Category Archives: Idea

Do we need another north?

By admin | Published: 13 March 2009

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

By admin | Published: 8 February 2009

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

West, then left

By admin | Published: 26 January 2009

The History of the World travels from East to West, for Europe is absolutely the end of History, Asia the beginning. The History of the World has an East… for although the Earth forms a sphere, History performs no circle around it, but has on the contrary a determinate East, viz, Asia. Here rises the [...]

Also posted in method, Mistake, West | Leave a comment

Uruguay also exists

By admin | Published: 30 December 2008

Looking from above, we often search for glimpses of north-ness down in the South. Along with the glittering Paris’s and Venices of the South, there are several locations that lay claim to the title ‘Switzerland of the South’. Each identifies with different elements of Switzerland. For Tasmania, it is the picturesque mountain scenery. In the [...]

Also posted in Latin America, Northern mirror, Uruguay, Zero | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Zimbabwe: The Colossus from the North Finds Ruins in the South

By admin | Published: 7 October 2008

If I had a mother, Oh Time, leave me alone. She would offer me food when she ate herself, Oh Time, leave me alone. It’s only the gods who know, Oh Time, leave me alone. She would say, ‘Here you are my child’. Patrick Chakaipa[1] Now we take a sideways leap from the South Pacific [...]

Also posted in Africa, journey, Lost World, Violence, Zimbabwe | Leave a comment