Armani Exchange Apologize for "Garuda T-Shirt"

Designs house Armani Exchange apologized for using an image similar to the emblem of Indonesia, Garuda Pancasila, in one of their shirts.

"We apologize for any objections arising from this design," said Ric Santos from Armani Exchange via electronic mail, as quoted by VIVAnews, Wednesday, January 27, 2010, in the morning.

Earlier this week, T-shirt whose similar picture with Garuda have been discussed in a crowded forum in Indonesia. Armani Exchange itself had declared that the image of Garuda birds which attached to the shirt is a military version of eagle bird.

On Tuesday, January 26, 2010 morning, shirt-like image of Garuda Pancasila had disappeared from the official page of Armani Exchange. Santos said the controversy that emerged around the design to the attention Armani Exchange. He also admitted that the shirts were removed from the page Armani Exchange immediately after the issue broke out.

"We are very concerned about this problem and immediately remove the item from our page," said Santos.

The similarities military eagle of Armani with Garuda lied in terms of not only shapes, but also the details. Two birds had the same 17 feathers on the wing, eight tail feathers, and 45 hairs on the body.

Besides fur, eagle shield on his chest is also reminiscent of the Armani shield in bird Garuda. Figure head bull and banyan trees there on the model's Armani T-shirt to change into the letter X and A.

While the image of rice and cotton are attached to the T-shirts still faintly visible. Fig star pentagon Armani maintained.

On the front, eagle emblem of the shirt also facing to the same direction as the official symbol of Indonesia. But, the eagle on the back of the shirt, facing the opposite position.

The T-shirts provided in three colors: white, black, and navy. Views of Garuda or eagle's military arise in the form of screening. The material used 100 percent cotton and fitting body.

Armani Exchange is one of the Italian designer's product lines, Giorgio Armani. It founded in 1991 in the United States with a market share of young people.

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"La Belle Ferronniere", Authenticity Controversy Da Vinci Painting

Believe it or not? This is the painting of Leonardo Da Vinci, La Belle Ferronniere which was more than 80 years. The painting was certainly a picture of the figure of the mistress of Lucrezia Crivelli Ludovico Sforza, lord of Milan.

Sotheby's auction house in New York, as quoted by Reuters, Patricia Reaney, examine the painting was made before 1750 by followers of the Renaissance.

The work of art that could be full of intrigue controversy even as the title of leading libel case in court in 1920. Another version of the works of Leonardo Da Vinci made or one of his students, is now in the Louvre Museum, Paris, France.

"I'm sure no one who recognizes this painting," said George Wachter, president of the gallery of ancient paintings, paintings that responded to that will be auctioned. He argued, "I myself do not believe this picture was made by Leonardo."

Meanwhile there were other findings that Harry Kahn, an American flier during the world war one, and French's wife, Andree, received the painting in 1920 as a wedding gift from her grandmother. "This must be made by Da Vinci," said a French art expert convincing authenticity.

When Hahn Later tried to sell the painting to the Art Institute in Kansas City, United States, costing $ 250,000, was no response from Joseph Duveen, art dealer in London, England, who called told reporters that the painting was fake. The statements was not only expressed by Duveen, but also Cannoisseurship Foundation.

The case shocked the art world immediately. Although other art experts supported the statement because of the lack of scientists Duveen and archiving of evidence, the judge ultimately failed to reach a decision. Duveen completing the trial process before continuing any further because there is a pay wife Hanh U.S. $ 60,000 worth. Sotheby's hoped the painting would be sold between the value of U.S. $ 300,000 to 500.000. However, the price the painting could still rise again.

"This assessment is based on fact, painting a beautiful quality and glare by the lady's face," said Wachter.

Art experts believe that the painting was made before 1750 because there is a yellow ink, pencil strokes, the color used in painting until the late 17th century.

Unlike the version of the Louvre, which is described in a wooden panel or the same type since the time of Da Vinci. Hahn painting done on canvas, which is widely used post-period.

Characteristics of the pencil scratch are the force European painters had done in the future. "This is a good quality, and it has a year. The rest is up to people to decide," said Wachter.

John Brewer, author of "The American Leonardo", explained in detail that the history of the beautiful painting entered the United States in 1920. Then, he argues, what problems there because the rate Da Vinci.

"The value of this painting is not simple. If this is Leonardo, but this fact has a debate and an interesting history," he added.


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103 World Figures on a Painting

Let’s try to look at this painting. There are 103 of the world figures portrayed there. Can you recognize one by one? Apart from "yes" or "no", just prepare your self to smile. But, why would you be smiling? Personally, I smile because Karl Marx is there. He remains in a serious look on his face time, even!

Click image to view larger image.












So, who are them? Here they are...

1. Bill Gates, Microsoft founder

2. Homer, Greek poet

3. Cui Jian, Chinese singer

4. Vladimir Lenin, Russian revolutionary

5. Pavel Korchagin, Russian artist

6. Bill Clinton, former U.S. President

7. Peter the Great, Russian leader

8. Margaret Thatcher

9. Bruce Lee, martial arts actor

10. Winston Churchill

11. Henri Matisse, French artist

12. Genghis Khan, Mongolian warlord

13. Napoleon Bonaparte, French military leader

14. Che Guevara, Marxist revolutionary

15. Fidel Castro, former Cuban leader

16. Marlon Brando, actor

17. Yasser Arafat, former Palestinian leader

18. Julius Caesar, Roman emperor

19. Gen. Claire Lee Chennault, WW II U.S. aviator

20. Luciano Pavarotti, singer

21. George W. Bush, former U.S. President

22. The Prince of Wales

23. Liu Xiang, Chinese Olympic hurdler

24. Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary General

25. Zhang An, the painter

26. Mikhail Gorbachev, former Russian leader

27. Li Tiezi, the painter

28. Dante Alighieri, Florentine poet

29. Dai Dudu, the painter

30. Pele, Brazilian footballer

31. Guan Yu, Chinese warlord

32. Ramses II, Egyptian pharaoh

33. Charles De Gaulle, French general

34. Albert Nobel, Swedish chemist who founded the Nobel prizes

35. Franklin Roosevelt, former U.S. President

36. Ernest Hemingway, American novelist

37. Elvis Presley, American singer

38. Robert Oppenheimer, U.S. physicist

39. William Shakespeare, playwright

40. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer

41. Steven Spielberg, U.S. film director

42. Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter

43. Marie Curie, physicist and pioneer of radioactivity

44. Zhou Enlai, first Premier of the People's Republic of China

45. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, German writer

46. Laozi, Chinese philosopher

47. Marilyn Monroe, American actress

48. Salvador Dali, Spanish painter

49. Dowager Cixi, former ruler of China

50. Ariel Sharon, former Israeli Prime Minister

51. Qi Baishi, Chinese painter

52. Qin Shi Huang, former Chinese Emperor

53. Mother Teresa, Roman Catholic missionary

54. Song Qingling, Chinese politician

55. Rabindranath Tagore, Indian poet

56. Otto Von Bismarck, German statesman

57. Run Run Shaw, Chinese media mogul

58. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher

59. Audrey Hepburn, actress

60. Ludwig Van Beethoven, German composer

61. Adolf Hitler, Nazi leader

62. Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist leader

63. Saddam Hussein, former Iraq president

64. Maxim Gorky, Russian writer

65. Sun Yat-Sen, Chinese revolutionary

66. Den Xiaoping, Chinese revolutionary

67. Alexander Pushkin, Russian author

68. Lu Xun, Chinese writer

69. Joseph Stalin, former Soviet Union leader

70. Leonardo Da Vinci, Italian painter

71. Karl Marx, German philosopher

72. Friedrich Nietzsche, German philosopher

73. Abraham Lincoln, former U.S. President

74. Mao Zedong, Chinese dictator

75. Charlie Chaplin, British actor

76. Henry Ford, founder of Ford motor company

77. Lei Feng, Chinese soldier

78. Norman Bethune, Canadian physician

79. Sigmund Freud, Austrian psychiatrist

80. Juan Antonio Samaranch, former International Olympic Committee president

81. Chiang Kai Shek, Chinese general

83. Leo Tolstoy, Russian novelist

84. Li Bai, Chinese poet

82. The Queen

85. Corneliu Baba, Romanian painter

86. Auguste Rodin, French artist

87. Dwight Eisenhower, former U.S. President

88. Michael Jordan, U.S. basketball player

89. Hideki Tojo, former Japanese Prime Minister

90. Michelangelo, Italian Renaissance painter

91. Yi Sun-Sin, Korean naval commander

92. Mike Tyson, American boxer

93. Vladimir Putin, Russian Prime Minister

94. Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author

95. Shirley Temple, American actress

96. Albert Einstein, German physicist

97. Moses, Hebrew religious leader

98. Confucius, Chinese philosopher

99. Ghandi, Indian spiritual leader

100. Vincent Van Gogh, Dutch painter

101. Toulouse Lautrec, French painter

102. Marcel Duchamp, French artist

(Osama bin Laden, founder of al Qaeda, is behind George W. Bush, no 21)





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Heri Dono Exhibition: Shadow of the Trojan Horses in Tondi Gallery

When depicted in Greek mythology Prometheus stole fire from Zeus then gave it to mankind for eternity, the artist Heri Dono described with a sarcastic parody. Prometheus described as a clown character in the Ramayana puppet.

With the title a little like painting by Heinrich Füger painting, "Prometheus Brings Fire to Mankind", Heri's painting entitled: "Prometheus Stealing Fire From Zeus". Heri describes Prometheus as a clown with the way in puppet, not like Prometheus who was known to have exceptional knowledge so as to steal fire from Zeus. The fire was then given to 4 animals ugly and scary with fire in his head, one of them is a bird that resembles an eagle.

"Prometheus Stealing Fire From Zeus" is one of the works of national artists, Heri Dono, 48 years old, who first exhibited in January and Tondi Fine Arts Gallery, at Road No Keladi Buntu. 6 Medan. The exhibition was held on January 9 to 27 then.

Heri Dono solo exhibitions, national artists from Yogyakarta is well known in the art realm of national or international, the theme is "Trojan Horse in the Shadow of the Ramayana", referring as many as 30 works of painting and installation works 8. In the meantime, this is the first time Heri held solo exhibitions in Singapore, which had received a warm response from the recipient field.

"Trojan Horse in the Shadow of the Ramayana" are images of Greek mythology in the shadow perwayangan, as in the story of the Ramayana. And witnesses this gallery where the images are expected to be obtained, "said Heri, who has a lot of artists received awards, among them the Prince Claus Award in 1998; UNESCO Prize for the Shanghai Biennale in 2000.

In Greek mythology, Trojan Horse (Trojan Horse - Red) refers to the strength (power) that allows Greek town finally into Troy during the Trojan War. A war that happened in this Bronze Age (prehistoric era - Red) is told, after 10 years of futile siege Troy, the Greeks eventually created a figure (shields and weapons) large horse in which the soldiers could take refuge in it. With that, the Greek soldiers finally managed to master the Troy City with a landslide victory.

Reality, such ways that, for Heri, often used for a power.

The shadows of horses in Troy Ramayana mythology, for Heri, has a close relationship. Thus, he could easily describe the power with irony and parody. Puppets characters used to quip that power is often held by wrong people. So did the intellectual touted by the wrong people too. Thus, there has been an irony.

Look at the example, "Prometheus Brings Fire to Mankind", which take "light" it. So, how else would it be like "fire" of Zeus is supposed to be used for human wisdom and immortality was given to four animals. Seeing a way that animals only, as if it portrayed the fear and horror. What if a civilization (state) led and dominated by creatures like them?

Power corrupt is also depicted in his painting, "The King of Beer". Described a ruler with an expression that seems simple, but filled with dirty intrigues. Described, "the king" is a beer drinker. His heart was light and full of love. But, there is hypocrisy behind it.

He looked handsome and dignified. Waved his right hand, but (ironically) his left hand holding a bottle of beer. From his heart out a hand to feed a man who stood at the mouth of a man who is intoxicated by the vodka and was asleep on a train (power). Can imagine how that corruption branch of (bribery) not only went through one mouth alone from the same person.

Which is not less interesting to note and ponder Heri painting is titled "puppeteer Wayane" or "puppeteer riots". There is described the riots have been created by the creature (Heri was described as the human form, but the animals) are "high minded" bright and full of love. Hypocrisy, for Heri, is probably familiar in this country.

The mastermind was so minikmati "game" riots which she had created. Ironically, there's more of a provocateur as if lit conflict. Is a creature that resembles a bird garuda fire "provocation" from his mouth. This is the irony, Heri said.

"Garuda Pancasila as a symbol, it should become a nation of moral ethics (Indonesia - Red), but is often used as a means of provocation," Heri said once, in a conversation with gallery visitors and a few young artists from the State University of Medan (Yanal Zendrato , Deppi Tarigan, Sudarson Hutabarat, Wake Simamora, etc.), after the opening of the exhibition and discussion held.

Grace Siregar, as the founder of Gallery Tondi, assess Heri works very critical, full of meaning (parodikal). Images that he made clear in the condition of our nation today, he said .


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Ulos, One of Symbol Batak Arts

North Tapanuli regency, like other regions also have the uniqueness that if not maintained and kept current will disappear by modernization. So who will be consistent with the uniqueness of this?

One of the uniqueness of the many secrets of a unique art skill combined with a culture that is found in ulos, is a Batak traditional costumes. And the uniqueness of both the wealth that is still maintained at least thanks to the perseverance that still care about the arts and cultural traditions.

A couple Sitompul D St. (67) and F Br Panggabean (60) since the 1980s has struggled to preserve the weaving ulos. Armed with hereditary skills of parents, traditions and skills of this any artistic talent and became a source of support family life.

Not only them, the villagers of Siatas Barita Sitompul District, about five miles from Tarutung City, are the majority have the skill to weave ulos than rice farming.

"80 percent of the villagers weave Sitompul ulos," Sitompul said when met at his residence yesterday, some time ago (July 2006).

Ulos-making process is not easy work. Besides take a long time, also needed skills in the art of combining color and weave the threads into ulos and "mandar" (sarong) is motivated art.

"This is not an easy job," she said, pointing Sitompul, showing materials chemical coloring neatly behind his house. "This is my office," he added jokingly.

The main raw material, yarn, is decisive. The higher the quality the higher yarn prices also. In addition, the more difficult to do pattern ulos, the higher the price is. For example "Letter Mandar Batak", are more expensive than mandar ulos or another, starting Rp 250 thousand to Rp 2 million.

The construction is also not for a moment. One mandar ulos or quality yarn quality and level of difficulty making a higher hue takes two weeks if finished by one person. "So we more frequently work together," said Boru Panggabean.

While, there are also simple construction cheaper valuable ulos. Like the "The Leaven Ulos Life", "Leaven Hotang" and "Sadun" are cheaper, which starting from Rp 20 thousand to Rp 600 thousand.

Yarn 100 is one of high quality raw materials. This yarn imported from India after purchased by agents from Surabaya, Bandung or Jakarta. Initially the color was plain white. "This is where the special skills needed to integrate chemical colors into the desired color," said Sitompul. Then, as the colored yarn, weaving process was carried out after the colored threads were dry by the sun.

"Well, here's where the process is more difficult because it requires the creation of art," said Sitompul. Besides yarn 100, Sitompul said, to create patterns or writing on them ulos also use gold thread (which resembles the color of gold), nylon, porada, and yarn singer.

Sitompul said, however, he more often obtain advance orders than sell directly to the agent ulos. "Apart from Tarutung, orders often come from Medan, Jakarta and other cities. They already know me and this village through ulos," he said.

Sitompul, after 20 years in weaving ulos, until now has successfully completed three children from the university. "This is all thanks to the power of God and the perseverance to maintain ulos family as one of the wealth of the Batak land," he said.

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