Day to day life of a family in central Africa, Congo, Cameroon, from 1914 to 1958, how it was, how it was remembered, and what it meant.
Every evening in the savannah, it is the same. The roaming band has to organise for the night. A temporary shelter to protect itself from predators, animals or otherwise. As they move tomorrow, nothing too fancy, and mainly relying greatly on the individuals in the group. That was then, at...
Buried under layers of dust, lace and velvet, something glints briefly. A gilded ceramic cup, with Cyrillic script, a double-headed eagle, angular motif, and a tantalising date, 1896. It’s Nicholas the Second’s Coronation Cup. Also called Khodynka Cup of Sorrows. Or the Blood Cup. A memento of a society broken and cast...
Social media does often gives you a sense of inadequacy. Hair falls like this, bodies look like that, the soufflé always rises and stays up. And, of course, when they clear their basement, “they” find the missing Rembrandt hidden in a crate, forgotten for centuries, just waiting to be found....
Doom diving from on high, whooshing past the balcony. Adjusting angle and speed for the perfect hit. No hesitation, no brakes, terminal velocity. Darting to and fro, like a loony woodpecker. Hovering an instant, blinking out of existence the next. Gravity? Flight envelope? Nah, one last wink over its shoulder...
The last piece of furniture has been disposed of. It was the worms that got all of them. Some, most maybe, were 150 years of memories written in wood. Eaten through, shedding little showers of sawdust every now and then, when you nudged them. Hours, weeks, months spent to try...
Bed Wall Desk I lie. I stare. I read. Nothing in Nature is unbeautiful – Tennyson Desk Wall Bed I lie, eyes open. I stare, eyes open. I read. Eyes open. No price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself. – Kipling Bed Balcony Desk I sit. I...
Wherever, whenever you are, food is right there, a core element of your experience. Food itself can feel ritualistic, merely practical, off-beat, enjoyable, … it can take and conjure back any and every shade of emotion, feeling. It can also just be a necessity. That was the only way my mother rebelled...
The fascination with the Second World War does not wane. In Europe, we are still finding the bombs, grenades, weapons, helmets, tanks, trucks, planes,… in swamps, in lakes, in the ground, under houses or in the sea. It is still beneath our feet. Walk around our cities, try and spot the...
Death and taxes. The only certainties, apparently. What about aging? Franklin forgot that one in his famous quote. Aging, a subtle and universal process that never stops: we love it at first, then forget about it for a few years, dread it and finally loathe it. Every morning in the...
Once upon a time, eons ago, in the 90s, humanity finally had the support it deserved to store its records. For ever. Or so suggested the advertisements. Away with self-erasing VHS tapes, begone mpeg-1 pixelated VCDs, to the museum, the 30 cm-wide laser discs. Don’t forget to recycle these K7....
August 16, 2024
My Heritage | Travel Trunks and Suitcases
August 2, 2024
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From Ghent to Likasi, the Heart of Darkness
September 20, 2024
August 30, 2024
November 15, 2024
WWI in Soissons, Henri Penotet and the Big Bomb
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November 1, 2024
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November 29, 2024