Frédéric Bruly Bouabré - the universalist

Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, was born in 1923 in Zéprégüé, Côte d’Ivoire.
The origin of all of Frédérick Bruly Bouabré ’s work stems from a revelatory experience: on March 11, 1948, “the heavens opened up before my eyes and seven colorful suns described a circle of beauty around their Mother-Sun, I became Cheik Nadro: ‘He who does not forget.’'
From then on Bruly Bouabré tackled every field of knowledge and collected his research in manuscripts about arts and traditions, poetry, tales, religion, esthetics, and philosophy, revealing himself to be an astonishing thinker, poet, encyclopedist, creator. Searching for a way to preserve and transmit the knowledge of the Bété people, as well as the knowledge of the entire world, he invented an alphabet of 448 monosyllabic pictograms to represent phonetic syllables. Bouabré’s alphabet, which can transcribe all human sounds, reflects the essence of his thought: to achieve universality and to unite mankind.
In the 1970s, Bouabré started to transfer his thoughts to hundreds of small
drawings in postcard format, using a ballpoint pen and colour crayons. These drawings, gathered under the title of Connaissance du Monde (World Knowledge), form an encyclopedia of universal knowledge and experience.
Other projects, such as Readings from Signs Observed in Oranges (1988), serve as visionary records of divination.
For Frédéric Bruly Bouabré, his drawings are representation of everything that is revealed or concealed—signs, divine thoughts, dreams, myths, the sciences, traditions—and he views his role as an artist as a redemptive calling. He has stated: “Now that we are recognized as artists, our duty is to organize into a society, and in such a way to create a framework for discussion and exchange among those who acquire and those who create. From that could arise a felicitous world civilisation.”

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Fréderic Bruly Bouabré the universalist . VO.English Subtitled from Andres Alvarez on Vimeo.

Japonisme

A brief mediation on cultural appropriation and authenticity

RESPONSE TO NAUMA'S COMMENT:

Dear Nauma, thank you for your comment and observation. And yes, you are correct, the Japanese have also engaged the "otherness" of Western culture, however historical circumstances resulted in a different approach. It was the West that prised opened Japan. The Meiji Restoration resulted in an all-out push for modernization/westernization. This was a Top-Down initiative (truly being a Divine Fiat since the Emperor was a god...). For the west, the encounter with Japan was a new "Flavor of the Month"; for Japan, the West was a matter of political, military and economic expediency. THis scenario has played itself out through East and South East Asia many times.

Having travelled to Japan (and LOVING IT!), ye, there is an apprehesion of the "exotic" west but something gets lost in translation, so to speak. Previous western commentators would not the lapses or "incomplete" quality of Japanese appropriation of western models,be they artistic, architectural, musical or whatever. (Just as there is an extremely superficial quality to most Wesern appropriations of Japanese models...). What I believe ACTUALLY occurred was a process of cultural editing according to Japan's own unique aesthetics. There are NO "lapses" in my opinion; rather a conscious decision to work with the new material on Japanese aesthetic terms.

Sometimes things get a little... silly. For whatever reason (I have NO explaination...), some western quirk embeds itself in Japanese culture... DEEPLY. I submit for your approval a musical example. I recall my amazement a couple of years back while listening to a collection of vintage Japanese film music to hear what was, a JAPANESE version of Rudolph Friml's "Song of the Vagabonds" from his early 20th century operetta "The Vagabond King." It was featured in the early Japanese film "Father and Son." It's a really GOOD version!!! While researching the film and this odd cultural cross-pollination, I discovered that the song had grown legs and continued to be a HIT in Japan, long after Friml and his operettas were forgotten in the West!

The song later was used for the end credits (and Japanese title) of the 1982 film by Kinji Fukasaku, "Fall Guy." Fukasaku would later go on to direct the popular "Battle Royal" series of movies.

To this day, Friml's klezmeresque melody can be heard in Japan as the boarding chimes at Kamat Station in Tokyo.

I have no explaination... ^_^

Link: gone

Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGs87qSYLtI (Fall Guy end titles)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1en-lmDjSIg&feature=related (Kamata Station chimes)

Ataa Oko and the Spirits

As the Ga believe in reincarnation within the family, they do not
regard death as the final end. As ancestors, the dead are
much more powerful than the living and within the family can
exert a significant influence for good or for evil. This is why
families make great efforts to insure that a departed family
member remains in a good mood. Social status is largely
dependent on the size and success of the funeral ceremony as
well as on an exclusive coffin. The figure-shaped coffins, only
seen on the day of the burial, are often symbolic of the
profession of the late departed and are supposed to help him
or her to take up their earthly career again in the hereafter.
This is why fishermen are often buried in a canoe or fish coffin,
farmers in vegetable coffins and a businessman in a
prestigious Mercedes Benz coffin. Some of the motifs reflected
in the shapes of the coffins, for instance, the Ga stool or
traditional chief’s sandal, are royal or priestly insignias with a
magical and religious function. Only those with corresponding
status may be buried in such coffins. Various animals such as
lions, cocks and crabs are clan totems. In this case too, only
chiefs from the corresponding families may use coffins with
these shapes. And finally, many coffins indicate a proverb,
which is why the Ga call the figure-shaped coffins Proverbial.
Ataa Oko, born around 1919 is regarded as the
inventor of the figure-shaped coffin, .
The coloured drawings by Ataa Okodone in recent years
are based on memories of coffins that he made in earlier times.
At the age of 83, Ataa Oko has suddenly thrown himself into art. 
From his crippled hand he creates a world combining his dreams
and visions with elements from the Ga culture.
With the use of colouring pencils, he starts by drawing memories of coffins 
that he actually used to make as a craftsman. Then, little by little,
he frees himself from his memories to make way for a profusion of new,
vibrantly coloured iconic designs.







Ataa Oko and the spirits English subtitled from Andres Alvarez on Vimeo.


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We are here

Dear Qi, so true what you are saying... One of the few deep emotional encounters I had with art in the last years was when I stumbled by chance into an exhibition by RongRong & inri... I didn't know them, hadn't even heard their names before,... the moment I entered the pictures took me.. they were talking to my, telling me their story, my story... opened my heart, my soul, my brain... this was art, but it was life too, these were photos, but had many more dimensions... till the end of the exhibition I went there almost every day... it was like going to the temple... meditation... giving me soo much... I will add a few pictures from the net (of the ones I've seen)... but they give only a pale idea... you have to see them for real and together as they were planned... and I love the architecture of the Three Shadows Photography Art Center... so if you're in Beijing please say thank you in my name... 

 

 

 

RongRong began photographing Beijing’s “East Village” in 1992, capturing the lives of China’s young avant-garde artists who were living there. Inri trained as a freelance photographer in Japan, graduating from the Nippon Photography Institute in 1992. They have been working together since 2000. Their works are poetic meditations on the visual narrative from death and ruins to rebirth and transcendence. They now live and work in Beijing, where they recently established the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in 2007, China’s first art space dedicated to contemporary photography and video art.

           
http://www.rongin.com/

http://www.artzinechina.com/display_vol_aid509_en.html

http://asiartic.blogspot.com/2007/11/artist-rong-rong.html
  

  
http://www.threeshadows.cn/en/index_en.htm

http://www.mdnphoto.com/visionsofmodernity/2007/12/08/three-shadows-on-the-horizon/
   

Mother Earth Looks Into Future

This is what my love paints.

She has a childlike spirit.

That is why spirits love her.

Me too.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice...

Cheesecake anyone?




Actually not so much "cheesecake" but rather a celebration of feminine beauty through the works of a number of celebrated 20th century Chinese painters. This is the second of two volumes exploring the portrayal of female subjects in classical Chinese painting. Many of the subjects are on classical themes, but there are a few the show the influence of the "Shanghai Flower" calendar girl.

Thankfully, the book's text includes a competent English translation. If there is interest in other artful ventures (and Art IS Spirit and Spice in my life!) I will be happy to post more in the future.

Let me say this in my first post, so there is no misunderstanding: I AM a Sinophile. It is an amazing culture and a thrilling society - even today during their hyper-capitalist indulgence - as they dance with "Socialism with Chinese characteristics". While it is true, much (read ALL...) of the traditional arts are under siege by the marketplace - which has been far more lethal than the Cultural Revolution ever aspired - it is astonishing, and heartbreaking how much real beauty remains. Go into any reasonably well-inventoried bookstore in a large city in China, and when you reach the "Art Book" section (which is frequently a room independant of the rest of the store), you will see wall after wall, bookshelf after bookshelf of hundreds upon HUNDREDS of beautifully printed tomes depicting the oeuvre of hundreds of artists whom we in the west have NO knowledge of! I will not even mention the over-heated market for contemporary Chinese artists...

All that being said, beauty and its apprehension and appreciation are food for MY spirit. I hope my humble offerings can find a place on your plates as well!

Blesings to all!

Qi

LINK:
gone