takeoff!

The first big Staunton show of the season will be at our place on Friday night. I’ll have a full band playing with me. Perkasie, from Pennsylvania will be coming to play as well. Come party with us!  Film, music, friends.

on identity [postdate : 4.22.08]

Culture is undeniably fluid. Comprised of a people’s perceptions of their past, present-day habits and position towards future + forward-thinking and proactivity, it is ever in flux.

Culture can be dynamic or relatively static. It can be healthy for the people of any particular place or consistently destructive. The ways in which individuals embrace various elements of culture and relate to one another’s uniqueness or similarities is, what I perceive as an element that is fundamental to the construct of cultural identity.

While many places allow for cultural identity to be shaped gradually and indefinitely, places that have experienced significant wars or genocides are seeking ways to channel the best elements of existing cultural practices and ideas for the good of the people as a whole. These kinds of initiatives will prove useful in avoiding future occurrences of horrific past tensions.

Urban identity is to be created by many people and not directed by single individuals only. If collective information and awareness can be utilized in the construction of space and relationships, it may give a collectively-received sense of self in relation to a whole.

If a people can feel a sense of ownership and acceptance within their places of living, working and recreation, they will find aspects of life that readily relate to those around them and focuse on similarities and embrace differences…To have a sense of unity.

spin of 4.22 : “all saints day” : evan moritz

read of 4.22 : my war gone by i miss it so : anthony loyd

about the upcoming series

i have decided to recount the happenings of my recent trip to bosnia-herzegovina in a somewhat a-chronological way but the entire trip will be recreated within a two week time frame. each will have its corresponding postdate included in its title.

spin : feels : animal collective

read : but i like it : joe sacco

the glory of the false pretense

whisper . sigh

passing glance .

a shadow in a corner.

nothing.

reduced to some-thing

myfriendswhoaresavingtheworld

Unfortunately, I have perhaps missed the chance to go to Baltimore to see the showing of Evan’s play, “The Written World.” It made its first debut yesterday [May 14] and will end tomorrow. It starts at 8p in the Copycat Annex Theater. Nevertheless, it promises to be good and he just told me that it has been promoted on NPR and print advertisements have been appearing in the Baltimore papers throughout the week, paid for by the city. I had the opportunity to see the rehearsal of it when I was visiting a few weeks ago and have read it twice…it is a very strong piece. Fingers crossed…

see also : whamcity.com

spin : “the prophet” : style of eye

read : old angel midnight : jack kerouac

something to share

Discovered on woostercollective.com

Of course, Blu has done it again.

see also : blublu.org

locomotion + siezing cogs

fast results . unthinkable trials . disappointments . brilliant possibilities . laughter + dancing . twelve hour photo shoots . twirling in circles with wind to catch me . awkwardness . utter shock . early mornings . skyping to denmark . skyping to bosnia . illustrations . sections . plans . reading + reading + reading . sharing music . making music .  intoxicating light in alleys and on thoroughfares . new friendships . building on existing friendships . watching some decay . rain + rain + rain — in all of the world . internal devastation + anger at the wars of this world .  losing things . finding treasures . sharing things . missing home . missing family . missing clare . writing letters . receiving letters . exploring possibilities .

If you feel overwhelmed by the listing, imagine where I am in the sway.  This year has proven itself to be ripe with potential.  It is merely May and I have had the opportunity to travel across the Atlantic twice already with possibilities of doing so again within coming months.

When I was younger, my dad asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.

“An artist, a swimming instructor, and a doctor.”

My ambitions have shifted only slightly since…and the essence of my personality still lies within my dreams.  Everything is possible.  These weeks have been encouraging and rich.  Long conversations with Nazif and discussions about his projects throughout the years have set me aglow.  I often doubt my self, but in cooperative efforts with people like Nazif, I feel a restored sense of direction.  I do not intend to decide on a career…but I do intend to stay true to my desire to consistently use what gifts I have to contribute to people and causes that I believe in.

This means I will ever still use whatever I can to convey meaningful ideas + needed offerings to be distributed into the hands, hearts and minds of people all over the world.

photographs . films . acrylics . watercolors . poetry . prose . letters . line drawings . graphics . songs . sounds . prints . books . food . conversations . listening .

People are everything.  What can I give?

When we finish this book, I will be dedicating each day following its completion to recap our happenings in Travnik.  I look forward to this, and have for some time now.  Thank you for patience.

Blessings.

spin : another thought : arthur russell

read : fools rush in : bill carter

Think BiH

Please accept my apologies for having taken so long to post this long-awaited blog. And receive poetics in lieu of time for instantaneous prose. I have shot over 800 photographs [primarily on 35mm and 120 film] in one week, 30 should represent essence for now, no?

 

here the water meets the mountains spontaneously

and the mountains meet the sky reluctantly

lingering behind for fear of ending

steep slopes . hillside cemeteries

intoxicating light floods in continuum

 

the roads are sufficiently narrow

for feeling human and pedestrian

new friends interlock fingers in

rich shadows and tight alleys

old friends fall for old habits

 

arcane and hollow silence interweaves

awkwardly

with contemplative conversations

lone introspection and intimations

genuine laughter . hypothetical musings

 

we are observing paths and habits

counting to ten

and learning to say ‘good night’

we are drawing maps

and talking about the ‘love of our life’

 

we are shooting photographs of relics

and cliffs that fall like gravity itself

we are making films about coins in cathedrals

we are hearing ethnic strife

 

we are finding mortars in cement

and mine fields of leftover hatred

 

castle . bridges . springs .

sheep . wolves . pigeons .

‘turnoks’ . candles . dandelions .

factories . bandaids . traditions .

waterfalls . rich cheese . letters .

 

 

 

baltiMORE!

the weekend was spent with my most gracious friends kaitlin . evan . josh . jake . and company.

it was breathtaking.

mathlist!

dan deacon ! bicycles . village thrift ! trinidad ! national bohemian beer ! dance party ! sleepover !

jake and i got to help lead the cooking for food not bombs.

evan . josh . and i made a few musics.

josh took me to velocipede where i got to help with deconstructing bicycle wheels.

i got to hear a rehearsal of evan’s latest play, “the written world.”

to bosnia with a strong urban connection established as a base.

final thoughts

I wake to the rhythmic swishing of machetes on
blades of grass
And their hack-tappings on limbs
of trees
Outside of my window.

The thick presence of the past is inescapable here.

The beauty and splendor of this country and its people are captivating.
It is a country earnestly seeking forward progress.
But the genocide of ’94 weighs heavy upon the hearts, minds and endeavors of Rwandans.

I walk to the market to buy a bottle of fresh water.
I choose the shortcut, which is an immersion into the thick of survivors and their suffering.
Orphans scramble on corners and tug at my cuffs, women sell meager bunches of over-ripened bananas for pocket change, young and elderly men alike struggle along the sidewalks with the assistance of rudimentary crutches and canes—antiquated and unkempt prosthetics serve as little help in maintaining proper mobility…

These are the trenches. But hopelessness does not pervade Rwandan culture.
The people here are seeking positive antidotes for their society’s ills.
They work hard, they are honest, they look up.

A small group of children gratefully accepts fruits, water and plastic bottles in lieu of money.
I walk by later on in the day and they yell, “Mizungu! Murakozi! Asante!” [White girl! Thank you! Thank you!]

I reluctantly buy a map from a street vendor, we haggle the price, he wants 4000 RWF, I tell him, I’ll give him 1000, he says, “1000, I make no profit,” I agree to 2000 [5 USD] and we have a deal. Later in the afternoon, I see someone selling maps in my periphery, “Hey sista, you remember me?!” I wave, and shout “Of course!” he smiles.

There were many moments for me in which I was washed over with blessing…
…in sitting on a dirt floor and being served a bowl of rice, cassava and beef; in laughing, dancing and holding the women who have lost husbands, siblings and friends to hatred and houses to lava; in every conversation regarding our school and its past, present and future…

Mothers and fathers alike are daily seeking to set things right for their children, working to send them to school, to feed them, and to nurture good values within them. The country looks to reconcile, to remember and to grow.

No longer is the Western world intimidated by the gruesome past, it has conveniently categorized the genocide as History. It does much to evade the profound implications of this dark reality, eager to engage in commercial pursuits utilizing Rwanda’s rich resources and ripened economic prospects.

In this country within the heart of Africa, where the morale has been stripped bare, proactive steps towards a renewed self are being taken. These people live the paradigm shift that Umbau strives to recreate in education and architecture. And though the president, Paul Kagame, is leading the people of Rwanda onto a brighter horizon, it is to be certain that the rest of the world sees opportunities to benefit from their peace and forward-thinking economic efforts.

What can be offered?
What can be of use?
What will be sustainable?

Too often, we view the developing world as a place for interjections. How can we create foundations? If this school takes flight, we will hope that it will give the people of Rwanda the ability to use what they already know about building and making to grow their own architecture and to grow their relationships to one another through meaningful entrepreneurial endeavors.