Arts and Culture: December 2007 Archives

Contributing writer Cathy Healy was in Amsterdam this year to see some of the festivities that surround the arrival of Sinterklaas - or the Dutch Santa Claus.

If you’re naughty, not nice in the Netherlands, Santa’s helpers will stuff you in a sack and take you back to Spain. This is a threat? A free trip to Spain in December! But why Spain, I wonder? The real St. Nicholas was a bishop in Turkey and his bones are buried in Italy. A holdover from when Spain ruled Holland, during the Elizabethan era? But that’s another mystery to search out.

Today's mystery lies in the Sinterklaas traditions, experiencing which, on a scale of 0-10, hovers around 7 for culture sleuths. If Sinter and Santa started out as the same saint, how did they end up so different?

Sinter is welcomed to Amsterdam in mid-November, before our Thanksgiving, and leaves on his birthday, December 6, after his helpers have spent the night, climbing down chimneys to leave gifts. The Dutch separate Sinterklaas and gifts from Christmas and Christ. (I like that. Why should we bundle everything into one single day?)

My Dutch friends think they have the answer. They believe that Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola, while Sint was a real man who is widely emulated for his gift-giving. Coca-Cola? Nope, that’s an urban legend, I tell them. They laugh and we sip our hot chocolates. It is December 3 and we're at Corlaer College near Nijkerk, where a crowd of good little boys and girls of the staff are greeting Sinterklaas and his helpers, who are called Black Piets. We’re fascinated.

Cathy Healy's post on her favorite Amsterdam hotel reminded me of my favorite Dutch photographer, Jurjen Drenth, whose work has appeared in the Dutch edition of Traveler. I discovered him while fact-checking a story about Delft a while back. When he's not doing his commercial photography, Drenth hunts down the locations of famous paintings of the Dutch masters, and reproduces them, with a modern twist, in his photographs. On his website, Drenth explains that he "concentrates on the almost forgotten or hidden parts of Dutch culture." The photo above is take from his Vermeer series, and shows some of what's left of Vermeer's View of Delft landscape. 

Drenth also reproduces Dutch landscapes and interiors from the paintings of Van Gogh and Rembrandt. If you want to see the real Dutch masters, note that the main part of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is closed for renovation until 2010, but a wing of the musuem remains open, with highlights from the permanent collection. It will not, however, include this Photoshopped portrait of Marge Simpson as The Girl With the Pearl Earring.

I grew up in Charm City, the town in which many of director John Waters' ingenious films are based. Anyone that's ever visited Baltimore's Hampden neighborhood (the self-proclaimed "home of big hair") will tell you the area's brimming with characters. Never is this more evident than during the holiday season.

For as long as I can remember, the houses that line 34th Street in Baltimore have made a big to-do about Christmas. From late November to January 1, this tight-knit community transforms itself into a marvelous wonderland of kitsch and lights, where residents invite you onto their stoops and into their homes to see more model trains, dolls, Santas, and blow-up grinches than you thought existed in the universe. It's like a block party. In the middle of winter.

For 17 years (although residents have been stringing lights here for 60), thousands have traveled on foot (you can drive through, but hoofing it's more fun) through the tiny street of traditional rowhouses, resident "Mayor of 34th Street" Sharon Burke told the local television station in this video. Last year, 45,000 visitors came through, said Burke. This year, no less than 25 homes are lit up and plastered with holiday cheer. From the Christmas tree made out of hubcaps and angels made of National Bohemian beer cans, you're sure to find some holiday cheer in true Baltimore style.

While you're in the area, Hampden is also home to the cheeky, flamingo-covered Cafe Hon, where they sell all manner of tongue-in-cheek Baltimore memorabilia. They've even compiled an online dictionary of the Baltimore accent known as "Bawlmerese." After seeing the lights, warm up with a pastry and coffee at the New System Bakery, another Hampden institution, open until 10 p.m. all December long.

Photos: The Skipping Hippy, manahanwill

I spent last week in Norwich, Connecticut visiting my sister, niece, and nephew. I soon learned that Norwich often lives in the shadow of its more glamorous neighbor, Mystic, about 30 minutes to the south. And though my two-year-old niece adores the belugas at the Mystic Aquarium, my sister and I were hoping for activities a little closer to home. 

Norwich, long known as the "Rose of New England," has its own unique history to offer the visitor. Here is where the Yantic and Shetucket rivers combine to form the Thames (locals pronounce it Thaymes). Most people might know the town for its proximity to the Mohegan Sun casino. But even if you're just in town to play the slots, a visit isn't complete without delving a little deeper into Norwich's rich Native American and Colonial history: Two notable tribal chiefs are buried here, and Benedict Arnold was born in town.

Perhaps you're gearing up to watch Todd Haynes' biopic "I'm Not There," which portrays the life of Bob Dylan with a varied cast of actors (male and female) all playing his role. Or maybe you've considered buying the soundtrack to the film, which pulls together various artists performing Dylan's iconic songs. It seems like every day there's a new way to appreciate the creative works of Mr. Dylan, so why not put aside his lyrics for a moment and look at his art instead?

It seems that that was the premise of the Art Museum Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz, in Chemnitz Germany, in their exhibition of 120 of Bob Dylan's paintings in their current "Drawn Blank" show. It's the first time that Bob Dylan, artist, is in the context of paint, not music.

The story behind it is even better. When museum director Ingrid Mössinger bought her first Dylan album last year, she was inspired by the artistry in his lyrics. Intrigued, she tracked down his biography and learned that he'd published a book of drawings in the early nineties. At the time, he wrote that he hoped to "eventually complete" his sketches, so she reached out to him and encouraged him to finish. Within two days he responded, surprised at her interest. He writes in the museum's materials:

"I was fascinated to learn of Ingrid's interest in my work, and it gave me the impetus to realize the vision I had for these drawings many years ago. If not for this interest, I don't know if I even would have revisited them."

So earlier this year, Dylan copied the drawings and used them as the backdrop for watercolor and gouache paintings. He created some 322 works in two months' time, many of which are variations on the same pencil print.

Tourists have been flooding to small city in Saxony to check out Dylan's paintings (you can see a slideshow the works online at the Wall Street Journal, or check out the audio tour at the Guardian Online) and are searching for secret links to his lyrics. Theory has it that the painting "Woman in Red Lion Pub" is the same bewitching female from the famous song "Just Like a Woman" (1966). Take a look at the gallery, and let us know what you think.

Image: Man on a Bridge (2007), Kunstsammlungen Chemnitz museum  

In many major U.S. cities, you'll find a cultural hub we all know as Chinatown (unless you're in Seattle, where it's the politically-correct "International District"). As many people flock to Chinatown for its cheap eats, the history and cultural aspects of these places often get forgotten.

That's why the Chinese Culture Center in San Francisco offers guided Chinatown Walking Tours through one of the largest Chinese communities outside Asia. San Francisco's Chinatown was settled in the 1860s along what is now Grant Avenue. The tours begin at the Cultural Center (750 Kearny Street) and may stop at the Tin How Temple (the oldest Chinese temple in the U.S., founded in 1852), the Chinese Historical Society of America, and churches, schools, tea shops, and food markets, along with other interesting historical sites.

The two-hour tours cost $18.00 and are available Tuesday-Saturday. Don't miss the Cultural Center's Chinese Culinary Walk, which visits the poultry market and fortune cookie factories, and also includes a dim sum lunch. The Culinary Walk is temporarily unavailable, so be sure to check with the Cultural Center before planning your tour.

If you'd rather brave Chinatown on your own, be sure to check out our Places of a Lifetime walking tours of San Francisco, which include Chinatown, Union Square, and Telegraph Hill.

Photo: Heather Allamon

Look out, Florida. Iconic pop artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) is coming your way.

Beginning December 8, the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (10901 Old Cutler Road, Coral Gables, Florida; +1 305 667 1651) will host ten of Lichtenstein's 8- to 30-foot-tall sculptures on the garden's grounds. The exhibit, titled Lichtenstien at Fairchild, will be the world's largest sculptural exhibition of the artist's pieces in a natural environment. Pieces will include Coup de Chapeau II (1996) and Galatea (1990), both of which were recently on display at the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris.

Lichtenstein is most famous for his comic book-like drawings and oil paintings, like Whaam! (1963), on display at the Tate Modern museum in London.

Lichtenstein's sculptures will be on display at the Fairchild until May 31, 2008 (daily 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; adult/child $20/$10). If you can't make it to Florida before then, check out other Lichtenstein sculptures in New York City, Switzerland, Tokyo, Madrid, and Washington, DC.

Photo: House II, 1997, Painted fiberglass, 123 x 166* x 60*  inches © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

Ever wonder what happens to Olympic parks once the medal ceremonies have ended and the Olympic flame goes out? Salt Lake City (home of the 2002 Winter Games) has turned its snow-covered Olympic Park into a tourist attraction, and the park has some cool features we just had to tell you about.

Admission to the Utah Olympic Park is free, and just getting into the park allows visitors to take a self-guided tour of the Olympic competition sites, as well as access to the Winter Sports Center (which houses a ski museum as well as the 2002 Eccles Olympic Winter Games Museum). Visitors can also watch Olympians-in-training and frequent competitions throughout the park. If you'd rather have an expert lead the way, you can take a guided tour of the park's facilities (adult/child/family $7/$5/$25).

To feel like a true Olympian, you can also speed down a bobsled track at 80 m.p.h. (IT tip: Eat your lunch after you ride "The Comet.") A trained driver takes three passengers at at time to experience one of the Winter Games' signature sports. Participants must be over 16 years old, and tickets cost $200 per person (in summer, tickets are only $60 each).

For a less expensive thrill, adrenaline junkies can experience the World's Steepest Zipline. The Xtreme Zip ($20, meant for riders over 100 lbs.) speeds 50 miles per hour along the K 120 ski jump hill, while the Ultra Zip ($15, meant for riders over 50 lbs.) takes riders down the winter freestyle hill.

Ziplines may not be an official Olympic sport, but we'd like to think that if we practice enough, we can start petitioning for the 2010 games in Vancouver.

Photo: Utah Olympic Parks