Visit to the British Museum

Dashing around... assignments to write...

I dipped into the British Museum, to an exhibition of Islamic art.  In the 1400s, it seems, Islamic tile-makers were influenced by Chinese designs, and emulated the simple blue and white they saw on porcelain, traded from the Far East to the eastern Mediterranean.

In Cirebon, North Java, where Muslim traders are said to have brought their faith to Indonesia, Islamic palaces are tiled with ceramics from the Netherlands, in simple blue and white, simple maroon and white.  The tiles have Christian Biblical motifs - Adam and Eve and other stories.

Later, at Wood Wharf, I made a drawing.

A walk to Green Park, Buckingham Palace and St James's Park

The day became colder and colder.  Time to warm up with a walk.

As far as I could see in any direction, the bare trees of Green Park shaded into misty mauve.  The tonality refreshed my eyes.  This was a park for walkers, joggers and dog walkers.  In the grass near the southern fence, bulbs were starting to shoot short green leaves.

Across the road, the Palace was magnificent.  But when did the guards start to wear grey uniforms?  I thought they wore red.  Perhaps grey is for winter.  Preparations for the royal wedding must be well underway.  I could see no sign of bustle at the windows, but out in the street the Queen Victoria Memorial was under renovation - some of the statues were boarded up.

Across the road again, to St James's Park - a little further south, a little warmer perhaps?  Bulbs were in bloom: yellow, cream, violet.  Swans, ducks and geese paddled obligingly around the viewing area.  This was a park for saunterers, but it came on to rain, and I moved on.

In Jakarta, apart from golf courses, the large green space in the city is Medan Merdeka, with the white marble spire of the National Monument at its centre.  Under the spire, in the Hall of Contemplation, you can see the Declaration of Independence, read out by the voice of Sukarno.  It's very cool inside, a refuge from the heat for children, who slide down the Hall's sloping walls.  Unlike the golf courses, Medan Merdeka is open to all - sportsmen, boys flying kites, family picnickers, couples arm-in-arm, hawkers.  It's a venue for demonstrations, and the starting point for protesters marching down Jalan Thamrin, to the fountain at Tugu Selamat Datang (Welcome Statue) at Hotel Indonesia.

While I walked across London, the rain and cold intensified.  I sheltered at Adelphi Terrace, and made this drawing of the sky above the Thames.

A visit to the National Gallery

Time with the 1400s Netherlands painters - conventional religious imagery, intense colour.

The Dutch began trading in Indonesia much later, in 1596.  But the Chinese had already been trading in Indonesia for many years.

Outside the Gallery, in Trafalgar Square, the Chinese Spring Festival was underway.  Marking Year of the Rabbit, people in masks swayed to music, looking like massed Easter bunnies.  Children darted through the crowd with electronic coloured lanterns.  The 'snap' of throw-down fireworks was ubiquitous.

I went down to the Embankment away from the crowd, and made a drawing.  Across the Thames, the south side was a blaze of light.

A visit to the Royal Observatory

Coming through town, I passed the preparations for major demonstrations - stacks of placards, political parties proffering petitions, assemblies of police.  Soon they would head to Westminster, to protest decreased budgets and increased student fees.

Greenwich was quieter.  It is a major attraction to stand at the Prime Meridian, at longitude 0.  People of all ages and sizes line up, with one foot in the eastern hemisphere and one in the west.

For visitors with a more technical interest in longitude, sea-going clocks made by John Harrison in the 1700s are on view in the royal astronomer's house.  If his clocks could be relied upon during long voyages, sailors could determine east-west position with accuracy, and navigate with confidence.

Captain James Cook tested Harrison's clocks in the late 1770s, as he sailed around the world.  He stopped for ship repairs in bustling Batavia in 1770, but, dismayed by the malaria prevalent at that time, he quickly moved on.

The malaria has gone, but the bustle remains.  Political demonstrations are an everyday part of life in Jakarta.  How often have loyal supporters in party-coloured T-shirts stood in the road directing traffic, finding ways for convoys of party-faithful waving party-coloured banners to navigate the choked streets.

Greenwich is quieter.  I stood at the water's edge and made this drawing.