Jewish would-be artists began arriving in Paris in the decade before the First World War. Jews were new neither to Paris nor to the artistic avant-garde in the 1920s. What was new were both their numbers and visibility. One French study estimates that over five hundred Jewish artists were working in Paris in the interwar[…]
It was an era and a culture that was both misogynist and racist, in which Jews from Léon Blum on down were castigated as effete “coffeehouse Jews.” On a clear, beautiful day in the center of the city of Paris I performed the first act in front of the entire world. Scholom Schwartzbard, letter from[…]
Buddhists performed pilgrimages and other rituals at Borobudur until the temple was abandoned as many Javanese converted to Islam. By James Blake WienerHistorian Introduction The Temple of Borobudur or sometimes “Barabudur” is a Mahayana Buddhist temple located close to Muntilan on the island of Java in Indonesia. Built during the rule of the Sailendra Dynasty[…]
Despite its grandeur and rich exterior ornamentation, the Javanese abandoned Prambanan within 100 years of its completion around c. 950 CE. By James Blake WienerHistorian Introduction Prambanan (Javanese: Rara Jonggrang) is a Hindu temple complex dating from the 9th century CE located near Bokoharjo, on the island of Java in Indonesia. Prambanan is the largest[…]
Goryeo (Koryo) ruled ancient Korea from 918 CE to 1392 CE. By Mark CartwrightHistorian Introduction Goryeo (Koryo) ruled ancient Korea from 918 CE to 1392 CE. The kingdom oversaw an unprecedented flourishing in culture and arts with developments in architecture, ceramics, printing, and papermaking. The kingdom was repeatedly invaded by the Mongols in the 13th[…]
Pyongyang was the capital of several successive ancient Korean kingdoms. By Mark CartwrightHistorian Introduction Located on the Daedong (Taedong) River in the north of the peninsula, the site was chosen by the legendary Dangun (Tangun), founder of the first Korean state Gojoseon (Gochoson), to be his capital city on earth. Pyongyang remained an important city[…]