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Having come under the scientific spotlight almost half a century ago, the Church of St.Nicholas at the village of Čelopek, westward of Skopje, has remained unpublished up to the present day, with just scanty research so far undertaken (notes 2–4). There are no historical data preserved on the said church that was repaired in the 19th century. The original fresco-paintings of this small, single-nave church include fragments preserved in the pendentives (part of the figures of four evangelists), the apse (Old-Church Slavonic scrolls as fragments of the scene of the Officiating Prelates) and in the second register of the side walls, the reduced programme of major iconographic wholes, the Great Feasts and the Passion Cycle: on the south wall are the Nativity of Christ, the Presentation in the Temple, the Baptism, and the Resurrection of Lazarus and on the north wall — the scene of Christ before Pilate, the Way to Calvary, the Crucifixion of Christ and the Resurrection (fig. 1–6). A couple of scenes are of singular iconography. An interesting conception of the Nativity of Christ — iconographically created by the modification of its model — expresses a powerful parallelism between the birth and the death of Christ (notes 6–27). The fresco abounds with allusions of predominantly poetic inspiration, aiming through the scenes of Christ’s coming, to present in a seemingly paradoxical way, a simultaneous emphasis on His (role and) death (the manger as a stone sarcophagus, the Magi offering myrrh, a shepherd playing the flute alluding to a heavenly hymn, the Angels' adoration, the posture of Joseph reveals rather grief than anxiety, and Christ, in the arms of the chief midwife, wrapped up in a burial shroud, with a dark-colored aureole, who looks like the personification of the soul of a deceased person, not a new-born). The fresco is rather uncommon for its time, since the midwife (the apocryphal Salome) faces Christ in the cave whereby she is deprived of her regular iconographic role (pouring water into the basin). Christ before Pilate (fig. 4, note 32–42) stands out from the other examples for its depiction of the tent in which Pilate sits; the judge’s desk is omitted and the servant, bringing the dish and holding the jug — a boy commonly depicted as a young bareheaded man — wears a pinkish-white cap that is sometimes given to Pilate himself. Two events are combined within the composition the Way to Calvary — an advancing procession with Christ and Simon, carrying the cross, and the one presenting Jesus with the vinegar -the episode that does not belong to a standard iconography of the scene the Way to Calvary (fig. 4, n.43–50). The strange figure, standing before Christ and presenting the vinegar, is of an excessive height and ugly appearance, with a head resembling a bearded angel, probably intended to mark a negative person within the scene i.e. the person being mocked. The Crucifixion of Christ is characterised by the agitated posture of the clustered figures gathering around the Virgin, who has a completely languishing body posture (Fig. 5, notes 51–61). The motif of Mary's accentuated pain in this composition has not been commonly applied; however, it seems it was often used within a certain period, in the middle of the 14th century (Staro Nagor~ino, Pološko, Lesnovo, Marko’s Monastery and Čelopek). The motif complies with the laments of the Holy Mother in Byzantine works of literature, specifically in the liturgical drama of the Passion of Christ; still, it might have originated under the influence of contemporary art pieces in the West. As for the characteristics of style, the frescoes of Čelopek have been directly compared with the works of the so-called Skopje workshop, works of which may be registered in a certain part of the programme in the Lesnovo Monastery (the painter of the pendentives and vaults) and in Marko’s Monastery (the artists that painted the mid-area of the naos and the narthex). The painting of this workshop greatly resembles the work of the artist in the narthex of the De~ani Monastery (the painter of the Calendar, after 1343); it also bears a similarity to the iconography in St. Athanasius at Lešak. Their art constitutes a part of a movement of expressionism in Byzantine painting during the Palaeologan era; the term relates to the style characterized by powerful and intense expressions.
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The group of scenes of Pilate’s Court in the Monastery of King Marko represents the most developed example of this iconographic theme in the fresco painting. It consists of seven episodes. They are part of the Passion cycle and are painted in the third register of the western wall of the naos. The first scene illustrates the verses of John 18:33–38, Matthew 27:11, Luke 23: 3, Mark 15:2 : ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ The second is described in John 18:38 and Luke 23:5. Pilate says to the Jews: ‘I find in him no fault at all.’ The third scene is also according to John 19:10, describing Pilate when he said to Jesus: ‘Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?’.The fourth depicts the moment when Pilate said to the Jews, "You take Him and judge Him according to your law," (John 18:31). In the fifth scene Pilate brought Jesus out and sat down in the judgement seat in a place that is called ‰TheŠ Pavement, but in Hebrew, it is Gabbatha (John 19:13). For the previous scenes there are no analogies which could enrich the iconographic analyses. They demonstrate a narrative attitude and a close connection to the Gospels — their textual source. The most prominent iconographic elements are the depictions of Domus Pilati, Gabbatha and Lithostraton, which indicate the interest in the Loca sancta of Jerusalem. The next scene is the Flagellation of Christ. Its iconography extends over the limits of the textual sources of the Gospels and Apocrypha. The closest parallel is the depiction of the Flagellation in the Church of St. George in Re~ica, near Ohrid. The key motive of the scene is the the coloumn of Christ’s Flagellation. If we compare this type of composition with three figures, it can be seen that it was disseminated in Byzantium as well as in Western Europe. Some of the examples which confirm this are: the icon with Passion scenes from the Vlatadon Monastery (c. 1370), the diptych with miniatures of the Passion from the Chilandar Monastery (beginning of the 14th c.), the engraved scene at the bottom of the Cross from the treasure of Conques (the first half of the 14th c.), the triptych in Namur (c. 1320–1330) etc. The last scene is Pilate washing his hands (Mattew 27:24–25). The most important elements of the iconography are the depiction of the table and implements for writing. According to the Late Roman and Early Byzantine sources, such as Notitia Dignitatum and John the Lydian, these elements represented the insignia of the governmental authorities. This is well illustrated in the Trial miniatures in the Rossano Gospels. Their depiction in the Byzantine monuments of the Palaiologan period is founded on the iconographic experience of the Early Byzantine examples, as well as their administrative context during the Middle Byzantine period and also on contemporary practices. Pilate’s Court in the Church of St. Demetrius reflects the strengthened interest in the trial process. It is represented according to the elements of the Roman juridical process-cognitio. Another important question concerns the reason for devoting so much attention to the Trial scenes in the fresco programme of the Monastery of King Marko. In an attempt to come closer to the answer, we found it useful to bear in mind what the image of Pilate was in Byzantine tradition. The second part of the paper is devoted to the comments and characterization of Pilate in the historical, dogmatic, hymnographic and juridical sources. The subject also included the categories and meanings of the law and justice. The elaborately presented scenes of Pilate’s Court in the Monastery of King Marko are an isolated instance, which, in the absence of analogies, raises numerous questions about the establishment and development of the iconographic themes. However, its contents indicate that the persons, who were responsible for designing the fresco programme, had a knowledge of the doctrinal, historical, political and legal significance of this topic.
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The sakkos of ecclesiastical dignitaries is festive attire of a rectangular cut, joined at the sides, with very short sleeves. Previous researchers have pointed out that only three Byzantine writers wrote about it. They were Theodore Balsamon, chartophylax of St. Sophia in Constantinople and the Patriarch of Antioch (second half of the 12th century), Ohrid Archbishop Demetrios Chomatenos (first half of the 13th century) and Archbishop Symeon of Thessaloniki (first decades of the 15th century). There is no preserved written source that would testify which Serbian church dignitaries wore the sakkos and when they received the right to wear it. The only sources on the use of the sakkos in the Serbian Church are the preserved representations of its highest dignitaries. St. Sava of Serbia and his successors — archbishops and later, patriarchs — were depicted wearing the sakkos. The oldest paintings date back to the reign of King Milutin (Figs. 1–2). Some time later, in 1334, the ancient city of Ohrid was included in the Serbian state. Its archbishops enjoyed the right assigned to them much earlier, to wear the sakkos, and they retained that right. So in the Serbian Church, the sakkos was worn by the archbishops and later patriarchs, and the Ohrid archbishops, as well. The oldest preserved pictures of the Serbian archbishops clad in the sakkos are the representation of St. Sava of Serbia in the narthex of the Virgin Ljevi{ka church (Fig. 1), decorated between 1307 and 1313, and the portrait of Archbishop Sava III in the illustration of the Christmas sticheron in the passage that leads to the narthex in @i~a (Fig. 2), painted between 1309 and 1316. That means that awarding the right to wear the sakkos occurred in 1313, at the latest. It certainly was not only a religious but also a political gesture. Byzantine state policy toward Serbia and probably church policy as well, significantly changed for the better during the reigns of Emperor Andronicus II and King Milutin. That created fertile ground, enabling the Serbian church dignitaries to receive the honor to wear the most festive ecclesiastical vestments. The Byzantine emperor, apparently, could have had a major influence on the process of bringing such a decision. However, the question arises as to which patriarch of Constantinople granted this right to the Serbian archbishops. At the beginning of the 14th century, the ecumenical patriarchs were John XII Cosmas (January 1, 1294 to June 21, 1303), Athanasius I (second time, from June 23, 1303 to September 1309) and Niphon I (May 9, 1310 to April 11, 1314). At that time, the throne of the Serbian archbishops was occupied by Eustatius II (1292–1309) and Sava III (1309–1316). Very little is known about these Serbian archbishops. On the other hand, there are numerous sources about the Church's policies and attitudes of the mentioned Constantinople patriarchs. Eustatius II could have received the right to wear the sakkos from John XII Cosmas or Athanasios I. For a long time, the former was fiercely opposed to the marriage of the Serbian king and the daughter of the Byzantine emperor. The latter maintained a very strict attitude. He left data on almost all of his moves in numerous letters, in which such a decision is not mentioned. Therefore, the probability that the first Serbian archbishop who received the sakkos was Eustatius II is negligible. Sava III could have obtained that right from Niphon I. That patriarch, along with an inclination for the easy life, pursued a conciliatory policy and pragmatism. So it is possible that, on the initiative of the emperor, he made the decision that the successors to the throne of St. Sava of Serbia should have the right to wear the sakkos. If this assumption is correct, then the Serbian archbishops received the honor to wear the most festive ecclesiastical garments after the appointment of Niphon I to the throne of the Constantinople patriarchs, which was performed on May 9, 1310. Anyway, this occurred after many changes in the political relations between the Byzantine and the Serbian state during the reigns of Emperor Andronicus II and King Milutin. In those crucial years the Serbian Church advanced from an organization whose canonical foundation was denied at the time of Michael VIII Palaeologos, to the archbishopric whose leaders received the right to wear the festive sakkos, like those worn by the ecumenical patriarchs at the time of Andronicus II.
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The report examines design thinking as an ever increasing approach in addressing one of the main strategic questions that stand before every organization - how to build an internal capacity for innovation. It maps out the development of design thinking as an innovative human-centered approach which ever increasingly is used outside of the frame of the designer industry with the aim of innovation and transformation in all the spheres of business, as well as in the nonprofit fields. Presented are its main characteristics, oriented towards the systematic solving of complex problems in a dynamic and complex environment. Under discussion is the topical, in recent times, perception of design thinking not only as a methodology but also as a new way of thinking and attitude about strategic issues regarding how to do business. The development of its strategic role is mapped out as an innovative and transformative approach.
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Slika ima čudesnu moć: ona može nevidljivo učiniti vidljivim. Iako se nevidljivo na slici se ne da egzaktno utvrditi, ono je u njoj nazočno – slika je uopće oblik nevidljivoga. Intenzitet i način nazočnosti nevidljivoga na slici predstavlja otvoreno pitanje za filozofe, kritičare umjetnosti i teologe. Ukoliko slika predstavlja Sveto, njezina moć lako može postati zamkom. Neke slike Svetoga ljudi smatraju čudotvornima, a nekima se čak mole kao da su one Božanstvo. Ta okolnost izaziva skepsu teologa i filozofa prema slici.
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Teologija je u umjetnosti relativno rano prepoznala saveznicu, a u nekoliko navrata liturgijska uloga umjetnosti zahtijevala je izravnu obranu. Najjasnije je to izraženo dvjema saborskim odlukama, jednom na Drugom nicejskom saboru 787. godine kada su zaustavljene ikonoklastične struje unutar Crkve i otvorena vrata srednjevjekovnom preoblikovanju liturgijskoga prostora: “I. Ako netko ne priznaje da se Krist, naš Bog može prikazati u svom ljudskom obličju, neka bude izopćen.; II. Ako netko ne priznaje da su prizori iz evanđeljā prikazani na slikama [imaginibus], neka bude izopćen.; III. Ako netko ne časti te slike [učinjene] u ime Gospodnje i njegovih svetaca, neka bude izopćen.; IV. Ako netko odbija svu crkvenu predaju, pisanu ili nepisanu, neka bude izopćen.”
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Almost by necessity as a belated response to the Reformation and out of need to reform the Catholic Church, the Council of Trent (1545–1563) first dealt with defining the disputed truths of faith: the understanding of the Holy Gospel, mercy and acts of redemption, and the sacraments. With reformers’ revocation of intercession through the Church, Pope, bishops,priests, and those opposed to conciliarism in second place, the Council of Trent concentrated on bishop reforms and the liturgical and religious life of the local churches and parishes, along with the catholization of colonized and missionary territories. As rarely any council in history has done,the Council of Trent contributed to Catholic universalization, which some authors call confessionalization, and some Catholic cultural globalization.Catechism, the devotion of the common people and sacred paintings played a crucial role in this movement.
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Matija Divković and his publisher, Pietro Maria Bertano, ornated the publications of the large Christian Study and One-hundred Miracles (1611), his Sermons and the small Christian Study (1616) with prints (Bertano’s study was situated near the Venetian church “Saint Maria Formosa”). Among the selected illustrations, the iconography of the Resurrection dominates, but there are also scenes of Annunciation, Baptism, Transfiguration, Descent of the Holy Spirit,Crucifixion, and Christ Preaching to the Apostles. The iconography of scenes in Divković’s books is not particularly marked by the post-tridentine spirit,but it shows quotations from the paintings from the most celebrated period of Venetian painting, Cinquecento (16th century). Along with the quotations,the prints in Divković’s books are connected to this school and its tradition.It is worth noting that around 1600 a wealthy merchant from Bosna Srebrena commissioned for his native village an altar painting from Baldassare d’Anna,a painter inscribed to the confraternity of painters (Fraglia pittorica) in Venice.Therefore, at the end of the 16th century. and in the first decades of the 17th century, it is possible to connect the visual culture of the Franciscans of Bosna Srebrena to artistic trends in Venice, without which Franciscan artistic heritage cannot be understood.
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The first part of the book presents three main themes which, as a whole, are intended to bea framework for more specific descriptions in its second part. In the first chapter, entitled Realgardens against the myths, the author shows selected examples of landscape designs and discusses theirutilitarian functions, their role in the religious cult, the mythical, symbolic and metaphorical contextswhich have directly affected either programme assumptions of the gardens or a treatment of certainfeatures of the landscape. The cultures of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and Rome are discussedin these respects. The author addresses the intellectual foundation of English and sentimentalgardens to clarify their strong ties with the ancient understanding of the landscape, describing onthis background meaningful features of Arcadia park near Nieborów. The chapter concludes witha discussion of selected solutions in Little Sparta — a garden founded by Sue and Ian Hamilton Finlaynear Edinburgh, Scotland. The second chapter, entitled Gardens of Imagination, discusses literarydescriptions, abstracted from specific landscape implementations. Several examples of literaturefrom different historical periods are invoked, with an emphasis on the role of sensuality. The authoranalyzes the fragments of the Egyptian Book of Gates, the epic of Gilgamesh, the Bible, Divine Comedyof Dante Alighieri, Charles Baudelaire’s Flowers of Evil. The third chapter, entitled The gardensof thought, raises general epistemological issues, first: in terms of the philosophical proposals forovercoming the fear of death, and second: in terms of theory of art viewed from the perspective of thetwentieth-century crisis of the great narrations.The common theme of all the chapters is the Garden of Eden, whose main intentional “function”is to overcome the fear of death. This issue is discussed in the context of eschatological, agnostic,and nihilistic intuitions, organized according to their relationship with specific gardens (Chapter 1),with the literary themes (Chapter 2), and finally with the abstract contemplation on the conditionof mankind and its representation in contemporary art (Chapter 3). Such a structure, inspired byHegel’s description of the history of the Absolute, makes it easier to present the problems of gardensfrom various perspectives — specific relations with nature, aesthetic experience and thought of purelyintellectual character. This approach, on the one hand, serves the clarity of argument by avoidingexcessive complexity of description, and on the other, shows the complexity of the concept of “garden”,resulting from the build-up of different meanings over the millennia.
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A spectacular beginning of bio-art is ascribed to Eduardo Kac’s transgenic experimen GFP Bunny(2000). Since then, in art bio there have been distinguished number of trends, such as: a transgenic art, a microbial art, an agar art. A separate section of bio-art is the work with cells and tissue culture (in vitro). All trends are characterized by the work on unstable materials, the so-called wet media/ wetware, an ephemeral, a processuality, interactivity and the use of highly advanced technologies such as atransgenesis, neuropsychology and robotics. The biological world also inspires designers, builders and architects. The source of inspiration is mainly the physiology of living organisms, their structure and construction.In the bio art there also has appeared a critical movement. It deals with the problem of the relation between science and living organisms, the fight against commerce, the protection of life at each level. This results in a reevaluation of the relationship between humans and other species, which implies a departure from anthropocentrism. A critical aspect of this art is also a question about humans’ right to control their own evolution, to create new forms of life outside the natural order of living. On the one hand, bio art raises concerns, but on the other, it evokes a sense of the inevitability of transformation, of which we are witnesses. It is also heterogeneous in its ideological mssage. It questions the paradigm of the relationship between nature and culture, emphasizing morphism, liquidity and relativity of existing divisions, but it is involved in technology and a praise progress. Especialy dangerous aspect of bio-art is associated with biohacking and bioterrorism.
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The text examines multi-faceted formal and meaning-related relationships in photo-media projectsby Natalia LL: performances such as Points of Support (Punkty podparcia), the Eagle constellation (1978) and the Pyramid (1979), which present the artist against the background of a broader nature. They bring up several important issues related to the innovativeness of a neo-avant-garde photograph of Wroclaw of the 1970s, i.e. permanent art and isomorphism that implement a conceptual metatextuality of a given work, post-manuality breaking with the modernist paradigm of art, multimedia nature, incorporating a performance, film and verbal text into the medium of photography used in an unusual way, the issue of a creative use of the nature-garden theme in experimental activities. As referred in the article the photo-media art by Natalia LL shows the artist as a deconstructing creator, a contemporary Eve who arranges the space of nature in a demiurgical way, arranging her feminine body in an artistic sign — and thus creates her self-reflexive and feminist compositions. At the same time, the text focuses on the pioneering nature and perversity of this art, as Natalia LL provocativelytoys with the archetypal nature-garden, keeps a modernist individualism and longing for metaphysics,ironic ambiguity, and humour of a simple message.
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The concept of an enclosed garden — latin hortus conclusus is a starting point of my PhD thesis.In my theoretical and practical exploration I have used that concept as a key to understanding and interpreting selected phenomena in contemporary culture. For the purposes of my research I have formulated the idea of ‘an open space of meanings’ — the space to which various historical and contemporary, sociological, philosophical and artistic phenomena can be attributed. The concept of enclosed garden is a key and a symbol rather than a reference to only one form of historical gardens. Such an approach to the subject is a natural consequence of my artistic exploration and experience. In many of my works I have used the context of the creation of personal space, and the sense of relation and identity of the place. For the purpose of this publication I have chosen three chapters, two of which present the theoretical context and the third chapter is an analysis of my own project connected to the topic. The final part is followed by a set of photographs.
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The cycle of photographs presents a vision of the Garden of Eden abandoned by God and man.The paradise after the expulsion. Dead, fossilized land, closed to people forever. The un-like paradiseknown for its descriptions of the Bible. Photographs show the emaciated, dead, arid landscapes, alongwith biblical Trees of Life and The Tree of Knowledge. The skeletons of trees are made of speciallycrafted bones that are to symbolize, on the one hand, the brevity of the material world, and, on theother, ethical relativim of man.
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“Strange garden’’, the painting by Józef Mehoffer (1902) is the spiritual inspiration for the photosincluded on the following pages of this book. The emotions triggered and inspired by this paintinghave become vividly remembered by the author of the photographs, until now. They become refreshedeach time, the sunlit and dazzled garden, scorching heat and playng children awake the ambivalentfeeling of sheer joy, in contrast to the subconscious fear of loss.
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Joanna Łapińska proposes an analysis of several affectionate relationships of contemporary cyborgs in the latest Anglo-Saxon science fiction films and television series. The contemporary cyborg in science fiction cinema is no longer just a hypermasculine “terminator”, a “robocop”, or a ruthless female killing machine like Eve VIII from Eve of Destruction. Cyborgisation is now a much more complex and ambiguous phenomenon and, with progress in biotechnology permeating many areas of life, it raises the question of distinguishing between a “natural human being” and an “artificial” one. Today’s cyborg has become more and more like a human being living in a postmodern or, soon to be, posthuman society. Mankind is now entering into realtionships that are difficult to define and to name with technology. These relatioships include love, intimate and erotic relations. Łapińska looks at the several love relationships of contemporary cyborgs from the science fiction films, Uncanny (2015) and Sight (2012) and the television series, Black Mirror (2011) and Westworld (2016). Her intention is meant to indicate possible ways of interpreting cyborg lovers on screen. In the analysis, she utilizes, therefore, cultural theories emphasizing the breakdown of classical, coherent, humanistic, phallogocentric subjectivity of humans and those attempting to replace this notion with “posthuman” subjectivity—which is inconsistent, dispersed, and relational. These are the most important theories that she recognizes. However, there are others that Łapińska recognizes; the pioneer concept of the cyborg by Donna Haraway, the concept of posthumanism by Rosi Braidotti, as well as select contemporary affection theories. Contemporary science fiction cinema participates in showcasing the departure from the paradigm of humanity as essentially defined by problematizing the issue of emotion/affection as not belonging exclusively to the humans, but possibly to the robot or the cyborg as well. The current envisionment of the cyborg, especially with its edgy and transgressive qualities, is the product of “nature-culture” dichotomy—man and machine living in symbiosis. This will not always be an easy shift in paradigms but it remains unavoidable and undeniable today.
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In the chapter entitled “Muriel Tramis’ »Méwilo« and »Freedom« as the First Postcolonial Games, Filip Jankowski examines two digital games accomplished by Muriel Tramis, a game designer from Martinique. The games picture the situation of African-Caribbean slaves and their descendants in a pioneering manner in terms of the medium used. “Méwilo” (1987) and “Fredom” (1988) were created under the influence of the philosophical thought in Martinique, shaped by the pioneers of postcolonialism such as Aimé Césaire and Frantz Fanon, as well as their critics impersonated by Édouard Glissant and Patrick Chamoiseau. Both games differ in terms of applied convention. “Méwilo”, which is a thorough documentary game, focuses on questioning the following inhabitants of the city of Saint-Pierre, the day before the devastating eruption of the Montagne Pelée volcano in 1902. The opposition between the black inhabitants of Martinique and their metropolitan torturers, although strongly outlined, is subject to problematization in both games. Among the main characters of the Tramis' works are black anti-heroes who imitate the French in their ambivalent attitude to the African-Caribbean community. Hence, they reflect the phenomenon of mimicry described by Homi Bhabha. All things considered, Jankowski argues both games to feature apparent postcolonial themes.
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The main topic of this paper is atramentum – pigment described by Pliny the Elder and Vitruvius, used in painting and architecture. Probably it was a secret of painter’s unusal achieves. The most possible is that he prepared his own atramentum from wax and burnt ivory. When I look at the paintings from Lefkadia or Kazanlak I suppose that atramentum in painter’s workshop was black but diluted atramentum became blue.
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