Visiting the "NO MAN`S LAND" exhibition at RUBELL MUSEUM

The other day me, my significant and our precious one decided to embark on an escapade to South Miami or in other words Miami Beach but mind it, NOT Downtown Miami - these are two completely different parts of the city. Actually to be more precise, our destination was Wynwood, the artsy-trendy district of Miami filled with warehouses, industrial buildings, street art, quaint little cafes and bake-shops. We were planning to visit the Rubell Museum located in the heart of it since we missed out on the major happening of Miami Art Basel. Hence we decided to make up for the lost impressions with a mini-outing to Rubell exhibition instead. My main recommendation to whoever stays in Sunny Isles or any other place located farther away from the main city of Miami - rent a car. We did not and that is why needed to take a bus. And buses stop often. We changed two buses and our total trip time to Wynwood was around 2 hrs. But the exhibition was worth the pain. At first, after being greeted by a polite courteous receptionist, I looked around and thought it was kind of small - however the artworks presented on the ground floor were intriguing - large red clay colored sacks hanging in bunches like tumors or grapes from the vine or countless testicles of some giant Gulliver in one spacious hall

, then a cathedral made of long wool (or some other natural fabric) stripes; then a flirtatious matchstick-skinny mannequin and various abstractions. But the key pieces of the exhibition were one floor up - a fabulous selection of female (predominantly) body (and spirit) representation by females: Marlene Dumas, Cecily Brown, Cindy Sherman, Miriam Cahn - just to name a few. My personal favorite was "Jealousy in the Harem", 2005 by Dumas - a relatively recent watercolor and inkwash on paper. These media plus the reclining pose gave it the effect of fragility and insecurity but also of an exuberant femininity.

There were also numerous artworks by emerging young artists, some of the paintings were done in 2015 and when I walked around them, I felt the strong smell of fresh paint. Among the up-and-coming artists my attention was drawn to Hayv Kaharaman, an Iraqi artist, whose works reflect the controversial issues of gender, honor killings and war, all issues that plague her home country of Iraq. One of her paintings, the photo of which you can see here, is called "Migrant". The featured wood panel depicts a beautiful woman in a noose.

There were a lot of other striking works worth mentioning but as they say it is better to see it once than to hear it one hundred times - that is the way it goes, right? ):

Traveling with a toddler - advice to myself and others - notes from the minimalist`s perspective

I. I learned throughout my frequent trips that it is desirable NOT to pack too many toys. At first I would take her lots and lots - her multiple dolls, stuffed animals, toy cars, toy food, paints, play - dough etc. Now I just take 3 colored markers, some pencils, one or two containers of play dough plus 2 of her favorite stuffed animals (favorite at the moment!). Why 2 of the latter? One acts as a back-up toy in case we lose the Number One. I am not a big fan of buying new toys for her in every new town/country we visit, though sometimes my sentimental side attempts to kick in and force me into buying some cute memento for her, e.g. a sweet camel from Dubai or a dolphin from sunny Florida. I prefer her to have one favorite toy friend towards whom she has enough time to develop a genuine affection. The only item I regret in the past that we could not take with us was her potty but my worst fears about repetitive disasters soon evaporated when she quickly got the grasp of going on the toilet seat after a week-long training in the daycare. At times though when I play with her with our scarce game equipment and I use my creativity cells to the utmost in order to come up with fresh playing ideas and scenarios, I start fantasizing about large size toy kitchens with all the utensils, toy bikes, toddler-size dolls with beds and wardrobes... I start thinking how easier all these accessories would make my life and eliminate the need for my participation in most of my daughter`s games or at least the need to set them up. But we had all of those in the past and not necessarily she would get absorbed into playing with them on her own. She would always need a playmate and that role usually was granted onto me. I think at her current stage of development she needs to grow some friendships. As for the toys, they will never substitute human-to-human interaction (this is a remark applying to adults too ):). II. Another major factor to consider while traveling with a toddler is to plan ahead and develop the trip agenda in advance, taking into account the vicinity of children-friendly events and activities. E.G.: When I was planning a trip to Athens, Greece, I came with her completely unprepared, without performing any research about the above-mentioned. It turned out that Athens is not the most children-accommodating city - there are not so many playgrounds in the city, not so many parks, with the exception of National Gardens next to Syntagma Square. Also I did not consider the sweltering heat that envelops Athens in July. But anyway, one learns from one`s mistakes, does not one? ):

Софія і наші "жахливі" 2 рочки та 8 місяців!

Подорожуємо з Сонею вздовж і поперек Сонячної Еллади. Без татка цього разу. Думала-гадала, як же воно буде - наодинці з нашею тиранусею. Основний висновок, зроблений мною - зробила велику помилку, узявши зі собою важкий наш Бугабу візок - тут на афінських бруківках та вузеньких-превузеньких тротуарах мені з ним надзвичайно важко - та що там прибіднюватись - просто неможливо. Тому ми зробили крок назустріч дорослішанню і тепер усюди тільки за ручку. Деколи мені здається, що я ту ручку Софію відкручу, так я її міцно тримаю, коли вона пручається і намагається вирватись на волю, коли за пів-метра від нас інтенсивний рух на дорозі. На майданчиках не полегшало - Софія відбирає іграшки у всіх і вся, як і останні, уже не пам'ятаю скільки точно місяців, здається, вона вже відбирає ці іграшки цілу вічність. А якщо у неї щось відтягнуть, не приведи Господь, тут такі арії анархічні розпочинаються, що усі революціонери-крикуни відпочивають. Але мені хоть-би що, я собі сиджу і розводжу очима по сторонам, ніби дитина то не моя, а те, що вона аж надривається, ну то хай собі, хіба вона комусь заважає? Але кілька днів сталось позитивне зрушення у нашому процесі соціальної адаптації. Софія помітила іграшковий потяг, у якому можна було кілька хвиль ніби-то прокататись - швидше проколиватись з одного боку в інший. Я завжди розкошелююсь на таке задоволення і цього разу вже приготувала 50 центів, аж побачила, що там треба аж один (чи одне? біс його зна) Євро. І тут мене вже зашкребло - українська заощадливість узяла своє. Але тут звідкілясь виникла ще якась дружня на вигляд мамуня з донею, якій теж до несхочу кортіло на потяг. Софія уже посідала своє почесне місце і виглядало на те, що ні з ким вона цю мандрівку ділити не хотіла. Але мені вже дуже захтілось зекономити 50 центяків, от я й сказала матусі цій: а ну давайте, ми їх обидвох одразу, але одразу хочу застерегти, моя доня може агресивно досить... Матуся згідно похитала головою, я запхала Євро у дірочку і потяг рушив. Вона прудко посадила своє маля поряд з моїм - і о, диво, о небеса? Софія на це не зважала, навіть оком не зморгнула, а навпаки - широко посміхалась... Значить може, коли хоче. (: Отак поступово і почнемо вливатись у суспільство...

Most of our livelihood is in the storage... I feel light and restless... (:

Since I don`t have a lot of supremely important things here, in this rented apt in Morningside Heights. E.g.: I don`t my Persian Lamb Coat (which I hardly ever wear), our kid`s gate that used to create a protective zone around the table with many of our sharp and pointy possessions, neither do I have most of my daughter`s toys here - her recently purchased bike and scooter, her Retro Rocket Flyer, her Russian-speaking doll, you name it - we don`t have it ): So I had to summon all of receding imagination and come up with ideas on how to entertain my daughter in almost Spartan (according to the modern standards (:) conditions. The first effort was painting with Q-tips and washable paints earlier today. I looked it up on Instagram on another brave stay-at-home mom`s profile - so it wasn`t entirely my original idea. Sofia dabbled a bit with it and in the end with the lightning speed dipped her finger into the brown color trying to get it into her mouth. I intercepted this action and the painting session ended in some crying. Next, what can we try next? I would not say I`m desperate for ideas but after searching online and finding such tips as: Developing your child`s motor skills with needle and threads (totally unsafe and unsound as an advice I believe), I do need some ideas. What do we have here: my clothes, her clothes, some toy food, 3 children`s books, lots of breakable adult dishware, open fridge (the fridge lock does not work on it), an always accessible sink, 4 wooden light chairs that Sofia is capable and very fond of dragging around, 1 wooden table (seemed to be in almost new condition when we first came to this apt, which is a week ago), bathroom - off limits because it is freezing cold and why should it be of access in any case? Ah, and of course I forgot to mention the whole neighborhood near Columbia University that we have at our disposition for another 23 days or so. When the temperature gets over its current rebellious state (19 Degrees today), we are going to explore it in full! And planning to set up as many play dates as possible. Let the PD marathon begin! Will try to provide comments soon on how current situation progresses. P.S. The photo is from our previous 1-junior bedroom apt (basically a large studio in other words) where we had this so desirable now baby gate...