Strange Mix

The past few days have been pretty hectic, in preparation for my presentation today. Monday we all met for class and then after went to the Grand Palais to see the exhibit they had on Odilon Redon. It was amazing and huge! I already loved his work, but this was unbelievable. The exhibit just kept going on and on, then there's a sign for the exit down a flight of stairs, but once down there are four more rooms! It was very very cool. Later, Monday evening, I headed over to the weekly poetry reading. It's always a lot of fun being around that neighborhood, and like-minded people. Tuesday we went to the Musee d'Art Moderne. It was pretty cool, we focused on Cubism, Fauvism, and Dada. I have a much better understanding for both Cubism and Fauvism after studying Cezanne. Then Amy and I had lunch with Frances, my professor, at the amazing Korean restaurant. It was super tasty, as expected, and we had really a good conversation. We ended up being there for close to three hours, until they kicked us out so that they could close. That evening we went out to dinner to celebrate Katarinia's birthday! Dinner was mediocre, but oh well. Then, they dimmed the lights of the whole restaurant, started singing, and brought out this huge cake with a flaming candle on it. But it turned out that the cake was fake and they didn't even comp her dessert. It was a very strange experience. After dinner we set out to enjoy the Fete de la Musique. It is a yearly, city-wide festival on the solstice. There is music on every street corner and bar and it feels like all of Paris was out on the streets. It was a little overwhelming, and like nothing I had experienced before. It was tons of fun, but my four-inch heels were killing my feet, so I went home, to catch the last metro. Wednesday we all met outside of the Institut du Monde Arabe, which is a really interesting building, but we didn't actually go in. Instead we walked/took the RER to the Musee de Quai Branly. That's the "primitive" "art" museum. I upset my professor a little when I said that the guide didn't know what she was talking about, which she didn't. But museums like that, where artifacts are treated like art and everything is open to interpretation, get under my skin. It's just a continuation of the subjugation, exploitation, and exoticizing of non-Western cultures. Anyway. Then  I've just been plugging away at my presentation. Hopefully it will go well!

Bar in Belleville, with poetry readings

Institut du Monde Arabe

Musee de Quai Branly

Musee de Quai Branly