More from the Bata

            Following up from last week… The Bata has a few other exhibits going on currently.  I only took one picture from Standing Tall: The Curious History of Men in Heels; the exhibit was a lot of military boots, royal heels, and some rock star shoes.  The one picture I took was of the kinky boots from a Kinky Boots production.

            The other exhibit I took a number of pictures of was Art & Innovation: Traditional Arctic Footwear from the Bata Shoe Museum Collection.  This exhibit was really cool.  It looked at footwear, traditional costumes, and tools from people from Greenland, Alaska, Siberia, Sápmi, and Canada.  It was fascinating.

Ivory and antler chatelaine.

Pieced sealskin.  This shows a few parts of the process, with a description.

Close up of the finished piece.

Woven grass socks from Alaska.

Fur inlaid boots.  The women that make these make sure the hair is all going the same direction across the different colors of fur, cut out the pieces, and sew them back together.  There were a number of other examples, including an eagle, and one showing the reverse of the piece.  It's fascinating.

            In addition to these, the Bata also has a shoe timeline, and shoes from different countries, religions, etc. to start you off in the museum.  There’s also a glass heels sort-of mobile down the stairwell.  I admit when I first heard of the shoe museum, I thought it was a funny concept, and yet I wound up really enjoying it.