Egrang

These two children in Indonesia are playing the game of Egrang.

Egrang is one of the traditional games in Indonesia. It is a game played on Stilts. In Indonesia it is usually played or competed during the commemoration of the independence day proclamation of Indonesia, August 17.

Thank you Ika Maria for this pretty card.

The International Building Exhibition Berlin

The International Building Exhibition Berlin (IBA Berlin) was an urban renewal project in Berlin, Germany. Initiated in 1979, it was completed in 1987, matching the 750th anniversary of the founding of Berlin. The IBA followed two distinct strategies: "careful urban renewal" and "critical reconstruction."

In 1979 Josef Paul Kleihues was appointed director of the IBA. He organised the exhibition along two distinct themes:IBA Alt aimed to explore methods of "careful urban renewal" and IBA Neu for experimenting "critical reconstruction." He invited many international architects including Peter Eisenman, Vittorio Gregotti, Herman Hertzberger, Hans Hollein, Arata Isozaki, Rob Krier, Aldo Rossi and James Stirling. Consequently the IBA was called by Time magazine "the most ambitious showcase of world architecture in this generation".

Thank you Merja for this interesting maxicard issued in Berlin in 1987.         

M/aux Astrid

"ASTRID" is a traditional English
sailing vessel, crewed by experienced sailors well 
acquainted with the Finnish archipelago. 

The ship is fitted discreetly with all conveniences needed for Both work and leisure. ASTRID's  galley too is equipped to satisfy the demands of all.

Thank you Merja for this pretty card. 

Pobeda” Theatre

“Pobeda” (Victory in English) Theatre in Novosibirsk, Ukraine. The stately building with columns erected in 1950s was carefully restored in the beginning of 2000s. Now it's the most popular theater in the city. The building has remarkable architecture and interior design, combining hi-tech with Stalin era. This is the place where you can watch art-house movies and films from festival programs. “Pobeda” often hosts first screenings and celebrity events.

Thank you Yulliana for this nice card.

100th anniversary of the Finnish artist and writer behind the Moomins

Tove Jansson, world-famous for the Moomins, was a versatile artist who completed many paintings, works of graphic arts and public works of art during her career. In addition to the Moomin books, she received recognition for her short stories and novels. Tove Jansson was a prolific artist whose career started in the 1930s and continued long into the 1990s.

An experimental artist and a writer with an eye for details. As an artist, Jansson mastered many techniques and held exhibitions that took her art into new and sometimes experimental directions. In addition to paintings, her works include a lot of works of graphic arts and public works of art from murals to mosaics. Throughout her life, open-mindedness and the pursuit of freedom were among Tove Jansson's strengths.

Tove Jansson also became known as a writer who put her mind to writing with the utmost meticulousness. Her short stories and novels are known for minimalistic narration and careful composition.

The Moomins remain popular from generation to generation. The first time Jansson drew the Moomintroll character it was for Garm, a liberal and satirical magazine that sniped at the world of global leaders during the Second World War.  The Moomins and the Great Flood, published in 1945, was the first in a series of books that became the most visible and best-known part of Tove Jansson's career. The third Moomin book, Finn Family Moomintroll, was published in 1948 and increased Jansson's fame outside Finland and Sweden.

In the 1950s, Tove Jansson started to draw and write a Moomin comic strip for the most widely read evening newspaper in the world, Evening News, which was published in London. Soon the comic strip was read in more than 20 countries.

The popularity of the Moomins has continued from generation to generation. The Moomin books have been translated into more than 30 languages and the Moomins have become familiar figures on television, in films, on theatre stages and in opera, too.

Thank you Ella for these lovely maxi cards depicting one of my favourite author and artist and the other showing the popular characters she created.

St. Anne's Church in Vilnius

St. Anne's Church is a Roman Catholic church in Vilnius’ Old Town, on the right bank of theVilnia River. It is a prominent example of both Flamboyant Gothic and Brick Gothic styles. St. Anne's is a prominent landmark in the Old Town of Vilnius that enabled the district to be included in the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

The first church at this site, constructed of wood, was built for Anna, Grand Duchess of Lithuania, the first wife of Vytautas the Great. Originally intended for the use of Catholic Germans and other visiting Catholics, it was destroyed by a fire in 1419. The present brick church was constructed on the initiative of Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander in 1495–1500; the exterior of the church has remained almost unchanged since then. A reconstruction of the church, funded by Mikołaj "the Black" Radziwiłł and Jerzy Radziwiłł, was carried out following severe fire damage, in 1582. Abraomas Kulvietis preached in the church between 1538 and 1541. In 1747, the church underwent a repair under supervision of Johann Christoph Glaubitz. In 1762, side arches of the main portal were hidden in order to strengthen the support for the facade.

According to a well-known legend, Emperor Napoleon, after seeing the church during the Franco-Russian War in 1812, expressed a wish to carry the church home with him to Paris 'in the palm of his hand'. The church was renovated in 1902–1909 when the side arches were uncovered and the walls were strengthened with iron and again in 1960–1970 when the towers in bad shape were restored. On August 23, 1987 the Lithuanian Freedom League held a rally in a square near the church and the monument of Adam Mickiewicz to protest the ongoing Soviet occupation, which was broken up by the militia. Most recent reconstruction followed in 2009: the roofing was replaced, facade elements were reinforced and long-missing side spires were rebuilt.

Thank you Merja for this lovely card.

Chinese Calligraphy

Chinese calligraphy is a form of calligraphy widely practiced and revered in the Chinese cultural sphere, which often includes Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, China, and Japan. The calligraphic tradition of East Asia originated and developed from China. There is a general standardization of the various styles of calligraphy in this tradition. Chinese calligraphy and ink and wash painting are closely related, since they are accomplished using similar tools and techniques. Chinese painting and calligraphy distinguish themselves from other cultural arts because they emphasize motion and are charged with dynamic life. According to Stanley-Baker, "Calligraphy is sheer life experienced through energy in motion that is registered as traces on silk or paper, with time and rhythm in shifting space its main ingredients." Calligraphy has also led to the development of many forms of art in China, including seal carving, ornate paperweights, and ink stones.

In Ancient China Chinese characters can be retraced to 4000 BC signs (Lu & Aiken 2004). The contemporary Chinese characters set principles were already visible in ancient China's Jiǎgǔwén characters carved on ox scapulas and tortoise plastrons around 14th - 11th century BCE (Lu & Aiken 2004). Brush-written examples decay over time and have not survived. During the divination ceremony, after the cracks were made, characters were written with a brush on the shell or bone to be later carved.(Keightley, 1978). With the development of Jīnwén (Bronzeware script) and Dàzhuàn (Large Seal Script) "cursive" signs continued. Moreover, each archaic kingdom of current China had its own set of characters. Running Script (Xing Shu), a calligraphy style that is semi-regular and semi-cursive, originated in the Han Dynasty (206B.C.-A.D.220).

And the theme of the two stamps on these two maxicards is Poems composed during the Cold Food Festival in Huangzhou.

Thank you Merja.