GEORGE THE SCULPTOR

FRANCE:THE GEORGE ARTS IN TOURRETTES- SUR- LOUP-2014

George, the Sculptor, is graduated from The Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts in Lyon: Diplome de L’Ecole National des Beaux-Arts de Lyon (D.N.S.E.P.) and Diplome National Superieur d’Expressions Plastiques (1992).

The old village: Tourrettes-Sur Loup

Optical art and communication were subjects chosen by George.  But, who is George? I don’t know. She has studied and worked in Spain and Italy. As far as I know, after much research work, she is an attractive French lady who creates wounderful sculptures of nude ladies who  are put into strange situations. I am fascinated by the sculpturs made by the secret French lady, George. It is not often I am viewing in public a nude woman who is making an attempt balancing on a chair with a birdcage on her head ( Equi-Libre 2010).  Strange, attractive and complicated: Balancing nude on a chair with a birdcage on your head. Make an attempt, yourself, but do not forget to take off your clothes

. George works reflects dreams, secret dreams, wanted or not wanted and above all: Sensual dreams. Two of her sculpturs are to be found in an old medieval village situated between Nice and Cannes: Tourrettes- Sur- Loup. A charming village from year 1024. In 1347 the fief( land held from a feudal lord) of the village was put under feudal control of the ”  Bastard of Vence ”: Guichard Villeneuve. From the 14th century to 1789, the commune remained part of the Seigneurie des Villeneuve. I recommend you to pay  the village a visit in order to view the works of the George Arts. Besides, you find three splendid restaurantes in the village and a small library too. I paid the village a visit in March 2014. The bronze sculptures which are set up in the village for public viewing, fascinated me. But- who made them all? Who is George? Born in France in year 1966. She wants attention, much attention, but only in connection with her work- so far.

THE PYRAMIDS OF GUIMAR:THE WORK OF THOR HEYERDAHL AND FRED OLSEN-THE ETHNOGRAPHIC PARK

It was a must to go to the Pyramids at the town of Guimar on the Canary Islands, Tenerife, staying on the island as a Norwegian tourist. The life of Thor Heyerdahl is known to most of my generation –born after the Second World War. The Pyramids of Guimar was worth a visit. Six rectangular pyramids are built from lava stones located in the district of Chacona, part of the town of Guimar.Dr. Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) was a Norwegian explorer, ethnographer,adventurer, with background in biology, zoology and geography

. He became aware of the ” Canarian Pyramids ” by reading an article in a newspaper. The article was written by Francisco Padron in the Tenerife newspaper ” Diarode Avisos ”. Thor Heyerdahl was of the opinion that the Canarian pyramids formed a temporal and geographic stopping point on voyages between ancient Egypt and the Maya civilization in Central America. The park contents a modern information centre, a cinema, an exhibition of the life and work of Thor Heyerdahl, models of his boats, a replica of RAII. The park is accessible to the public.

The making of the park was made possible due to the support from the Norwegian ship owner and businessman, Fred Olsen. Thor Heyerdal and Fred Olsen were close friends for years. But who is Fred Olsen, you may ask? What is his connection to the Canary Islands?

Fred Olsen is recognised as one of the greatest entrepreneurial brains of our time. He is the president of the Fred Olsen Group. A former art student and sailor with no academic education as far as I know. He is the fourth generation of the family to head the firm. The company is a major employer and investor in the islands with Fred Olsen Express, Fred Olsen shipping, Hotel Jardin Tecina, Tecina Golf, Pueblo Don Thomas ,and Restaurante Las Rostas- so far the official reports available for the moment. And above all: Transport of banans from the Canary Islands since 1904.  The Fred Olsen Group is also involved in underwater drilling, marine water transport, renewable energies, properties, risk capital management and computer technology.

Thor Heyerdahl could not get a better friend ! Fred Olsen came to Tenerife in 1949 for the first time as  ” an ordinary seaman ”.

The local farmers and  local academics were of the opinion that the rocks of the pyramids were rocks left over from the farmers cleaning out fields for agriculture. Both Thor Heyerdahl and Fred Olsen disagreed with the local farmers at the town of Guimar.

The Pyramids of Guimar was founded in 1998. I recommend you to pay the park a visit next time you go to Tenerife.

BORN TO MAKE THE WORLD BETTER: HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE MAHIDOL OF SIAM

If you are busy making an attempt to challenge your personal  courage in competitions with young teenagers sliding from the top of towers in the SIAM Park on Adeje coast, you will not see him at all. The sculpture of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Songla is a moderst sculpture and a small one too.

The sculpture is situated in the SIAM park surrounded by trees and flowers. He is not a dominating person. I passed him many times before I descovered the sculpture of the late Prince from Thailand.The encounter with the Prince was a wake up call for me. I had no knowledge of the man and his life at all. Later on, I found information about him. He was born on January 1, 1891 in SIAM(Thailand) and he died in year 1929. He paid a visit to Tenerife in 1913. The impression of the island of the Prince was overwhelming – intoxicating. He wrote about Tenerife in his dairy. The result of the visit of the Prince to Tenerife was the building of SIAM park. The SIAM Park is a copy of a village in Thailand. The park is made for children and families to have fun playing with water in water. The activities in the park are many. But you may enjoy a the park without taking part in the activities. ” … Prince Mahidol was born to make the world a better place …” –the statement was made by Professor A.G.Ellis, a former Dean of Siriraj Medical School. The Prince left his military career to get a medical education. He enrolled at Havard University in United States. In 1921 he obtained his Certificate of Public Health and a Doctorate in Medicine in 1928. The former lieutenant in the Royal Thai Navy and the Imperial German Navy had gone ashore once and for all to work for the sick and the poor.A farewell to the arms, so to speak. Prince Mahidol decided to serve as a resident doctor at McCormick Hospital in Chiang Mai in Thailand. Prince Mahidol was honoured with the title ” Father of Modern Medicine and Public Health of Thailand ” due to his work to improve the medicine and publich health in Thailand.

The American missionary hospital in Chiang Mai in Thailand became his working place for only three months. But he could not help himself with his own disease. A fatal kidney disease made him pass away in 1929. The nation mourned a great man’s death at the age of only 37 years.

When you pay the park a visit make a pause at the sculpture of the Prince who was here in 1913, and pay respect for the late Prince who wanted to make the world a better one to live in.

ART HUNTING

ART HUNTING – SCULPTURES IN OPEN AIR – FREE VIEWING FOR ALL

The site is Tenerife, the most extensive island of the Canary Islands. On my personal agenda for the visit on the island was hunting of forgotten, lost or undiscovered sculptures set up around the island for public use. The search was very thrilling. Talking to friends are forbidden because you to have to pay attention to buildings, shops, what is on the top of the buildings and the surroundings. You have to wake up even if the hot sun is making you slow down on your private activities. The hunting fields are the coast of Adeje ( Costa Adeje) , old towns, beaches, the national park and the SIAM park located not far from the famous beaches, Los Cristianos and Las Americas. Even if I have been twice to Thailand and also stayed in the city of Chiang Mai, I do not recall all of the  history of Thailand. A nice park is set up on the coast of Adeje: SIAM Park.

The park is an activity park where you can test your courage. Buildings are set up for swimming, boating and high buildings from where you can slide down to a small lake – if you dare. I didn’t dare. Hunting for  historical monuments was more interesting than the challenge of sliding down from a tower among foreign teenagers. I did find one sculpture after searching for a while. His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Siam paid a visit to Tenerife in year 1913. The landscape of the island fascinated the Prince Mahidol of Siam. He wrote about Tenerife in his diary. The building of the SIAM Park was a result of the enthusiastic description of the island in his diary.

I will return to the story of His Royal Highness Prince Mahidol of Siam in another blog.

Let us move from the SIAM Park to the National park on the island: Teide National Park. The park was created in 1954. Teide National Park was declared in 2007 as one of the 12 treasures of Spain. To come to the top of the mountain, the volcano, you had to take a lift. Close to the lift a sculture of Jesus Christ was set up –maybe to calm down the nervous tourists who wanted to go to the top of the vulcano with the lift?

Dr. Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002)  is famous in Norway, but not so much in Sweden. A sculpture of him is set up at the museum of the pyramids at Guimar.

The park was founded in 1998. The Norwegian ship owner, Fred Olsen, has always supported  the work of Thor Heyerdahl .Fred Olsen made it possible to build the park and the museum of the pyramids. Besides, a personal museum of the life of Dr. Thor Heyerdahl  has been made too. Thank you, Fred Olsen! Splendid work!

Searching for art in open air was done on the beaches: Los Cristianos and Las Americas. Take a look at the result.

Tenerife is much more than sun-bathing, drinking good wine and having a splended meal. No.

SAND ART ON THE BEACHES OF TENERIFE

Los Cristianos and Las Americas are famous beaches situated at Adeje, Costa Adeje on the Canary Island, Tenerife. Sun-bathing is popular among the tourists in February because the temperature in the sea is not a temptation – it is too cold for most of the tourists. Sea is sea and some do not care about cold water at all, but not me. Therefore my attention was consentrated on an interesting activity on the mentioned beaches: Sand sculpturing. I am not talking about children who make sand sculptures and buildings for the fun of it. No. I am thinking of professional beach artists who make a living of setting up sand castles, sand sculptures and sand villages. I talked to some of the artists asking questions about the work  on the beach and about which country they came from. I thought they all came from Spain because of the high number of unemployment in Spain. The answer was: Romania , Czech Republic and Slovenia. The sand art is the work of modelling a mixture of sand and water into an artistic form such as sand castles, sand sculptures and sand villages. The artists are working with the constructions from morning to evening . The work is time consuming. You need to be patient to make it. Take a look at the result of the work.

TENERIFE: BIBLIOTECA PUBLICA DE LOS CRISTIANOS- ACCESS TO MOVIES , DOCUMENTARIES AND NORWEGIAN LITERATURE

If you are one of the 12 million tourists who visit the Canary Islands each year to get some sun and outdoor life, I recommend you to take a break from the sun- bathing and  pay the public library on Tenerife a visit. Centro Cultural is a nice building situated at Los Cristianos, Costa Adeje. My interest for the library was not the collection of Spanish books but the collections of movies and documentaries. The library is a nice place to spend some hours away from the beaches, the shops and  tourists. The librarian on duty the very day I visited the library was very proud of the gift of books given to the library. I was surprised to see books of  Norwegian authors like Kjartan Fløgstad, Knut Hamsun, Herbjørg Wassmo and Per Petterson. The books were all translated into Spanish. No pay for the lending of the movies. Free access to movies!The Spanish titles of the Norwegian books are: Kjartan Fløgstad: Paraiso en la tierra, Knut Hamsun: Victoria, Herbjørg Wassmo: La habitacion muda and Per Petterson: Salir a robar caballos. Norwegian tourists who want to stay for some months on the island of Tenerife should take lessions in Spanish and read the Norwegian books and later on Spanish literature too. If you do hiking in the mountain close to Los Cristianos, you get a new eduction in Norwegian dialects only. Therefore you go to the public library, forget your Norwegian language for a while , read Spanish and have a good time. For your information only: The number of inhabitants of Tenerife is about 906,854. The capital is Santa Cruz de Tenerife. Have a good time and view the films if possible- all in Spanish.