Sunday Selections was originally brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, as an ongoing meme where participants could post previously unused photos languishing in their files. Huge thanks to Cie who gave me this wonderful Sunday Selections image.
The meme was then continued by River at Drifting through life. Sadly she has now stepped aside (though she will join us some weeks), and I have accepted the mantle.
The
rules are so simple as to be almost non-existent. Post some photos
under the title Sunday Selections and link back to me. Sorry I still
haven't succeeded in working out how to do a blog hop. Clicking on any of the photos will make them embiggen.
I
usually run with a theme. This week I am taking you with me to an exhibition at our National Museum. To be specific I am taking you to an exhibition about Pompeii. The exhibition was immersive and contained soundscapes and images of Pompeii before and during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Mount Vesuvius is still active.
I found it moving and sometimes beautiful. Less talk, more images.
While the scenes of the eruption was playing the bird song and chatter which had been background noise was replaced by the sound of lava falling. In the final scene which I didn't capture the screen and the light were blocked by a cloud of ash. The silence was quite literally deafening.
The rim of this bowl - which must have been beautiful is crusted with dry lava stones.
Other kitchen utensils survived intact. There was even a piece of carbonised bread on display - rescued from a bakery oven.
The bodies of people who died were covered in volcanic ash. That ash hardened, leaving a negative imprint of the people at the moment of death behind. An Italian archaelogist worked out how to take castings from those tombs, even after the body had decayed.
More than 1000 bodies have been discovered and the work continues to this day.
You will have to embiggen this last to see the time line but I expect it archaelogists will be busy here for many years to come.
The museum itself is a quirky building. Some love its architecture, others loathe it. I am with the former. The landscaping is all native plants too, which I think is another plus.
I hope you all find things to captivate and intrigue you this week.
River Fairchild - What a wonderful display your museum created, bringing in the sounds that the people would have experienced on that frightful day. I had the privilege of visiting Pompeii and it was a sobering experience that has always stayed with me. Thank you for sharing this with us.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are doing well during this birthday month and that the heat isn’t too harsh for you - though I know it probably is. Sending hugs your way and wishing for a cool streak soon. Give the overlords scritches from me.
River Fairchild: Visiting the site would have been sobering. Our birthday month is too hot for me - and no doubt too cold for you. Batty, Odie and I thank you.
DeleteDear EC
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your visit. I remember going to the Pompeii exhibition in 1979 in London. There was a plaster cast of a person on their front, covering their head with their arms, but the thing that left the greatest impression was the plaster cast of a dog, still with its chain, twisting up to try and get away. It is incredible how much has survived and how much is still there waiting to be uncovered.
I hope all is well with you.
Best wishes
Ellie
Ellie Foster: I wonder how much our exhibit owes to the one you saw all those years ago? There was certainly a plaster cast of a dog, obviously in agony. And yes, it is amazing just how much is still there to be found and analysed.
DeleteHi EC - that must have been wonderful to see ... especially as exhibitions have evolved so much in our lifetime ... bringing the times to life, as far as possible. I've watched a few tv programmes, and read the Robert Harris book Pompeii - which really brought the era to light ... in other words I enjoyed it. I'd love to see your exhibit ... so glad you were able to visit and then report on it to us. I was already in South Africa in 1979 - so didn't see that exhibition in London, as Ellie mentions. Wonderful photos you've given us - cheers to you ... it's freezing over here!! Happy week ahead for us ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary Melton-Butcher: You are so right about the changing exhibitions. The immersive ones are moving and I think more instructive. Stay warm - and think of us here still in melt-mode. Happy Birthday for tomorrow (our time).
DeleteMagnífic reportatge d'aquesta exposició.
ReplyDeleteL'erupció d'un volcà pot destruir tota una població, com hem vist fa poc a Canàries i mai s'hauria de deixar construir al seu voltant.
Molt interessant tot!
Aferradetes.
sa lluna: Thank you. It was a magnificent and very moving exhibition.
DeleteIt's beautiful but so drn sad to think about what those people went through.
ReplyDeleteMary Kirkland: It is sad. So many lives snuffed out in an instant and the lives of the survivors would have been forever changed.
DeleteWhat a journey here
ReplyDeleteroentare: It was.
DeleteEverything old is new again. The world is still experiencing earthquakes and volcanoes...still experiencing extremes, sadly and unfortunately. Life is fragile...Life is cruel.
ReplyDeleteTake very good care, EC. I hope the coming week is kind to you in every way...my cuddles to Batty and Odie. I hope they're doing well. :)
Lee: Life is indeed fragile. I don't think it is cruel precisely though. Nature is uncaring - though the same cannot be said for many of our species actions. Batty, Odie and I thank you.
DeleteThat must have been so interesting, but not to experience. I thought we visited the museum, but after looking at a map, now I don't think so. I noticed the museum is having some asbestos removed.
ReplyDeleteAndrew: It was a fascinating exhibition. I think the asbestos being removed is historical from when the hospital stood on that site. The hospital that both himself and I were born in and that my father died in.
DeleteI realize it is such a monumental part of history, but I just didn't have the heart to go in person when we were in neigboring Rome. Just thinking about seeing it seems overwhelming. Disasters like that are so displacing to my emotions. I thought that would get better with age, and it did a little, but not a lot.
ReplyDeletemail4rosey: I understand. I don't think I could visit Auschwitz for similar reasons though that was a made made tragedy.
DeleteHow exhibitions have changed over the years, the immersive ones prove popular and open the visitor up to a more emotional experience I think?!
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy seeing your photographs.
We are still very cold here in the UK.
I do hope your temperatures may be cooling a little.
Have a good week ahead.
All the best Jan
Lowcarb team member ~Jan: Thank you. You do indeed feel the emotions more in the immersive exhibitions - or I do at least.
DeleteWe are still warmer than I like. Stay warm and have a good week yourself.
I truly enjoyed this excursion and wish I lived close enough to see it in person. This was a wonderful treat, however. Thank you many times over.
ReplyDeleteDJan: I wish you lived close enough to visit too - on so many levels.
DeleteWe just can't imagine such a disaster. The exhibit looks amazing.
ReplyDeleteAlex J. Cavanaugh: We can't - and it could happen again. The exhibition was VERY well done.
DeleteThank you for sharing this, and isn't it great to have scientists, historians and archeologists shed light on the past? Not that our leaders learn much from it, at least in terms of understanding climate change...Best to you, Batty and Odie and himself.
ReplyDeletee: It is wonderful that some at least can and are learning from the past - and how I wish our leaders could. I hope you and Mercy have a great week.
DeleteA fabulous display. I read about new discoveries now and again in newspapers and wonder just how much is buried there, not only from that particular eruption, but from others that preceded it.
ReplyDeleteRiver: I wondered that too. As the archeologists continue to work I expect they will discover a lot more. One thing I noted was that they have found evidence that looters came through - the more things change...
DeletePompeii has always simultaneously interested and horrified me. The disaster was so sudden and absolute; but the historical record is fascinating! The interpretive placard that you photographed made my mind boggle all over again, thinking about the amount of information we've been able to discover and extrapolate from an event that occurred 2,000 years ago.
ReplyDeleteDiane Henders: I am with you on all counts. The thought of people's deaths being able to be mapped with such precision...
DeleteWow. That's an incredibly powerful, well designed exhibit. Thank you for sharing, EC.
ReplyDeletePlease be safe and relatively healthy. Sending hugs.
Rawknrobyn: Thank you. It was powerful and very moving. You be safe too as January 20th looms.
DeleteAn incredible display. It is past awful to imagine.
ReplyDeleteJoanne Noragon: Beyond awful with some of the horror preserved...
Deletehave you shown the walkway in to the museum? it looks very interesting and pleasant.
ReplyDeleteThe exhibition, I imagine was quite confronting.
The mosaics and the lava encrusted bowl are both beautiful. Maybe Pompeii was fairly well off?
kylie: I showed part of the path in to the museum (from one direction). It is certainly interesting and different. The exhibition was confronting but also beautiful. And yes, there were certainly people who were very well off - which didn't save them.
DeleteMy Irish bestie (friends for 70 years) visited the site and sent me a pile of pics She was incredibly moved. What a wonderful exhibit EC and so very well done with the shadows on the walls bringing it to life. Will we learn about living in danger zones? No, QED California at the moment.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
Wisewebwoman: We are a species of slow learners. It really was a wonderful and thought provoking exhibition. The moving shadows were a wonderful addition as was the bird song - when Vesuvius wasn't erupting.
DeleteThe top lines of the Timeline were hard to read. I copied the pic and pasted it into Paint. Then it was really big. I reduced it 50% and then could read it.
ReplyDeleteMike: I am sorry that my cruddy photo caused you so many difficulties - and thank you for the effort.
DeleteYour post today is fascinating E.C.!
ReplyDeleteThe power of nature, how small man is in front of it!
Thank you!
Katerinas Blog: We are very, very small - but still have too much effect on nature.
DeleteWow--- that's great. It's getting harder to see the results of our volcano-- everything grows and grows and grows. But the mountain hasn't grown the north face back.
ReplyDeleteBill: And that north face never will return and will serve as a permanent marker.
DeleteA sheer delight to read about this display. I watched a documentary about the archeological dig and findings at Pompeii and Mt. Vesuvius. Simply fascinating. Fabulous photos, too, dear friend.
ReplyDeleteBleubeard and Elizabeth: Thank you. It is fascinating. And horrifying. Simultaneously. Sadly some of the photos in this post are less than stellar and show off my shaky hands.
DeleteHow interesting EC. Nature sure is a magic thing!
ReplyDeleteMargaret D: It was a humbling exhibition. I am glad we went.
DeleteHow fascination. I'd love to visit Pompeii in person. I can't begin to imagine how terrifying it must have been, to have that violent eruption suddenly covering the whole town and all the people who lived there. I visited that museum when I was in Canberra a long time ago, saw an exhibition about Gay Rights and the first Pride Parades.
ReplyDeleteShammickite: The museum often has interesting special exhibitions and is worth a look see even without them. Sadly we don't go often enough.
DeleteNice and interesting photos.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice week.
orvokki
orvokki: Thank you. I have been loving your snow photos. Stay warm and safe.
DeleteA lifetime ago, I went there, saw the city, climbed the volcano, stayed in Naples. It's amazing, and sobering. Thank you for bringing it back to me.
ReplyDeletemessymimi: That would have been a humbling visit. In the midst of life...
DeleteThat must have been an amazing exhibit! I have read about Pompei since as far back as I can remember. You captured it beautifully.
ReplyDeleteDeniseinVA: It was amazing and I am so grateful we were able to see it.
DeleteIsn't it amazing to get to see such items? My daughter visited Pompeii as part of a high school trip to Italy. I know she was in awe of what she saw there.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Janie Junebug: Your lucky daughter.
DeleteShe is fortunate to be able to travel a great deal and has visited many interesting places.
DeleteJanie Junebug: She is very fortunate indeed.
DeleteYou have a lot of empathy that comes through In this interesting post. Aloha friend
ReplyDeleteCloudia: I am definitely empathic - a double edged sword.
DeleteHow fascinating! and supremely moving, as you said. Coming face to face with trauma is always sobering no matter how deep in the past it happened.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week ahead.
Nilanjana Bose: Trauma leaves its mark on places doesn't it? Sometimes the physical signs are there but I also think that emotional trauma lingers. You have a great week too.
DeleteAwesome! My relatives visited Pompeii and enjoyed it. I especially like those casts of people lying in volcanic ash. Sad.
ReplyDeletegigi-hawaii: Beyond sad. The casts were very moving but I suspect that the survivors were also shattered.
DeleteNo me extraña nada que te haya impresionado, y más con el sonido de fondo de la lava del volcán, que por cierto ha servido el polvo de lava para conservar buena parte de sus casas, frescos y calles. Yo estuve allí y en Herculano hace poco más de un año, y lo que vi no se me olvidará en a vida. Merece la pena una visita.
ReplyDeleteUn abrazo, amiga Sue.
Manuel: You experienced this for yourself? It must have been incredibly moving and something that will stay with you.
DeletePompeii is always fascinating, and you captured some real great moments.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte (MotherOwl): It was an excellent exhibition and I am so glad we went.
DeleteI'm with you, I love the arcitecture of the muesum. Native plants is a plus in my eyes anyway. And the exhibition is interesting - I had no idea that they are taking casts of the bodies and that this is still going on. It's fascinating in all its awfulness.
ReplyDeleteCarola Bartz: I really like the museum and am thrilled that the landscaping is native. I think they are the only institution that does this - which is a shame.
DeleteWork continues at the site which surprised me a little too. I suspect that new things are learnt/discovered all the time. Which is wonderful.
Simply fascinating. I hope the weather is not too hot. It is still quite cold here especially at night. Wishing a great week ahead.
ReplyDeleteRasmaSandra: It was fascinating. It is still hot here and will be for a while yet. I hope you are not too cold.
DeleteFascinating exhibition. The terror they must have felt.
ReplyDeleteHena Tayeb: It must have seemed like their world was coming to an end - and for too many it was.
DeleteWe have a Pompeii exhibit here several years ago that I found fascinating. We did not have the interactive eruption movie though and I know I would have enjoyed seeing it.
ReplyDeleteAnne in the kitchen: The 'movie' was all around us and the sound was definitely surround sound. It was incredible.
DeleteWow, wow, and WOW! What an exhibit. We visited Pompeii a few years back when we toured Italy. There's so much to absorb that's it's a bit overwhelming, and I understand since we were there more has been found. Wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteSandy: It sounds as if they are finding more all the time - which is wonderful. I envy you being able to tour the site.
DeleteThe story of Pompeii has fascinated me since I read about it at a young age. The horror they went through makes my heart and head hurt. I suspect the interactive display was very effective, both for its portrayal and for stirring the emotions of those attending. Thank you for sharing this. Hugs, my friend.
ReplyDeletejenny_o: There have been bigger disasters (the 2004 tsunami for one) but Pompeii stuck in my memory too. And yes, it does make my head and my heart hurts. You are right about the interactive nature of the exhibition adding to an already moving display.
DeleteHuge hugs to you sister across the seas.
Great exhibition
ReplyDelete