An excerpt from a work in progress, the Princess Archive.
A family from Penang (Malaysia) exhumed the remains of their mother who died nine years ago, and then cremated it in the hope that this would change their luck for the better, reported China Press.They decided on this after a family member mysteriously fell from a building while two others were afflicted with unknown diseases.A temple medium had informed them that the feng shui of their mother’s graveyard was bad.The four-hour ceremony was carried out on Friday morning and the family hoped that everything would be fine from now.
A Chinese grave, Malaysia
Source: The Star Online Tragedies drive family to a grave decision.
Sipping my coffee at a Starbucks located in one of the most affluent shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur reading an article about the stupidity of the American voter, I have the misfortune of siting under an electronic billboard. I plug my ears but still have a hard time concentrating on the article in hand – a vociferous voice and blurring music get under my skin.
True, theoretically I could get up and move elsewhere, but where to? A cacophony of sounds of what could burly pass as music is streaming from each corner of the area, and I really need an infusion of caffeine for the day.
But then through the anguish, it hit me – It’s not haphazardly placed, it’s by design, to beat us into submission. The sole purpose is to dull our senses to create a mob of shoppers. (Remember when Bush encouraged people to help with the war effort by going shopping)? And we have been complicit. We were being prodded, and off to the shopping mall we go. While music’s blurring and TV announcers screaming we join the herd quite willingly.
Back home I thought I could escape. Signed up for a yoga lesson, but as soon as the instructor walked in, she connected her iPhone to the AP system bestowing her music on us. I rolled my mat up and left – lost anther chance of getting in touch with my inner self.
The TGD festivals are the brainchild of Ousmane Dia, a Senegalese artist who lives and works in Geneva. TGD is the acronym for for Tambacounda (Ousmane’s birth place) Geneva and Dakar. Starting the project in 2001 in Tambacounda, the festival has been rotating among the tree locals. In the Fall of 2011, TGD9 took place in Geneva -A group exhibition of international artists took place at the cultural center, Villa Tutoit - and I had the privilege of participating.
Here are some photographs from the event:
Ai Takei, ceramic artists from Japan makes exquisitely beautiful forms.
Visitors examining Ai Takei’s ceramics.
Ousmane Dia, a sculptor who uses the chair motif as a multifaceted symbol.
Raed Issa from Palestine with a group of visitors.
Raed Issa’s small yet powerful paintings, about pain and suffering.
Hassane Sar from Lausanne, Switzerland, creates paintings on car window shields.
Bruce Clark from England, talks about his politically nuanced work.
A Still from my video “Medusa’s Head”
Ai Takei and Mayu Koyama
And some fun on a glorious Sunday afternoon at André-William Blandenier’s beautiful garden:
Off to Geneva to take part in TGD9 Art Festival.
Summer grasses
all that remains
of soldiers dreams.
