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sábado, 7 de fevereiro de 2015

A Blue Whale Dethrones a Dinosaur as Natural History Museums Embrace Their Research Side

Museum displays are constantly in flux, as institutions choose what identity they want to present to the public. For the London Natural History Museum, the emphasis has been on its scientific research and dedication to the ecology of our contemporary world. Last month, the museum announced it would be replacing the Diplodocus cast skeleton in the main Hintze Hall with a blue whale skeleton by 2017, stating the cetacean was “chosen to reflect the heart of the Museum’s research into the rich biodiversity of Earth and a sustainable future, as well as the origins and evolution of life.”


Dippy’s neck extending from the hall (photo by the author)




















Dippy in the main hall of the Natural History Museum (photo by Allan Henderson, via Flickr) (click to enlarge)

In the days following the announcement, there’s been an uproar among supporters of the dethroned dinosaur, with Dippy, as the Diplodocus is affectionately nicknamed, the subject of a #SaveDippy hashtag, op-eds, and an online petition with, as of now, over 30,800 supporters. The petition argues Dippy has “inspired generations of schoolchildren to look back to the earth’s past and help them think about looking after the planet’s future” and the replacement “would threaten this and lead to many unhappy faces in the UK youth.”

The museum, to its credit, has been active in engaging Dippy supporters on social media, emphasizing in a rebuttal on Twitter that the whale is symbolic of “an active scientific research institution” that “helps shape what happens with the natural world now.” The museum was also careful in its announcement to show numerous archive images of how the main entry hall has changed since it opened in 1881, even including a sperm whale skeleton as one of the earliest displays. Dippy, a cast from Diplodocus bones found in Wyoming in 1899, has presided since 1979, but even he has altered a bit, getting an updated pose for his tail in the 1990s when new research suggested dinosaurs didn’t drag their tails on the ground behind them.

A sperm whale skeleton in Hintze Hall in 1901 (via London Natural History Museum)

Dinosaurs are, and will likely long be, major showpieces for natural history museums — the London NHM in December debuted the world’s most complete Stegosaurus (nicknamed Sophie, as nothing endears a 150 million-year-old creature like a diminutive title). However, more and more museums are emphasizing a public profile of active research. The American Museum of Natural History recently announced plans to build an expansionfocusing on scientific research and connecting its labs to visitors. In 2002, the NHM opened the Darwin Centre that gave new public access to the previously off-limits collections and labs.

By showcasing the blue whale, which is now hard to appreciate in the mammals hall in aMaurizio Cattelan-esque jumble of taxidermy and casts, the museum announces itself from its entrance as devoted to the biodiversity of today. Blue whales — the largest mammal to ever live — are easily as incredible as dinosaurs. Their hearts alone are about the size ofVolkswagen Beetles; they can be louder than a jet engine. They’re also still part of our ecosystem, but a fragile one as their numbers were devastatingly cut down by hunting. Dippy may go on tour, and will surely remain a constant part of the museum as a beloved mascot. The whale, meanwhile, could be a powerful statement on the importance of this endangered species and how the museum is as much a scientific institution of the present as a celebration of the past.

fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://hyperallergic.com/180403/a-blue-whale-dethrones-a-dinosaur-as-natural-history-museums-embrace-their-research-side/

Claude Monet's Le Grand Canal fetches more than $35M at Sotheby's auction

Tuesday's auction raised $280 million US, the highest-ever total for a single sale in London


Sotheby's employees pose with Le Grand Canal, painted by Claude Monet, at Sotheby's preview in London. The art fetched 23.67 million pounds ($35.6 million US) Tuesday at auction though it didn't reach the top of its pre-sale estimate of 20 million pounds to 30 million pounds. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

A Venetian waterscape by Claude Monet has sold for more than $35 million as the high-end art market shows resilience in a bumpy global economy. (All dollar figures are in US currency.) 

Le Grand Canal, fetched 23.67 million pounds ($35.6 million) at Sotheby's, though it didn't reach the top of its pre-sale estimate of 20 million pounds to 30 million pounds.

Monet's Poplars at Giverny, sold by New York's Museum of Modern Art, fetched 10.79 million pounds ($16.2 million).

A woman poses in front of Les Peupliers a Giverny (Poplars at Giverny), painted by Claude Monet, at Sotheby's preview in London. The art piece, sold by New York's Museum of Modern Art, fetched $16.2 million US on Tuesday. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

Tuesday's Impressionist, Modern and Surrealist sale raised 186.44 million pounds ($280 million), the highest-ever total for a single sale in London.

Sotheby's said bidders came from 35 countries. Wealthy collectors from Russia, China and the Middle East have helped buoy prices amid the aftermath of the global financial crisis.

Helena Newman of Sotheby's Impressionist and Modern department said the sale saw "collectors from Asia and Russia asserting themselves as a continued force in the market."

She said it was "a great night for Monet," with five works by the French artist netting a total of 55.7 million pounds ($83.8 million).

Standouts at the sale included Henri Matisse's Odalisque in a Black Armchair, which sold well over its upper estimate at 15.8 million pounds ($23.8 million), and Pablo Picasso's maquette for a steel sculpture that stands outside Chicago's Richard J. Daley Center, which raised 8.9 million pounds ($13.4 million).

Sotheby's employees pose with Odalisque Au Fauteuil Noir (Odalisque in a Black Armchair) painted by Henri Matisse, at Sotheby's preview in London. The art piece sold well over its upper estimate on Feb. 3 fetching $23.8 million US. (Stefan Wermuth/Reuters)

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's In Bed: the Kiss sold for 10.8 million pounds ($16.2 million), the second-highest price ever for the artist.

All the sale prices include a tax known as the buyer's premium.

Sotheby's rival, Christie's, holds its own banner sale Wednesday in London.

fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/claude-monet-s-le-grand-canal-fetches-more-than-35m-at-sotheby-s-auction-1.2944460

Cultura e cozinha brasileira - Carne-de-sol com macaxeira - Receita de Claude Troisgros, do livro Culinária nordestina encontro de mar e sertão.

Perfil da chef francês Claude Troisgros


O encontro dos paladares do sertão e do litoral marca a cozinha típica de oito estados nordestinos. Além do ensaio antropológico de Raul Lody e de um prefácio do chef francês Claude Troisgros, o livro traz 398 receitas de pratos originais e dos famosos doces nordestinos, ricamente ilustradas com fotografias a cores de Humberto Medeiros. Enfocando e associando alguns aspectos da história da região com seus pratos típicos, a obra faz parte da série A Formação da Culinária Brasileira. 






INGREDIENTES
500 g carne de sol
300 ml óleo
3 dentes alho, cortado em lâminas
Para a mandioca:
300 g mandioca
300 ml óleo
Sal a gosto


MODO DE PREPARO

Carne-de-sol:
Deixar a carne-de-sol de molho em água, por duas a três horas, trocando a água algumas vezes
Se a carne estiver muito curada, deixar mais tempo de molho, até perder o sal
Escorrer, passar para uma panela com água e esperar levantar fervura
Escorrer e ferver novamente
Experimentar o sal e cortá-la em cubos
Em uma frigideira, aquecer o óleo
Juntar a carne, deixar dourar e acrescentar o alho
Quando o alho fritar, escorrer todo o óleo e retirar a carne com o alho
Reservar

Macaxeira ( Mandioca ):
Cozinhar a mandioca em água e sal
Escorrer e cortar em cubos
Em uma frigideira, aquecer o óleo, juntar a mandioca e dourá-la de todos os lados
Experimentar o sal
Escorrer a mandioca em papel absorvente, até secar bem

Montagem:
Colocar a carne-de-sol na beirada do prato ou frigideira
No centro, dispor a mandioca frita
Decorar com salsinha picada e com os tufos de salsinha crespa







fonte: @edisonmariotti #edisonmariotti http://www.editorasenacsp.com.br/portal/produto.do?appAction=vwProdutoDetalhe&idProduto=19801

Narodni muzej Slovenije - Welcome to the National Museum of Slovenia!

The National Museum of Slovenia, which was founded by the Carniolan State Parliament on the 15th of October 1821, is the oldest of all Slovenian museum institutions. Its six departments collect, document, preserve, and investigate the mobile cultural heritage of Slovenia and present it to the public. 





Alojzija Napreth; Krajina z gradom; 19. stol.; slika na steklu; 41 x 32,5 cm; N 1522

Thanks to the exceptional educational level of its staff members, the museum also has the status of a research institution, and is involved in several scientific research projects focused on a more detailed study of the Slovenian cultural heritage. The quality of the museum activities in the central national museum depends on the staff and its consultants, with their excellent professional command of their fields and specific areas of specialization. 



Vas; zač. 20. stol.; olje na platnu; 60 x 78 cm; N 9805

Only through such an approach is it possible to present the cultural heritage of Slovenia to the public in a modern, attractive, and popular manner. The museum wishes to illuminate in detail through the presentation of material (in the form of scientific and popular publications and exhibitions) individual segments of the history of present-day Slovenia and make this available to the widest possible public. With the digitalization of material and the construction of an electronic database about the cultural heritage that its preserves, the National Museum of Slovenia has joined similar European institutions that are attempting to enable the broadest possible access to items of the cultural heritage through the use of modern information technology.

Dear visitors to the National Museum of Slovenia, you are invited to attend lectures, to take guided tours with experts, to view the finest objects of the Slovenian heritage that speak of the history of this land throughout all periods, to bring your children to workshops, and to choose for your friends and acquaintances gifts of replicas of some of our monuments, which you can purchase in our museum shop.


FONTE: @EDISONMARIOTTI #EDISONMARIOTTI COLABORAÇÃO Milena Parteli