Modern and Contemporary Arab Art from the Levant
The Haque will witness for the first time an exhibition fully dedicated to modern and contempory Arab art from the Levant. It will be organized mainly by the wives of former diplomats who established the Foundation for the Promoting Art from the Middle East (BKM)
The collection belongs to Majida Van der Meulen- Mouasher the wife of a former EU ambassador to Jordan. Her collection will be exhibited from 22nd January until 22nd February 2017 at Pulchri Studio, The Hague,under the patronage of HRH Princess Wijdan al-Hashemi.
Majida Mouasher is chairman of the BKM and her fellow board members are Vanessa Bentinck and Luitgard Mols.‘We need art more than ever before. We live in a time when we try to deal with our problems and try to describe our world through words, figures and logic. But to understand humans and to look at the bigger shifts – the tectonic plate shifts in the human condition, so to speak – we need to rise above, or go below, the 24/7 news cycle, and we need art to give us a different language to understand the human condition.’ Kasper Holten, Director of Opera, Royal Opera House, London
Majida Mouasher was the owner of the 4 Walls Art gallery in Amman, Jordan between 2000 and 2006. During that time, she worked with more than ninety artists, forty-four of whom form the nucleus of her stunning and vital private collection comprised of modern and contemporary Arab art from the Middle East in general and the Levant in particular, and spanning over sixty years of outstanding quality art.
At the time, there were very few contemporary galleries to be found in Jordan and artists were largely dependent on their own personal efforts and contacts to promote their work.
There was a vacuum that needed to be filled and a public demanding to see contemporary art and get to know the artists. The aim of 4 Walls was to promote the artists by exhibiting their works and helping to sell them. Throughout that period, Majida Mouasher consistently bought work from these artists.
What makes this collection so unique is its astonishing diversity, despite the fact that the Levant is so heavily represented. The artists all have deep cultural roots in whatever the source of their inspiration might be, whether that is China, Russia, the West, or their own country of origin. Though many of them are now living in the diaspora, they all have in common an honest reaction to their environment, their cultural and social or historical backgrounds, their ethnic origins or political upheavals.
The wars and instabilities in the Middle East have forced people to move across continents and to the shorelines of Europe, bringing with them new and different cultural ways. Now that the Middle East is so much in the spotlight, an urgency exists to show its contemporary art to the Western public. Art is able to bypass conflicts, to enhance and promote understanding between cultures.
At the occation of the exhibition a book is published with an overview of the collection. The texts are by Majida Mouasher; HRH Princess Wijdan al-Hashemi PhD (painter and founder and president of the Royal Society of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan); Nada Shabout PhD (Professor of Art
History and Director of the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Studies Institute at the University of North Texas) and Dr. Luitgard Mols (owner of Sabiel: Research, Curating, Education and Consultancy in Islamic Art, lecturer in Islamic art at the University of Amsterdam).
The British School in The Netherlands today announces its plans to expand its primary school campus in Leidschenveen to include a secondary school, which will generate up to 550 additional learning places. The development of a secondary school at the existing Junior School Leidschenveen (JSL) campus is testament to the BSN’s ambition to create a learning continuum (from the ages of 3-18) with purpose-built design. When discussing the school’s plan for growth, CEO/Principal Kieran Earley commented: “Our plans are not to grow in an acquisitive way but we see this as an opportunity to continue our organic growth whilst continuously meeting demand.”The Leidschenveen campus development addresses the growing demand for international education not only in The Hague area, but in The Netherlands. Subject to planning approval, the expansion will add 7202 m2 to the existing 9567 m2 of the current JSL facilities. In September 2018, the school will welcome its first cohort of secondary school students in Year 7 (ages 11-12). It is planned for the secondary school to grow year on year as it adds a Year 7 cohort each new school year. More information, please visit here: http://britsc.nl/2BDkqpC
As the value of art is rising more rapidly than inflation, artworks have become an attractive means of payment. What can you do if the artworks you purchased turn out to be fake and you have been paid in counterfeits? Three recent decisions by the Amsterdam District Court regarding the sale of a collection worth millions of Euros give more clarity.
By Paul W.L. Russell, LL.M.
In January 2014, the owner of an art collection sells it via a holding company for EUR 1,636,000 to All Art Initiatives B.V. (AAI) to pay off part of his debts to the group company to which AAI belongs. In January 2013, the collection was appraised at EUR 3,759,100 on behalf of the owner. AAI seems to have made a good buy with the collection including works by Piet Mondrian, Max Liebermann, Mary Cassatt, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, August Macke, Jan Sluijters, George Hendrik Breitner, Isaac Israëls, Maximilien Luce, Edouard Vuillard, James Ensor and Constant Permeke.
Fake art
When in 2015 two experts commissioned by AAI examined the art collection they concluded that a large number of the artworks were fake. Thereafter, AAI required documentation regarding the authenticity of the artworks from the original owner, such as certificates of authenticity, purchase invoices and catalogues raisonnés. The original owner only produced taxation reports that said nothing about the authenticity of the artworks, which did not satisfy AAI.
Damage and warranty
AAI then asked the court to terminate or annul the purchase agreement, because of fraud or error, or to compensate the damage because of non-conformity. As the owner should have known this, not just the holding company – which held the practically worthless collection – but also he himself is liable for the claim. As error was excluded in the agreement as a reason for termination and there was no conclusive evidence for fraud, only compensation due to non-conformity is dealt with in the proceedings.
The original owner argues that no warranty for authenticity was given and that AAI, as a professional buyer, should have performed an appraisal. The court does not go along with this. AAI could rely upon three appraisal reports the owner submitted to them prior to the purchase. In addition, the owner had guaranteed the value of the artworks.
Experts
As the opinions of the parties’ appraisers differ with regard to the value of the collection, the court decides to appoint its own expert. AAI claimed that the artworks were fakes and thus has to prove that this statement is correct. Therefore, it is not the task of the expert to determine that the artworks are authentic but to view whether it can be said with a great degree of certainty that the artworks are a fake. Due to this requirement the artworks will be considered as “authentic” more quickly.
Amount of damage
After an examination of 127 works of art, it turned out that one third was certain to be forged and the major part of the other works had been overvalued. The collection was not worth EUR 3,759,100, but only EUR 906,700. And that is a lot less than the amount of EUR 1,636,000 the collection was bought for. The seller, the holding company, therefore has to compensate the damage AAI incurred. That amounts to EUR 755,300, which is the difference between the purchase price and the actual value of the artworks.
As the art collection was the major asset of the holding company, it will be difficult to obtain compensation. The Court does not consider it proved that the director of the holding company consciously harmed AAI and therefore only the holding company has to cover the damage and legal costs, and costs for seizure incurred.
Prevent fake art sales
The problems were caused because AAI had the collection thoroughly assessed after the purchase instead of before to it. This could be prevented by an upfront investigation regarding authenticity and provenance of artworks.
About the author:
Paul Russell is a lawyer for international and national businesses, art dealers, museums, and affluent individuals. He specializes in corporate governance, contracts and corporate litigation. He has been a lawyer at Russell since 1976. Russell Advocaten will gladly help you finding independent experts and drafting a sales agreement that provides you with the opportunity to recover the costs in the event of forgeries.
@: paul.russell@russell.nl
t: +31 20 301 55 55
On the picture Mr Endy Bayuni.“Democracy is both: the procedure and the content. It is a periodically revisited, fine-calibrated social contract that ties all horizontal and vertical segments of society. Although sometimes slow, tedious and consuming, this is still a truly comprehensive, just and sustainable way to build on its past, live the presence and pursuit the future of a nation.”
Following the known lines of professor Anis H. Bajrektarevic on ties that bind, hereby is the fresh take from one of the largest democracies of the world – that of Republic of Indonesia.
By Endy Bayuni.
The late Soeharto has become something of a poster boy for leadership as the nation searches for a president who can effectively deliver the goods.
Photos of the smiling president, who ruled Indonesia between 1966-1998, appear everywhere, with the caption in Javanese “piye kabare, isih penak jamanku, tho?” (How are you, better in my era, wasn’t it?), a reminder that for some, life was so much better then. The Soeharto posters and memes have been going viral since the 2014 election and are still circulating now.
Soeharto was a dictator, there is no doubt about it, though his supporters would claim that he was a noble one. But the point of the poster is that Indonesia had a leader who delivered the goods, something that no other president since then has been able to match, so his supporters claim.
Soeharto, who ruled with an iron fist, did deliver justice, security and welfare, but it is debatable whether his successors have fared better or worse. Ruling the country for 32 years, he was bound to have delivered something, while his successors have been subject to periodic democratic elections and limited to ruling for no more than two five-year terms.
The bigger question, and this was one of the topics discussed at the recent Bali Civil Society and Media Forum, is whether democracy can deliver justice, security and welfare to the people, all the people. Indonesia, now a democracy for nearly 20 years, albeit a struggling one, makes a good case study to answer this question, by comparing the ability of the two political systems in bringing greater prosperity to the people.
The track record of Indonesia since 1998 has not been bad, although perhaps underappreciated.
The economy has improved significantly, in terms of overall GDP and per-capita-income growth, and the government today provides many services such as free health care, 12-year compulsory free education and cash assistance for the poor. Indonesia is today the 16th-largest economy in the world, and many predict that it will be in the top 10 by 2025 and top five by 2040.
We have a growing middle class, reflected by the number cellphones, cars and motorcycles, and a growing appetite for holidays, both at home or abroad. And there is freedom, all kinds of freedom, something that distinguishes today’s era from that of Soeharto’s. Why then, do some people still feel that they miss Soeharto?
Perhaps they don’t really miss him, but they miss the certainty, the swift way decisions were made and the security he provided. They miss the effectiveness and efficiency that an authoritarian regime can deliver. Democracy, unfortunately, is almost anything but.
Decisions are made through an arduous and cumbersome process, and the government is often mired in stagnation. Every single major decision has to undergo the democratic processes, meaning noisy public debates and endless deliberation by legislators. We also have legislators who are good at grandstanding but ineffective in producing laws that reflect the aspirations of the people. In many ways, Soeharto’s regime produced some better laws because they did not go through the lengthy debates we see today.
On security, Indonesia faces challenges in ensuring protection for people who are attacked or persecuted because of their faith, race, sexual orientation or even ideological leanings.
The attacks on the Shia and Ahmadiyya followers, the forced closures of places of worship, the recent attacks against people because of their leftist ideological leanings, and the return of anti-Chinese sentiments, reflect that freedom and the protection of freedom have been denied to some.
Soeharto would not have tolerated any of this, but then, he would not have tolerated a lot of other things, including dissent and differences of opinion. Populism, the hallmark of democracy and one way of getting elected, also means leaders addressing only popular issues but avoiding more fundamental problems. These failings of democracy in Indonesia may have revived our memory of the “good old days” of Soeharto (while forgetting the worse aspects of his regime), but they should not be used as a pretext for a return to authoritarianism.
Democracy in Indonesia is still a work in progress. We have been in this game for only 20 years, and it still has not been able to ensure justice, security and welfare for all.
Democracy, as the popular saying goes, is the worst form of government, except for all the others. The alternative, an authoritarian regime, may be swift and efficient. But if authoritarianism comes at the cost of our freedom, an absence of checks and balances and endemic corruption, then yes, give us democracy any time.
We just have to work harder, through the democratic process, to fix these problems. We have to have faith in democracy.
————-
About the author: The writer, editor-in-chief of The Jakarta Post, took part in the Bali Civil Society and Media Forum, organized by the Institute for Peace and Democracy and the Press Council, on Dec.5-6.
On the picture H.E. Jaime Victor Ledda. By Anton Lutter.
For the second time the knights of the Order of Rizal participated at Rizal Day commemoration at The Philippines embassy december the 29th.
Thanks to ambassador H.E. Jaime Victor Ledda the commemoration was again a success. He himself held an excellent presentation about Dr. Jose Rizal, the National Hero’s connection with The Netherlands and urged for more research on this topic. His theme was well chosen considering the fact that The Netherlands and The Phillipines enjoy 65 years of diplomatic relations and 150 years of consulair relations.
On behalf of the Knights of Rizal the chapter commander of The Hague Chapter Sir Anton Lutter, KCR thanked ambassador Ledda for his hospitality and strong support of OKOR in The Netherlands. Sir Anton conveyed the good wish message from the European Regional Commander Sir Antonio Guansing, KGOR to the ambassador and the attendants.
Prof.Mr. Olaf baron van Boetzelaer.
The keynote speach of Rizalday was delivered by Professor Sir Olaf baron van Boetzelaer, KR and titled Dr Jose Rizal in retrospective as inpirator for ASEAN, inspired by the fact that The Philippines is chairing ASEAN in 2017. Some quotes:
“Can reflection on Dr. Rizal in retrospective, be inspiring with regards to ASEAN’s future? Indeed the past is sometimes the key to the future. In Dr. Rizal’s perception central is his aspiration for the freedom of the person, his concern for the person’s dignity and his analienable rights. And it is here also fits in exactly the message of the Philippine diplomacy, mentioning “a people and oriented and centered ASEAN”. So as the Philippine diplomacy on the eve of his chairmanship proclaims: “peace and stability in the region” it is also in line with the spirit of Rizal, wishing that for his countrymen. Let us hope that the “Declaration of Conduct concerning the South China Sea “ by ASEAN, leads to appropriate attitudes and behavior of the concerned sea faring nations.The Philippines aspires for ASEAN to develop a model of regionalism, even a role of global player. In Dr. Rizal’s perception , the Philippines were also of course part of the global family of nations. A fitting conception for the “homo universalis”, a patriot and at the same time being open to the world.”
Haitian President-elect Jovenel Moise, candidate of the political party founded by former President Michel Martelly, the Haitian Tèt Kale Party (PHTK) held a press conference after the announcement of his victory in Petion-Ville, Haiti, on Tuesday, January 3, 2017.
Moise, a businessman from northern Haiti who has never held political office, was certified as the official winner of the November presidential election Tuesday following a ruling by an electoral tribunal that found no evidence of large-scale voter fraud.
2 December 2016, Amsterdam: Heddy Honigmann, a prestigious Dutch-Peruvian documentary director was bestowed the “Silver Carnation” in 2016 by the Prince Bernhard Cultural Funds. Behind the decision, the jury praised Honigmann for “the exceptional way in which she conducts interviews, and for the loving way in which she depicts the strengths, joys and the vulnerabilities of people from all walks of life“. Heddy Honingmann received the carnation from HM Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. The prestigious Zilveren Anjer (Silver Carnation) Awards annually recognize individuals who have made extraordinary, voluntary contributions to Dutch cultural life and the environment.The award itself is accompanied by a pecuniary sum of 75,000 EUR. In addition to it, the laureate receives a “cultural fund” with an initial capital of 75,000 EUR; he/she decides the aims and name for the fund. The Cultuurfonds were set up in London in 1940 by the late Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, maternal grandfather to incumbent King Willem Alexander and spouse to Queen Juliana. There were meant to purchase war material for the British and Dutch governments. They continued after the war as “Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds”, aimed at rebuilding cultural life in war-torn The Netherlands. Headquartered on the Herengracht canal in Amsterdam, the foundation has 12 local branches, one in each of the Dutch provinces. Furthermore there is a separate Distribution Committee for projects in Aruba, Curaςao, St. Maarten and Bonaire, St. Eustatius, Saba.Each year over 3,500 cultural, nature an scientific projects are supported. These include town bands, the restoration of historic buildings and ships, dance performances, the preservation of unique cityscapes and landscapes, and scholarships for young artists and scholars to study abroad.For further information:http://www.cultuurfonds.nl/projecten/onderscheidingen-en-prijzen/prins-bernhard-cultuurfonds-prijshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heddy_Honigmann
——
Photography by Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds.
On 3 January 2017, Trial Chamber VI of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “Court”), in the case of The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda, found that it has jurisdiction over counts 6 and 9 (alleged war crimes of rape and sexual slavery of child soldiers) and rejected the Defence’s challenge thereto.
This decision relates only to the Chamber’s authority to adjudicate the alleged conduct. The decision is without prejudice to the guilt or innocence of the accused which will be determined only at the end of the trial.
The Defence argued that Counts 6 and 9 do not fall within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Court considering that, according to Article 3 common to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, war crimes may not be committed by members of an armed force against members of the same armed force. Trial Chamber VI had initially ruled that the Defence’s challenge did not constitute a jurisdictional matter and that it would address this question in the judgment. However, the Appeals Chamber decided that the challenge was jurisdictional in nature and remanded the matter back to Trial Chamber VI, which allowed the parties to make updated submissions.
After examining the Defence’s submissions, as well as those of the Prosecutor and the Legal Representative of victims, ICC Trial Chamber VI found that limiting the scope of protection in the manner proposed by the Defence is contrary to the rationale of international humanitarian law, which aims to mitigate the suffering resulting from armed conflict.
The Chamber further found that members of the same armed force are not as such excluded as potential victims of the war crimes of rape and sexual slavery, whether as a result of the way these crimes have been incorporated in the Rome Statute, or on the basis of the framework of international humanitarian law, or international law more generally. The Chamber concluded that “there is never a justification to engage in sexual violence against any person” and that “such conduct [rape and sexual slavery] is prohibited at all times, both in times of peace and during armed conflicts, and against all persons, irrespective of any legal status”.
Therefore, the Chamber decided that it has jurisdiction over the alleged conduct described in Counts 6 and 9 of the charges without prejudice to whether such acts have taken place or to the accused’s presumption of innocence.
Sir Tim Barrow – Picture by mil.ru.
London, 4 January 2017: Her Britannic Majesty’s Government has appointed Sir Timothy (Tim) Barrow as British Permanent Representative to the EU after the resignation on 3 January 2017 of Sir Ivan Rogers, in office since 4 November 2013.
Ambassador Barrow is a career diplomat who held his last ambassadorship in the Russian Federation. Previously worked at the UK’s Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels tasked at the Political and Security Committee of the EU from 2008 to 2011. His earlier EU experience includes spells as an Assistant Director in the Europe Directorate and a First Secretary in UKRep.
For further information:https://www.gov.uk/government/world/organisations/uk-representation-to-the-euhttps://www.gov.uk/government/news/sir-tim-barrow-appointed-as-uk-permanent-representative-to-the-eu
‘We need art more than ever before. We live in a time when we try to deal with our problems and try to describe our world through words, figures and logic. But to understand humans and to look at the bigger shifts – the tectonic plate shifts in the human condition, so to speak – we need to rise above, or go below, the 24/7 news cycle, and we need art to give us a different language to understand the human condition.’ Kasper Holten, Director of Opera, Royal Opera House, London
Majida Mouasher was the owner of the 4 Walls Art gallery in Amman, Jordan between 2000 and 2006. During that time, she worked with more than ninety artists, forty-four of whom form the nucleus of her stunning and vital private collection comprised of modern and contemporary Arab art from the Middle East in general and the Levant in particular, and spanning over sixty years of outstanding quality art.
At the time, there were very few contemporary galleries to be found in Jordan and artists were largely dependent on their own personal efforts and contacts to promote their work.
There was a vacuum that needed to be filled and a public demanding to see contemporary art and get to know the artists. The aim of 4 Walls was to promote the artists by exhibiting their works and helping to sell them. Throughout that period, Majida Mouasher consistently bought work from these artists.
What makes this collection so unique is its astonishing diversity, despite the fact that the Levant is so heavily represented. The artists all have deep cultural roots in whatever the source of their inspiration might be, whether that is China, Russia, the West, or their own country of origin. Though many of them are now living in the diaspora, they all have in common an honest reaction to their environment, their cultural and social or historical backgrounds, their ethnic origins or political upheavals.
The wars and instabilities in the Middle East have forced people to move across continents and to the shorelines of Europe, bringing with them new and different cultural ways. Now that the Middle East is so much in the spotlight, an urgency exists to show its contemporary art to the Western public. Art is able to bypass conflicts, to enhance and promote understanding between cultures.
At the occation of the exhibition a book is published with an overview of the collection. The texts are by Majida Mouasher; HRH Princess Wijdan al-Hashemi PhD (painter and founder and president of the Royal Society of Fine Arts, Amman, Jordan); Nada Shabout PhD (Professor of Art
History and Director of the Contemporary Arab and Muslim Studies Institute at the University of North Texas) and Dr. Luitgard Mols (owner of Sabiel: Research, Curating, Education and Consultancy in Islamic Art, lecturer in Islamic art at the University of Amsterdam).
About the author:
Paul Russell is a lawyer for international and national businesses, art dealers, museums, and affluent individuals. He specializes in corporate governance, contracts and corporate litigation. He has been a lawyer at Russell since 1976. Russell Advocaten will gladly help you finding independent experts and drafting a sales agreement that provides you with the opportunity to recover the costs in the event of forgeries.
@: paul.russell@russell.nl
t: +31 20 301 55 55
Herewith you can see the list of all four episodes, which will give you the opportunity to watch the episodes online.
Episode 1 – broadcasted on 13 November
Volcanoes NP – gorillas
https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/13-11-2017/VPWON_1283229
Episode 2 – broadcasted on 16 November
Nyungwe Forest NP & Chimps
https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/16-11-2017/VPWON_1283232
Episode 3 – broadcasted on 24 November
Colobus Monkey
https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/24-11-2017/VPWON_1283239
Episode 4 – broadcasted on 30 November
Volcanoes – Bambooforest – Golden Monkey
https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/30-11-2017/VPWON_1283244
Herewith you can see the list of all four episodes, which will give you the opportunity to watch the episodes online.
Episode 1 – broadcasted on 13 November
Volcanoes NP – gorillas
https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/13-11-2017/VPWON_1283229
Episode 2 – broadcasted on 16 November
Nyungwe Forest NP & Chimps
https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/16-11-2017/VPWON_1283232
Episode 3 – broadcasted on 24 November
Colobus Monkey
https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/24-11-2017/VPWON_1283239
Episode 4 – broadcasted on 30 November
Volcanoes – Bambooforest – Golden Monkey
https://npo.nl/freeks-wilde-wereld/30-11-2017/VPWON_1283244
