Welcome to my world! This is the computer desk where nearly all of my blogposts have been churned out created. The moai figure is actually a plant pot. It was given to me by my lovely daughter on Father's Day, a month ago. On his head is my old bucket hat that I bought in Malta in 2012. I treasure that faded hat simply because it fits me and I wear it on sunny days when walking out in the countryside.
I don't know if it's the same in the home countries of foreign visitors to this blog, but here in Great Britain moai figures have become common garden ornaments and there's probably no garden centre in this country that doesn't sell them.
What would the original stone masons of Easter Island have made of this phenomenon? They carved the volcanic stone figures to represent their esteemed dead - probably chiefs and suchlike. On their stone platforms, the moai all looked inland and not out to sea. It was as if they were looking after the islanders, not longing for some far off place beyond the ocean's horizon.
There are just under a thousand moai figures on the island though a few were purloined by European visitors. One of these is in The British Museum and in my opinion it should go back to Rapa Nui which was Easter Island's native name.
There's something rather irksome about turning the mysterious and iconic figure from a unique Pacific culture into resin plant pots and concrete figures. It seems rather disrespectful but even so I will cherish the moai plant pot.
It's almost fifteen years since I visited Rapa Nui and walked amongst the moai. It was a dream come true. See one or two blogposts from that adventure: here and here and here.
I suspect, if the British Museum returned every purloined artifact, what is left could fit in a much much smaller museum.
ReplyDeleteYou are probably right Ed! They have a lot of Egyptian mummies for example.
DeleteWe have a couple of moai figures that were made to go in an aquarium. Gregg picked them up somewhere along the way and they live on our back porch among some potted plants (not in an aquarium!) Thanks for the glimpse of your writing nook!
ReplyDeleteYes. Just a glimpse. It is often very untidy on this desk with papers, books etc..
DeleteFascinating creations: I'd love one sitting in our garden!
ReplyDeleteWhy not carve one yourself Bob?
DeleteThe question starting your third paragraph can and will be asked over and over again. What would our ancestors think of this or that.
ReplyDeleteAnd what might we think about the future stuff?
DeleteSurprised that you call that hat a "beanie." In Oz a beanie is generally knitted - and we don't make a distinction in nomenclature for ones with a "bobble." Is this a Yorkshire usage?
ReplyDelete[PS: no specific F&S reference comes to mind, at least not at the drop of a hat.]
I made a mistake with "beanie" Marcellous.
DeleteOver here in France the garden centers sell large concrete (or plastic) Buddhas. I see rows of them, each looking less Buddha-like than the next.
ReplyDeleteSad that a symbol of spiritual veneration should become something to prettify a garden.
DeleteThank you for showing us where most of your blogging happens! I like the notepad with the tropical flowers on the cover.
ReplyDeleteAs for statues/sculptures representing something from a different culture or religion, I don't like to see them reduced to mere (garden) ornaments. Here in Germany, I have not yet spotted any moai ones around the gardens where I walk past, but Buddha figures are very common, and I dare say that 99 % of those who have a Buddha in their garden (or house) do not adhere to Buddhist beliefs.
But each to their own, right?
Each to their own - not right! What if "their own" is ignorance, misinformation or cruelty? My notebook is now full and I need to start a new one - but there's a lot of stuff I need to transfer.
DeleteOf course, "each to their own" only goes as far as nobody (or no animal) is harmed. I thought that was self-understood, and I meant it in the way that although I would never put up any religious or cultural symbols that are not really "mine", if others choose to do so, it is their choice and not for me to judge.
DeleteBut I think you got that anyway.
I suppose I knew Rapa Nui and Easter Islands are the same place...I suppose.
ReplyDeleteWell you know now you old curmudgeon!
DeleteIn Australia a Beanie is a knitted hat worn in winter or all year round by youths of certain ages. Your hat would be a "bucket hat". I'll check those links now.
ReplyDeleteI made a mistake Elsie. Now corrected.
DeleteI remember the posts. They stuck in what passes for my mind.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you have even a vague memory of that adventure Graham.
DeleteHe looks just like you, YP.
ReplyDeleteI agree. He is a handsome devil.
DeleteI write my blog on my phone or tablet.
ReplyDeleteOne of the carvings is inside the back entrance to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, in an out of the way location that most people walk by and never notice. Yours makes a nice hatrack.
ReplyDeleteWas it Richard Dawkins or, well, I don't remember, but a very noted atheist who, when asked, "So you don't believe in God?" said, "Which one? There have been so many that I only believe in one less than you do."
ReplyDeleteAnd now a once powerful god figure is sold in garden centers to plant cacti in. So it goes, so it goes.
I wore a hat just like that yesterday when I was out for a walk, although mine has an Adidas logo stitched on the front...
ReplyDeleteYou have had some great adventures in your life, Neil.
I'd say treasure it and don't think about it too much!
ReplyDeleteThat's a very fine desk ornament. I remember reaading your posts from that mysterious island.
ReplyDelete