By Jennifer Ann DAVIES
Arts and Letters Adviser
‘Sombra del Viento’
“Who Weekly’ published the comment that it is difficult to categorise the wondrous novel, ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ ……for one recognises mystery, romance, thriller and period epic! Representative of many genres, this internationally acclaimed, delightful read, written by Carlos Ruiz ZAFON, is ultimately a love letter to literature; intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero! The Text Publishing Company, Melbourne, Victoria, 2004 (Zafon 2001); Translation from Spanish to English, Lucia GRAVES, 2004.
…some things can be seen only
in the shadows
in places of mystery
in a sanctuary…
In an apartment, on Calle Santa Ana, Barcelona, a novel, retrieved from the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, was held Sacred. The Reader, young though he was, “…was submerged into a new world of images and sensations peopled by characters who seemed as real to …(him)…as …(his)…surroundings…”
“Once, in my father’s bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a place in our memory to which, sooner or later – no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover…we will return…” p.6
Slender Shoulders in the Shadows! – Women and Politics in BURMA
In the shadow of a pagoda and a mosque, late last year, Burma’s long-awaited election made history!
Many people, including hard-working but smiling young women, voted for the first time!!
….smiling…with that hard-won triumph, pride and new hope, one young woman stated boldly: “I voted for Aung San Saa Kyi because she is the mother of our country…”!
Having been cast out to yet another rice-paddy constituency had not created new shadows to overwhelm the congruent devotion to the 70 year old Nobel Peace Prize laureate who still wears flowers in her hair!
In times when the global narrative is so bleak – with terror, crisis and widespread corruption, let us reinforce our strong support for the honour, determination, sheer courage and superlative negotiating skills of this enigmatic, intelligent and supremely honest ‘mother’, who is aware of the veneer – who knows when the press is muzzled, SIM-cards overpriced – and why international sanctions are imposed because forced labour, rape, arbitrary imprisonment; for she will use her attributes and skills to continue to ‘mother’ her people! Hannah BEECH: TIME: Vol. 186, No.21, 2015
CALL TO ARTISTS!!! ‘the churchie’
National emerging art prize… www.churchleemergingart.com
Exhibition at the QUT Art Museum – FREE!!!!
2 George Street, Brisbane Queensland
20 August – 13 November 2016
New venue – New Artist Opportunities!!!
artmuseum.qut.edu.au
Where Politics and Pain Produce New Bridges of Understand via the ARTS! USA TIME Editor: Nancy GIBBS
…a young man, warmly welcomed into a church bible study, methodically shot nine members…
…incomplete story – complex lessons – and a gigantic challenge in viewing and reviewing the physics of mercy – of forgiveness – a mysterious science!
Editor, David von Drehle, who has written many cover stories for TIME, states that “…Ultimately this story is the who, what, when and why, of forgiveness….” p2. Vol 186,No 21, 2015.
Philosopher, Ernest Renan, once said that nations must forget the past…to forgive and move forward!
African church members, family members, community members, interviewers and others in Charleston, point to the opposite as truth – this screams for Understanding.
Gibbs writes that “…A genuine understanding of our past and an honest reckoning of the way it shapes our present, is the only answer to the hatred that compelled this crime.” p2.
Following Gibbs’ published positioning on this complex issue, correspondent Jay Newton-Small released her first book ‘Broad Influence: How Women are Changing the Way America Works” in which Women’s views and exploration, endeavouring to reveal the ‘why’ of the crime, are published.
Photographer, Deana LAWSON, spent weeks creating portraits of family and friends coping with grief, anger and forgiveness, and her exhibition was hung at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art!
Women are building new bridges, moving from the everyday world, to ART, to work towards a genuine UNDERSTANDING of the story of Charleston …….clearing the shadows.
Between the idea
And the reality
Between the motion
And the act
Falls the shadow.
T.S. Elliot
THE HOLLOW MEN
How to deal with the shadow, however, is difficult – always!
“…How to deal with….(the)…shadow is a psychological problem, to which there is no short answer and no short cuts other than to say it is a life’s work…” writes Australia’s Peter O’Connor, in ‘Understanding Jung’. This little book offers insights into the collective consciousness and our own psyches.
Mandarin Australia, Port Melbourne, Victoria, 1990.
LIVE THEATRE!
A quintessential Queensland fable not to be missed!!
Tom Gardiner’s
‘THE SALT REMAINS’
Fri 17 June – Sat 2 July, 2016
JUTE
jute.com.au
Queensland’s own Tom Gardiner returns to Cairns for the launch of his psychological thriller – ‘The Salt Remains’!!
In the best tradition of ‘noir’ thrillers that keep you on the edge of your seat, Gardiner’s play is a study in twists and turns, that will keep the audience guessing.
Gardiner posits two formidable characters onstage – Olivia, played by Laila THACKER, an enigma who only just exists, working in a job she hates…David, played by David HYNES, is a middle-aged tourist passing through the small, ‘end of the line’ rural town.
When he arrives, David is seeking refuge – from what?
Mysterious….
What tortured complexities drag the smell of salty mist from the shadows of haunting pasts ……. to the present????
Book now and enjoy!
Visual Art:
and…from the shadows of yesteryear
Cairns is delighted to present:
NEW REALISM
From the International Collection
of the National Gallery of Australia….
…an exploration of the differing styles of a new realism, including pop art and photorealism…
The term, ‘new realism’, was coined by Pierre Restany, in the 1960’s, to describe an art movement that started in Europe – one which was based on ‘poetic recycling of urban, industrial and advertising reality’.
Andy Warhol’s images from the persuasive consumerism of the time are included in this visiting exhibition, together with the mass media paintings of French born artist, Alain Jacquet.
Of particular beauty and inviting unusual scrutiny, are the works of Audrey FLACK, who weaves into her particular style of photorealism, a female sensibility that simultaneously raises awareness of the inevitability of human mortality. Flack’s works present classical still life images, while exposing intimate objects to public scrutiny.
Beautiful shadows
Living, side by side
With memories of yesteryear
In both the mobility
Of now
And the silence
Of then………
Jennifer Ann Davies 2016
