Oslo Urbano

Stomp

Urban Aesthetics 2

subway noise

Urban Aesthetics

aguas subterráneas

International Week Presentation

...more photos?...click on the picture above

Arts & Crafts -Transformation of a daily life object -

IKM internasjonal kultursenter og museum

“IKM´s ambition is to promote respect and understanding for cultural diversity. We collect, document and communicate knowledge focusing on immigration history and cultural changes in the Norwegian society. IKM aims to present a wide variety of visual art and cultural traditions. We offer an arena for artists and performers, and a meeting place for professionals and citizens concerned with cultural diversity. Many of our exhibitions can be booked as touring exhibitions. IKM’s activities are of relevance to everyone living in and caring about modern society. The younger part of the population is our primary target group.”

Visiting the IKM opened a lot of questions in my mind, how do we think about immigrants and how much of it are preconceived ideas, how do we integrate minorities, how do we want our society to be… I grew up as an immigrant, and I know by experience how difficult the process of integration can be, … so how can educators contribute in this process?

I took the photo above, in May during an event in Furuset (located in the east side of Oslo), area were many immigrants (mostly from Pakistan) live. The event was called “Summerfest” and organized by the family center of the area. There are many initiatives from this center and the school to try to integrate these children and their families.

I believe that this kind of events are very important and significant, people are there sharing food, music, dancing, watching different cultural expressions from different countries, and the most important thing, accepting these cultural differences and respecting them.

But of course there is always a lot more than can be done and improved, ...a lot to think about....

Kastellet school

Fairy Tales

ABOUT KOREAN FOLK AND FAIRY TALES

Korean folk and fairy tales reflect values, thoughts and beliefs that have guided ordinary people’s lives generation after generation for many a century. Their beliefs and thoughts about nature, about the relationship between man and nature; their beliefs about this world and the hereafter; their beliefs and values about human relationships within family, a clan, a close-knit community and a rigidly hierarchical society as a whole- these are reflected in many folktales as well as in the actual life styles of Korean people. …
(Korean Folk)tales commend, for example, justice and fairness, particularly in dealing with the politically weak and powerless, and correlatively deprecate cruelty, in justice and meanness. There is the idea of ultimate retribution by the Ultimate Being, the Heaven. Stories also powerfully depict appreciation of love and respect, particularly between parents and children: parents’ selfless sacrifice and devotion for the welfare of their children, and children’s filiality and respect for their parents. Love, honor and trust between friends are unmistakably emphasized. Stories evoke other moral emotions by incitements and appreciation of heroic deeds: selfless, courageous fighting for the good and eventual triumph of good over evil and meanness. Humility is a virtue that is emphasized in many a story, acknowledging human limitations and weaknesses, both epistemological and moral.

(Excerpts from the “Introduction to Korean Folklore")

The Rabbit's Judgment

Long, long ago, when plants and animals talked, a tiger fell into a deep pit while roaming through the forest in search of food. He called for help but none came...

(to read full story, click on the picture)

Aesthetics in Nature

We went on a trip to Fetsund Lenser - National Heritage Site, The Timber Floating Museum and The Northern Øyeren Natureinformation Centre –

The experience was certainly overwhelming, with a wonderful landscape and a very interesting history behind it, but was it an aesthetic experience? …. What is an aesthetic experience?
If we stick to the definition of "that which appeals to the senses", it certainly was very pleasing to many of my senses,…but couldn’t that be just a very “nice and relaxing experience”?... When and why do we call it “aesthetic”?

If we think about cooking, for instance, some people will say that it’s with no doubt an aesthetic experience, but for others will be just something we do because we need to eat. I think that it is not so simple to define this when we talk about daily life situations, because the border line becomes very thin and ambiguous. Maybe if one cooks just to fulfill a basic need of one’s body, it’s just that, cooking and eating because otherwise we would die, but when we cook thinking about making it into something more than just “food”, when we think about the ingredients to make it tastier, mixing different spices and colors , then we are making the basic action of cooking and eating into something else, into an aesthetic experience. We are adding an extra value to the process of cooking, we are not anymore fulfilling just a basic need, but giving stimulation (we don’t necessarily need) to our senses.

So going back to the nature, maybe it is an aesthetic experience depending on the meaning each one of us give to it, in the way we enjoy it and realize what we are feeling, when we do something with the basic stimulation the nature give us, for instance, taking a photograph, making a poem, thinking about it, about its purpose and meaning, …maybe then it becomes an aesthetics experience of daily life, …because if there is no reflexion there is no understanding, and then it becomes meaningless, and maybe that is what is all about, …maybe not, …I must think about it some more….