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? ):