Sailing to Skye ~ Music : Skye Boat Song (Traditional Scottish arr D Reiter) by Healing Muses | Magnatune (id 1110030198116) ~ Film : 20200811 Michel van der Burg | Miracles.Media ~ Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0
Imaging the Other , Imagining Danger. How are “others” depicted? Are stereotypes necessary or dangerous? Does the comparison with contemporary cartoons hold up?
Quote :
“The Image of the Other wants to dwell on the image of the ‘Other’ : ‘the Black’, ‘the Jew’ , ‘the Turk’ , ‘the Heretic’. Examples from the Flemish and Dutch religious art from around 1450 – 1750 reflects this perception.
In art , the ‘Other’ is often stereotyped. Works of medieval or renaissance now give us the impression of being racist or discriminatory. But what about our newspapers and advertisements” Are they doing so much better?
The way in which the ‘Other’ is imagined should better not be underestimated as this could lead to serious consequences. For example, certain stereotypical views remain for decades and these biases can be part of our overall imaging. This process can even develop into structural racism. In that sense, there is a certain danger in the images of the other from the past. So we are quite critical of the thousands of images that we see every day.” — Quote from the installation ‘DE ANDERE VERBEELD / VERBEELD GEVAAR’ (The Image of the Other / Imaginary Danger) by ORBIT.
With this exhibition ORBIT wants to critically analyze our view of “the other”, past and present. ORBIT not only wants to dwell on the portrayal of ‘the other’ in Christian art, but also wants to dwell on today’s portrayal in the media. How are “others” depicted? Are stereotypes necessary or dangerous?
Thanks to Karen Wyckmans , Heritage Project Coordinator | Project “De Andere Verbeeld” (The Image of the Other) | ORBIT – http://www.orbitvzw.be . More info at site https://deandereverbeeld.wordpress.com .
Thanks also to priest Daniel Alliët – host of both the expo and the concurrent Afghan Refugee Camp (March 2014) in the Brussels Beguinage Church (Saint John the Baptist at the Béguinage – Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste au Grand Béguinage ) – now House of Compassion – http://www.houseofcompassion.brussels .
In the background sound of the Afghan Refugee Camp and the Béguinage church pipe organ played during music lessons by Félix Snyers and student.
From the Beguinage Project by Kristen Cattell (USA) and Michel van der Burg (Holland).
Film : Image The Other | 20200801 | Michel van der Burg | michelvanderburg.com | miracles.media
We thank Samir Hamdard and the other Afghan refugee friends who welcomed us and gave the interviews (note : full report of the other interviews in a follow-up later). Special thanks to Isabelle Marchal and others whose works were on display in the church and are shown in this film. Félix Snyers on the Béguinage church pipe organ.
Special thanks also to priest Daniel Alliët – host of the camp – who when retiring in 2019 started a new life for the church as House of Compassion – officially March 21 , 2020 – @houseofcompassionbrussels – http://www.houseofcompassion.brussels .
More about the Beguinage Project here http://bit.ly/1HZguvY and here https://michelvanderburg.com/?s=Beguinage
Reportage by Kristen Cattell (USA) and Michel van der Burg (Holland) | Beguinage Project .
Film : Samir Hamdard ~ Afghan Refugee Camp Brussels Beguinage Church | 20200729 | Michel van der Burg | michelvanderburg.com | miracles.media
Encounter ~
We were unaware of the MH17 crashing at that very moment far away in Ukraine , while my wife and I – cycling on the dutch island Terschelling – had that strange accidental encounter at the crossing of winding bicycle paths in the middle of the woods of West-Terschelling , where we came across family – our (grand)children – also touring there by bike.
Crash ~
The MH17 Malaysia Airlines’ Boeing 777-200 plane crashed after being hit by a Russian-made Buk missile over Ukraine, near the Ukrainian- Russian border. All 298 occupants (including ~ 200 dutch) were killed.
Feathers on our path ~
Next , an hour later – the first picture I made were these feathers on our path at Terschelling.
Crash ~ Music : Europa by Yehezkel Raz | Artlist ~ Film : 20200718 Michel van der Burg | 1-memo.com | miracles.media
NOTE – additional explanation:
The confluence concerns 2 matters:
1) a completely unexpected meeting in the middle of the forest with family .. which in retrospect turns out to have taken place at the time of the crash (image of that meeting here in slow motion as a ‘strip’); and
2) the first photo I took shortly thereafter – of bird feathers on the ground – could in retrospect symbolize a crash …
