“There is always a heavy demand for fresh mediocrity. In every generation the least cultivated taste has the largest appetite.” Paul Gauguin By Nina Heyn – Your Culture Scout By all accounts Paul Gauguin was not a nice man. In his quest for artistic expression he abandoned his long-suffering wife and kids, he practically drove…
“Those who fail to learn from history are condemned to repeat it.” Winston Churchill, paraphrasing George Santayana By Nina Heyn – Your Culture Scout Long winter nights are just perfect for plunging into long TV shows brought to your local computer screen by accommodating streaming services. We thought it might be fun to list some…
“Ars longa, vita brevis. Art is long, life is short“- Hippocrates “Life, if well spent, is long” – Leonardo da Vinci By Nina Heyn -Your Culture Scout Imagine a designer whose technical designs remain mostly in the blueprint but never go into technical trials or a production line. Imagine a scientist who has to hide…
“It shouldn’t work. It shouldn’t be magic. You shouldn’t weep happy and then sad and then happy again. But you do. And I do. And we all do.” ― Ray Bradbury, The Cat’s Pajamas By Nina Heyn, Your Culture Scout Foreign black and white movies do not find favor with contemporary American audiences. The 2011 French movie The…
“If someone has to commit a crime in order to survive, society must take a look at itself and ask who the guilty ones really are.” Dr. Chen Zuo Bing, director of Kangfu Medical Center at Beijing University Hospital By Nina Heyn, Your Culture Scout Since Marvel superheros and various American action hits dominate movie…
Sir William Cecil: You must confront the truth, madam. She has a claim to your throne. Queen Elizabeth I: You would have me depose a sister monarch. Sir William Cecil: It is either civil war there, or civil war here. From the 2018 movie “Mary, Queen of Scots” By Nina Heyn, Your Culture Scout The…
“I won’t be a rock star. I will be a legend.” ~Freddie Mercury – front man of Queen By Nina Heyn, Your Culture Scout Every autumn, various big, showpiece movies that start popping up in cinemas with attendant publicity blitz do not have anything in common other than the fact that they have been groomed…
“In opposition to the general pessimism, I set the search for joy, for pleasure.” René Magritte By Nina Heyn, Your Culture Scout The Belgian artist René Magritte made his name as a surrealist in the 1930’s, joining a cultural movement that has been spreading since 1920’s and already included poet Guillaume Apollinaire, who coined the…
“I think people care. If not, why so many people spend money going on vacations to see architecture? They go to see the Parthenon, to Chartres, the Sydney Opera House. They go to Bilbao… Something compels them, and yet we live surrounded by everything but great architecture.” Frank Gehry By Nina Heyn, Your Culture Scout…
“Venice is like eating an entire box of chocolate liqueurs at one go.” ~ Truman Capote By Nina Heyn, Your Culture Scout May be there aren’t exactly “One Hundred Places You Need to Visit Before You Die” but Venice would definitely be nice to check out before you check out for good. For literally ages…