Basque Xalbador Christmas Eguberri Noël Baigorry

 A video of Christmas traditions from the small Basque village of Baigorry (with subtitles in English).

Basque Christmas

Olentzero, says the Basque legend, is the charcoal burner who lives in the mountains where he makes charcoal.  

The beret and the worn and dirty clothes remind us that this man is a man of the forest and the mountains where he lives and works. 

Once a year, just before Christmas, he goes, with his sickle and his bouquet of gorse, to towns and villages to distribute coal (and not gifts) to the poor so that no one would suffer from the cold on Christmas night. Coal was then the symbol of the sun that will begin to heat the earth again after winter and its period of dormancy.

One might think that the main reason for seeing this charcoal burner descend into Basque villages on Christmas Eve is to announce the birth of Kixmi (Jesus), but Olentzero was a legend in the Basque Country long before the presence of Christianity. So, what message can he possibly bring us?

The message is that beyond what we cannot see... Beyond what we do not know... Beyond the cold, dark, harsh winter ahead and the unknown that looms... There is always a glimmer of hope to hold on to, a fire to keep us warm, guides to enlighten us on the mysteries of the world around us.

Artisan Broom Making

An instructive video, showing how to make your own ecologically sound broom - while wearing a beret, naturally. 

19th C. Young Man with beret

Portrait of a Young Man by an unknown photographer, in the Garden of the Abbey of Septfontaines near Bourmont en Haute Marne.

Late 19th Century. Ducos Collection

Salomon Savery

Salomon Savery (1594–1683) was an engraver from the Dutch Republic.

Portrait of an Elderly Man with a Beret on His Head, after Rembrandt van Rijn

Savery was born in Amsterdam. His earliest dated print is from 1610, after a work by his uncle Joos Goeimare. He travelled to England in 1632. At times he collaborated with Pieter Quast.

He died in Haarlem.

Fresque Robotique

In Vitry-sur-Seine, in the suburbs of Paris, at 42 rue Pierre Semard, on the corner of avenue Anatole France and opposite the exit of the "RER" station, you will discover on the blind facade of a house this monumental fresco entitled "Fresque Robotique", complete with beret and baguette. 

Created in 2010, this work is by the Italian painter Pixel Pancho. 

James, by Christopher Ward

In the summer of 2023 photographer Christopher Ward had an idea: to approach strangers on the street and ask them if he could take their portrait.​

Twelve months later this simply idea - Model Strangers - had become a global phenomenon. In that time he grew to one million followers on Instagram and had lots of international media coverage.

Wim Jansen

Wim (Willem Pieter) Jansen (1950) is a minister for the liberal wing of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. He was born and raised on a farm in Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, a hamlet with the beautiful name of Paradijs (Paradise), growing up surrounded by open spaces and the beauty of nature.

Wim retired in Delft in October 2015 and since then, he has written many columns for the online magazines Volzin and Nieuwwij, and for Ongrond, a new website about mysticism. Every now and then he gives a lecture about one of his books or a book he is yet to write.

And, leading church services more often again than he did at the beginning of my retirement. He became a pastor primarily because he wanted to create space for people in their vulnerable moments and at the pivotal points of their lives: the pastor as a drain.

Now that he is retired, Wim is primarily looking for silence and solitude.

Henk Helmantel

Henk Helmantel (1945) is a Dutch painter. He is considered one of the northern realists and the independent realists. Christianity is central to his daily life and work.

In the period after 2009, Helmantel came under much criticism following a broadcast of a television programme Met niets begonnen (“Started with Nothing”), in which he spoke about his financial success. Especially in the north of the Netherlands, where the financial crisis was clearly noticeable, the fact that the artist spoke extensively about his financial assets in combination with his religious beliefs led to considerable criticism. This was reinforced by his subsequent statements about the death penalty and his criticism of other religions.

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek

Barend Cornelis Koekkoek (1803 –1862) was a Dutch landscape artist and lithographer, and the most famous member of the Koekkoek family of painters.

Self Portrait with Beret

Barend grew up in an artistic environment and came to be known during his lifetime as the “Prince of Landscape Painting” and was regarded as the founding father of Dutch romantic landscape painting. The recipient of endless awards and decorations, he counted among his clients King Friedrich-Wilhelm IV of Prussia, Tsar Alexander II, and King Willem II of the Netherlands.

The flat Dutch countryside could not satisfy Koekkoek's romantic soul for very long. ‘Surely’, Koekkoek wrote in 1841 ‘Our fatherland boasts no rocks, waterfalls, high mountains or romantic valleys. Proud, sublime nature is not to be found in our land’. With that in mind, in the summer of 1834 he moved to the old Ducal capital of Cleves, Germany, where he found his ideal subject matter in the region of the Ahr, Ruhr and Rhine.

Belgian Handmade Berets

Found on Etsy.com: Belgian Handmade Berets.

Little information on the website, but the pictures speak for themselves; impressive berets that would make many txapeldunak blush. 

Diameters up to 39cm!

Yann Arthus-Bertrand

Yann Arthus-Bertrand (1946) is a French environmentalist, activist, journalist and photographer. 

He has also directed films about the impact of humans on the planet. He is especially well known for his book Earth from Above (1999) and his films Home (2009) and Human (2015). 

It is because of this commitment that Yann Arthus-Bertrand was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme on Earth Day (22 April 2009).

Since 2008, he has participated in the board of directors of the Fondation Chirac, a foundation launched in 2008 by former French President Jacques Chirac in order to promote world peace through five advocacy programmes, two of which deal with environmental issues such as access to fresh water, desertification and deforestation.

 

Tõnu Seilenthal

 "When we travel, we see the unusual and start to think more deeply about life".

Tõnu Seilenthal (1947) is an Estonian linguist (Fenno-Nugricist) and lecturer.

Tõnu Seilenthal's main research areas are the historical morphology of Finno-Ugric languages, Khanty, Hungarian, Hungarology, and the contrastive study of Hungarian and Estonian.

He is also an active participant in the Finno-Ugric tribal movement. He is a board member of the Fenno-Ugria Foundation and is active in several cultural societies of related peoples.

At the end of the sixties, Seilenthal acted as a consultant for Lennart Meri’s film “The Waterfowl People”. He has been visiting Finno-Ugric peoples in Russia since 1966. His work with them has also brought him into contact with the Finnish-Russian Society in Finland. The situation and activities of the Society have now changed due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Ellen Tamm

Ellen Tamm (née Ellen Linno, 1927 –2018 ) was an Estonian jewellery designer and art educator.

She graduated from Tallinn 10th Secondary School in 1945 and in 1948 she entered the Tallinn State Institute of Applied Arts; graduated from the ERKI in 1954 with a degree in metal construction.

Ellen Tamm worked at the Tallinn Art Horn Factory from 1954 to 1957. From 1957 to 1983 she worked as a lecturer at the Estonian Academy of Arts and Sciences and from 1983 to 1989 as a foreman.

Christophe Bonnière

Christophe Bonnière is a fine art photographer of people, nudes and landscapes, which are then printed on silk or canvas.

Christophe Bonnière works with a view camera, a replica of an old model from 1900 using real 10,5 cm by 12,5 cm gelatin silver film.

Christophe develops his own photographs using emulsions, such as silver gelatin, which he makes himself.

His exhibition People of Ariège is a nostalgic series of portraits of the people from his ancestral home. Colourful, solid and frank people who lived in the mountains practicing agriculture, who loved a stiff drink of pastis and a good laugh! 

Those times are now long gone. The modernization of life and society just does not produce the same old characters.

Service Stars

In a world where quality products seem to grow more expensive by the day, I was delighted to find one of my all time favourite berets (@ South Pacific Berets) extremely cheap compared to the competition, which made for a pleasant surprise.

 
CTH Ericson, the distinguished Swedish heritage milliner from Borlänge, has been crafting premium hats and caps since 1885. Their Service Star model, somehow named “Piere,” retails for a staggering $121 (plus postage). A quick glance at other online retailers, like Hungary’s Barett Sapka/Kalap, shows the same berets priced at $75. By comparison, our identical black Service Star has held steady at $49.95 since its launch 15 years ago.
 
South Pacific Berets also offers exclusive custom colors—navy, mammoth, and winter green. Designed for comfort, the leather headband can be worn “military style” with the rim outwards, or “Basque style” with the rim folded inwards. Three built-in air vents ensure it stays cool, making these berets as practical as they are stylish.
 

Simon Goze

“Simon Goze and his comrades were shot by the Germans at the age of 27 in the courtyard of the Sainte-Ménehould Hospital on 30 August 1944; the town was liberated in the evening " wrote his great-niece, Martine Lambard. 

“The sisters occupying the hospital begged the Germans. They were ready to give their lives in exchange for those of the young people. Nothing could be done: the Germans murdered them, a bullet in the head for my great-uncle. Today, nothing remains of this barbaric act. The place is deserted and forgotten. Tribute to all these young people who died for France and for our freedom. Simon, we send you all our love."

From Les Musées Royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique

 Maurice Marinot (1882-1960), 'Man in a Beret', 1945

Gullegem

Gullegem is a town in the Belgian province of West Flanders.

The territory of Gullegem was already inhabited in the Neolithic, from which time several arrowheads of flint were found. A cremation grave dates from the Celtic period. In 1976 Roman wells were also found from the 1st century AD, in which some jewelry and coins were found.

The flax industry became very important for Gullegem from the 15th century onwards. Around 1838, several inventions were made in the region that greatly improved linen weaving. In the 19th century, the industrialisation of the flax and linen industry emerged, although there were still many home weavers for a long time.

On October 19, 1914, German troops caused great damage to the village.

After the Second World War Gullegem expanded rapidly.

The video paints a beautiful portrait of what life was like in 1958 Gullegem. There is some flickering due to the editing in Photoshop, but it produces beautiful images and shows how common berets (and flat caps) were in those days. 

White Berets