Tag: street-art

Alex – honk – Alex – honk honk – Alexandria

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It is loud here in Alexandria! Very loud. And very dirty. And very smelly! I wish I had Ted’s nose; his sense of smell is almost non-existent and that is a big advantage sometimes.

Today is National Armed Forces Day, a national holiday and everything is closed.

Alexandria was on our itinerary, and my brain just jumped up and screened: Bibliotheca Alexandria, but this magnificent modern library, that I always wanted to visit, is also a victim of the National Armed Forces Day and therefore closed 😱

Ok then, let’s go to the national museum then. We met our friends on the way there, they just finished their visit, so we feel safe. We know it is open, small, interesting and it has a bathroom which makes Ted happy. We arrive and the guard at the entrance tells us that it is closed. No electricity.

Egypt is not really inviting today, we are already tired of walking around and we choose to sit in a cafe and drink a coke (Edith) and a water (Ted). And it turns out that they don’t have coke. I guess maybe it has something to do with National Armed Forces Day? Honk honk honk…

Miami – Day 2

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Muck Rock is one of many female artists whose work is in Wynwood

Wynwood is a 30 square-block area in Miami that used to be the garment district between the 1920s and the 1980s with hundreds of sweatshops. With NAFTA (North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement) kicking in, allowing garments to be produced and sold in Cañada, USA and Mexico without any customs involved, the production moved south of the border because of the low labor costs there. The sweatshops in Miami closed. And all the empty warehouses attracted all those who couldn’t afford life in Miami otherwise, lots of gangs and illegal activities and – drumroll – many artists! And those artist used those warehouses, one or two stories buildings, as their canvas, producing streetart of the finest!

Didirok and Villatose are part of a women streetart group that only paint female images

We took a guided tour in a funky golf cart, experiencing not only the biggest amount of streetart you can imagine, but also the highest quality I’ve ever seen! We took at least a hundred photos each …

The details on some of those pieces are impeccable!

Todays Wynwood is an upcoming neighborhood, with rich people buying multimillion dollar condos, that are replacing the old sweatshop buildings. And with those buildings gone, the artwork gets lost….. Very sad!

The art-work below was done by Ron English, a 65-year old artist, who used Picassos Guernica as a references! I’m deeply impressed by this talent, artistic expression and ability!

Picasso’s “Guernica”