Category Archives: Art

Aug4

Sports Tickets to Bee

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Sports Tickets to Bee

My son made me order tickets for him what is the greatest spectator Sports Ticket, the spelling Bee. I asked him why he thinks a spelling Bee is a sports event. He told me that even ESPN broadcast the Bee event, so it must be a sport. I guess if ESPN considers a spelling Bee important enough to broadcast, then it must be a sport.

I’ve always considered that a sport needs to have some physical brawn and brains has nothing to do with it and that there needs to be a field to play on, not a stage. But, when I attended the Bee along with my son, who by-the-way, is also very excellent at spelling, I noticed that emotion run high and the pain of misspelling a word is tangible. The pressure is very intense when they’re up in front of the microphone waiting to spell a word. The competition seems to even have players, umpires and rooting fans.

The players come to the front and wait for their word, the fans sit on the edge of their seats, the umpire throws out a word, a hushed silence over-comes the crowd. The player spells the word and is successful. The fans cheer and the player smiles and returns back to their seat. Then the next player approaches, will they spell the word correctly? No, they don’t the umpire hits the buzzer informing the fans of the misspelled word and a rumble of disappointment flows through the fans and the player slumps and walks off stage. So, intense, so thrilling. I would’ve never have imagined a Bee could be just as emotional as being at a football game.

At the end of the competition the winner is presented with a trophy and the crowd roars with approval and the player wears a smile of champions. But, not only does the player get a trophy, they also get a cash prize. Enough to save for college tuition. I looked over at my son and wondered if he’d be interested in playing the sport, Bee?

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Aug4

Shadow Theater Tickets

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Shadow Theater Tickets

The predecessor of movie for me would be Shadow Theater. Shadow Theater uses two-dimensional stick controlled puppets which are projected onto a translucent backlit screen. I managed to get Theater Tickets for a special Shadow Theater touring in our city from China http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China. Most of my friends never heard of Shadow Theater, but it flourished in India, Egypt, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Turkey, Europe and of course China. I remember reading the all across Europe and Asia, audiences marveled as oil lamps flickered revealing heroes, lovers, gods, monsters and demons always attacking the innocent. I’ve seen only photographs of Shadow Theater, but now I and a few of my friends will actually get to experience the real thing.

Shadow Theater was widespread at one time, but it origins are still debated about today. Some agree that the Shadow Theater originated in Asia, but there really is no documentation or archaeological proof to back that statement up. One has to go all the way back to the Song Dynasty to find some evidence that China developed the art form, and there is a cryptic passage from an earlier history book saying that Shadow theater could go back as for as the Han Dynasty. The story goes that a magician visited Emperor Han and made his beloved dead concubine appear on a curtain. I’m not sure that that would constitute Shadow Theater per se. But, it’s the closest I’ve found through all my research on the subject.

I’ve found that Shadow Theatre has a lot in common with Chinese drama theater as a whole. Shadow Theater, just like Chinese theater performs religious, ritualistic and the every day life of the community. Both have similarities like depicting gods of Wealth, Longevity, Good Fortune and images of hell and engaging in the punishment of wrong-doers. Chinese theater would create a world that would mirror the earthly world of imperial China and Shadow Theater seemed to have played a role integrating local cultures in their relationships to gods and to mortals. Well, I could go on comparing, but I think I’ve already bored my friends with trying to convince them where I believe the origins of Shadow Theater started, so I won’t bore you. Just one more word though, if you get a chance, go see a Shadow Theater. You won’t be disappointed.

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Jul16

Yolanda De Sousa Painting Goa

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Yolanda De Sousa Painting Goa

With the choices available in India for four-star hotels, Goa is a particularly exciting destination. Its unique and complicated history, entwined with Portuguese colonization, its beautiful coastline, and its reputation as a hotspot for world travelers that began gaining momentum in the 60s and 70s, make it a fascinating place. Natural wonder and cultural complexities offer limitless possibilities for adventure for the tourist. The hotels, of course, are splendid. Offering all of the luxurious amenities that come with the four-star designation, there is a spirit of hospitality and service that make the guests feel welcome, and help refresh the spirit and body.

Goa’s urban life is colored by the diversity of its history and people, and there are fantastic night clubs that play one of its signature art forms, Goa trance music. There are scrumptious local dishes and a wide variety of international cuisines, and tours and sights that will keep the whole family interested. There are also many interesting art galleries, and one of Goa’s most interesting artists is Yolanda de Sousa. Born and living in Goa, and with a degree in art from the University of Bombay, Yolanda De Sousa has an impressive resume of shows, and her work has been shown locally, in New Delhi and Bombay, and internationally in London, Basun, Korea, and Moscow.

Her work is deeply rooted in Goa, in its history, culture, and traditions. Having worked as a designer for the government, she has worked full-time on her art since 1997. The paintings of Yolanda de Sousa are very distinctive. Her themes cover a large range, from portrait to abstract, yet in each other these there is the same signature style that has caught the attention of patrons, critics, and the general art viewer. Often using very bold splashes of color, she paints with a thick and heavy brush. This gives the work its emotional feel, and also a fascinating texture. When the paint dries, it cracks, and this gives her paintings the look of jigsaw puzzles being pieced together out of large bits of broken ceramic pottery. It’s a stunning effect, and gives her work a sense of speaking to the past and to the absolute present.

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Jun16

Newcastle, UK: “The Beautiful Journey” opens July-2009

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Newcastle, UK: “The Beautiful Journey” opens July-2009

An incredible show will open in Newcastle on July 28, 2009 on the Davy Bank of the Tyne River in the UK. This dynamic performance piece will run through August 8, 2009 and those traveling in the city would do well to book a Newcastle hotel in advance, as there are many festivals, celebrations, performances and exhibitions happening throughout the city in the coming months this summer. The show is titled, “The Beautiful Journey” and is a production that is innovative and evocative. The company, Wildworks, is the result of the director and his performers desiring an open venue, outdoor venue, desiring to reach communities through the use of those communities as the setting and backdrop for their work. Many are veterans of the traditional forms of theater, and many are still active in that spoken word kind of show performed in grand theaters. One thing that runs through the spirit of this company and the artists involved with it, is that they just can not get enough. Well, neither can their audiences.

The director of Wildworks Company is Bill Mitchell. Mitchell and the originated members of Wildworks, met while working with the Kneehigh Theater in Cornwall. This is a company with concepts that were born out of circumstance and situation. Due to the lack of a theater building in Cornwall at the time, Mitchell and his actors took to the streets, so to speak. The performed in schools, community halls, the sidewalks and parks of the city, in the middle of the landscape, the culture and the people of society. What they found was that spoken word theater lacked the power necessary in the outdoor arena, that images and content came from physical movement and visual means. What they also found was that without three walls, a curtain, and an orchestra pit separating the players from the audience, the performances became much more immediate, reflections not only of their performance, but of the environment or place and of the audience members themselves.

They began to change the process in which they work. No scripts are involved. No plan is laid out. They reach a location, be it an industrial warehouse or the banks of a river and they start with their instincts. They start with the feel of a location, the emotional responses, sometimes with a narrative in mind, but many times leaving that to the location to evoke. Once that location is found, they focus on the people, the people who work in the warehouse or live along the river bank. Their works are the heartbeat of the people for whom they will be performing for, their stories, their feelings and thoughts. Mitchell states that in this way of working, he has been profoundly moved and incredibly humbled. It is a completely different way of experiencing an audience than the experience gained performing in traditional venues. The show in the banks of the Tyne in Newcastle will run for two hours each night, and is slated to offer up fire, flowers, food, film and stunning visual imagery. The show will go on regardless of sunshine or rain, and will be one of the major events occurring in Newcastle this summer.

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Jun12

Barcelona Artist Joan Miro

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Barcelona Artist Joan Miro

Joan Miro was an early 20th century Spanish painter, ceramicist and sculptor. He was born in April, 1893 in Barcelona. He is internationally known and is typically classified as a Surrealist. He was born into a family of watchmakers and goldsmiths, and developed his fascination with the arts early in life. In 1920 he moved to Paris and become associated with the growing Montparnasse arts community. It was during his years in Paris and through the inspiration of fellow artists that he developed his own style. Many tourists who visit Barcelona are attracted to the museums and various artists that have sprung from this great city. Barcelona’s dynamic cultural heritage is a major attraction to guests staying in a Barcelona Spain hotel.

Miro was known for his contempt with the status quo and his opposition to standard painting styles, which he considered to be supportive of the bourgeois society. He much preferred to upset the standard visual patterns and style of paintings and create a new perspective from a unique viewpoint. He believed this would re-orient viewers to both art and the world. One of his ways of doing this was by establishing the automatic drawing technique, which he believed would undo previously established painting styles.

Miro worked and collaborated with other artists. One of his collaborations occurred in 1926 with Max Ernst. They worked together on designs for Sergei Diaghilev. Ernst is credited with the development of the grattage technique , and Miro helped him to do this. The grattage technique is a style of painting where pigment is troweled onto the canvass. Miro also worked with the printer Fernand Mourlot whom he met in Paris. The two of them formed a close friendship that would last for forty years. Their friendship is responsible for the creation of over one thousand lithograph editions.

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Jun8

Street Artists of New York

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Street Artists of New York

New York street artists and performers stand in front of City Hall http://www.nyc.gov/ in protest of the efforts of the city to put them out of business. A proposed law ‘Intro 846′ is in the works to change the vending laws that are over 100 years old. If passed, this law would allow a business improvement district in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park section to determine who can sell on the street and where the vendors can set up shop. A majority of the vendors who are protesting have never sold their wares in Brooklyn, but being ever vigilant in their fight with City Hall, they showed up to prevent a model they fear will spread to all the other neighborhoods; the neighborhoods near by the lucrative hotels New York USA where they do sell their wares.

A First Amendment vendor is any vendor who sells written materials such as magazines, books and newspapers has recently come to include artwork. New York city cannot require a vendor license for these goods because this would violate the right to Freedom of Speech and Expression. In a 1996 ruling by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan found that street artists should be included in this category. A ruling they found that requiring all street artists vendors to be licensed to be unconstitutional and an infringement on their First Amendment rights. The court saw the work of street artists as a potent form of expression that must be protected. The judges wrote: ‘Displaying art on the streets has a different expressive purpose than gallery of museum shows; it reaches people who might not choose to go into a gallery of museum or who might feel excluded or alienated from these forums.’ The further stated: “The public display and sale of artwork is a form of communication between the artist and the public.”

Although New York City can’t require a license, it will and can still regulate where the vendor can place their merchandise. Hence the protest to stop the infringement upon the First Amendment and on their livelihood.

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Jun8

Singapore, Changing the World Through Art

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Singapore, Changing the World Through Art

The Singapore Arts Festival is just about to begin its final week, with the closing ceremonies at 8 on Thursday, June 14, 2009. This festival began during 1977, with the intention of celebrating the diversity of the communities throughout Singapore and featuring their rich talent and work. Local arts were featured and within the last thirty years, the festival has served a catalytic and symbiotic part in the development of culture and the artistic life of Singapore. This has brought many new faces into the city, staying in the Singapore luxury hotels and wandering throughout the festival, catching glimpses of a different side of the city. Concerned about the world view of Singapore, organizers wanted to show the world that it was not just a country of strict rules, laws and oppression, that the cultural diversity of the people of this country would be evident in the artwork, visual and performance. This festival has contributed greatly to the changing face of the city. Now, it is one of the capitals of culture throughout Asia. Artists are continuing to be influenced by each other, are continuing to influence the art scene and creating new venues and movements that are adding to the beauty of this city.

What started as a festival of traditional art forms has now become one of the most innovative, progressive and bold movements on the international art scene. Artists that work in different forms are collaborating, bridging disciplines and thus bridging the boundaries of culture, geography and language. Performances are becoming more esoteric in nature, and dealing with social issues such as life in the urban setting, history and migration, and abstract issues such as memory, and love and philosophy. This event is bringing out the young and promising artists of tomorrow, and is encouraging further interaction between other artists from the region, as well as others internationally. And as many of the performances are held outdoors, free to the public, the locals of Singapore are experiencing the world of art the moment they walk out of their doors. The theme of the closing ceremony, “Crackers?” is …”an invitation to be brave”. It is a show of fireworks and performers that promises a thrilling close to this ever increasingly thrilling event.

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May28

Myriad of Options in Cape Town

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Myriad of Options in Cape Town

Next door to the famous Vaughn Johnson’s Wine store, on the Market Square in Cape Town, there is a visitor and tourist center which will offer information about the city, everything from facilities with baby changing stations, to musical venues, to hotel accommodations and car hire in South Africa. Maps are also available here for the Western Cape, the city of Cape Town and the fabulous Waterfront Marketplace. This Marketplace was once just an operating port and harbor, but became a well known tourist hot spot in the late 1980′s. The Waterfront Market, built by Prince Alfred in the late 1800′s has created many financial opportunities for the people and the businesses of Cape Town, and is a wonderful way to experience the history and the culture of this incredible South African city. There are many options with various price ranges, everything from the finest of dining experiences, to fast food restaurants and food carts. There are many coffee shops, and food markets with fresh produce. There is a way to experience luxury and a way to experience convenience at the harbor Marketplace.

And for those wishing for bargains or souvenirs to bring home, this is the place to go. The Waterfront Craft Market is one of the largest in the country. Artists set up their stalls with everything from furniture, clothes, leather crafts, and pottery. There are even shops with educational gifts for the children. And for those with a bit larger purses, there are almost two hundred specialty boutique shops to find those items that are a bit more spendy. There is much to chose from in the way of entertainment on the Waterfront as well, most of them fun for the entire family. There are street performers and buskers on just about every corner. Various festivals occur on the Front throughout the year, and this is a hot venue for live musical performances. There is also an Imax movie house located amongst the numerous historical sites and buildings. And the amazing Two Oceans Aquarium with illustrates in detail the dramatic life that has been culminating in the convergence of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. This gives visitors to witness what had previously been seen by divers eyes only. The Waterfront Marketplace is the center of the city and the heart beat of the country.

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May14

Sega Music in Mauritius

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Sega Music in Mauritius

Mauritius, with its amazing idyllic beaches, is a vacationers’ paradise. There are a hundred things to do, and travelers will enjoy the mix of activity and leisurely laid-back style of the locals. In terms of luxury hotels, Mauritius is a hotspot for the discerning traveler. All the amenities plus more will greet you as you explore the island.

One of the results of the mix of cultures is found in the music. Sega music is Mauritius’ benchmark, and has evolved for hundred of years . In the eighteenth century, European explorers were writing about the song and dance the African slaves here would perform (in some early writings, it was called “shega”). It is said, then, to come from the Africans’ songs of loss and mourning, mixed with a love for the island, which resulted in this unique blend of lively and strangely melancholic musical form. Ravane, maravane, triangle, and bobre were some of the names given to the indigenous instruments. They make rhythms and beats that are intoxicating, and continue to be played along the beaches. However, these same instruments are being replaced by “traditional” orchestral instruments in Sega’s new incarnations. The pattern of the music is the same. It begins soft and mournful, with a slow swaying of the hips. As the song continues, the rhythms build in tempo, until the dancer is encompassed by the rhythm and must give over to it. This is the hypnotic power of Sega, which can haunt both locals and travelers.

Linzy Bacbotte is one of the most famous Sega singers to date . She is enormously popular on the island and internationally, giving concerts in French and Creole French. Her videos are widely available, and she is a national treasure, playing all over the world. She follows the tradition of Sega by being the female vocalist for male band members. Linzy Bacbotte‘s soft vocals, along with her enchanting charm and grace, make for a unique musical experience.

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May4

Delhi’s NATWA Theatre

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Delhi’s NATWA Theatre

Delhi is a city that is rich in culture and diverse artistic genres and expression. Performance is a main aspect of Indian life and there is tremendous support for the theatre, dance and music. The NATWA theatre in Delhi celebrates the country’s great theatrical tradition and is one of the city’s major icons. The bulk of its audiences are residents of Delhi, as is the case with most prominent social institutions. However, visitors from outside the town, and tourists from other countries flock to NATWA to experience not only Indian cultural but great world drama. Guests at Delhi hotels often plan an evening around fine dining in 5 star restaurants followed by a show at NATWA.

The company has a solid plan for its future and interest in progressive and innovative theatre. A main aspect of their intent is to create a standard repertoire of work and they mount a highly invested production every three to four months. The purpose of having a strong rotating repertoire is to continue the development of an acknowledged tradition of high quality theatre in the capital. This also helps to create on-going employment and stability for professional actors and theatre designers. They believe that by creating solid career opportunities for theatre professionals it adds to the impact and relevance theatre plays in society.

One of the theatre’s highly successful and acclaimed productions is the play Othello, by William Shakespeare. It opened at the Sri Ram Center in New Delhi in November of 2005. It was received with awe and spellbound attention by its audiences and critics raved about the performances. The performance of Mahendra Mewati’s Othello, Shrivardhan Trivedi’s Iago, and Harvinder Kaur’s Emilia have been paralleled with some of the great performances in history. NATWA strives to produce captivating theatrical magic for its audiences and is sure to attract regular audiences and remain one of Delhi’s major tourist experience preferences.

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