Dia De Los Muertos In Prague – Photo Document

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Dia de los Muertos in Prague-Juan Manuel Garcia
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Day of the Dead is a holiday celebrated throughout Mexico. The celebration focuses on gatherings where family and friends pray for and remember those who have died, in order to support their spiritual journeys. In 2008, the tradition was inscribed in UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

It is not only a very emotional time, but also an important holiday in which pre-Hispanic culture meets the Catholic church. The sadness of the loss of loved ones blends with celebration because death, as the Mexicans see it, is not a definitive end to life but is just another kind of life. According to Mexican belief, the souls of the dead come to earth in this time period to visit their relatives. And they lay flowers, fruit, pastries or drinks on the graves of their loved ones.

The production Motus Prague, in cooperation with Cristina Maldonado, brings a bit of Mexico to the Czech lands — all with the support of Prague 7 City District and the Embassy of Mexico in the Czech Republic.

In the surroundings of Stromovka park, parents and children experience the traditional customs and various cultural events — for the kids the events are staged by Toy Machine and Nebezpečné divadlo/Dangerous Theatre, and Aztec dance performance by Juan Manuel Garcia.

They also enjoy live Mexican music by Sombrero Negro. Participants can take part in special food making, such as decorating skull lemon cookies by Prague Pie Hole, or can simply taste various the Mexican dishes provided for festival goers.

Children also engage in a large number of workshops, such as hand-made lanterns by Artual, masks by Kreslírna/Artroom Letná, and clay graffiti by Muddum.

By Michaela Škvrňáková
Photos: Michaela Škvrňáková

Dia de los Muertos in Prague Dia de los Muertos in Prague

Dia de los Muertos in Prague Dia de los Muertos in Prague-Prague Pie Hole

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Dia de los Muertos in Prague Dia de los Muertos in Prague

Dia de los Muertos in Prague-Muddum Dia de los Muertos in Prague

 

3D Printing Against Daesh: “We Will Recreate What ISIS Destroyed”

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digital archaeology
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3D technology comes to the rescue after the destruction of several world cultural treasures by the militant group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

According to the United Nations, ISIS has destroyed and damaged 200 world heritage sites along with hundreds of statues and artefacts since 2014.

ISIS’ plan is simple. It is about erasing all traces of previous cultures to establish their own and take advantage of the media coverage following massing destructions of historic sites to grab the world’s attention. In addition, this cultural cleaning is a way for Daesh to finance their activities by selling to dealers and private collectors.

Yet those lost treasures that some call “blood artifacts” may not be lost forever.

Through her digital fabrication and 3D printing project “Material Speculation : ISIS”, Iranian artist and activist Morehshin Allahyari chose to focus on the reconstruction of selected artifacts and statues destroyed by ISIS in Iraq in 2015.

In addition, to repair history and memory, each 3D printed object comprises a flash drive and a memory card. The data in these flash drives contain materials: maps, images, videos and pdf files on the destroyed artifacts and sites. They were gathered thanks to a collaboration with different archeologists and historians, including and museum staff.

“Like time capsules, each object is sealed and kept for future civilizations.”
– Morehshin Allahyari

Just like Murehshin Allahyari artifacts, Palmyra has suffered numerous act of vandalism. The Syrian desert city known as the Venice of the Sands lost the triumphal arch from 2,000-year-old Temple of Bel.

Devastated, many archaeologists talked restoration and reconstruction such as American lawyer/archaeologist Roger Michel. Indeed, as the founder of Oxford’s Institute for Digital Archaeology, Michel has built a 3D facsimile arch from Palmyra’s destroyed Temple of Bel.

Thanks to 3D technology, Pamlyra’s rose again in London’s Trafalgar Square last April to coincide with world heritage week. It should then travel on to Times Square in New York City.

London, Trafalgar Square

This 3D replica of the 15-meters arch that formed the temple’s entrance is a gesture of defiance against ISIS’ desire to erase cultural and historical evidence.

“My intention is to show Islamic State that anything they can blow up we can rebuild exactly as it was before, and rebuild it again and again. We will use technology to disempower ISIS.” Roger Michel

Moving for some or uncanny for others, this incredible public display of 3D reconstruction is the proof that new technology can restore entire parts of 20th-century historical sites. Although out of their original context and site, 3D monuments or artefacts might still conserve their precious sense of place and craftsmanship, thus preserving everybody’s heritage.

By Pauline Schnoebelen

Man Running Across Canada And Back Has Made It Half Way

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Fast Eddy
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Cross Canada charity runner Fast Eddy has made it to the East Coast — he ran from Vancouver Island to Cape Spear, Newfoundland, the most eastern point in North America, and is now on his way back to the West Coast.

The ultramarathoner started out in Victoria, British Columbia last March. He calls the journey his “There and Back Run” — and it has two charity causes, Alzheimer’s and Breast Cancer,” two medical conditions close to Fast Eddy.

Alzheimer’s is something Fast Eddy’s grandmother deals with. She helped raise the runner and gave him his nickname. Fast Eddy’s birth name is Edward Dostaler. Breast cancer was a cause undertaken by Fast Eddy’s former professor, Tom Owen, who taught at Thompson Rivers University before his death from lung cancer.

The run has already amounted to 10,000 kilometers one way. The way back will be twice as long.

“Now I’m basically running across Canada again but twice in one go,” Fast Eddy told us.

In order to fit speaking engagements into the trip, Fast Eddy is running a leg, running back, and driving back again to his furthest point.

Fast Eddy
Fast Eddy’s breakdown of the legs of his return trip

“It allows me to go to schools and do presentations and put the causes first,” Fast Eddy said. Also, he is his own driver, so it is a practical method of juggling the tasks of running and driving the gear necessary for the trip.

Not only is Fast Eddy raising money for charity, but he’s also speaking to students in Canada’s school on such topics as saying “no” to bullying, believing in yourself, and persevering. The issues are ones personal to Fast Eddy, like the causes he is fundraising for. Bullying was something the activist faced in school — moving three times with his family because of it — and persevering is something he says he deals with every day.

Fast Eddy (left) with friends in Gander, N.F. where the runner currently is
Fast Eddy (left) with friends in Gander, N.L., December 12

“Every morning you have to get up and face the mental challenge of your day,” he tells the kids he speaks to. “The brain has to say, ‘Nope, we’re going to get up and get going.’ Don’t quit, just keep on moving.”

Interesting “There and Back” Facts

– It takes 4,500 calories per day to fuel the body running as much as Fast Eddy runs
– It will take 28 pairs of shoes to make the complete “There and Back” journey (a pair of runners lasts approximately 700 kilometers)
– The cost will be around $25,000
– The total length of the trip will be 21,585 kilometers

Fast Eddy’s webpage and Facebook page

Big Government Protest in Moscow

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Alexei Navalny has organized one of the largest public demonstrations against the Russian government this week, with thousands showing up.

Although Navalny was given permission to hold a demonstration, he moved the protest to another area where he did not have permission. Clashes with police followed.

Navalny sent out a video message at night telling his supporters to go to the location near Red Square and to “go nowhere else.” Navalny was arrested before he could go to the location.

Navalny has only 2% support in Russia, while Putin has widespread support.

First State to Offer Free College for Almost All Adults

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Tennessee is the first state in the country to offer community college free for almost all adults.

The state already had free community college for all graduating students, but now it has extended this to pretty much everyone. And the state lets attendees do it part time if they want, since many people work while attending.

Tech Stocks Continue Downward

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The drop started last Friday, and continued over the weekend and on Monday. The big tech stocks, like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft, which have been on a long upward trend, have dropped significantly.

The drop is considered possibly overdue given the high out-performance and positioning of the stocks.

The Pay TV Market in North Africa and the Middle East

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17% revenue growth is expected between now and 2022, according to a recent report by Research and Markets.

Currently, revenues for these 20 countries is $3.5b. The 2022 number will be $4.1, and of the 20 countries, 5 countries will make up 75% of that revenue.

The 17% gain in revenue will be from 5m new pay TV homes, bringing the number of pay TV homes to almost 20m by 2022, a 4% change from 2016.

The region is mostly serviced by TV operator Digiturk. They have a large margin over second-place beIN, and this is expected to continue.

Breivik Changes Name

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The Norwegian 38-year-old political mass-killer has changed his name to Fjotolf Hansen, according to his lawyer, who also said Breivik had told him the reasons for the change but the lawyer didn’t want to tell them.

Hansen is a common last name. Around 1% of Norwegians are Hansens.

Fjotolf is a name carried by only around 4 people, so most Norwegians have never heard of the name. The internet is guessing. “Fjott” translates as “dork,” and people have said the “olf” might refer to “Adolph” due to the sound.

‘Deep State’ Enters Popular Vocabulary

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It has come up during the Comey hearings, bringing the term to a wide audience.

It’s a conspiracy-theory type term that started 60 years ago: It means that besides the regular U.S. government, there is a secret-ish organization of security officials across various governmental domains which work together to enforce their values and goals.

Currently, some Trump supporters are pointing to the Deep State and saying it is behind an attempt to damage the president, and the current Comey investigation is part of this attempt.

Softbank Buying Google’s Robot Company

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Japanese telecom company Softbank (the 62nd largest public company in the world) is buying Boston Dynamics from Alphabet (Google’s parent company). Softbank also got Japanese bipedal robotics company Schaft as part of the deal.

Details of the deal weren’t published.

Google bought Boston Dynamics in 2013 but put it back up for sale again last year. There were questions about what Google could really make of the venture, and also there were questions about the effect giant metal dog-like robots, which might find applications in warlike settings, would have on the image of Google.

Japan is a country that has publicly made it known that they will not look to immigration to add labor to support their aging population of baby boomers. They will instead look to robots.

People Are Adding ‘Badges’ to Their Resumes Now

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They’re called digital badges. Or micro credentials.

Because a resume stating a person graduated from any college with a 4 year degree doesn’t mean much to employers now, they’re looking for new ways to demonstrate hirability.

The badges are for specific things, like critical thinking, good oral communication, creative problem solving, collaborating, reliance, and unnumbered other skills a person could work toward acquiring.

Colleges are considering having students aim at badges that represent things they want to be good at, and then giving them the badges if they earn them.

The badges are hosted online with the relevant metadata, including the body of work done by the student and the assessment done of his or her work.