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Kigali's first large scale mural comes to life, with a cause

Getting the artwork up onto the 16 meter building had all the makings of a good comedy. At our first encounter with the wall we were introduced to the shoddy looking and swerving scaffolding that, besides the safety implication, took us as far as the skirt of our intore warrior. After scouring much of the city, the team eventually came across the lesser-spotted cherry picker that would extend its long neck and bucket to the top of the wall. For added fun, the driver came with his foot a in cast.

The comedy was certainly a feel-good. Working with the Vuka artists was pure delight. At first appearing difficult to read, the locals are some of the kindest and most charming people we've ever had the opportunity to take residence with. The mural that colours the Rwandan bio-medical center is an expression of their collective talent. The top of the mural reads 'My Lovely Rwanda, together we will stand up and fight against the stigma of Aids.' I hope this is only the beginning of more positive public art in Kigali.

#Rwanda #kigali #kurema #ivuka #freddysam #colourikamva #hiv/aids #rbc

Kurema, Kureba, Kwiga- to Create, to See, to Learn

We were invited by the wonderful people from the Kurema project to be a part of the first large-scale mural in Kigali, to be painted in honour of World Aids Day coming up on the 1st of December. Specifically, the project will aim to address the issues around the stigma of those living with or affected by HIV at a personal and community level. The first part of our mission is to work with the local artists of Ivuka to co-create a design that will help represent this message. The message needs to be clear and culturally relevant. In the workshop, the artists taught us about traditional intore warriors and dancers of Rwanda and other symbols of strength and community.

Rwanda is a very complex yet deeply beautiful country. The country is still healing from its devastating history that destroyed an entire people. Many people, especially woman and children, were infected with the virus during the months of terror. Many more are still living with it today. Kurema aims to give these people a voice, to explore platforms of expression through art and stories of 'living positively.' Above all, Kurema aims to educate people by creating an open discussion around discrimination and stigma. The country is still healing, but I am humbled at how far they have come to reconcile. My experience here so far has been gentle, original and moving.

#rwanda #kigali #ivuka #hiv/aids #kurema

We’ve arrived in the land of a thousand hills and the Vuka Arts studio in Kigali will be our new home for the next week. Open studio spaces look over lush green hills, and there is constant life with the Rwandan dance troupe singing and drumming.The walls are draped with magnificent art and sculptures made from waste materials. The studio has played an important role in developing a platform for local art, and for many artists, an opportunity to create a positive life for themselves.

We'll be here for the next two weeks working with 16 local artists in residency at the studio and participating in the Kurema, Kureba, Kwiga public arts project.

#kigali #Rwanda #ivuka #hiv/aids #kurema

Changing landscapes I

After the succession of so much organised public art, we took to the road for 5 days to see the natural masterpieces of the land. Starting from the red and sweating disneyland of Phoenix Arizona, we took the road leading north, weaving past the impressive rocks of Sedona and up to the quiet north rim of the Grand Canyon. The immensity of the canyon is hypotising. Standing in centuries old grandeur and wonder, as if heaven had extended its immortal limbs to the earth.

We watched the landscape transform from rocky red desert to black and blue peaks and finally the green and silver glaciers of Yosemite National Park in California. The vastness and solitude of the open road inspires a kind of introspection that is missing from the everyday stream of the city. Nature is in constant motion as we drive under the purple bruised blankets in the sky and watch for hours as the clouds dance between drama and playfulness. When driving such vast open spaces, what is seen as inside and outside become much more intertwined than the usual distinction allows.

Changing Landscapes II

Our cross-country adventure took us through 3 states. Nevada was a desert scene of coloured space, it held the marks of where Native Americans used to dwell and the remnants of another, perhaps more prosperous way of life, faintly scattered like a dream. I loved the alien paraphernalia and warnings all along the extra-terrestrial highway. The journey continued past Bryce Canyon in Utah and finally ended with a camp-out in California's Yosemite National Park.

According to Native American legend, the enormous glaciers of El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall that stand directly opposite, are the incarnates of a husband and wife that could not stop fighting and degrading each other. This displeased the gods and spirits, who decided to freeze them into stone so that they would face each other and forever only be able to look at the other. The gods and their humour!

The Sound of A Waving Flag

So subtle are the poetic creations of Know Hope, though the power of his black and white figures and their stitched red hearts is unmistakable, as are the truths he contains in one beautiful sentence.

Know hope tells us that he tries to document the human condition, the collective struggles, and searches for the common denominator in different contexts. On our environment he says 'we are inseparable. A lot of times I think that people don't realise how much of a significant part they are in composing the reality.' Also his favourite colour is blue- with all its shades and layers like the Blues.

When speaking about the importance of creativity as human necessity, he believes that 'it is one of the last free and immediate things we can do. It's very organic... very intuitive.'

Pictured above is the wall he did as part of Living Walls in Atlanta, and the others were done on the streets of Cape Town and JHB during a visit to South Africa earlier this year. See more of his moving creations at this is limbo, and a great video about his recent experiences in London, The Abstract and the Very Real.

Living Walls, the city speaks

Atlanta, another wild experience of the vast American cross-section, home to Martin Luther King Jr and gangsta rap. Amid being thrown into a 3-day rap conference and getting injured because of limbs that fall asleep, 20 artists from around the world gathered to create in the public space for Living Walls.

About the project, 'Along with changing the urban landscape, the Living Walls conference set out to highlight a number of problems facing the city. Living Walls did not just showcase art, but also built a platform for much needed dialogue in the city.'

Art shown above by Freddy Sam, Jaz, Elian, 2501, Axel Void (photos not my own), 3TTTman and JR.

This mural by Freddy Sam was painted as part of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program.

Here is an excerpt from their website

'Mural painting provided a support structure for these young men and women to refine their artistic skills, empowering them to take an active role in beautifying their own neighborhoods. The murals they created instantly added color, beauty, and life to an old, industrial city struggling with decades of economic distress and population loss. The results of the program were nothing less than magical. From the beginning, Golden witnessed how mural-making changed lives and how the murals themselves began to mend the aesthetic fabric of the city.'

'When I grow up I want to be a Marine Biologist'

I never cease to be in awe of the magnificent creatures on this planet, and those that live in the oceans are some of the most extraordinary of all. Despite its zoo-like implications, a trip to the Atlanta aquarium was a vision of serenity. The glory and elegance of the whale shark's tail as it glides through the water, the perfection and grace of movement. And when the jellyfish swims, it reminds me of all the layers of a woman's skirt dancing at midnight.

Our oceans are an eternal wonder. So let's everybody be conscious about how we individually affect our natural eco-systems. For starters, avoid buying fish from big supermarkets and eating at restaurants that serve farmed or endangered species. Just ask.

An Invitation to Create

We sat down for an intimate conversation with our friend, purveyor of the stars, RASTA FAR I and all round creator, Remed.

On how he wishes his work to affect people: 'As when I listen to music I love, I feel like singing or dancing. After seeing an amazing piece of art, right after feeling it, I feel like doing it also. And that's what I hope I can spread through my work... An invitation to create. He tells us that the general environment society and 'civilization' has created opposes this, 'it's an invitation not to create.'

I'll never forget when Remed came to South Africa and in a few hours, transformed a lady's cold, decaying house into a smile in the slums of Woodstock. See his magic here.

Wall Therapy

Not a heck of a lot goes on in the city of Rochester besides diners and Christianity, and old Kodak factory. it was the talk of the town when a group of creative and strange artists gathered together for Wall Therapy, 'a public community-level intervention using mural art as a vehicle to address our collective need for inspiration.'

Work included above from DALeast, LNY, Freddy Sam, eversiempre and the Seventh Day Adventist Church.

New York is also home to language artist and sign painter Steven Powers. He tells us about the geography of New York and the right angles that make up the city's architecture which he thinks causes a lot of stress in peoples lives.

About his creations, Steve says he makes art that reflects the 'the joys and pains and tribulations of my life, and when you make things personal you make them universal and in turn with examining the universal and trying to make it personal.'

On the importance of creativity:

'Creativity is what's kept me alive. I like drink and I like drugs. But I like persuing something creative better. If I didn't have something better than that I would probably just be ok with those things and a TV set. So really, creativity allows me to explore really what it means to be alive.'

Sure, I don't understand why a jar of collected fingernails has made its way into New York's Museum of Modern Art and same goes for the pretentious silk-screen print of a circle that leaves me ever sceptical about the quality and economy of the art world.

Still no one can fault the magic of Henri Rosseau's naive and dreamy creations. The MoMA also houses van Gogh's classic Starry Night, and a collection of Monet's sublime Water Lilies. What a privilege to see these originals!

We began our journey under the guide of the East before traveling to Turkey where Eastern and Western culture intertwine, the sublime legacy of the Ottoman world mingled with an expressive, creative and modern people. Now we find ourselves on the other side of this paradigm where the stars and stripes sway in unison with the McDonald's flag. This is America.

Our first stop is New York. I have never seen buildings so tall that they disappear into the clouds. I have the strange sensation that walking the streets is like walking onto a movie set. New York houses an eclectic mix of people from all around the world. From Chinatown, Little Italy and Latin America; it's clear how much people love their city. Love letters to her are dotted around in beautiful mural paintings around the city and in the iconic stained-glass water tower looking over the Manhattan Bridge.

#New York #Chinatown #streetart

Lessons from middle earth I

Cappadocia is an ancient Persian city in the Anatolia region of Turkey. This kingdom got its name from the beautiful horses it became famous for. Standing upon magical fairy chimneys, rock-cut dwellings, temples and red and purple valleys that make you feel like you are walking on the dessert tray of the world. This was an ancient world yet it was came alive with the faces in the rocks, some were even in the shape of hawks and hares.

I became so overwhelmed at the magnificence of life, in the song that was swaying in my chest and that life was constantly mirroring itself in tiny little crevices and micro-world around me. Being here has radically evolved the perception of what a space can look like, and again, are even more convinced on how an environment can change you.

Lessons from middle earth II

In the hot air of anxiety of trying to figure out how to see the most of this surreal land in one day, we had somehow talked ourselves into getting on a tour bus. At the first stop we all got out and stood in little groups so we could listen to the generic history lesson of this ancient city, and take the generic photograph from the top of the valley.

On all levels, this just felt wrong. We knew that this is not the kind of place you want to experience through a bus window and zoom lens. There was magic in this land, and it was calling out for us. We slipped off that tour and quite literally ran for the hills!

We lost ourselves for hours, climbing deeper and deeper into middle earth, down tiny ladders and through ancient ruins. We didn’t encounter any tourists from that point forward. Deeper and deeper into the earth and its wizardry. Until we appeared again on the other side. A wooden table and chair was waiting for us, just another prop in the theatrical theatre of our playground.

Dancing on the rooftops of these rocks that looked like meringue pie, delicious wonderlands that used to be people’s homes. The inside of their walls whispered secrets from the universe to us. How people had been in such harmony with nature that they had fashioned their homes like pointed hats in the rock. That intelligent and beautiful design does not require much more than an understanding simplicity and creatively.

Skin of Kadikoy

As I walked around the cultural district of Kadikoy, which rests on the Asian side of Istanbul, the layers and textures of broken brick, decayed wood and rust made me feel like I was in a museum of abstract art. The collage of cloth, mosaics and peeling paint stained the skin of Kadikoy. As the walls and building decayed, the alchemy of the elements transformed them into beautiful paintings creating the districts unique palette. Red paint bled down the walls, crippled buildings stood next to vacant houses that were patched closed with steel and wooden panels. The engraving of a woman's face on the wall hinted to the haunted. House numbers seemed to remain intact.

The streets held an obscure charm. The cobbled roads were littered with second-hand stores, tea rooms, mens clubs and gangs of alley cats. Sleepy lamps swayed along sleepy roads that lead to the grey-green waters of the Bosphorus strait. The wall of a car park outlined the shape of where a staircase used to be. The skeleton of a building kept pigeons for tenants and reminded me of one of Dali's surreal micro worlds, the combination of life and decay.

#kadioy #Turkey #art #decay

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