A Weekend of Activities in the Nation of Victoriana

This past weekend was a “Victoriana” one for me. The Nation of Victoriana is an ever-expanding series of sims set in the Victorian era. The sims are owned by Mayor LittleBlackDuck Lindsay, who dedicates himself tirelessly to the creation and maintenance of the beautifully detailed region. I was first introduced to Victoriana by my friend Boye Jervil, the owner of the Pre-Raphaelite Gallery in Victoriana Square, and since then I have visited and occasionally written about the nation. This was the first time I have had the opportunity to attend any of the events.

On Friday evening, June 19, a live RL concert was streamed into many sims in Second Life, including Victoriana Square. In RL, two classical duos, the Duo Apassionato and Duo DnA, joined up and played a wide-ranging selection of music which was then made available in SL, as part of a fund raising effort for the Raleigh Symphony Orchestra. In Victoriana Square a lovely gazebo and dance floor were set up in Acorn Park, setting the stage for a very pleasant evening.

The second event took place on Saturday, June 20. This was the Ascot Ball and Annual Horse Race. The sim was packed with Victoriana residents and visitors from other Victorian themed sims, since these events were included in the mid-summer Grand Tour of Victorian sims, benefiting the Relay for Life. Many of the ladies wore black and white outfits, no doubt inspired by the famous Ascot Gavotte scene from “My Fair Lady”, while others appeared in jewel tones of blue, deep rose and burgundy, and a scattering wore paler pinks and blues, adding to the beauty of the scene. Gentlemen were formally dressed in dark colours. The Mayor stood out in his bright red jacket, in which he could easily be seen warmly welcoming everyone to the sim.

Congratulations to LittleBlackDuck Lindsay, Panacea Luminos and all the organizers of these two events.

Hibiscus Hastings

Two Photographic Exhibitions

Within the past week or so I have had the chance to visit two photography exhibitions that have recently opened and having seen both within a short space of time, I was struck by how different each was in almost every way and yet underlying both were some commonalities.
The first exhibition I visited is at Saxmundham’s Galleria in the Mayfair sim. I attended the opening party for the gallery which is where I discovered the work of Declan McDowell (rl Olivier Hudner). Hudner is a self-taught photographer living and working in the South of France. This is the first exhibition of his work in SL. His work includes many different genres – landscapes, portraits, nature studies and what he calls “recycled art”, photographs of other art in public spaces, such as graffiti. Overall his photographs focus in on the details of life which we tend not to notice, finding the beauty in the mundane. More of his work can be seen at his website, www.hudner.net.
The second exhibition is in the Victoriana Square sim. The Nation of Victoriana is a 19th Century themed sim, beautifully designed and built and a favourite place of mine in Second Life. Currently on display in the Town Hall in Victoriana Square are the works of Callipygian Christensen. Christensen is a well established SL photographer; her work is on display at many different venues. This exhibition of scenes of Victoriana was done at the suggestion of Mayor LittleBlackDuck Lindsay, the sim owner. Some photographs are done in gentle sepia tones, giving an air of days gone by, while others are brightly, almost shockingly, coloured in contrast, reflecting the liveliness of the sim.
These are two very different exhibitions, showing the great diversity of art that can be seen in SL. Both are exhibits of photographic works; however McDowell’s pictures are of RL only, whereas Christensen’s are only of SL, and in fact only of the Victoriana sim. McDowell is a relative newcomer to the art scene in SL, Christensen is more established. At the heart, though, is the artist’s eye looking at the everyday, whether that is in SL or RL.

Hibiscus Hastings