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number 44 June 1998
News & Letters
pages 2 - 4
Letters from:
Riita-Liisa Joutsenlahti, Finland
Contact with Choreographers sought - Mahtab Mahmoodzadeh, U.S.A.
The art of porches - Bobby Mitchell, U.S.A.
Concrete Sandwiches - Dale Malner, U.S.A.
Orlando Hunter U.S.A.
I am a Bahá´í in New Mexico and I write/produce and perform music. I have
also designed and put together a greeting card with a music cassette and I
am looking for distributors.
The song that I recorded for the musical/greeting card is one that I have
sung for weddings and anniversaries. I decided, why not put it in a greeting
card with the lyrics on the card, and a cassette with the song on it.
The song is 5 minutes long and can be used for various occasions, such as
Valentine´s Day, Mother´s/Father´s Day or birthdays, or just to tell someone
that you love and care about them. It is professionally recorded on a
cassette tape, and is done with acoustic guitar and strings, with a smooth
rhythmic beat and mellow voice.
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A manaia (bird-spirit)
inlaid with a paua shell
eye and patu (weapon),
bone carving by
Ropata Davis New Zealand.
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The card has not been bought at a store; the concept, layout and design are
something that I came up with and put together. The card is 8 1/4" x 6 1/4".
It has a picture of three roses on a stem and, across the top or just above
the roses, the words "For That Special Someone" are written in ribbon type.
Just below the roses are the words "Say It With Music". Just below this are
the lyrics to the song, "Look Into My Eyes". The card folds so that you can
write something inside.
The card and tape are packaged in a plastic tube type material that allows
you to see the card and tape. So what you have is a nice card with a
beautiful 5 minute song, for $5.00 U.S. I think this is better than paying
$3.00 or more for just a card.
Send your checks to: Orlando Hunter, 615 E. Corbett St., Hobbs, New Mexico
U.S.A. tel: (505) 393-6952,
E-mail: Worlandohunter@friendly.carlsbadnm.com
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Reviews
Page 4
One Human Family workshop and concert, U.S.A.
By Susan Lewis Wright, U.S.A.
.......text to come.............
Page 5
Oneness of Humanity Arts Concert, Rochester, New York, U.S.A.
By Roya Bauman, Alloysia Haynes, Carl Appleton and Jaci Ayorinde,
U.S.A.
In March the Rochester, NY, Bahá´í community organized A Celebration
Of The Oneness Of Humanity concert held at the School of the Arts.
Nearly 500 people attended, more than half of whom were not Bahá´ís,
and the event was an unparalleled success for the local Bahá´í
community. Performances included: a dancer who glided across the
stage, lifted in a graceful pose by a man in a wheelchair; black and
white youth performing the Martyr's Step Dance, a dance about the
sacrifices of the early Bahá´ís in Persia; Native American youth who
shared their culture in song and dance; African drumming and dancing;
a dance performed by a group with Down's Syndrome; a young Indian
college student performing an energetic dance entitled Sivastakam, a
dance praising Lord Shiva; and a local performance artist, founder of
PeaceArt International, who sang and danced original, moving works,
dedicated to greater human understanding. Interspersed among the
performances were readings from six of the world's major religions,
read by representative of each faith.
The event was interpreted for the hearing impaired and the performance
was accompanied by a show of students´ artwork from around the
Rochester area on the event´s theme. Prizes were awarded to the three
pieces judged to be the best. The colorful and inspiring works were on
display in the lobby of the School of the Arts before, during and
after the performance...
pages 5 - 6
Exaltation: Walking from Jerusalem, music CD by Dirk Anderson and Jerry York, U.S.A.
Reviewed by Angelo Cerchione, U.S.A.
........text to come.............
page 6
The Bahá´í Academy For The Arts, U.K.
Liam, Milly, and Dion Azordegan (aged 16,17,18 respectively) report on
their experiences of the 1997 academy:
"There is always a special atmosphere when a group of Bahá'ís get
together. Everyone comes with their own background, ideas and
commitments, but no matter how varied, all are harmonised by the
Faith. Unity in diversity, a cliché perhaps, but one that is genuinely
applicable to the 1997 Bahá´í Academy For the Arts. It was the
sincerity of this unity that made Ardingly College such a unique
experience.
Participants of all ages (between 11 and 76) chatted freely with each
other, something that should be unremarkable, but is sadly rare at
Bahá´í gatherings. Equally, culture (11 countries were represented)
proved to be no barrier to the forging of friendships. However, the
atmosphere was only the backdrop to the real point of the Academy: the
exploration of the arts in relation to the Faith. Various courses such
as photography, music and painting, ran throughout the week and
culminated in a presentation on the last night. What was outstanding
about these courses was the professionalism of the tutors and the real
sense that everyone was moving in the same direction.
The work was intense, but this was balanced with a true sense of
achievement by the end of the course. The organisers, impeccable as
ever, had set aside just the right amount of time to allow tired minds
to recuperate...
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Artist Profiles
pages 6 - 7
Ropata Davis, carver, Aotearoa / New Zealand
I'm an artist/carver, author, researcher and poet. For me,
art has been an enjoyable life-long passion and happy past-time. I'm 54
years of age and a born-again Bahá´í, and live in the South Auckland suburb
of Manurewa, where about 2000 years ago, one of my tribal connections, the
Waiohua, originally settled this large Auckland Isthmus area. Although I am
a self-taught carver (I prefer the word artist, simply because I also paint,
sketch, design, and write poetry), and I am also lucky enough to be a
published author.
I came from a poor working-class family background. But even as a youngster,
art always held an impassioned and fascinating appeal for me. This actually
held me in good stead many years later, when I literally turned by life-long
craft hobby into a business that I operated out of my humble
garage-come-workshop-come-studio.
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Beaded figures by Daniel Kanjo Musa. The figures depict kings (Fons) of the Cameroon Grassfields and are made using cowrie shells, assorted beads (from hausa traders) and wild plant seeds.
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...Depending on the type of wood, tools, and what is in
the mind, wood carvings by
the Musas take from a couple of hours, to day, weeks or
months to complete. The first
item to be carved by Daniel
took him six months to carve,
and then took him an
additional six months to have
it entirely beaded.
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Pages 8 - 9
Cheryl Cudmore, designer, poet, Canada.
Interviewed by R. J., New Zealand
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......text to come...........
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........image to come.........
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Pages 10 - 11
Karen Oleson, singer and voice instructor, U.S.A.
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........image to come.........
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......text to come...........
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Part one was printed in Arts Dialogue, December 1997.
........excerpts to come........
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........image to come.........
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Short Story
Pages 14 - 15
Why I don't write like William S. Wilson
by Robert L. Schwarz, U.S.A.
Put your eye here...to the lens. What do you see?
I can't tell.
Meaning?
The image is inchoate. You have given me no
expectations. No context.
Yes, but haven't you approached this situation with a specific mind set?
Not specific, no.
No, of course. How stupid of me. Only a vortex of
determinative vectors.
Of which at any given moment we have only an arbitrary
cross-section.
Very well. The cross-section...
Which is ever changing. By the concept of instant, we have a variant of Newton's fluxions, instantaneous changes.
Only instantaneousness is time not in time.
Or nontime in time.
Precisely. And yet, by this concept, this intellectual double entendre, Newton was able to construct the calculus.
Yes, so then what I see is neither of time nor in time but nevertheless from time.
So far, so good. But we must make more of it than that,
else you will be sent to the audio-visual department where roentgenological cognoscenti will probe for pseudo-
organs of sensation.
And find them, too, if they have sufficient
expectations.
Undoubtedly. Therefore, or for that,
concentrate on the proto-image before you. Before me, spatially or temporarily?
Perhaps both, but spatially as a first condition. How many conditions are there?
That we can determine only in time, serially.
Well, now you have created a context: before, and a sequence... The order of which is yet to be determined.
And time as the containing body.
However, that was Aristotle's definition of space: roughly, the boundaries of the containing body.
So we have it that historically, or 'in time,' space precedes time.
Yes, the Babylonian units of time referred to areas of ground which could be seeded within so much time...
It would seem that to invoke time, we must refer to space, and the space to which we refer arcs into time. I see time and
space as two ends of a rainbow.
Ah, well! the image is coming into focus...
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Poems
page 15
For the Man Who Has Everything
by Ashley Alvis, U.S.A.
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an excerpt...
It was Father's Day,
And I wanted to give
Him a gift
He'd cherish.
But what do you give a
Man who has everything?
Since He said i could have
everything else;
...
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Bone carving Plaque,
by Ropata Davis, New Zealand.
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Blessed Is
by Robert E. Kogan, U.S.A.
Blessed Is
And the island,
And the Island,
And the island.
We met in Ponape, a collective child of God's
just three years old.
Learning, understanding, growing--
seeking help and guidance
just three years old.
We came from the East and Western Carolinas,
The Marshall and the Mariana islands,
above and on the sea:
And the sea.
And the sea,
And the sea.
Secure in the knowledge the a Plan
For our five year future would
guide us, protect us,
and make us brilliant stars.
And the refuge,
And the refuge,
And the refuge.
On Saturday night
the children of Ponape met with us--
and the youth and the trusting--
and the children of Ponape met with us,
to learn with us,
to love with us,
and we gave our heart.
And the heart,
And the heart,
And the heart.
A sheet was placed over the entrance of the Nahs
to serve as a screen
where the mention of God could be made.
And the house,
And the house,
And the house.
Some of us sat outside of the Nahs,
Those who spoke cast a shadow on the screen,
and we could only see their shadow.
The words they spoke were heard quite well,
but we could only see their shadow.
And the place,
And the place,
And the place.
And all words are in the books,
and we hear quite well.
And His shadow embraces all,
embraces the collective child of God's
Just three years old.
"Blessed is the spot...where mention of God has been made,
and His praise, Glorified."
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.......image to come.........
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Photographs and Illustrations of work by:
Ropata Davis, New Zealand, The Musa Carvers, Cameroon, Chuck Egerton, U.S.A.,
Cheryl Cudmore, Canada, Barbara Nessim, U.S.A.
Irene Hu, The Netherlands, Peter Beard, Kenya.
Translations, editing, layout, by:
Kathleen Babb, Japan, Alison Marshall, Aotearoa / New Zealand,
Steve Marshall, Aotearoa / New Zealand, Sonja van Kerkhoff, The Netherlands.
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Arts Dialogue, Dintel 20, NL 7333 MC, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
http://Bahá´í-library.org/bafa email: bafa@bahai-library.com
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