Art and Culture in the Media #10

HOBBITS IN GRISONS? No fake! A hobbit cave and the world's largest collection of art, literature and collectibles related to Middle Earth, in other words, the land of the little creatures with the hairy feet, are located in Jenins. In this small town in the middle of the domain of Graubünden, located about 20 kilometres from the gates of Chur, Bernd Greisinger is living his passion as a "Lord of the Rings" fan. The reconstructed cave with about 12 show rooms can be admired in a guided tour with tickets booked via the website. 

THE BODY OF THE ARTIST is the main focus of this unusual book. Author Andreas Beyer describes vividly and highly readable artistic painting and clothing styles, eating preferences, but also digestive disorders, alcohol consumption, diseases, dreams, sexual preferences and more of famous Renaissance artists. Sounds also a bit like today's influencers or «gossip»... the unfortunate fact that no female artists appear is due to the fact that outstanding women's vitae are not documented in detail until somewhat later. 

BLACK ART is only gradually being noticed - also in Switzerland. Exhibitions are still dominated by white artists - it is time to finally make up for omissions, which is on the horizon in 2023 in various institutions: from February 25th, the Kunstmuseum St. Gallen will show the first solo exhibition of Tschabalala Self (*1990); also from February 25th, the Kunstmuseum Luzern is showing the African-American artist Betye Saar (*1926) and her reflection on Black identity and the history of racism in the United States. Further announcements will be made in the course of the next months... 

BLACK ART HISTORY, on the other hand, has been curated by Alayo Akinkugbe on Instagram for quite some time. Her account with over 59,000 followers refers to the artistic work of Black artists, curators as well as thinkers from the past and present art history. Her selected and presented work examples from painting, photography, object art or installation as well as book references impressively convey how shamefully one-sided and Eurocentric art and its history has been treated and still is... 

AFRICAN ARTISTS from 1882 to the present brings together the ground-breaking yet surprising book African Artists. More than 300 artists and their works are brought together here, making it the most extensive assessment of contemporary artists born or based in Africa. This outstanding, important, and foundational document contributes with texts and images to redefine and reassess the global history of painting, sculpture, photography, installation, and performance art.