Byzantine painting in Macedonia

The church of St. Panteleimon near Skopje was built in 12th century. It was Yugoslavia not so long ago, now the country is called Macedonia and its people speak a Slav language called Macedonian. In the12^th century this was Byzantium and the people spoke a Greek dialect also called Macedonian.

The murals in the church of St. Panteleimon are clearly mediaeval but I haven't found any proper book on the subject (not in a language I would understand, anyway). The paintings are clearly in two very different styles. There are even the same Biblical scenes painted in two different styles. Today they are uncovered and can be seen next to each other but it is quite likely that they were not created at the same time. The paintings with a lot of blue and green colours are supposed to have been painted just after the church was built, in the 12th century and considered to be in what is called 'the linear style'. I haven't found any info about the paintings in yellow-purple colours. They seem to me to be in the so called 'Paleologue style', which was used later (14th century). This style is much more dynamic and expressive. This is just a guess, I am not a specialist in the subject of Greek icon painting.  

The church of St Panteleimon near Skopje

The church of St Panteleimon near Skopje - interior

Murals inside the church of St Panteleimon near Skopje

Transfiguration in linear style

Raising of Lasarus in linear style

Transfiguration in Paleologue style

Raising of Lasarus in Paleologue stule

Agony at Gethsemane in Paleologue style

The flying ships of Gdansk

In the early modern era the city of Gdansk lived off the trade between Poland and the rest of Europe. Especially The Netherlands, a tiny country with the world colonial empire, was partly fed by Poland. Polish grain was carried down the Vistula river to Gdansk and from there in big ships to Amsterdam. The ships were the pride of Gdansk. Their models decorated public buildings in the city. They still do. Today they can be seen floating in the air in Dwor Artusa, the old guildhall of sailors. 
Some of these models are said to be exact copies of actual ships. In reality it was the other way around, the model served as a blueprint for shipbuilders and when the ship was ready, the model was exhibited in the guildhall. There are other models that are not copies of any real ships. Some were built in modern times but based on paintings from the era. One, a model of a Turkish galley, was built by a man who spent some time as a slave on one but later escaped.

Pilioko

Aloi Pilioko is an artist who lives in Vanuatu. He actually comes from the neighbouring archipelago named Tuvalu but now lives in Port Vila. I visited him in his home. Quite interesting interior (and exterior) design there.  

I didn't climb Uluru!

Uluru is a sacred mountain of the Aborigines. They ask visitors not to climb it. Many people climb it anyway. To me it seems comparable to going into a church and sitting on an altar. After all if we don't believe in God then what's the problem? Anyway I think the top of the mountain is the worst place to be because you miss the best sight, which is the mountain itself. The pictures here are from a trail around it. 

Indian boats at Fort Rupert.

Fort Rupert is a little Indian Reservation on the northern tip on Vanouver Island. It shouldn't be confused with Prince Rupert, which is a port town much further north, at the mouth of the Skeena river. 
The boats are not here all the time. In the summer 2014 there was a rally of traditional Indian paddling boats in Bella Bella and the boats from the south passed Fort Rupert on their way and stopped for the night. I happened to be there and thought that the boats on the beach at sunset look pretty photogenic. So I took some pictures and here they are.

An Indian village in British Columbia

Indians of British Columbia in the old days lived in big solid houses built with cedar planks and totem poles marked their entrances. The houses were big enough for several families to live in, with the chief occupying a prominent place richly decorated with sculpture or painting. Nowadays the Indians live like all Canadians in normal houses with a car on a driveway. However, in some places reconstructions of the old style houses have been made for tourists to see. 

 The village of Ksan near the town of Hazelton is such a reconstruction. Nobody lives there, it is an open air museum. It is situated in the upper valley of the Skeena river, in the Canadian Rockies. The totem poles look very picturesque on the background of snowy peaks.

Haida totem poles

Few people realise that totem pole sculpture has several styles, depending on the tribe. The two best documented styles are Kwakiutl and Haida. The Haida are the tribe that lives on what used to be called the Queen Charlotte Islands and is now officially called Haida Gwaii. During the epidemics of 19^th century some 90% of the tribe died out leaving deserted villages full of totem poles. In the humid climate of the islands the villages, including the poles, slowly disintegrated. However, in the 1950s some of those rotting totem poles were taken to museums, where they are kept in dry air to stop any further decay. They can be seen in the Museum of Anthropology in Vancouver and in the Haida Heritage Centre in the village of Skidagate at Haida Gwaii. They are well preserved there but one can also see the totem poles slowly rotting away in the deserted villages.

In the first half of the 20^th century the practice of totem pole carving almost disappeared. It was revived in the second half of the century due to the academic interest at first. In 1965 an art historian Bill Holm published a book about the totem pole carving and clearly identified features of each tribe style. Since then many poles in traditional styles have been produced. They can be seen in parks of many cities of British Columbia. Here, however, are the 19^th century originals preserved in museums. Only the last picture shows a pole left in its natural setting in the deserted village of Skedans.