Of love, life, sucesses, and failures...

"We need these humbling experiences to remind us that we are not too big nor are we too small- too big for failure nor too small to make a difference".

Ever been stumped by contemporary art?

If you have, then read my latest post!

http://ethelee-blahblahblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-to-look-at-contemporary-art.html

Last two posts about my Smithsonian Internship

Read my last two posts sharing my experience as an intern at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History in 2009. The first post talks about the seven-foot giant LEGO light bulb created at the museum's lobby for the Inventors' Week. The second one talks about the Diving and Climbing Sparkies tested at an all-girls summer camp.

Updated blog posts coming very soon!

back to blogging...again

I just updated my other blog! Yes, my other blog: My Museum Experience.

Read about my latest post about my internship at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I know, I know, that was so 2009! But I have already written the entries (submitting a weekly journal was one of the requirements to earn six credit hours for the internship) and it would be a shame if they are left eating up space on my computer. Might as well share them with you, right?

I have also decided to keep that other one as my primary blog. All this duplicate entries are giving me a headache. But since I still want to keep my multiply friends updated, I will announce new post here too!

what do you got... by Bon Jovi

Well, it's close to that time of year again... and this one is especially for YOU. Indeed, what do you got if you ain't got love?

Gainesville

Tears of the Giraffe: Basketry of Botswana

About the Exhibition

For hundreds of years, baskets have been among the most famous of Botswana’s handcrafted utilitarian goods. Now an integral part of the culture these baskets, primarily made by women of the Bayei and Hambukushu tribes who migrated from Angola, have evolved and become more intricately designed. Botswana baskets have a high commercial value and are marketed worldwide, providing much needed income for the women who make them. "Tears of the Giraffe: Basketry of Botswana,” includes highlights from a collection that Frank Merillat and Dr. Sandra Russo have been assembling for the past ten years.
 
Frank Merillat first became interested in baskets while traveling to Botswana with his wife, Sandra Russo, for her work with the International Center of the University of Florida. During subsequent trips, he began visiting the various cooperatives surrounding the Okavango Delta where the baskets are made, eventually meeting and getting to know several of the basket makers represented in the exhibit. “Tears of the Giraffe” features a wide range of baskets in the Merillat/Russo collection and includes a few contextual photographs and artifacts.


Traditional Symbolic Patterns in Botswana Basketry

A number of symbolic patterns appear in Botswana basketry. Some symbols come from Botswana legends, such as the “Tears of the Giraffe,” which represents the tears and sorrow of the animal before it was killed during a hunt. Others, like “Flight of the Swallow” may represent an omen of good fortune since these birds fly in a triangular pattern before it rains. While some other symbols are derived from observation of how an animal moves, such as “Running Ostrich,” or the patterns of the animal skins, such as “Forehead of the Kudu” and “Forehead of the Zebra”.

You may recognize some of the symbols below in the exhibition. Some baskets may include a combination of more than one symbol.

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May 11 to August 20, 2010
Grinter Gallery
University Galleries
Grinter Hall, University of Florida