26 January 2008

google alert

this morning i was informed by google alert that I had a screening of a video (which video???) at Lux cinema in relation to FRAC (Fonds Regional d' Art Contemporain in France) on the 11 jan ... first time i heard of it...

and what's even funnier is that on this web-site that was linked up to this info.... not only do they say I am french, but that I live and work in Paris... mmmm... guess I'll have to update them to tell them that I'm Australian (and a bit french), living in Berlin and working around the globe... so who gives out this information?



http://www.photography-now.de/artists/veran_K20723.html?PHPSESSID=014c72c2102ce92de30892f03d49768e

20 January 2008

Ha Long Eco Museum - Vietnam Field School




One of the physically most stunning places I have seen on this incredible earth : Ha Long Ecomuseum.



Impossible for the lens to translate the profound beauty of this place...


When Prof Galla (UNESCO's technical advisor to Vietnam + the only non-vietnamese person who worked on the ecomuseum) was spotted on our boat - we heard "Galla ! Galla! Galla!". And these rowboats, all from the local floating village (one filled with 3 generations of a family) turned around swiftly and followed to meet us at the floating museum (below).



The world's first floating museum, which only employs locals from the next floating village. It's used as a community centre and a museum which exhibits local history, culture, traditions and the environment.

When money came to the community for a solar panel for the museum (as there is no electricity), they decided to use the solar panel for the school instead, as the community felt that was a greater necessity.




Our hosts, who live and grew up in the floating village, are now employed full-time by the floating museum.

When they welcomed us, they said that they had nothing they could give us, but that their gift would be a song.

Here, the tradition before a wedding : the bride and her friends sing, and the potential groom and his friends respond in song - the bride can refuse the groom if she believes that their singing is not up to her expectations.

19 January 2008

vietnam field school


Am slowly sorting through the images of the journey to Vietnam in December. And am asking lots of questions of how to put the images together with the message... the journey was about poverty alleviation through culture: a holistic approach to how one maintains cultural heritage.


Here are my favourite images from My Son (because they feel so powerful): the remains of the Champa temples have giant bomb craters appearing throughout the site.



Bomb Crater #1


Bomb Crater #2


Napalm bomb shell and headless statue, My Son.
The remains of the two wars : the USA's bomb shell / french colonisation where a lot of the statue's heads are now residing in Musee Guimet, NY Met or private collections.

17 January 2008

Made in China. Lodz Festival. Poland



The SPEAKING THROUGH WATER installation
will be shown at LODZ later this year...
with soundtrack by the wonderful Tamara Friebel.





Image from Speaking Through Water.
This installation was exhibited at the Harbourcentre in Toronto last year.

Open studio at Künstlerhaus Bethanian tonight

http://www.sleek-mag.com/cms/index.php?id=news

Hello - Yes I am back in Berlin and will soon be updating with images of my journey to Vietnam.

But tonight ! is open studio here at Bethanian... so madly getting my studio ready...