A music lover's must-see in Brussels: The MIM!

Anonymous, Fretted Clavichord, Low Countries or Northern Germany, early 17th century/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Amidst the clavichords at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Girolamo de Zenti, Wing Shaped Spinet,  Rome, 1637/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

There's a rich and historical musical instruments museum in Brussels, one of the most fascinating museums I found on my art history tour of Belgium and the Netherland this summer, and the more I think of it, the more it becomes my favorite museum and not even on our roster!

The museum is called the (surprise!) Musical Instruments Museum often known by its acronym, MIM.

I went to the MIM with two music aficionados from the tour, one whose family, the Ruckers are associated with the development of the harpsichord, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Albrecht Hass Hieronymus, Harpsichord, Hamburg, 1734/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Gabriel Townsend, Virginal, London, 1641/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Louis Sternberg, Upright Piano, Brussels, c.1865; legacy of Queen Marie-Henriette of Belgium/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Herman Lichtenthal, 'Dog Kennel' Piano, Brussels, c. 1834. There were so many unusual pieces at the Musical Instruments Museum, I took this photo because of this name; the maker received a Belgian patent for it, called, in French, "piano 'a' niche de chien." At the bottom of the lower case, the player could put her feet. The pedals were at either side of the opening/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Mangeot Freres & Cie, Double Grand Piano with Mirrored Keyboard, Paris, 1879/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Rick Steves calls the MIM "one of Europe's best music museums," and once you've been fortunate enough to visit it, I think you will agree.

Later, I corresponded with the Royal Museums of Art and History's Marc Janssens who emailed me that 1,200 instruments are on display.

 Pedal harps/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Cousineau pere et fils, Pedal Harp, Paris, 1780-1795. From the MIM website: "This harp is one of the first instruments acquired by Victor-Charles Mahillon (1841-1924), the first curator of the Musée instrumental du Conservatoire (now MIM), which opened in 1877.

Georges Cousineau (1732-1800) and his son Jacques-Georges Cousineau (1760-1836) were harp makers based in Paris. They worked for Queen Marie-Antoinette (1755-1793), among others. Jacques-Georges was himself a harpist and published a harp method in the early 19th century/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Erard, Pedal Harp, 1879, Paris/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Charles-Joseph Sax, Ophicleide, Brussels, after 1841 (left) and Adolphe Sax, Bass Clarinet, Brussels, c. 1840. The label says Adolphe Sax wanted to create a new instrument with sounds similar to strings but with greater strength and intensity. He borrowed from the ophicleide and the bass clarinet to make a saxophone which he presented at the industrial exhibition in Brussels in 1841/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

 Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) and his invention/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Adolphe Sax, Soprano Saxophone in B Flat, Paris, 1864/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Adolphe-Edouard Sax, Sigurd Trumpet, Paris, 1907/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Ludwig Embach & Co., Keyed Serpent, Amsterdam, 1820-1844/By Patricia Leslie, June 16,2024 at the Musical Instruments Museum, Brussels

Sadly, my camera lost power when I happened upon this chandelier of serpents made from wood, brass, hide, and textiles, this picture from the Musical Instruments Museum. During the 17th century, the serpent chandelier was mainly used for singing in church and later, as a bass in bands until it was replaced by the ophicleide and tuba. Mouthpieces were placed at the top of the serpents, here removed to make room for candle holders.

  According to MIM, this chandelier belonged to the town band of Puurs – a municipality in the Province of Antwerp – prior to the MIM being able to acquire it around 1900. Originally, it comprised twelve serpents, but two were in a poor condition and are kept in the museum’s reserves.

Wikipedia could stand updating since the MIM has more than the 7,000 instruments Wikipedia claims but, according to Mr. Janssens, MIM has 10,000 (!), the oldest instrument (and on display) "without a doubt phalangeal whistles" just about 20,000 years old, dating from the late paleolithic age (18,000 - 12,000 BC).

But back to the number of instruments which Wikipedia says MIM's 7,000 pieces make it "one of the largest collections of musical instruments on the planet"! (Wait 'til Wikipedia learns it's only 3,000 short. Dear Wikipedia, does this make it the largest collection of musical instruments on the planet?)

The museum is around the corner, across the street from the Magritte Museum (more on that later) in a gorgeous Art Nouveau building with wooden floors which formerly was the Old England department store.

The MIM began in 1877 "when it was attached to the Brussels Royal Music Conservatory with the didactic purpose of showing early instruments to the students," according to its website.

During my wanderings on four floors, I discovered many new instruments (to me).

If you have an interest in music of any sort, you will not want to miss this enthralling collection where headphones play the sounds of the instruments you see. (They are simple to use.)

At 5 p.m. the MIM's closing hour forced my departure and I left on a ramble through Brussels in search for my far-flung hotel, but first, a stop at a cathedral on the way down the hill where service had just begun.

It was the Notre-Dame de la Chapelle (Our Lady of the Chapel Church) built between the 12th and 13th centuries above a chapel which was ordered in 1134 for monks, according to Wikipedia. Pieter Brueghel the Elder (c. 1525 - 1569) is buried at the church.

The Notre-Dame de la Chapelle, Brussels/Photo by Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), Wikipedia

With cavernous insides and huge windows (30 feet?), the service language was not French nor English. Latin? Probably Dutch. Whatever it was I could not understand it, but the "church proper" promptly ushered me out of the outer aisleway where I stood at the rear admiring the windows. Although we had no common language with which to communicate, it only took me seconds to realize that "strangers" were not allowed in the outer aisleway, but in the center of the church seemed to be OK with him.

Since I planned to only spend a few moments at the church, I sat at the back and watched a man and a woman enter the church, find seats and immediately drop to their knees in the pew on the uneven tile (like concrete) floors. There was no kneel padding of any sort.

This was my vantage point from the rear of Notre-Dame de la Chapelle. Photo by Trougnouf (Benoit Brummer), Wikipedia

I can't wait to get back home and tell folks at my church how they kneel! I thought to myself.

But soon enough, I was doing the same, pushed by peer pressure to join the entire congregation which knelt on the cold floor.

In a few minutes, hanging on to the back of the chair in front of me, I was able to stand up and mosey along.

For when in Brussels, you do like the Brusseleers do! You kneel on concrete!

patricialesli@gmail.com

'It Ends with Us,' schmaltzy but good

Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively in Sony Pictures' It Ends With Us

It's bombed with the critics yet soars with the public which means it's a hit!

Yessiree moviegoers, over at Rotten Tomatoes the critics give it a 57% favorability rating and the people, 92% which is why I went to see it since the public is always right. (I'm guessing it didn't have enough biting edge for the know-it-alls. My friend, Chris, couldn't stand it:  "Too syrupy," she said.)

Remember Bohemian Rhapsody? (60%; 85%) and although I'd label It Ends With Us a chick flick, when I went to see it, half the audience was male (maybe there to catch the sex scenes which are many and good! Thank you, Justin Baldoni, the director, for omitting the obligatory breasts [I'm not sure that was his decision] which all look alike anyway and do nothing for the presupposed mostly females watching).

When I discovered Baldoni was also one of the leads, I wondered how successful he'd be at either job, and he excels.

In this film, he's a playboy neurosurgeon pursuing an unhitched damsel (Blake Lively) who also is chased by an old flame (Brandon Sklenar), and gurrls...how divine to be chased by two men the likes of them! A fairy tale come true! (This ignores the chief message of the movie - how to escape domestic violence - but still, these menfolk are all right to look at.)

He's too good to be true, right? (Which one? Gurls: Whenever you feel like this, trust your instincts and run fast because your instincts are always right.)

I read that the Academy Awards will bestow its first Oscar for casting next April, and surely, the End's Kristy Carlson will be nominated for her finding the incredible Isabela Ferrer and Alex Neustaedter who play the high schoolers, pheneomenal in their likenesses to Lively and Baldoni, and they deliver admirable performances, to boot!

But the absolute best acting is by Jenny Slate who plays the best friend and sister. (She reminded me of Gilda Radner. Maybe Slate will be nominated for Best Supporting Actress in End.) Her husband here is Hasan Minhaj, an unbelievable (another "too good to be true") partner with his mouth constantly open wide.

The music by Duncan Blickenstaff and Rob Simonsen is good; nothing to write home about, but costumer Eric Daman forgot to change the styles from teen years to today.

Hats off to Lively's hair stylists Anne Carroll and Robert Lugo.

The film is a bit slow taking off, but hold on, it's coming as the plot thickens and becomes more intense. Other "hot button" issues (sexism, abortion, parental relationships) are included in subtle ways for the most part, but don't let them deter you from going if you favor skipping depressing, in-your-face, realistic movies like I do.  We get enough of real life in real life.

Please, let me escape for a while!

There's a lot of online controversy about a filming conflict between Lively and Baldoni which builds traffic, doncha know? 

The movie is based on the novel by the same name by Colleen Hoover who serves as one of seven (! I lost count) executive producers, her books, not my genre to read (sniff), but in the theatre restroom, I heard a woman say the movie was better than the book.

Now, when was the last time you heard that?

And that's all she wrote and all you need to know to enjoy a couple of hours of escape, worth your money and time.

Patricialesli@gmail.com

Modern women, modern art close Sunday at the Women's Museum

April Banks (b. 1972, Takoma Park, Maryland), Future Ancient, 2022, fused glass, cut metal, and LED light panel. The label says the work "proposes an alternate path to self-knowledge, equally focused on past lineage and future legacy."/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The large exhibition, New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024, featuring works by 28 women from around the globe (some of whom have more than one work on display) is set to close Sunday at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, and if you want a glimpse of what the younger bunch (or those generally under age 50) is thinking artwise, rush to see it, but be advised, you'll want to hold on to your mind which may be blown away by the creativity and the artists' visions of the future, the past and present.

It's beyond the wildest of imaginations and all have a theme and deeply personal message about what they've done, the purpose and why they have used the materials they chose. 

But, hope for the future? 

I couldn't find any, maybe due to my (aging) shades and perspective. What I saw was a dark and gloomy vision of the future, but that was before Kamala was nominated. (She who brings joy.) Since then, perhaps there is room for some optimism? None I found here.

Kathryn Wat, deputy director for art, programs and public engagement and chief curator at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, welcomes visitors to the exhibition, New Worlds:  Women to Watch 2024. On the left is Intra-Venus, 2019-21 in carrara marble by Marina Vargas (b. 1980, Granada, Spain)/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Mona Cliff/HanukGahNé (Spotted Cloud, b. 1977, Prescott, AZ), Conjured Topography, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Prescoia seed beads, maple wood, beeswax, copal resin, pine resin, benzoin resin, and thread on plywood. The label says the "beads pay homage to nature" which required Cliff to spend "hundreds of hours adding thousands of beads to the wood surface," to honor "the labor-intensive work of women artisans."

Detail of Conjured Topography, 2022/Photo by Patricia Leslie

SHAN (sic) Wallace (b. 1991, Baltimore), Pale Blue Egun, 2024.  Flashe, gesso, paper, gouache, oil stick, shells, and crackle paste on wood/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The label says the artist "pays homage to the spectrum of Black experience in the United States" fusing "folklore and fantasy to explore belief systems and rituals related to death for the Black community. Motifs such as dice, shells, and a chicken serve as offerings for or methods of communication with the dead."

NMWA’s Women to Watch series is presented every three years and features emerging and underrepresented women artists who work in regions of the world where the museum has outreach committees.

On its website, NMWA notes that in the last decade just 11 percent of all acquisitions by "prominent American museums" were by women. With its promotion and exhibitions, NMWA hopes to draw greater attention to this dearth of female artists presence.

Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya (b. 1988, Atlanta), the primitive sign of wanting, 2024,
vintage TV screens, raspberry pis, and internet-connected receipt printers which invites viewer to interact with the work by scanning a QR code found on one of the screens/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The label quotes the artist who says her work is a “'call to moral vigilance,'” inviting "viewers to consider the ethical implications of human advancement in the face of climate change and rapidly changing technology. Assembled from discarded artifacts and found objects, this interactive installation challenges visitors to confront their moral biases about issues facing us today—and to imagine the possibilities of tomorrow." 

Detail of the primitive sign of wanting, 2024/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Detail of the primitive sign of wanting, 2024/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Sophia Pompéry (b. 1984, Berlin), Fluten (Floods), 2023
Steel, perforated latex, and LED lights/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The label says "Pompéry’s practice lies at the intersection of art, science, and philosophy, investigating the artifice of constructs such as money, units of measure, and time. Fluten comprises an aerial map of recorded levels of light pollution in the Arctic Circle.  The haphazard placement of the rods implies the futility of creating records of the natural world—its time scale is beyond human comprehension."

Irene Fenara (b. 1990, Bologna, Italy), Three Thousand TIgers, 2020
Wool and silk tapestry/Photo by Patricia Leslie

The label says: "Fenara explores how technology can change our perception of reality. The artist feeds a data set of three thousand images of tigers—approximately the current number of living tigers in the wild—into a generative algorithm" resulting in "a distorted digital fauna."

She then "turned the patterns into tapestries, referring to the practice of making animal-hide rugs, and had them produced in India, where most living tigers are found."  I can't see any tigers here, but my imagination is more limited than the computer's.

Detail of Three Thousand TIgers, 2020/Photo by Patricia Leslie

 Detail of Three Thousand TIgers, 2020/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Molly Vaughan (b. 1977, London) Project 42: Gwen Amber Rose Araju, Newark, CA, 2021/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Inkjet- and silkscreen-printed fabrics with headdress. The label says this "responds to violence toward transgender people in the United States. The artist and her team create garments that commemorate the lives of murdered transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals. Using Google Earth, Vaughan takes screen shots of locations where these murders have occurred. She manipulates the digital images to create abstract patterns, printing them on fabric to make into clothing that can be worn by a collaborator during an activation."

Nicki Green (b. 1986, Boston), 
Anointed (double bidet basin with faucets), 2019/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Glazed vitreous china with epoxy. The label says Green "interrogates gendered binaries of Judaic ritual baths that complicate participation for trans individuals. Drawing from her Jewish background and gender politics, she transforms urinals and bidets into sacred wash basins that can affirm the holiness of trans bodies." This is one of two works on this theme by Green in the exhibition.

Ana María Hernando (b. 1959, Buenos Aires), detail of 
Nadar en el diluvio de aguas caldas (To Swim in the Deluge of Warm Waters), 2024/Photo by Patricia Leslie

Tulle, wood, metal lattice, and felt.
The label says the artist includes "association with feminine clothing and sewing" to create "monuments that celebrate the collective work of generations of unacknowledged women. Her works manifest the feminine as joyful and inexorable."

Works pictured above are those which were of the most interest to me, but all of them produced interest and awe.  You'll see!

Two local artists (April Banks, Takoma Park, MD, and SHAN (sic) Wallace, Baltimore) are represented.

A soft cover exhibition catalog of 100 pages is available in the shop or online for $23.95.

What: New Worlds:  Women to Watch, 2024


When: Closing Sunday, August 11, 2024. The museum is open Tuesday through Sundays, 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 

Where: The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20005

Admission: $16, adults; $13, D.C. residents and those over age 70; free admission for members, those under age 21, and disabled persons and attendant. Free for all on the first Sunday and second Wednesday of every month.

For more information: 202-783-5000 or visit nmwa.org.

Metro stations: Metro Center (exit at 13th Street and walk two blocks north) or (better) walk a short distance from McPherson Square.

patricialesli@gmail.com