Saturday, January 3, 2009

Kathmandu Valley Style

Another exquisite book has come off the press from Serindia Publications:

KATHMANDU VALLEY STYLE
Lisa Choegyal, Craig Potton, Gautam SJB Rana
“Kathmandu Valley Style is an important addition to Nepali identity—the text and photographs acknowledge the past while addressing what is possible in the present and in the future as well. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.” Mikel Dunham (see full review and his blog at www.mikeldunham.blogs.com)

Summary:
KATHMANDU VALLEY STYLE is not another so-called “style” book, it is as much a Serindia’s classic — it celebrates the art and architecture of Nepal’s Kathmandu Valley and honors those pioneers who have made Kathmandu Valley their homes over the past few decades. Here for the first time we have a rare glimpse of the the historic and contemporary private residences in Newar, Tibetan and Rana styles and world-renowned restorations such as the Kuthu Math house, the Patan Museum, Baber Mahal Revisited, the Dwarikas, the Garden of Dreams, and other inspiring contemporary interiors and architectural works.

Full Description:
Nepal is widely acclaimed for its unique art and architectural styles. The ancient palaces, temples, courtyards and streetscapes of Kathmandu Valley are protected as no less than seven World Heritage Sites. Shrines are worshipped daily as part of Nepal’s vibrant living heritage. Recent efforts to preserve the architectural heritage of Kathmandu have carefully and authentically restored many of the Valley’s important public monuments.

Lesser known are the recent imaginative and adaptive use of Nepali architecture and decorative styles into new buildings and private homes. Kathmandu Valley Style captures the wealth of the past and illustrates how influences from the Malla Newar, Tibetan and Rana architecture have been incorporated into present-day buildings and lifestyles. Using traditional themes and building techniques in the restored historic and new structures has breathed fresh life into Kathmandu’s rich living cultural heritage, and provided additional attractions for visitors.

Kathmandu Valley Style features over 40 historic and new buildings, many of them never before photographed or published. Reinforcing national pride in Nepal’s vernacular architecture, this unique collection demonstrates how traditional art and architecture can be successfully incorporated into homes for today’s changing world. The book will appeal to residents, visitors, tourists, and all who love Nepal, as well as devotees of fine books on art, architecture, and interior design."

You can find out all about Serindia's other magnificent books on Tibetan, Himalayan and Asian culture on their website:

Friday, January 2, 2009

Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Chris Morejohn


Photos ©Lilly Morejohn

Being temporarily in tropical climes I got to thinking of my brother Chris who lives in the Bahamas, sometimes on the boat he built (named "Hogfish Maximus"), sometimes in the house he made (called "Tightspot"). Jack of all trades he is also an incredible artist, sculpting wondrous images of fish and other animals that he finds in the world around him. At the moment he is somewhere in the Caribbean sailing to Grenada so it is a little hard to pin him down if you want to place an order. But I will continue to pester him to get his website running. Otherwise you can find his work in the various art galleries scattered around the Bahamas. That's my niece Lilly holding the parrot fish. 

Thailand mera lästips



Bilda förlag fortsätter sin serie intressanta bildningsböcker från Asien med en ny Thailand-titel:

Thailand: mer än sol och stränder av Bertil Lintner
Inbunden, Bilda förlag, 2008, 206 sidor

Beskrivning av boken från Bokus webbsida:

"Thailand är så mycket mer än det varma solskenslandet, så mycket mer än finkorniga palmkantade sandstränder och megastaden Bangkoks skyskrapor och tempel. Och thailändarna är så mycket mer än servicepersonal i turistnäringen.

Bertil Lintner, bosatt i landet sedan 1979, ger en bred introduktion till landet som har blivit 
svenskarnas andra hemland. Ett perfekt komplement till guideboken, för alla som vill veta mer om thailändarna, deras familjeliv, vanor och tänkesätt, mat, årstidsfester, språk och religion. Läs också om naturen, historien från Siam till Thailand, minoritetsfolken och vad som händer i landet i vår tid. Och om sju thailändska "underverk" som är okända för de flesta turister!

Rikligt bildmaterial av Susanna Asklöf . "


Sightseeing av Lapcharoensap, Rattawut

Inbunden, Norstedts (2006)

Beskrvning:
"Den unge thailändske författaren Rattawut Lapcharoensap debuterar med en samling berättelser om ett Thailand utanför turistbroschyrernas paradisbilder. Här möter vi ett land som är präglat av kulturkrocken mellan öst och väst. I till synes enkla, men känslomässigt komplexa berättelser skildrar författaren med en osviklig iakttagelseförmåga och humor vad det innebär att leva i denna del av världen. I den första berättelsen "Farangs" gör sonen till en hotellägare misstaget att förälska sig i en västerländsk flicka, vilket leder till en dramatisk uppgörelse med flickans uppblåste amerikanske pojkvän. I berättelsen "Sightseeing" reser en ung man med sin nästan blinda mor till de paradisöar hon längtat till, långt bortom turistorternas skräniga vardag."


Tuesday, December 30, 2008

No. 1 What's this gizmo?

Photo ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Can you guess what this tool is used for?

Happy New Year 2009!

Fire-dancer, Klong Prao Beach, Koh Chang, Thailand Photo ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

Gott nytt år! Happy New Year! Xinnian kuaile! Wishing all of you the best for 2009!

More geckos

Drawing ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn/Burton Booz

Here is the original drawing of the tokay gecko before manipulation (see below "Geckos galore"). Burton (11 years old) did the pencil drawing, I colored. 

Dwarfs and coconuts - Merry Christmas 2008

Photo ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

This year Christmas began for me with a gang of Vietnamese dwarfs dressed up as elves and Santa's little helpers. No kidding. They had been hired by the Hotel Equatorial in Ho Chi Minh City to goof around in the lobby. The hotel receptionists and waitresses all wore little red and white mini-skirts and Santa hats and had a great time chasing the dwarfs around. The little people themselves seemed to be having a good time too, giggling and running about with high-pitched screams and kicking balls with all their might at the hotel guests. Outside in the 35° heat the city had put on it's Christmas best with lot's of colored lights and scrawny decorations. Motorcycles zipped by with their drivers hugging Christmas trees. When Christmas actually came around on Koh Chang Santa himself came striding under the coconut trees dispensing cookies and good cheer. Amazing how he gets around the planet.

Monks and moms

Photo ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

One of the strongest memories I have from my first trip to Bangkok in the late 1980s was the incredibly slow traffic along Sukhumvit Road, creeping along in a public bus for literally hours with no sight of my destination and elephants walking beside us faster that the bus. Nowadays a trip to Bangkok is a pleasure due to the speedy, clean and efficient Sky Train. I spotted this sign on the train a few weeks ago and from a distance first thought that it said "Please offer this seat to moms". How nice. 

Geckos galore

©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

One of the joys of the tropics are all the friendly and sometimes not so friendly creatures that want to share your days and nights with you. Geckos are the best and centipedes, spiders, scorpions, mosquitoes and cockroaches are the worst. Here in our bungalow on Koh Chang we have very few mosquitoes, only one poisonous centipede in the bathroom and no cockroaches but oodles of geckos and one big tokay gecko. The geckos make their own sound that is a little bit like their local names ching-chong or chick-chack but the large, colourful tokay has it's own distinct mating call - a tight, high pitched tok - kay, tok - kay, tok - kay from which it gets it's name. The sound is repeated and if you hear it speak 7-8 times some say it means good luck. The tokay gecko is the second largest gecko species, nocturnal and native to SE Asia. They are looked upon positively by most people in Asia, so much so that the Chinese consume them for medicinal purposes. They feed on the many small insects and rodents that might want to pester you, so please welcome them. But they do poop a lot!

Illustration: Drawing of a gecko (with only four fingers, they actually have five) that my son Burton and I did together, painted, then fooled with in the computer.