Evolutionary fashion

This morning I read an article on 'The Daily Beast' titled: 'Fashion's Arab Spring' about my favorite designer of the moment, Haider Ackermann. I read more about him and his life. And then I understood why I feel such resonance with him. He was born in Colombia (where I grew up for several years of my childhood, in Bogota), and he was brought up by French parents, and then proceeded to live all over the place. My parents weren't French, my father Dutch and my mother English, but we did live all over the place, including Iran. (this is back in the fifties!) So I have things in common with his background. But apart from that, I am an advocate of being free to be who you are, 

and enjoying your beauty and sensuality.

His work is about freedom. Freedom to envelope your body in beautiful draping fabrics, freedom to be feminine without having to display your body packaged and bound up so tight, layers of stiffening and hype, your flesh sort of squeezes out of the gaps, and you can't breathe, you can't walk properly, because you should done have a course on stilt walking before wearing those shoes, which may make you feel tall and powerful, but compromise your back, and your natural rhythm, and actually disconnect you from your real power, that of being a woman standing on Earth now, in these times. How can this be 'cool' or 'hot'? You're not free to just enjoy and revel in the beauty of being in a feminine body, who's natural rhythm is like that of nature, sensual and gracefully shifting between spaces, the senses alive and open.

Oh Siena..a place so filled with Soul.
 It's very hard to describe what goes on that makes you feel like you're being held and fed with some Earthy nectar.
And the pictures don't convey it. The only problem was all the other thousands who were there just like us. But it still wove its magic..

Art on MoMA´s Floor in New York City

Art on MoMA´s Floor in New York City
Originally uploaded by nahkahousu

I was just hankering for New York when I woke up this morning..really one of my favourite cities. I found this photo, which gave me a sense of what it is I love about it. Art and its dialectic are just part of everyday life there. It doesn't always manifest in things which are to your taste, but nevertheless, it is always present in one form or another. I love MoMa, I always head straight there, and cry in front of the Matisse painting: 'The Dance'.

Lembongan

Our first morning in Lembongan (a small island off the East coast of Bali) was dramatic. Apparently every two years they have mass cremation ceremonies for all those who have died during that period. The bodies are exhumed and depending on the economic status of the families, various kinds of elaborate ceremonies are held. Relatives from all over Indonesia and Borneo come to Lembongan for these important ceremonies. That morning was the day after the last day, and all the relatives were going home. It was six a.m., and we thought (in our ignorance) that they were all going home after partying all night. You could clearly hear all the garrulous chatter, over the sound of the waves and boat engines.

the dancing light

I took this picture when we were in Koh Samui the year before last. I still look at it alot, because of the dancing light, and the pattern created by the relationship between the girl and her dog. The dog was leaping up into the air for the ball. The light was dusk, and the air was thick with the scent of spices and frangipani, and that moist warmth which makes every cell in your body surrender.