As we are approaching the end of the Bauhaus series, let’s continue to look at the heritage of this short-lived and yet disproportionally influential school. In the last Crate I touched upon the influence of Bauhaus that through its former staff and alumni reached all the way to Japan. This time, let’s turn our gaze towards another side of the world – South America – more precisely Argentina – and find out how the avantgarde approach of Bauhaus found its way over there. So let’s get to opening this week’s Crate without further ado.

1. Grete Stern started out studying graphic design in Stuttgart and working as a freelance graphic designer in Wuppertal, but her way to Bauhaus began with photography lessons with Walter Peterhans in Berlin in 1927. There she met her lifelong friend and collaborator Ellen Auerbach, with whom she went on to establish possibly the first female-owned photography studio ringl+pit. Peterhans was called to teach photography in Dessau (where Bauhaus resided at that point) in 1930 and Stern followed him there in order to continue her studies, whilst Auerbach kept the studio going during her absence. At Dessau, Grete Stern met the Argentinian photographer Horacio Coppola, who she eventually married. After the closure of Bauhaus in 1933, the couple emigrated first to London and later to Argentina, where they co-presented the first modern photography exhibition in Argentina. Today they are both regarded as two most important Argentinian photographers.

2. Are you a non-native speaker dreaming of a successful career as a fiction writer in English? Yes, you can. However, the key is to embrace the authenticity of your non-native English.

3. Change is scary – but once done, it’s also what makes you content with your life.

4. Call your pasta with the right name and know your ‘priest stranglers’ from your ‘seashells’.

5. Can rot be stunningly beautiful? It absolutely can, especially if you leave it up to the artist Kathleen Ryan.

6. And to finish off for this week, let’s have a little work comic by Simkaye to celebrate the holiday season.

And that’s it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!

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