the expression of the human mind and soul. Everyone has a story to tell, in various different forms and mediums. Be it to the public, or for their own private self.

Art reveals the desperation and suffering of the human soul. It also reveals the desires repressed within, longing to be expressed and heard. One turns to art in the moment of sorrow, grief, and depression. Some may reject the notion of baring one’s self to the others whom are deemed as unsympathetic to one’s own predicaments, caught up in their own chase and chaos that is life. But yet these art reveal the hurt inflicted to their hearts and souls that yearn to be known, felt, and understood. We feel for the artists, and for ourselves.

The Absinthe Drinker by Viktor Oliva (1861–1928)

On 23 August 2015 it was reported that the temple of Baal Shamin, one of the best-preserved and most unique buildings on the site, had been levelled by explosives.

Palmyra is not just a spectacular archaeological site, beautifully preserved, excavated and curated.’ Photograph: Christophe Charon/AFP/Getty Images

Art is when the heart breaks, listening and watching the destruction of history and cultures of the ancient world. To whom do we turn to when confronted with the ignorant and murderers of art and humanity? We have seen the efforts and victories of the Monuments Men against Nazi Germany during World War II. Today, we are faced with ISIS’s use of social media to explicitly document and portray their acts of destruction. They have distorted and corrupted art/culture into weapons of war. How do we go on rescuing the victims, saving our humanity, and preserving the past for the present and the future?

A caravan passes through the ruins of Palymra in the 1930s. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Come and take a look at o ne artist’s mi ssion to 3D-print the artifacts that ISIS destroyed. Yes, it may not be the same or authentic yet it is something. There is hope when the technologies we’ve invented are utilized in a way that save us instead of destroy us.

Art is an attempt at immortality. Ars longa, vita brevis. Art is long, life is short.