Art Under Attack: Histories of British Iconoclasm – Tate Britain

After visiting the Lowry exhibition at Tate Britain, I hung around to explore the newest exhibition in the gallery, Art Under Attack: Histories of British Iconoclasm. In the end I thought it was one of the most interesting and thought-provoking exhibitions I’ve seen in a while.

Tate Britain bill the exhibition as “the first exhibition exploring the history of physical attacks on art in Britain from the 16th century to the present day”. Iconoclasm – deliberate destruction of works – has been around in various forms for centuries, and perpetrators have acted from widely varying motives, whether religious, political or aesthetic.

The exhibition begins with the Reformation and the destruction of stained glass windows and statues in churches and monasteries, the result of Henry VIII’s break with Rome and later the influence of the Puritans. Decapitated statues of Christ, smashed stained glass and fragments of Winchester Cathedral’s rood screen are displayed. However, the room that really made me think was the ‘suffragette’ room. Several suffragettes used to go to art galleries and deface paintings, such as Edward Burne-Jones’ Sibylla Delphica (1898), often in protest at the way women in art were idealised while real women were being denied basic rights. While I am in complete sympathy with the sentiment behind what they did, I can’t stand the idea of art being destroyed.

What surprised me was that I felt the same about the modern art in the next room. A random member of the public threw blue paint on Carl Andre’s Equivalent III (1966) in protest at the fact that ‘such rubbish’ was being revered as art. And he had a point – the ‘artwork’ in question was a group of bricks arranged in three layers. Frankly you could see the same thing on any building site. And yet – I couldn’t help feeling that this was wrong, that vandalising something that another person spent time and energy and care on creating just isn’t right. After all, however little time it might have taken to put the work together (and however much it might look like it was thrown together in five minutes, we don’t know that, it could have taken ages), it would have taken even less time to throw a tin of paint over it. Also, by damaging the artwork so that it had to be removed from public view and repaired, he was depriving other people from seeing it for themselves and forming their own opinion – even if said opinion was simply “this is shite”.

I would love to know what other people think.

Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life – Tate Britain

I know of L.S. Lowry, and I’m aware of his work in painting scenes of working class life in the north. My grandparents had a print of his on their living room wall. However, until I visited Tate Britain‘s fantastic exhibition Lowry and the Painting of Modern Life, I didn’t appreciate just how good an artist he was.

Lowry (1887-1976) specialised in painting the England of the Industrial Revolution, mainly around the urban centres of Salford and Manchester. His paintings are vivid and distinct, giving a unique impression of people going about their lives. Often he portrays the rituals of the working-class life – going to and from the factory, attending a football match, visiting the market. He doesn’t shy away from brutality – one picture shows a family being evicted, another the ‘fever van’ which took sick children to the infirmary (often never to return) – but there is a stark beauty in his work, which is full of life.

Shunga: Sex and humour in Japanese art 1600-1900 – British Museum

Last Friday after work, I went to the British Museum to see the new exhibition Shunga: Sex and humour in Japanese art 1600-1900. It was an eye-opener – beautiful images painted in Japan over three centuries, showing explicit scenes.

Shunga (the name means ‘spring pictures’) were popular in Japan from around 1600 to 1900. Beyond that, they continued to circulate even though they were banned for most of the 20th century. These works are explicit, sensual, funny and beautiful, combining eroticism and art in a way that wasn’t really matched in the West. Most of the images show men and women in compromising positions, but others are more unusual, such as the lady being pleasured by an octopus, and the men comparing sizes. Shunga influenced Western artists such as Tolouse-Lautrec and Aubrey Beardsley, and continue to influence manga and anime.

The exhibition runs until 5 January and I recommend it – but not if you’re easily offended!

Australia – Royal Academy of Arts

Not knowing anything about the art of Australia, I headed to the exhibition at the Royal Academy of Arts after work one Friday night with something approaching apprehension. I had no idea what to expect, but I was impressed. The exhibition showcases more than 200 years of Australian art from 1800 to the present, mostly concerned with land and landscape and displayed in broadly chronological order. Both indigenous and non-indigenous art is explored, giving rise to a varied and thought-provoking exhibition.

Indigenous Painting

Before Australia was ‘discovered’ by Dutch explorers in 1606, indigenous peoples had lived there for over 50,000 years. Aboriginal art is closely related to the land, in both substance and subject matter. It is graven on rock, painted on the body and carved into the ground, but as these works would be rather difficult to transport overseas, the art displayed in this exhibition is limited to that created on sheets of canvas or bark. I was surprised at how much these works appealed to me: they were very abstract and in some ways reminded me of modern art, but they were also heavily rooted in Aboriginal mythology (which differs from place to place and from group to group), including the concept of the ‘Dreaming’, a philosophy relating this world to the spiritual one.

Early Colonial Art (1800-50)

The first British settlers arrived in Australia in 1788. Initially they found life very difficult, as the land around Botany Bay and Sydney Harbour, where they lived, could not support crops. Over time they grew more accustomed to the landscape and begun to capture it in paint, often using watercolour. Artists of the period included John Lewin, the country’s first free-settler professional artist, and John Glover, who arrived in Australia in later life but quickly grew to appreciate this new land.

Late Colonial Art (1850-80)

Fuelled by the gold rush of 1851, Australia, particularly Victoria and its capital Melbourne, grew in population. Among those who arrived in the country were a number of artists from all over the world, many of whom were influenced by the German Romantic tradition as opposed to the British watercolour tradition. These included Eugene von Guérard, whose 1859 painting ‘Bushfire’ was one of the highlights of the exhibition for me.  In fact, the art of this period was my favourite of the whole exhibition: the colours, and the way the artists captured the unique quality of Australian light and landscape, were absolutely stunning.

Australian Impressionism

Like the rest of the world, Impressionism took hold in Australia. During the late 1880s, several artists, including Tom Roberts and Frederick McCubbin, worked at outdoor painting camps and sought to capture a sense of harmony between man and nature in their work. A more pessimistic view took hold, however, when the market collapsed at the beginning of the 1890s.

Federation Landscapes (1900-20)

Landscapes continued to be popular during this period, though owing to the growth in urban areas, many artists began to reflect this in their work.

Early Modernism (1918-40)

This era doesn’t appeal to me as much as some of the others, so I spent less time in this section. Strong colours and new forms were the order of the day. I did like the varied images of the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which encompassed different angles and styles.

Late Modernism (1940-50)

I found this more interesting than the early modernism section. I particularly liked Sidney Nolan’s iconic images of Ned Kelly, showing the famous outlaw against a backdrop of Australian landscape.

Bark Painting

Painting on eucalyptus bark is the core art form of Arnhem Land and the surrounding areas. Inspired by the rock art traditions of the area, these beautiful paintings express a strong relationship with the Australian landscape and evoke Aboriginal myth and legend. As an aside, several of the pictures here reminded me of the terrifying Bunyip from Dot And the Kangaroo.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtrYO-Mog60&w=640&h=390]

Desert Painting

In 1971 in Papunya, in the Western Desert, a non-Aboriginal art teacher invited members of the Aboriginal community to paint murals on the school walls. Subsequently, they continued to paint on board and canvas, expressing aspects of their Dreamings and of their history and culture.

Early Contemporary Art (1960-80)

The broad-ranging art of this period was inspired both by internationalism, as art exhibitions moved between countries, and a growing sense of Australian nationalism, during which artists explored connections to their environment.

Series and Politics (1970s-present)

Irreverent and political art characterised this period. I was strangely absorbed by the motorbike video, showing the artist with arms outstretched moving along in a vast Australian landscape. Other works examined race and violence.

Contemporary (1990s-2000s)

Many of these works, such as Bill Henson’s photographs, look at the unique quality of Australian light – something I thought was apparent as far back as the 1800s, as several of the earlier works emphasise it.

The Past, Present and Future (1989-2013)

Some of the works in this final section were the most unusual of the entire exhibition. I particularly liked Rosemary Laing’s upside-down house, emphasising that Australia is ‘down under’. An Elysian City by Danie Mellor evokes classical buildings with a Romantic sense of decay.

I really was impressed with this exhibition, it was vast in scope and ambition and contained a huge range of massively varied works. It runs until 8 December at the Royal Academy and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion – The Queen’s Gallery

The exhibition In Fine Style: The Art of Tudor and Stuart Fashion ran until Sunday at the Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace. I managed to catch it on Saturday, just before it closed.

QueenThe exhibition focused on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and mostly looked at monarchs and courtiers, exploring how their costumes displayed social status and other aspects of their culture and personality. At the time, royalty and the elite were trendsetters, and their clothing often influenced fashionable style.

Queen

While the majority of the exhibition was made up of paintings, many by important figures such as Hans Holbein the Younger and Peter Lely, some items of clothing were also on display, including gloves, a doublet and a lace collar. There were also some beautiful pieces of jewellery.

Mexico: A Revolution in Art, 1910-1940 – Royal Academy of Arts

The other week I went to the Royal Academy to catch the exhibition Mexico: A Revolution in Art, 1910-1940 just before it closed. I’m glad I did – I didn’t know much about Mexico in the early 20th century (or Mexico at any other time, come to that), but I found it really interesting.

Revolution and regime change in Mexico inspired artists of all kinds who produced varied work including paintings, photographs, leaflets and woodcuts. Some of my favourite images were those inspired by the Day of the Dead, with grinning skulls and bright colours. I also liked the early 20th century pictures showing the revolution in action.

José Chávez Morado, ‘Carnaval en Huejotzingo’ (Carnival in Huejotzingo), 1939

Some of the images made a particularly strong impact: the photographers did not shy away from portraying the dark side of the revolution, with explicit shots of the dead and injured. While disturbing, these images really brought home the reality of the situation for the revolutionaries, and contrasted with the other images emphasising the positive side of Mexico.

Geoffrey Farmer: The Surgeon and the Photographer – The Curve, Barbican

Geoffrey Farmer: The Surgeon and the Photographer is currently showing at the Barbican, a strange and unnerving modern work of art. It is displayed in the Curve, a long winding gallery that reflects its name, and consists of 365 puppets made up of faces, masks, limbs and accessories applied like a collage onto fabric bodies. Popular culture, the ancient world, history and fiction are all referenced. The title of the exhibition comes from an essay by Walter Benjamin, ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction’, in which he compared the work of a magician to that of a painter and the role of a surgeon to that of a photographer. Both, Benjamin says, deal with fragments.

Creepy yet fascinating, these varied figures are rich in detail and personality. I was reminded of the song by the Doors, ‘People Are Strange’, as I wandered among them. Accompanying the exhibition was a montage of sounds, while at the end a series of pictures was presented as a film. I sat and watched these compelling images for a good few minutes.

I have ambivalent feelings towards modern art, but this is something that is worthwhile and rich in meaning. It closes on Sunday – visit beforehand if you can.

Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure – National Gallery

We were let out of the office early on Friday afternoon, so I took the opportunity to visit the latest exhibition at the National Gallery, Vermeer and Music: The Art of Love and Leisure. I don’t know much about Vermeer apart from ‘Girl With A Pearl Earring’, so I was looking forward to this.

The relatively small exhibition explored the role of music in the seventeenth-century Netherlands. In the art of the time, music often represented harmony, temperance and moderation, as well as transience – still lives showed how death meant the stilling of music. Gatherings of families and friends often revolved around music – but so did entertainment at establishments such as brothels. Some of the pictures on display deliver ambiguous meanings, for instance by using close-ups of musicians to explore emotions. In a restricted society, making music was one way in which young courting couples could spend time together and explore their emotions.

Paintings weren’t the only things on display: there was also a selection of early printed music books, which were often shared by lovers and carried around in secret. Several instruments of the kind seen in the pictures were also on show, some of which were quite different to modern instruments. For example, there was a lute, a clavischord and a virginial. Some of these instruments were seen as particularly suitable for women, while others were seen as rather dubious, often because of the positions a player needed to adopt while making music.

The highlight of the exhibition was the room in which three of Vermeer’s paintings – A Young Woman standing at a Virginal, A Young Woman seated at a Virginal (from the National Gallery) and Guitar Player (on loan from Kenwood House) – were displayed alongside each other, exploring the role of music in different ways. My favourite painting, though, was The Music Lesson, in which a young woman and her music tutor share a supposedly innocent music-making experience – until you see the reflection in the mirror and notice their positions and the expressions in their faces.

The last section of the exhibition looked at Vermeer’s use of colour in his work, including his unprecedented use of expensive ultramarine and decision to use green earth when painting skin tones. This was an interesting way to round off the exhibition.

Barocci: Brilliance and Grace – National Gallery

Always keen to find out more about art, I popped in to the National Gallery on Saturday to catch the exhibition Barocci: Brilliance and Grace before it closed on Sunday. Federico Barocci (c. 1526-1612) was born and spent most of his life in the Italian city of Urbino. He was widely admired in his time, and crowds of people would appear to view a new altarpiece by him. He developed within the Italian Renaissance tradition, but was also instrumental in pioneering the Baroque style.

I’m far from being knowledgeable about art, in fact I’d never heard of Barocci until this exhibition was advertised. However, the beauty of his paintings, the warmth and humanity of them, was clear as soon as I saw his work. Barocci was a spiritual man, embracing the Catholic Counter Reformation, and this comes across in his religious paintings, which are more lively and moving than a great deal of Christian art. I particularly liked The Nativity (1597).  One of my pet hates in art is seeing grotesque cherubs or putti, chubby and smiling, and they seem to be everywhere – but here, the baby Jesus actually looks like a real baby, and is beautifully worked.

Nativity, Barocci
Nativity, 1597

Luxembourg

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View from the Old Town looking south

I’ve just got back from a weekend in Luxembourg. I realised I hadn’t been abroad since I went to Portugal in summer 2011, so I decided to rectify this. I also thought it would be a good time to tick London City Airport DLR station off my tube station list. City is the only airport in central London and the only one (apart from Heathrow) to be located on a tube map. After using it, I would encourage everyone to fly from City at least once. The view over central London – taking in the Thames, the O2, the London Eye and the famous bridges – is not to be missed.

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Cercle Municipal

Luxembourg is the world’s only Grand Duchy. It is a tiny little state bordered by Belgium, Germany and France. The inhabitants speak Luxembourgish (yes, that is a real language), French and German and there are several temporary and permanent immigrants contributing other languages and cultures to the place – a real melting-pot.

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St Michael’s Church

Friday
The flight from City took an hour and twenty minutes. It left at eight so I had to get up ridiculously early in the morning – I actually caught the first Tube train of the day out of Ealing Broadway, which made me feel oddly thrilled. I was surprised at how many people were actually around at that time of the morning. Luxembourg is an hour ahead of the UK, so by the time I arrived and caught the bus into the centre of town it was getting on for eleven – which still left me with practically a full day ahead of me.

One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the temperature. It is mid-March after all, and I had assumed that the weather would have been vaguely spring like. This was not the case. It was colder than in Britain (although the temperature did improve over the next couple of days), and there was snow on the ground, though it didn’t actually snow while I was there.

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I walked into the centre and picked up a Luxembourg Card from the tourist information office. This card is amazing and I recommend it to anyone who visits. For 27 Euros (for three days; one-day and two-day cards are cheaper) you get unlimited travel on public transport, plus free admission to most of the museums in the country, and discounts on the rest. I used mine constantly and, with the exception of the 2 Euros I paid to take the bus from the airport, didn’t spend another penny on sightseeing or transport throughout my trip.

This first day, I spent some time wandering around town and getting a feel for the place. There seemed to be a lot of scaffolding, so I suspect they are jazzing the place up in preparation for the summer. The Old Town – which is UNESCO-listed – reminded me of Bruge, although I didn’t think it was quite as nice.

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Looking towards the Bock Casemates

The first thing I did was visit the Bock Casemates, down towards the eastern edge of the Old Town. These are fortifications built into the rock several hundred years ago which were designed for defence at a time when the castle on the hill was chosen for its suitability in this respect. I found them interesting to explore but got rather spooked at some points and had to make a hasty exit – or would have, if I hadn’t had trouble finding it.

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After a quick stop off for a Panini and a cup of coffee, I headed to the Musée National d’Histoire et d’Art (National Museum of History and Art). This huge museum was well laid-out and fascinating, with five floors below telling the story of Luxembourg from prehistoric times to the present day, and five above, displaying the fine art collection and temporary exhibitions. There was an English guide available for the information boards on the lower floors, which came in handy, and I particularly liked the impressive Roman mosaic on display.

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Roman mosaic at the National Museum of History and Art

Unfortunately the medieval galleries were closed, but I enjoyed the others, including an in-depth prehistoric section with details of archaeological discoveries. The fine art collection was wide-ranging and varied: there were even a couple of Turner watercolours there, as well as a sculpture by Rodin and an artwork by Picasso. One temporary exhibition was about Japanese art of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and was fascinating, and the other was concerned with the Dutch landscape painter Barend Cornelis Koekkoek.

After my visit I walked through the town and came across an amazing café that I just had to go into. You choose a flavour of chocolate, select a block with a wooden spoon embedded into it, and dip it into a cup of hot milk. They should definitely get something like that over here. I had chilli chocolate flavour and it was delicious.

Afterwards I headed towards the station and checked into my hotel. Once I’d unpacked and had a rest, I headed out to find something to eat. I managed to find a nice Italian restaurant, not too busy but not to quiet either, and with other solo diners, so I didn’t feel too self-conscious. I am afraid I took the easy option and went for the mushroom pizza – as much as I would like to sample the local cuisine, I understand that Luxembourgish specialities tend to include meat, so they’re off the menu for me.

Whenever I go abroad, I always like to check out the supermarkets to find out what the locals like to eat. I love looking at all the weird and wonderful foods that are so like, and yet so unlike, the stuff you get in the UK. I saw one lady carrying a Dr Oetker frozen pizza with what looked like salmon on top – it looked lovely and I am disappointed you can’t get that variety here!

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Luxembourgish wine

I always make a point of trying some local alcohol and chocolate. At least, I try – I don’t think the chocolate I managed to find was from Luxembourg, but I’d never seen it before, so I thought it would do. The wine was local, though.

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Tasty chocolate

Not wanting to hang out in a bar full of drunken individuals, I sat in my room with a book, some chocolate and wine, and had a perfectly lovely evening.

Saturday

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Stained glass window inside the railway station

The following day, I dragged myself down to breakfast and demolished some rolls with chocolate spread and jam. I also had some waffles, but since the toaster didn’t work these weren’t as nice as they might have been! Sufficiently full-up, I wandered over to the rather impressive station. I had plans to go to Vianden for the day, and knew that I had to catch the train to Ettelbruck and then a bus to the town of Vianden.

It took me some time to decipher all the signs, but eventually I got myself on the right train and enjoyed a relaxing journey to Ettelbruck. I didn’t have to wait too long for the bus when I got there – it was a relatively short journey to my destination.

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Vianden

Vianden is gorgeous. It is a small compact village full of quaint little houses, with a river flowing through the centre and a curved bridge crossing it. Above it all, the castle overlooks the town high on a hill. I decided to visit the castle first, in order to get the climb out of the way. This was a good decision, as it was exhausting, and I don’t know if I’d have been able to manage it later!

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Castle Vianden

Looking over the castle didn’t take ages, as there were few information boards or other things to see, but it was definitely worth it. The castle was apparently sold by its nineteenth-century owner and dismantled, leaving it in a state of disrepair not rectified until the twentieth century when it was rebuilt. It still looks pretty good, considering. The place is just how I would have imagined a fairytale castle to be, with round towers and a stunning hillside location.

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Victor Hugo’s House

After a crepe vegetarienne in a local café I popped into the Victor Hugo Museum for a quick look around. The great writer stayed in the town on several occasions, and some of the letters he wrote here are on display. His study has been recreated in the room facing the castle. Unfortunately the displays were all in French so I couldn’t understand them, but it was still exciting just to be in a place connected with the man.

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Museum of Military History

I caught the bus back to the town of Diekirch, which my guidebook said was full of museums. The major attraction was the Museum of Military History, covering the Battle of the Ardennes (better known perhaps as the Battle of the Bulge) of 1944-45. I knew my mam, who is really interested in the war, would have been fascinated by the museum. I had a good look round, but the place went into a lot of depth (it is used by military historians as well as the general public) and I skimmed a lot of it. The personal testimonies and modelled recreations of real-life scenes (taken from photographs) were moving and really brought home what life would have been like during the battle.

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Crypt underneath Diekirch church

I popped into the town’s own museum too, but the boards were in French and German so I couldn’t actually understand anything. However, the museum is next to the church and you can actually get into the crypt via the museum, which I thought was quite exciting. I then visited a bizarre museum, home to a selection of classic cars and a selection of Diekirch beer glasses. I had planned to sample a beer in the little café, but there seemed to be some sort of event on, with lots of people arranged in chairs and sandwiches wrapped in cling film, so I made a hasty exit.

Though there was no castle, there were several quaint little streets and I grew to quite like Diekirch. Apparently the town’s mascot is a donkey, which explains the fun statue which lets you move the limbs of the donkeys into whichever position you choose.

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One of the rather sweet donkeys

I had planned to eat in the Old Town when I returned to Luxembourg City, but I couldn’t find anywhere that was both quiet and cheap. On the way back to my hotel I stopped at a decent-looking place and had – you’ve guessed it – another mushroom pizza. Well, it was either that or a cheese omelette.

My evening passed much as the previous one did, with wine and chocolate and books. I had debated trying to get tickets to a concert or a theatre performance, but I couldn’t decipher the leaflets, and thought it would probably be really expensive anyway.

Sunday
The next day – my last – it was raining. I walked through the Old Town for the last time, taking in the view, and visited the Musée d’Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg (Luxembourg History Museum). This has been cleverly built within a number of buildings from different periods of the city’s history, with stone from the old defences forming part of the basement. I loved the video installation exploring the landscape and nature of the city. I could have sat looking at it for hours.

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Luxembourg History Museum

After a couple of floors exploring the city’s past, the museum began to look at different themes relating to Luxembourg, including its role in industry, within Europe and the natural world. Finally, the temporary exhibition was ‘The ABC of Luxembourg’ – exploring the national identity of the Grand Duchy through an irreverent and entertaining alphabet. I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent museum and I’m glad I made the effort to look for it, tucked away on a back street.

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Musée Dräi Eechelen

I debated whether to catch the bus, but I ended up walking to the next museum, which I’d passed en route to the centre from the airport. The Musée Dräi Eechelen tells the story of this fort overlooking the city, with armour, swords and a frightening-looking guillotine all displayed. I popped into the MUDAM (Museum of Modern Art) next door, too, but the exhibitions were in the process of changing over. The building itself was very impressive, though.

I could have caught the bus back into the centre, but frankly I couldn’t be bothered, so I just went straight to the airport. I spent a couple of hours there recharging and writing up my holiday diary (which I keep religiously every time I go abroad) before going through security and spending far too much on chocolate and liqueur to bring back with me.