"Creative tourism: the issues of philosophy, sociology and communication." Creativity Studies, 8(2), pp. 73–74

The present research attempts to reveal how ecological (environmental) education could be conveyed through aesthetic, visual art and various creative projects. Over a long time philosophers had developed the implementation of art as a powerful tool of education. Writers, painters themselves also quite often understood their mission as a didactical one which may support and improve system of education of their time. The author will exhibit various reasons why creative education performed with the help of arts were supportive to a cultivation of ecological skills. Different aspects of Chinese thought, particularly Daoism, are presented through their potential usability for contemporary creative education of ecological topics. The author also highlights some limits and difficulties of using Chinese philosophical ideas for contemporary Western culture. Finally various creative projects used in raising ecological awareness are analyzed on their efficiency for education. Santrauka Straipsnyje nagrinėjama, kokiais aspektais ekologinė edukacija gali būti vykdoma pasitelkus estetiką, vizualiuosius menus ir įvairius kūrybinius projektus. Jau prieš daugelį šimtmečių filosofai bei pedagogikos teoretikai pastebėjo ir pabrėžė, kad menas yra galingas edukacinis įrankis. Rašytojai, dailininkai taip pat neretai jausdavosi turintys didaktinę misiją ir siekė plėtoti bei tobulinti savo laikmečio edukacinę sistemą. Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos įvairios priežastys, lemiančios, kad kūrybinė edukacija vykdoma pasitelkus įvairius menus ir geba efektyviai formuoti ekologinius įgūdžius. Taip pat nagrinėjami įvairūs kinų mąstymo tradicijų aspektai, daugiausia dėmesio sutelkiant ties daoizmo mąstymo tradicija, kuri gali būti sėkmingai panaudojama kūrybiškai taikant ekologinę edukaciją. Autorė atskleidžia kai kuriuos pavojus bei ribotumus, su kuriais susiduriama bandant kinų mąstymo tradicijose plėtojamas interpretacijas pritaikyti dabartinei Vakarų kultūrai. Taip pat parodoma, kaip įvairūs kūrybiniai projektai taikomi ugdant ekologinį žmonių sąmoningumą, svarstoma, kokios priežastys lemia jų populiarumą ir sėkmingumą. Reikšminiai žodžiai: estetika, kūrybinė edukacija, daoizmas, ekologinė edukacija, aplinka, vizualieji menai, Vakarų filosofija.

Resent paper is focused on the early modern culture, particularly on the topic of visual art and its confrontation with traditional, pre-modern culture and aesthetic. The author unveils how and why painters of early French modernism had rejected traditional representation of eroticism, typical for pre-modern art, especially for the art of academicism. Thus from their artworks disappeared sublimated, exalted nudity, withdrew nudes modestly hidden under mythological or religious context. In the works of impressionists and postimpressionists naked body was depicted frankly, openly, without any excuse of what was supposed to be decent. Such were the nude women of paintings of Auguste Manet and Amedeo Modigliani who present merely their femininity and sexuality, while symbolizing the liberation from moral norms and heralding sexual revolution of the 20th century. Relaxed, healthy, pink-cheeked girls in Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s paintings spread subtle eroticism and the mood of joyful life. Life of Parisian cabarets and brothels come alive through naked or semi-naked female figures which on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and Edgar Degas canvases seem as if they are unaware of being watched. Nude bodies in the paintings of such French post-impressionists like Henri Matisse and Paul Gauguin were depicted in exotic, oriental ambience and referred to the philosophical background of romanticism. Paul Cézanne’s nudes particularly his famous scenes with bathers disclose essential aims of this painter – to reach the essence of the very thing. Transformations of the treatment of nude body by early French modernists help to understand general context of creative changes in visual arts on the edge of the 19th and 20th centuries.

In this article Daoism is analyzed in the context of Chinese culture. It is demonstrated how the ideas of Daoism were shaped and matured in the Chinese civilization and how they reflect the peculiarities of the civilization of Eastern Asia and China. The author revives the genealogy and authorship of the main works of the Daoists (Daodejing, Zhuangzi) and analyzes their influence on the development of Daoism tradition during later periods. It is argued that Daoism was formed as the reaction towards the crisis of old Zhou culture and feeding degradation of Confucian rituals followed by the ruling circles. Different correlations are emphasized between the development of Chinese civilization and the maturation and transformation of Daoists’ ideas. It is demonstrated that Daoism is a natural product of its epoch and society; thus, it could not be dissociated from common Chinese cultural, religious and philosophical context, but rather analyzed together with it. Finally, the discussion is held on the anti‐rationality, sceptical view towards mind and logical argumentation.

This article analyzes the relationship between one of the most important cultural forms – cinema – and one of the most important forms of social organization – the city. Therefore, various thematic, formal and industrial relationships between city and cinema provide a great opportunity for research and discussion of key issues which are of common interest in the study of both – society (city) and culture (cinema) study. The author discusses various ways in which urban city (Shanghai) and cinema intersect, and while doing so, rely on different resources, methods and approaches from both film studies and urban studies. The article discusses various films, mostly those of contemporary Chinese, but also some of those created in Hollywood, the action of which takes place in Shanghai, and this city takes an important place. Analyzed films reflect and comment on urban issues of the dynamic Shanghai city. There will be analyzed both those films which show daily, front face of Shanghai, ant those which show these darksome faces of Shanghai which are beyond the usual everyday experience. Santrauka Straipsnyje nagrinėjamos sąsajos tarp kinematografijos, kuri yra viena iš svarbiausių kultūros raiškos formų, ir vieno iš pagrindinių socialinių darinių – miesto. Įvairūs teminiai, formalūs ir industriniai miesto bei kinematografijos santykiai suteikia galimybę tyrinėti ir svarstyti esmines problemas, bendras tiek visuomenės, tiek kultūros studijoms. Analizės objektu pasirinktas Šanchajaus miestas, kuris yra iš esmės fotogeniškas ir neatsiejamas nuo savo šalies kinematografijos, ten klestinčios nuo pat savo pirmų žingsnių. Straipsnyje analizuojami daugiausia kinų, tačiau taip pat ir holivudinės produkcijos filmai, kuriuose veiksmas vyksta Šanchajaus mieste, o pats miestas atlieka reikšmingą vaidmenį. Parodoma, kaip šiuose filmuose skirtingais aspektais perteikiamas šio dinamiško, unikalią istoriją ir perspektyvas turinčio miesto vaizdas. Nagrinėjant tiek filmus, kuriuose atsiveria įprastas, fasadinis Šanchajaus veidas, tiek ir tuos, kuriuose rodomas niūrus, under-groundinis, kasdienybėje neregimas miesto veidas, parodoma, kaip panaši erdvės samprata kinematografams leidžia įtikinamai parodyti ir netgi atgaivinti skirtingas miesto erdves, o patį miestą paverčia gyvenamuoju pasauliu, kuriame urbanistinės ir kūniškos plotmės tampa neatsiejamos vienos nuo kitų.