Friday, December 30, 2011

knut, siku, human zoos & sculptures

Knut, 2007
Siku, 2011
Knut proponents are riled up about Siku at the Scandinavian Wildlife Park, Denmark. Siku is cute, but it's not Knut. ('The new knut' whose mother had not enough milk is not really an orphan.) Knut fans are mustering a memorial tribute with voting until January 8, 2012 on 42 entries: Pick a knut memorial sculpture. Be prepared, some of the submissions are underwhelming.

Footballer turned curator.  Lilian Thuram's 'Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage' --- "traces the history behind circuses, stage shows and 'zoos' in which people were the exhibits, dating it back to 1492 when Christopher Columbus displayed six 'Indians' at the Spanish royal court" (Daily Mail article). The exhibition is at Paris' Quai Branly, France, from Tuesday 29th November to Sunday 3th June 2012.
See more, including a video and the museum's website. Following his retirement in 2008, he established the Lilian Thurman Foundation.

In politics, Thuram made headlines during the 2007 French elections by calling out the institutionalized racism of Nicolas Sarkozy. (Article: France World Cup player Lilian Thuram now fights racism, November 11, 2009.)

Speaking of, there was a nazi encounter with swastikas and death threats on Christmas Eve for a biracial couple in Newmarket, Ontario. The man, from Nigeria ('nigger'), and the white woman ('whore'), are considering moving. The couple has already spent $6000 repairing damages. It isn't the first time.

An Occupy sculpture was hauled away from an encampment in Calgary, Alberta.

You can sign the Petition: Keep the “Heart of the Beast” sculpture as a permanent part of Olympic Plaza.



what a jerk. pick1

It was the taunt.

Elizabeth May: Very difficult to get to COP. UN deadline 2 apply passed before Kent told us we were not on del.

Justin Trudeau: This is a tradition that goes back 20 years of bringing multiple voices to a conference. He did not, they did not.

Peter Kent: "he chided NDP critic Megan Leslie for being ill-informed about last week's climate-change conference because she hadn't attended."

"Justin Trudeau calls on Peter Kent to issue his own apology after expletive-tinged Commons clash" source

wowzers: prevent NDP critic Megan Leslie from attending, then blame her for not being there. that's a bit fecal!