Rise & Fall Then & Now

We headed to the East side of the state yesterday to visit the Detroit Institute of the Arts. The 127 year old building itself is worth the drive. But showing this month were two temporary exhibitions: Fabergé: The Rise & Fall and Motor City Muse: Detroit Photographs Then & Now.

The Fabergé exhibition traces the story behind the jewels of the legendary House of Fabergé. It includes 6 of the 50 Imperial Eggs made for the Tsar Nicholas II. Even though Fabergé fall along with the Russian aristocracy in 1918, their work, and eggs, maintain a certain mystique in popular culture.

Two floors down from the glitz and glam of Fabergé, Motor City Muse explored the evolving city of Detroit. As photographer Dave Jordano puts it, "This has all changed in my lifetime... It's not old history, it's current." Though small, the exhibit is timely and thought provoking. Mixing historic imagery with current imagery, editorial imagery with interpretive imagery lends to a variety of viewpoints. 

Image Bill Rauhauser
The reflection this leads to is one of somber grief and trepidation about the future—yet it intrigues. You only have a week left to see the glamorous works of Fabergé but you can catch the Detroit retrospect until June.