“HUMAN IS” at Schinkel Pavillon

June 5, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

“HUMAN IS” is the best exhibition I’ve been to in a while. Don’t walk, run to Schinkel Pavillon if you happen to be in Berlin this summer. Sci-fi spirituality meets post-human aesthetics. Bodies, fakeness, AI, reproduction, mutation, realness, primal instincts, fluidity… all that in the ultimate cocktail-party spot of the DDR Germany times. You feel as if you were abducted by the aliens in the solemn 1970s Berlin and were about to get high on out-of-this-world ~vibes~. Curated by Nina Pohl and Franziska Sophie Wildförster, the exhibition offers distinctions between dystopia and reality that are increasingly collapsing in the face of inexhorable technological and ecological upheavals. “HUMAN IS” borrows its name from the eponymous short story by Philip K. Dick (1955) and investigates the idea of being human as a contestable and reversible category.

Since the 19th century – and its notions of capitalist, scientific and technological progress – science fiction has held up a mirror to the changing contemporary conditio humana with its values, fears and limitations. The seemingly external threat of extraterrestrial, supernatural or artificial beings often reveals itself as self-made anxiety and part of our cultural condition. The monstrosity of the unknown arises to shake up limitations, in effect, decentering the human protagonist. “HUMAN IS” juxtaposes historical with newly produced artworks. The exhibition paints a polyphonic picture of the mutual penetration of body and technology: it addresses the often violent interdependence of humans on their technological surroundings and opposes any promises of salvation through trans-humanistic progress. Simultaneously, it opens up spaces of possibility in which dualistic taxonomies can be overcome in favor of a networked and interdependent existence. The art show engages science fiction to transcend the humanistically inscribed human, on the one hand, and the species of anthropos, on the other, through both material and perspectival liminality. For many, the collapse of the systems we have come to rely on is no longer a distant apocalyptic future. Visionary science fiction writer Ursula K. le Guin sees fiction as a container for reinventing the possibilities of human experience and knowledge beyond any linear narrative of progress. And it is through these stories that the destruction and alienation of contemporary existence can trigger creative processes and a new ethics of relationality, which may no longer be truly human.

Oberwallstraße 32 / Berlin

Photos by Edward Kanarecki.
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Palazzo Dei Normanni in Palermo

September 9, 2022September 8, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

The former royal palace of King Roger II in the 1100’s, Palazzo dei Normanni is one of the most famous sights in Palermo. Dating back to the 9th century, the palace owes its current appearance to the embellishments realized by the Normans: covered in dazzling Byzantine mosaics, the Arab-Norman architecture is a symbol of the political and cultural union operated by the Normans. Of course, don’t miss the stunning Palatine Chapel. What I loved about the Palazzo is it’s approach to contemporary art. Right now, there’s an intriguing Ryan Mendoza retrospective, presenting the artist’s ouevre which counterbalances old master techniques with modern-day themes. Then, in another palace space, there’s an amazing temporary exhibition featuring contemporary art classics: Jeff Koons, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Zhang Hong Mei and Andres Serrano. The old meets the new.

Piazza Indipendenza 1

Photos by Edward Kanarecki.
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Palermo is a Vibe

September 8, 2022September 8, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

After decades of Mafia domination, Sicily’s chief city – Palermo – is re-emerging as one of Europe’s great capitals. This dazzling city presents intriguing contrasts, from elegant shopping quarters to the ancient and enchanting old city, divided by winding alleys lined with noisy outdoor markets. Its incredible mixture of cultures, architectural styles and culinary flavours is now infused with an optimism that is expressing itself in a frenzy of restoration, nightlife and cultural creativity. Part Punic, part Phoenician, part Roman, part Arab, the city of Palermo is strong stuff. Snugly spectacular in its bay setting by Sicily’s Monte Pellegrino, it looks, as a garibaldino approaching it from the sea once said, like a city imagined by a poetic child. Colorful relics of Middle Eastern domination mix with the Norman and Baroque, so the back of a building might look entirely different from its front or sides. Renaissance palaces next to hovels, 194 churches, and the domed roofs of onetime mosques – all reminders of countless invaders. History is a tumble, a chaos. Palermo is an experience, Palermo is a vibe.

Photos by Edward Kanarecki.
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Ragusa Ibla

September 8, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

Nothing can prepare you for the first view of Ragusa. The oldest part of the city, Ibla, was spilt in two by the earthquake and part of it rebuilt in the baroque style, but hints of the old town still sit alluringly cheek-by-jowl with such formal perfection. As you round the bend on the road from Modica, up the town rises like a giant sandcastle, a thing of part-dilapidated magnificence conceived in a moment of delirium. Ragusa is secretive, mysterious. Walking around, you feel weirdly high up. Even the squares are on a rake – at all times there’s this sense of being on a hill, of walking on air surrounded by silence. In the streets radiating from the immaculate Piazza Duomo, tiny, hidden orange gardens give on to palazzos nuzzling more palazzos with guest rooms and state rooms and saddle-rooms. The highly polished marble floors in the piazza’s neoclassical Circolo di Conversazione – a handsome social club where 18th-century Ragusan gentry gathered to talk and drink – throw up a brooding haze in the late afternoon, if you manage to peer through the windows before a janitor shoos you away and locks up at five o’clock.

For lunch or dinner, try Il Barocco. A few steps from the Church of St. Joseph in Piazza Pola, and by the magnificence of the Duomo, you find this great restaurant with twenty years of history. Since 1992, the Cabibbo family manages the restaurant, offering the authentic tastes of Ragusa. Il Barocco focuses on timeless flavors, fresh pasta and local dishes that have been served in the family for decades.

Via Orfanotrofio 27/29

Nel Garage is a beautiful and very charming concept store with a selection of clothes and accessories from all over the world. You will also find some ultimate Missoni classics, as well as impeccable tailoring for men by Antonio Marras.

Via Orfanotrofio 36

Photos by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Taste of Ortigia

September 7, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

The small Baroque island of Ortigia, the historic center of Syracuse, is widely considered one of the most beautiful destinations in Sicily. Inhabited for over 3,000 years and renowned for its Greek heritage, it is a UNESCO landmark for its “remarkable testimony of the Mediterranean cultures over the centuries” and makes for a perfect weekend escape in any season. Dotted with impressive church facades, outdoor restaurants, elegant piazzas and surrounded by a crystalline sea, Ortigia is more manicured than Catania, less overrun that Taormina and as delicious as Palermo. Once on the island, you should make the bustling Mercato di Ortigia your first and most important stop. It’s filled with colorful fruit, vegetable stands, fish vendors and stalls selling spices of all types. Be sure to pick up a few local specialties for your pantry, including pistachios from Bronte, almonds from Avola, sun-dried tomatoes from Pachino and capers from Pantelleria. Then grab a bite to eat at Fratelli Burgio, a buzzing deli and wine bar that assembles mouthwatering meat and cheese boards, fish platters and sandwiches stuffed with marinated vegetables. And of course, eat the oysters! After all that goodness, we strolled around the place, enjoying the gorgeous Ortigian views…