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How to ( … ) things that Don’t Exist

July 17, 2014•Art

FIFA’s over but there’s more to Brazil than football! Sneha Shah explores the development of the 31st São Paolo Biennial.

Panning a little to the west of Rio de Janeiro, where Germany championed triumphantly at the FIFA 2014 World Cup Finals, the 31st São Paulo Biennale is shaping up for its early September vernissage. Whilst the home team had a terrible defeat, all my fellow Brazilian supporters will be happy to know that Brazil is appearing pretty strong on the art and culture front. For those new to it, the São Paulo Biennale is South America’s largest contemporary art survey, and the second oldest biennial in the world (1951) after Venice’s (1851). Promoting international involvement right from its initiation the Biennale has been instrumental in making Brazil an international centre for contemporary art and establishing a market for Brazilian art globally.

Image of the pavilion taken at the 30th Edition of the São Paulo Biennale (2012) Credit: Artinfo

Image of the pavilion taken at the 30th Edition of the São Paulo Biennale (2012)
Source: Artinfo

Like its Venetian counterpart, the São Paulo Biennale Foundation invites a team of curators to conceptualize the event. Charles Esche, Galit Eilat, Nuria Enguita Mayo, Pablo Lafuente and Oren Sagiv, along with associate curators Benjamin Seroussi and Luiza Proença, will be developing this year’s edition. Focusing on educative collaboration, questioning the definition of ‘art’ today, and eliminating formal hierarchies between artist, participant, viewer and user, the curators have decided to replace  genre-specific ‘artworks’ with the more generic term ‘projects’.

Inviting educators, sociologists, architects along with artists and performers to participate, the projects will be unresolved and exploratory; their unscrambling will sustain from the experiences and active involvement of individuals within the event. The curators urge “This is not a Bienal built on art and objects, but on people working with people on projects; on collaborations between individuals and groups; on relationships that should continue and develop throughout and, perhaps, even after the 31st Bienal is over,” on the official biennial website.

Official poster design by participating artist Prabhakar Pachpute Credits: The Biennial

Official poster design by participating artist Prabhakar Pachpute
Source: The Biennial

Themed “How to (…) things that don’t exist”, with the ellipses interchangeable with verbs “feel”, “talk about”, “struggle with”, “use”, “read”, etc. the projects will reflect on subjects that seem to fall out of commonly accepted beliefs, frames of thinking and doing. Influenced or censored by expectations of immediate society, country, or world at large, human concerns, acts and understanding often materialize as emotions, injustices and struggles we feel we can’t surpass. The participating artists began their journey by ‘talking about’ these distresses, later moving onto ‘living with’ them as part of a 2-8 week residency within São Paolo and Brazil at large. ‘Using’, ‘struggling against’ and ‘learning from’ their experiences, the 75 collaborators will echo the optimism and possibilities of art today, challenging the capacity of the arts in its ability to reflect and act upon these ideals, beliefs, and societal concerns at the 31st São Paulo Biennial.

The biennial will open its doors on September 6th in the Ciccillo Matarazzo Pavilion. This year the pavilion has been divided in three architectural zones: the Park, Ramp and Columns, providing three distinctly different environments for viewers to encounter this artistic development and discourse.

The Park Credits: 31ABienal

The Park
Source: 31ABienal

The Ramp Credits: 31ABienal

The Ramp
Source: 31ABienal

The Columns Credits: 31ABienal

The Columns
Source: 31ABienal

That said, the participants have their work cut out for them and I for one cannot wait to see their creations! So don’t stray away from Brazil just yet, and stay tuned for more updates on the 31st São Paulo Biennial. 

Montblanc: Written over Time

November 6, 2012•Collectibles

Manjari Sihare explores the history of Montblanc, the world’s best pen makers

New York: Montblanc was founded over a century ago, in 1906. When you buy an authentic Montblanc writing instrument, you are ensured of a long tradition and well-established standards of quality few other pen makers can guarantee. In recent years, as the company celebrated various major anniversaries, it released several special limited edition writing implements. The one released in 1999, commemorated the Meisterstuck, the model that made Montblanc famous over the world. In 2006, the firm’s 100th anniversary was celebrated, marking the year that three Germans, Claus Johannes Voss, Alfred Nehemias and August Eberstein united to found the ‘Simplo-Filler Pens Company’, which later gave birth to the Montblanc brand.

The name Montblanc was supposedly hit upon at a card game involving the industrialist Carl Schalk. When the question of an apt name for a new pen was raised by Claus-Johannes Voss, Schalk said, “Why not just call it Montblanc? After all, it’s also black at the bottom, white at the top and the greatest among its peers.” Each Montblanc has a cap with the white star representing the snowy peak of Montblanc – the highest mountain in Europe. The nib of each of their pens is engraved with the figures 4810, specifying the height of Montblanc in meters. Browse through this chronology of the company’s history for more information.

MEISTERSTÜCK Solitaire Mozart Coral Fountain Pen, Montblanc
Written in Time, The Story by Saffronart

The firm’s platinum jubilee celebrations were marked by the release of Montblanc Mozart 75th special anniversary edition, of which the fountain and ballpoint pens are part of The Story by Saffronart”, time-limited collections of hard-to-find, beautiful and significant objects available for sale everyday. The 75th anniversary Mozart Edition pens are amongst the most coveted Montblanc products. Our collection titled Written in Time  also includes other limited edition pens such as the Edgar Allan Poe Set and the Dostoyevsky.

Montblanc: ‘Dostoevsky’ Limited Edition Writers Series Fountain Pen
Written in Time, The Story by Saffronart

It is important to know that Montblanc produces only two lines of pens: Meisterstuck (started in 1924) and Boheme (since the 1990s). All Montblanc models are part of one of these lines, or special limited editions. The production of specially designed pens, accompanied by eye catching packaging began soon after Parker launched its first limited editions such as Spanish Treasure 75 (1965), Queen Elizabeth (1977) and Charles and Diana (1981). In 1992 Montblanc followed suit, adopting themes such as writers, art patrons and historical events, or producing pens to commemorate important events. Dostoyevsky (1997) and Edgar Allan Poe (1998) are part of the firm’s ‘Writers Series’. Other authors honoured by Montblanc include Agatha Christie (1993), Earnest Hemingway (1992), Oscar Wilde (1994), Voltaire (1995) and Alexandre Dumas. These pens usually have silver trims, while a select few have gold trims.

Montblanc: ‘Edgar Allan Poe’ Limited Edition Writers Series Three-Piece Set
Written in Time, The Story by Saffronart

My personal favorite is the Edgar Allan Poe – a crushed velvet, midnight-blue resin barrel, with a gold trim, and the white Meisterstück star. What I like most about this pen is the narrative it embodies. The pen has a raven engraved on the nib. Raven was Edgar Allan Poe’s most celebrated poem about a talking raven’s mysterious visit to a distraught lover. The poem has a constant repetition of the word “Nevermore” to convey the distress of the subject. When asked whether Montblanc will make more when the edition is sold out, the company said that they can only repeat the raven’s succinct answer: “Nevermore”. Only 3,000 sets were produced making this one of the more difficult ‘Writers Series’ sets to find.