Design 21: Social Design Network

the wind against the waterfall

my certain Zen:

(Quotes from the Penguin Book of Zen Poetry

Eds., Lucien Stryk and Takashi Ikemoto)

What's old? new?

Moistened by faint mist.

Now the old mirror

Touched, it glitters,

Tigramuna at Moksh in Kathmandu – Viva la Musica!

Spring 2010

“I don’t know but I’ve been told, music makes you lose control!”

Have you ever wondered why and how music becomes such a potent force in our lives? (What can one say? It’s music!!) The Tigramuna is a contemporary ensemble that pulls in influences and instruments from the Incas of South America to the Jazz Classics with perfect rhythm and tempo. Surprised? I was completely enthralled. (Now, that's what I call music, I thought to myself.)

The Tigramuna comprises of the following band members:

Carlos Villanueva (Musical Director, Composer, Guitar, Vocals)

Wendy Upjohn (Manager, Percussion, Charango)

Nick Bowd (Saxophone)

Peter Firth (Bass)

Daniel Rojas (Keyboards)

Having spent most of my life listening to a ‘crazy’ mix of musicians and music genres, I had not imagined, even for a second, that I would be enjoying, right up close and personal, a fusion of Latin Jazz, Salsa, Merengue and Traditional/Indigenous music quite like the Tigramuna. The Band played at the Moksh Auditorium last Saturday with amazing virtuosity and to great aplomb.

The first part of their concert comprised a workshop during which they introduced indigenous music forms and instruments from Latin America in an astounding complement to the re-discovery and revival of ancient music forms currently gaining currency in serious musicology circles.

It was a rare treat to see that our own bamboo 'bansuri' was among this prisma...

Art 21 Films: CONSUMPTION

www.pbs.org/art21 www.kathmanduarts.org

The Kathmandu Contemporary Art Centre and ART 21 bring to bear the modern pre-occupation with consumption on a small gathering of Art 21 enthusiasts.

Artists: Michael Ray Charles, Mathew Barney, Andrea Zittel & Mel Chin

John McEnroe, who once “played tennis like an artist,” asks a loaded question in the introduction: “What is consumption?”

Each of the artists showcased in the ‘Artumentary’ raise questions about the socio-cultural assumptions appropriated to explain and excuse our consumptive reality and condition.

The human condition often finds its critical behavior patterns subsumed by factors such as race, history, colour, gender, socio-economic backdrop and “the emotional presence of the past.” Each artist also seeks to use artistic precepts for presenting a “fundamental understanding of life.”

Physicality and sensibility are explored. “Violence is sublimated into form.” “Variety becomes more oppressive than continuity.”

As basic yet crucial aspects of life, human values and perceptions are arguments for better understanding and “transformation.” A dying culture and a living reality are used together in an astounding video project – we do need to pay more attention to patterns and symbols and preservation.

The act of creating, then, is not a sufficient and suitable premise for living with - and within - excessive and wasteful consumption.

Interpretations...

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