Category Archives: Idea

John Stanley Martin – Australia as an Iceland of the south

One way of reading an antipodean country like Australia is through the lens of its symmetrical opposites. For many, Australia has been compared to Nordic countries. One of Australia’s leading Nordicists, John Stanley Martin, unfortunately passed away this week. Here he talking about the commonality between Australia and Iceland. John Stanley Martin, descendent of the [...]
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The German idea of South – high noon in the Black Forest

Spernere mundum, spernere te ipsum, spernere te sperni. Scorn the world, scorn yourself, scorn being scorned. St Filippo Neri quoted by Goethe The Faustian quest Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is today the proud hero of enlightened Germany. Institutes in his name disseminate German culture around the world. And the core of this culture, Das Drama [...]
Also posted in Developmentalism, Lawless, West, journey | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

When children grow up in the Kingdom of Bellavista

In the Kingdom of Bellavista there lived two peoples. For centuries they had lived in perfect harmony, but lately there had been troubles. High on the hill, there lived the refined nobles, who cultivated highly sophisticated sciences and arts. With great care and kindness they managed the affairs of the realm, particularly those they fondly [...]
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Do we need another north?

The South African design expo Design Indaba makes the claim that global ascendency has passed to the other half of the world: Stand back Milan, London and New York, here comes SOUTH! SOUTH is an inversion of hand-me-down Eurocentric creativity, a world map turned upside down conceptually, so that South Africa is on top. Over [...]
Also posted in Aspirationalism, Developmentalism, South Africa | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dumont d’Urville’s epic tale of the noble New Zealander

Inspired by Bougainville’s accounts of Tahiti, Jules Sébastien César Dumont d’Urville sought out a mission to explore the south. His first commission was in the Aegean, where he ‘discovered’ the Venus de Milo. In 1822 he was part of an expedition south, when it was still considered possible that France might recover some its recent [...]
Also posted in Australia, Developmentalism, France, New Zealand, Northern mirror, Pacific | Tagged , | Leave a comment

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  • What is this?

    The Idea of South is journey through the different meanings of South to be found in various parts of the world and its history. The goal is to re-think the north-south hierarchy and imagine new possibilities.
  • ¿Que?

    Se trata de una exploración en curso en los distintos significados del Sur que se encuentran en diversas partes del mundo y su historia. Está diseñado para ayudar a re-pensar el Norte y el Sur jerarquía e imaginar nuevas posibilidades.
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