Ceramic as an Expression of Local Culture: Conservation, Creativity and Adaptation to Change of a Ceramic Center in West Java

This article explores the function of the ceramic cottage industry as a means of conserving local culture. This descriptive-qualitative study presents the efforts of ceramic craftsmen in Purwakarta, West Java, Indonesia in preserving their culture. With the theory of structural functionalism, it was found that there were still religious elements and traditions that participated in the preservation of this culture, even though the times had changed to modern. Because of that local tradition, there must be a lot of conservation efforts from the government so that the culture is not lost in the days. Even so, there are still many who appreciate both at the national and community levels for the results of the local culture.

Gmach Gdańskiej Biblioteki Miejskiej przy ulicy Wałowej

Following Germany’s unification in 1871, Gdansk was a major municipal centre and a port on the Empire’s map, however it was well past its heyday. In the Gründerzeit, it could not reach as quick a pace of development as other cities of the Reich, and by the late 19th century it did not boast any university. The attempt to catch up on the substantial delay in creating modern public architecture in Gdansk was only made after the fortifications had been dismantled (1895–97). A triangular plot close to St James’s Gate was reserved for the purpose of education and science. It was there that a seat of the city archive and the building of the Secondary School of SS Peter and Paul (Oberrealschule St. Petri und Pauli) were raised. The third edifice was planned as the new home for the Gdansk Library. The precious book collection, whose core was formed by the collection bequeathed by Joannes Bernardinus Bonifacius d’Oria of Naples in 1596, was kept in a former Franciscan monastery, and later in St James’s Church. Attempts to raise a new building to house the collection in the 1820s as designed by Carl Samuel Held failed. Neither was the plan to erect the new library building as an extension of the Dungeon and Prison Gate Complex implemented. It was only Karl Kleefeld’s design from 1901–1902 planning to raise an impressive Gothic Revival complex that finally came to life. Completed in January 1905, the Library welcomed the first readers already on 16 February. Kleefeld designed the building’s mass on the L -plan layout with a truncated corner and wings. The main reading room boasted elegant, sumptuous, and coherent wooden furnishing, and the gallery’s centrepiece was a ledge decorated with 14 panels featuring bas -relief cartouches with the emblems of the cities of West Prussia. Differing in size, the edifices, were given red -brick elevations with plastered details and glazed green filling, with a sgraffito frieze on the reading room elevation between the ground and first floors. It was the Gdansk Renaissance that dominated in public buildings’ architecture of the city in the last quarter of the 19th century. The resumed popularity of Gothic Revival in its local forms in Gdansk public buildings’ architecture, such as those in the afore - -described Kleefeld’s designs, resulted undoubtedly from a rapid growth of research into historic structures, yet on the other hand it reflected the return to the local tradition (Heimatschutz), which could be observed in the architecture of the German Reich at the time. Judged in the context of an extremely modest programme of public projects in Gdansk of the period, the creation of the Bildungsdreick with the edifices of the archive, library, and secondary school is to be regarded as a major event in the history of creating public architecture of the city. As seen against other projects of the time in other Reich cities, the Gdansk City Library stood out neither with its scale, nor innovatory character of the layout solutions. What, however, makes it a special facility are architectural forms that reveal its contribution to the search for the expression of the local tradition. This kind of an archaeological approach to the past and a compilatory additive method of juxtaposing quotes from various buildings, which may have also arisen from the lack of talent of the architect, were undoubtedly in decline in the early 20th century.

Inspiracje sztuką i kulturą Podhala w powojennej galanterii i biżuterii polskiej

Abstrakt: Zainteresowanie sztuką ludową Podhala wśród polskich artystów i badaczy sięga lat osiemdziesiątych XIX wieku. Wynikało ono z dostrzeżenia artystycznej wartości tworzonych tam dzieł oraz poszukiwań tzw. sztuki narodowej i rodzimej, tak bardzo ważnych dla polskiej kultury i tożsamości. Inspiracje kulturą materialną i artystyczną Podhala przyczyniły się m.in. do wielkiego sukcesu polskiej ekspozycji na Wystawie Sztuki Dekoracyjnej w Paryżu w 1925 roku. Zainteresowanie to nie zmniejszyło się po 1945 r., ale przybrało inne formy. W tym czasie powstawały w Polsce liczne spółdzielnie, których zadaniem było tworzenie przedmiotów codziennego użytku i dzieł sztuki ludowej, zgodnie z lokalną tradycją rękodzielniczą, ikonograficzną, zdobniczą itp. Pewną część produkcji stanowiła tzw. metaloplastyka – sprzączki do pasków, spinki do koszul, zatrzaski do torebek, noże, okucia fajek i in., których forma była inspiracją dla artystów tworzących dzieła biżuterii – bransoletki, broszki, wisiory itp. Asortyment ten uzupełniony został także o inne elementy – wykonywane z blachy, kości bydlęcej, galalitu i drewna broszki, wisiorki i breloki, które były przede wszystkim pamiątkami przywożonymi z tego bardzo popularnego regionu turystycznego. Summary: The interest in the folk art of the Podhale region among Polish artists and researchers dates back to the 1880s. It resulted from the perception of the artistic value of the works created here, as well as the search for the so-called national and native art, very important for Polish culture and national identity. Inspiration with the material culture of Podhale came from, among others a great effect in the form of the success of Polish art at the Exhibition of Decorative Art in Paris in 1925. This interest did not diminish after 1945, but took other forms. At that time, numerous cooperatives were established in Poland, whose task was to create everyday objects and works of folk art, in line with the local tradition in terms of technology, iconography, ornaments, etc. In Podhale, among many produced works, a certain part was the so-called metalwork – belt buckles, shirt clips, purse fasteners, knives, etc., the shape of which was an inspiration for artists creating bracelets, brooches, pendants, etc. This assortment was supplemented with other items – made of sheet metal, bovine bone, galalite and wood, brooches, pendants, and key rings, which were primarily souvenirs brought from this very popular tourist region.

The first mathematics textbook printed in Moldavia. Elementi aritmetice arătate firești (Iași, 1795)

The first mathematics textbook printed in Moldavia (Iași, 1795) was not sufficiently examined, although the translation offers us valuable information on the Italian influence on the Romanian language and a precious linguistic material as regards both the configuration of the Romanian literary language in Moldavia at the end of the 18th century and the constitution of mathematical terminology. The linguistic material excerpted reflects phonetic and morphologic norms specific of the author’s dialect, sometimes going beyond the criteria illustrated by the local tradition, especially in the morphosyntax field. The lack of a terminological tradition is to be observed in the high number of un-adapted terms, semantic loans and old terms. Amfilohie’s intense activity of translating from Italian (the scholar being a genuine forerunner of the Italianate movement in Moldavia) is proof of the depths of the cultural contacts with the western world, resulting in the intensification of the renewing of the Romanian vocabulary by assimilating Latin-Romance borrowings in general and Italian ones, in particular.

Tradition of Rokat Pandhabâ Pangantanan

Islam is a blessing for the universe. Islam is a present and accepted in a long process. Assimilation, acculturation, and conferences with similar social dimensions occur in the archipelago. Like Islam, it entered Madura through the sea around Parindu Beach, south coast of Sumenep Madura. Penetration Pasifique, the Islamic way of engaging in cultural battles with residents in Sumenep, Madura. Therefore, in its development, Islam has succeeded in basing the teachings of the Qur’an and Hadith through cross-cultural found in local traditions in Bringin village, Sumenep District, Madura Regency. This research is a historical study of the development of Islam in Sumenep, Madura through the local tradition of Rokat Panḍhâbâ Pangantanan in Bringin Village, Dasuk District, Sumenep, Madura. The theory of Milanowski’s functionalism is used to find meanings and uses in two cross-cultural relationships of Islam and Hinduism that are believed by the practitioners of the local tradition of Rokat Panḍhâbâ Pangantanan. Qualitative research methods and historical approaches are applied using comparative study techniques including sociology, anthropology-culture, philology, and multidimensionality.

About Russian Old-timers' Performing Style in the Northern Regions of the Udmurt Republic

Статья посвящена исследованию некоторых аспектов исполнительского стиля русских старожилов северных районов Удмуртской Республики на примере песенных жанров, включенных в календарную обрядность (песни святочных гаданий «Илею», колядки, хороводные, лирические песни). Экспедиционные материалы показывают, что темброво-тесситурные особенности и исполнительские приемы приобретают значение типичных элементов песенного стиля исследуемого ареала, свидетельствуя о единстве музыкального фольклора русских старожилов наряду с самобытными чертами местных локальных традиций. В статье указываются способы фиксации фольклорно-этнографического материала в экспедиционных условиях, которые дают возможность воссоздать фольклорные записи, представить звучащие песни включенными в определенный контекст, с учетом особенностей их функционирования; раскрываются сведения о том, кем, когда, в каком пространстве и как исполнялись колядки, песни святочных гаданий «Илею», хороводные и лирические песни. Эти сведения позволяют сделать вывод о некогда активном бытовании перечисленных жанров, об их значимости в местной традиции. Певческие приемы («петь на ростяг», «скольжения-переходы», взятия и сбросы дыхания), темброво-тесситурные, динамические особенности песенных форм, точные высказывания носителей традиции о звучании различных жанров музыкального фольклора углубляют знания об исследуемой культуре, позволяют воссоздать ее своеобразный звуковой облик, а также выявить музыкально-выразительные средства, характерные и для других песенных традиций. Article is devoted to the study of some aspects of the performing style of Russian old-timers in the Northern regions of the Udmurt Republic on the example of genres included in the calendar rites (songs of YuLe divination “ILeyu,” Christmas carols, round dance and Lyrical songs). The expedition materials show that timbre and tessitura indicators and performance techniques are becoming typicaL elements of the performing styLe in the studied areas. They point to the unity of the Russian old-timers musical folklore along with the original features of LocaL traditions. The articLe reveaLs the ways to record foLkLore and ethnographic materiaL in expeditions. It aLLows us to recreate foLkLore texts, imagine sounding songs incLuded in a certain context, taking into account the pecuLiarities of their functioning. This work provides detaiLed answers to the questions of who was performing the caroLs, songs of YuLe divination “Ileyu,” round dance and LyricaL songs, testifying to the once active existence of the Listed genres, their importance in the Local tradition. Singing techniques (singing “narostyag” (“stretching” signing), sLiding transitions, taking and resetting breath), timbre and tessitura, as weLL as dynamic features of song forms, accurate expressions of the bearers of tradition about the sounding of various genres of musical folklore deepen knowLedge about the cuLture under study, aLLow us to recreate its originaL sound appearance and identify musical and expressive means characteristic of other song traditions.

On natural and artificial glocalization

Glocalization is a point where globalization enters communities or phenomena of different styles, cultures and traditions, including the phenomena of fine arts and architecture. Artificial glocalization is a search and application of specific forms-signs, and creation of a set of characteristics symbolizing the local tradition. Natural glocalization occurs when the national culture is on the rise and is ready to accept any innovations without loss of identity, when it is not forms-signs that work, but forms-images, which are identified as national.

The Precious Scroll of the Blood Pond in the “Telling Scriptures” Tradition in Changshu, Jiangsu, China

The Precious Scroll of the Blood Pond is a newly discovered manuscript (copied ca. 1993), used in the “telling scriptures” tradition in Changshu, which represents ritualized storytelling based on the vernacular narrative texts called “precious scrolls” (baojuan). The local tradition of “telling scriptures” can be traced back to the 19th century, though it may have even earlier origins. While it has been generally accepted that precious scrolls had ritual functions in the late imperial period, little research has been done on the local varieties of this type of storytelling in connection with ritual practices. The material of the Precious Scroll of the Blood Pond from Changshu demonstrates how the Mulian story, widely known in China, has been adapted to the folk ritual of the afterlife salvation of a female soul through repentance of her sin of physiological impurity. While the related ritual in the neighboring Jingjiang on the northern bank of the Yangtze River has been thoroughly studied, the Changshu practice has received little attention of scholars so far. The Precious Scroll of the Blood Pond from Changshu demonstrates that the Mulian narrative was also associated with the ritual of “breaking the Blood Pond” in the Jiangnan areas, which also provides a new angle of evaluation of the Jingjiang tradition of “telling scriptures”. This article discusses relations between modern ritual practices and several variants of the Precious Scroll of the Blood Pond, mainly using fieldwork materials collected by the author in Changshu and adjacent areas in 2011–2018.

Memory and the Dissolution of the Monasteries in Early Modern England

The dissolution of the monasteries was recalled by individuals and communities alike as a seismic rupture in the religious, cultural, and socio-economic fabric of early modern England. It was also profoundly important in shaping contemporary historical consciousness, the topographical imagination, and local tradition. Memory and the Dissolution is a book about the dissolution of the monasteries after the dissolution. Harriet Lyon argues that our understanding of this historical moment is enriched by taking a long chronological view of the suppression, by exploring how it was remembered to those who witnessed it and how this memory evolved in subsequent generations. Exposing and repudiating the assumptions of a conventional historiography that has long been coloured by Henrician narratives and sources, this book reveals that the fall of the religious houses was remembered as one of the most profound and controversial transformations of the entire English Reformation.