Summer is slowly coming to a close, night temperatures are getting friendlier to sleeping and taking a cold shower actually leaves one shivering for a moment instead of instantly evaporating. All of this means that it’s time to inject some extra colour and vivacity into this newsletter and what better way to do it than to start a new series that looks at the art and artists of South America. So let’s get to opening this week’s Crate without further ado.

1. Oswaldo Guayasamin did not have a start in life that would have immediately pointed towards an artist’s career. Born into a poor family in Quito, Ecuador, as the eldest of 10 children in 1919, having lost his mother at an early age, he’s nevertheless known to have been drawing and painting with watercolours since the age of 6. In 1932 he lost his best friend who was shot with a stray bullet at a demonstration. Never successful at school, Guayasamin eventually left in order to enroll in the School of Fine Arts in Quito and spent 7 years there, graduating with honors. His first personal exhibition was just a year out of art school, at the age of 23. After that he spent years travelling in South America, gathering experiences that culminated in his first formal series ‘Huacayñán‘. Deep involvement in politics and interest in themes of human suffering characterized his work throughout his lifetime and it earned him a UNESCO prize for “an entire life of work for peace”.

2. You’ve probably heard the saying ‘if you are so smart, then why aren’t you rich’? Well… turns out that these two have no connection whatsoever.

3. We all know that the Olympic Games are an exciting and uplifting spectacle. Now, imagine if they were held on the Central Asian plains 500 years ago…. I give you the….the World Nomad Games.

4. A chair is not just a chair. It might just be a piece of design history.

5. We’ve learned that there are three main trauma responses – fight, flight or freeze. However, there is also a fourth one – fawning.

6. And to finish off for this week, here’s a little scientific take on a fairy tale by Tom Gauld.

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

If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.