Agnès Varda

The Eve of Ivan Kupalo/Vecher nakanune Ivana Kupala, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, 1968

“A master of Ukrainian poetic cinema, Yuri Ilyenko gained world-wide acclaim as the cinematographer of Parajanov’s Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors. As a director, he stands proudly in the anti-realist tradition of Dovzhenko: of his nine films, all but one were banned until last year, when A Spring for the Thirsty stunned SFIFF audiences. The Eve of Ivan Kupalo-based on Gogol’s rendering of a Ukrainian folk tale-is probably Ilyenko’s most inspired and experimental work. The opposite of what one expects from a film taken from peasant mythology, it is neither quaint nor corny, and doesn’t depend on broad acting and hearty singing. Suffused with the earthly pantheism of a half-pagan Christianity, Ilyenko’s film celebrates the unbridled passions of a people linked to nature and the rites of the seasons, to animals and the spirits of the forests. The story-a young peasant’s pact with the evil spirit in order to win the hand of a rich man’s daughter-is a simple parable of the evil power of gold over man. The cinematic treatment is dazzlingly complex, a series of astonishing and inventive images-boldly composed in color Cinemascope-married to an equally ambitious sound montage of music and stylized effects.”

Viera Gergelová: illustration for “Puf a Muf” by Natasa Tanska, 1972.

Look, I think we can all agree that “Baby It’s Cold Outside” is a highly problematic song. Miss Piggy serenading Rudolf Nureyev with this rendition of it is probably the only version I can tolerate.

Untitled, 1942, Mark Rothko

Hayv Kahraman, Iraq

Worlds inside marbles, all from Fabien’s Marble Shop and Fabien’s Pinterest

The “Queen Esther" of the Tel Aviv Purim Carnival in 1934.

The Jews of Eretz Yisrael used to celebrate heartily at the Purim Adloyada [“until they don’t know”] festival and parade held in Tel Aviv in the 1920s and 30’s.   Purim provides the classic example of a Jewish Holiday:   “They tried to kill us. We survived.  Let’s eat!”

Ta-dah!

Tzipora Tzabari, winner of Israel’s Queen Esther beauty pageant

via reddit

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Photography: Imilchil, Morocco, 1976 Photographer: Jean Vigo