Canada# 7

 

Paul Reddick

Canada# 6

Mors Kochanski

 

Canada# 5

 

Canada# 4

 

Dr Norman Bethune

Canada# 3

 

March 19, 2010 in Sidney, British Columbia, CA

Canada# 2

 Hector de Saint-Denys Garneau

Canada# 1

 

The Beret Project is Heading Off on a Break!

The Beret Project is heading off on a break!

For the next couple of weeks, I’ll be exploring beautiful British Columbia—soaking up landscapes & culture, and perhaps even doing a little beret fieldwork along the way.

That means no full blog posts for a bit, but I won’t disappear completely: expect a daily Canada-inspired photo while I’m away.

Regular posts will return on 1 June. See you then!

Hans Theo Richter

Männliches Bildnis mit Baskenmütze (Man with beret), by Hans Theo Richter, 1961-1964

 

Beret Studies

 Jeune homme et garçonnet coiffés d'un béret de marin

Deux études pour un homme coiffé d'un large béret

Homme au béret

Mari Rääk

Mari Rääk (1907 –1986) was a prominent Estonian applied artist, celebrated for her pioneering work in ceramics and jewellery. She is particularly noted for being the first artist in Estonia to paint ceramics using clay glazes during the 1930s. Rääk's artistic journey spanned several decades and disciplines:

    Ceramics: In 1936, she began working at the ceramics workshop of the First Estonian Porcelain Industry, founded by Jüri Jüriloo. Her ceramic works often featured unique clay glaze techniques and traditional forms.

·          Jewellery: Rääk was also a skilled metal artist, creating hammered silver jewellery. Her silver bracelets and pins, sometimes featuring group portraits or nature-inspired designs, were a staple of her creative output.

·          Public Works: Notably, she designed the fish-head water spouts for the fountain in front of the Tartu Town Hall in the 1950s.

Olav Maran

Olav Maran (1933, Tartu) is an Estonian artist. Maran was the second child of Elfriide Maran, who later became a sculptor, and a police constable, Alfred Maran.

Sylvia valge baretiga, Olav Maran

Maran started to participate in exhibitions in year 1959. I n the beginning of his career Maran was very interested in modern art movements. He executed his first abstract paintings between 1957–59, the first surrealistic work „Prospect“ was painted in 1959. He was then inspired by Herbert Read’s book „Modern Art“, that had been published before World War II and an article by Ilmar Laaban in the journal „Estonian Youth“. He received some information about western culture also through the art magazines of socialist countries. In the 1960s Maran experimented with different modern styles, wanting to introduce the experiences of modern art into Estonian art. His main medium was oil painting, but he also used gouache, tempera, pastel and collage. Being one of the leading avant-garde artist, Maran gave lectures and published articles about modern art.

Ignacio Zuloaga

Ignacio Zuloaga was a Spanish painter recognized for his costumbristas (traditional) paintings and his portraits of a characteristic somber style inherited from Ribera and Goya. 

He belongs to a saga of artists with artisan roots. His father, Plácido Zuloaga, dedicated himself to Damascene painting, and his uncle Daniel was an important ceramist. He lived most of his life in Paris, although he lived temporarily in Segovia, Zumaya (Guipúzcoa) and Madrid.  

He was linked to Granada and García Lorca by his relationship with Manuel de Falla and his enthusiastic contribution to the 1922 Flamenco Song Contest which was held in 1922 in the Plaza de los Aljibes in the Alhambra. Federico named him “pope” of the contest.

During the war he supported the rebels to whom he addressed emphatic acclamations: “Thanks be to God, and to Franco, the war is finally won and over!”. He died in his studio in Madrid in 1945.

David Ring

Drawing made by David Ring for the visualisation of the Europeana Fashion Thesaurus. The description of the concept in this drawing is: Soft, flat-topped, visorless caps with a tight-fitting headband; in a military context, worn as an official item of headgear.  

This item is provided and maintained by ModeMuseum Antwerpen (Belgium).

Plácido Zuloaga

Plácido Maria Martin Zuloaga y Zuloaga (1834 –1910) was a Spanish sculptor and metalworker. He is known for refining damascening, a technique that involves inlaying gold, silver, and other metals into an iron surface, creating an intricate decorative effect. 

Plácido painted by his son, Ignacio Zuloaga

Zuloaga came from a family of Basque metalworkers. He was the son of damascening pioneer Eusebio Zuloaga, the half-brother of the artist Daniel Zuloaga, and the father of the painter Ignacio Zuloaga (the painter of his father’s portrait). 

Taking over his father's armaments factory, he adapted it to make art pieces which he exhibited at international fairs, winning multiple awards.

 

Basques

Basques from behind

 

1962 Street Photography

 

Street photography in 1962 Spain.

Travelling the Third Reich - 1936

This remarkable 1936 travel film, “Travel in Beautiful Germany”, offers a sweeping journey across the country using every mode of transport the era could showcase: trains and sleeping cars, Mitropa dining carriages, ships and car ferries, open-top convertibles, airplanes and even a Zeppelin. Along the way, viewers are treated to Rhine landscapes, the bustle of the Deutsche Reichsbahn, Lake Constance, the Baltic coast, the Rügen causeway, the newly built Reichsautobahn, the Zugspitze, and vibrant scenes of Berlin—plus striking aerial footage from a JU 52. 

For us boineros, there is an added layer of interest: throughout the film, numerous berets appear in everyday settings. Produced in the same year as the Berlin Olympic Games, the film sits squarely within a broader effort by the Nazi regime to present Germany as modern, orderly, and welcoming to international visitors. Infrastructure and mobility take center stage, highlighting efficiency, technical innovation, and comfort in travel. The imagery is polished and inviting, designed to reassure and impress.

Yet beneath this carefully composed surface lies a more troubling reality. By 1936, the Nuremberg Laws had already stripped Jewish citizens of basic rights and excluded them from much of public life. None of this is visible here. Instead, the film constructs a vision of harmony and normality—a curated “national community” in which political symbols and regime messaging appear only incidentally, woven into the fabric of daily life.

It is precisely this understated approach that makes the film so effective. Rather than overt propaganda, it presents an idealized world of progress and stability.

20 BCA

Vintage recruitment poster for the 20th Bataillon of Chasseurs Alpins 

Rei Mako

A recent incident at New Zealand’s border has reignited discussion around the treatment of Māori taonga and the need for greater cultural understanding within official systems. Māori researcher Tanith Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi described feeling a “stripping of mana” after being asked to remove his rei mako—traditional shark tooth earrings—during a biosecurity check on his return from Europe.

Despite declaring the taonga, Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi was instructed to surrender them for assessment under regulations tied to endangered species protections. Although the earrings were returned within minutes after a senior officer intervened, the experience left a lasting impact. He described feelings of shame, anger, and frustration after more than 30 hours of travel, highlighting the emotional toll such encounters can have.

The Ministry for Primary Industries has since apologised and acknowledged the need for greater sensitivity. However, Wirihana Te Waitohioterangi argues the issue is systemic rather than individual, pointing to inconsistencies in how culturally significant items are treated compared to other personal belongings.

For Māori, taonga are not just objects—they carry whakapapa, identity, and ancestral connection. This incident underscores a broader challenge: ensuring that systems designed for protection do not inadvertently undermine the cultural values they should respect.
 

A Legitimate Hat

 

Arch of Triumph

Arch of Triumph is a 1948 American romantic war drama directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Ingrid Bergman, Charles Boyer, and Charles Laughton. It is based on the 1945 novel by Erich Maria Remarque, written during his exile in the United States.

Set in pre-war Paris, the film follows Dr. Ravic, a refugee living under a false identity while secretly treating others in similar limbo. He rescues Joan Madou from suicide after the death of her lover, and the two begin a fragile relationship. Their lives are soon pulled apart—Ravic is deported, and Joan becomes involved with a wealthy patron.

When Ravic returns, he is driven by one purpose: revenge against the Nazi officer who murdered the woman he once loved. As war erupts with the Invasion of Poland, he finds his target and kills him—swiftly, and without explanation.

Tragedy closes in. Joan is shot by a jealous lover and left paralysed; Ravic’s desperate attempt to save her fails, and she dies in his arms. As authorities tighten control, Ravic faces an uncertain fate, clinging to the hope that even in war, he might still have a purpose. The film ends with a lingering shot through the Arc de Triomphe—a quiet symbol of endurance amid collapse. 

Tawfiq al-Hakim

Tawfiq al-Hakim (1898–1987) stands as one of the foundational figures of modern Arabic literature, widely regarded as a pioneer of both the Arabic novel and theatrical tradition. His vast body of work—ambitious, experimental, and at times controversial—mirrors the broader evolution of Egyptian drama as it sought to reconcile sophisticated literary forms with the realities of Egyptian society.

During World War II, al-Hakim turned his pen decisively against fascism. In a series of sharply argued articles, he depicted Adolf Hitler as a harbinger of civilizational collapse, warning that any victory under his rule would drag humanity back into “barbarism, tribalism, and beastliness.” These writings reflect both his moral conviction and his engagement with global political currents beyond Egypt’s borders.

In the post-war years, al-Hakim contributed to Al Katib Al Misri, an influential Cairo-based publication launched in October 1945 that helped shape literary discourse in the Arab world.

His personal life, much like his work, did not escape scrutiny. In his younger years, al-Hakim earned a reputation for misogynistic views, expressed in several early writings and underscored by his long bachelorhood. This led to the unflattering epithet Aduww al-Mar’a—“Enemy of Woman.” Yet this image softened over time: he eventually married and became the father of two children, a son and a daughter.

 Al-Hakim died on July 23, 1987, leaving behind a literary legacy that continues to provoke, challenge, and inspire.