'AFRICAN CULTURES, AFRICAN COLOURS' visual arts exhibition

Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2005
AfricanColours [http://www.africancolours.net/] an established web portal that
serves as a Contemporary African arts resource database and digital art archive
- presents the occasion of its first exhibition, at the new Fiesta Restaurant in
Nairobi from Wednesday August 3rd - 31st 2005.

The theme of this exhibition 'African Cultures, African Colours' - seeks to
redefine African Culture through the visual media and arts. The opening at 6pm
on Wednesday 3rd August, will be attended by Her Excellency Tanya van Gool, the
Dutch ambassador to Kenya; Mr. Tom Mshindi, Chief Executive, the Standard Group
and Dr. Patrick Lumumba, Secretary to the Constitution of Kenya Review
Commission (CKRC).

Other invited guests are Hon. Ochilo Ayako, Culture Minister; Hon. Raila Odinga,
Roads Minister; Hon. Najib Balala, National Heritage Minister, Hon. Prof.
Wangari Maathai, Asst. Minister Environment and H.E Hubert Fournier, French
ambassador to Kenya, among others. The exhibition will be open to the public
from 4th August to 31st August 2005. There is no admission charge.

Participating artists include Wanyu Brush, Annabelle Wanjiku Reeno, Kamal Shah,
Kahare Miano, Peter Elungat, Leon Kuhn from South Africa, Tabitha wa Mburu, Mary
Ogembo, Smooth Ugochukwu of Nigeria, Peterson Kamwathi, David Mwaniki, Thom
Ogonga, Simon Mureithi, Maggie Otieno, Sudanese artists Salah Ammar, Eltayeb
Dawelbeit, Halfawi Hussein, Yassir Ali; Sammy Lutaya, Patricia Njeri, Sam
Kimemia, Patrick Mukabi, Hina Haria, Beatrice Wanjiku, Veroniccah Muwonge of
Uganda, Evans Omondi, John Njathi, Wanjohi Nyamu, John Silver, Kanyiva Kahare,
Nelly Wanjiru, Kevin Kariuki, Alex Mbugua, Patrick Kirono, Irene Wanjiru, Halima
Shahib, Peter Salim Mburu, Anthony Okello, Samuel Githui, Wilson Mwangi and
Eritrean Fitsum Berhe Woldelibanos to mention a few.

As AfricanColours strives to transform the face of visual arts in Kenya and
Africa, we plan to regularly collaborate with the Media to nurture appreciation
and patronage of local art by providing exposure for contemporary African
artists and their works of art.
CONTACT: for further enquiries call Emmanuel, Tracy or Jackie on 020 250 373,
0724 231 071, 0722 506930
tracy@africancolours.com or emmanuel@africancolours.com

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This article was received from H-AfrArts, H-Net Network for African Expressive Culture and is reprinted in Tribal Artery as a service to our readers. Tribal Artery is published by http://www.tribalworks.com , a web site devoted African and other tribal arts.

Arctic Ocean teeming with life

By ASSOCIATED PRESS August 2, 2005
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) - Beneath its ice, the Arctic Ocean is teeming with life, says a team of international scientists that just completed a 30-day expedition to the northern ocean.In the months and years ahead, the 45 scientists from the U.S., Canada, China and Russia that took part in the Hidden Ocean expedition will pore over thousands of photographs, ice samples and ocean specimens collected in the Canada Basin.

"We were surprised. There was an awful lot more life up here than what people expected and believe there is," said Russ Hopcroft, a Canadian researcher and assistant professor at the Institute of Marine Science at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.Hopcroft said most scientists found new species or, at least, species not previously believed to exist in the Arctic.Despite the region's inhospitable climate for humans, the northern ocean is home to many life forms, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and unicellular and multicellular plants and animals.

From the shelter of the U.S. Coast Guard icebreaker Healy, teams of scientists explored the ice surface, beneath it and the ocean floor.They ventured as far as latitude 76 degrees north in the basin, the deepest part of the Arctic Ocean, located north of Alaska and the Yukon Territory.

The study is part of an international census on marine life, and funding for a similar study of Antarctica was announced last Friday.With the aid of a remote-operated underwater vehicle, a photo platform lowered from the vessel, diving suits and 24-hour sunlight, the team collected samples from places never before seen by the human eye.Fred Gorell, spokesman for the expedition funded by the U.S. government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the main goal is to raise awareness."The oceans are 95 percent unknown, unseen by human eyes, yet so important to us," he said.

The specter of global warming makes it urgent to document life in the far north and the Antarctic."There's already fairly good indications that we're undergoing some kind of global climate change and the areas that are warming up the fastest are the poles," Hopcroft said from the Healy as the scientists prepared last week to disembark.Arctic sea ice cover has decreased by about 3 percent per decade over the last 25 years, and there are indications ice thickness has decreased all over the Arctic.Yet scientists know relatively little about the regions, Hopcroft said.

As the changes continue, it will be important to have a benchmark to measure them against.The race is on to document the polar caps, said Ian MacDonald, a professor at Texas A&M University."The scientific consensus is that the end of continuous ice in the summer months is within the human horizon - 50 years, 70 years, 30 years," MacDonald said. "In recorded history, we've never had that, so this is a new era. It will have enormous consequences."

Among the rare finds for scientists were observations of comb jellies, or ctenophores, a jellyfish-like creature so fragile some pour like liquid out of collection jars.The expedition also had the first close look at mysterious pock marks that mar the ocean floor in the northern reaches of the basin.Approximately 2 1/2 miles below the ocean surface there are as many as two dozen depressions, some up to 130 feet deep and a half-mile across."That was very exciting," MacDonald said in an interview via satellite telephone from the ship.

Most surprising was the amount of sea life that call the depressions home. MacDonald counted 72 sea cucumbers in an area of 3 square meters."The abundance and diversity on the sea floor was the highest we've ever seen, anywhere," he said. "We're very excited about that but we don't, at this point, have any clue as to why."
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This article is reprinted from an Associated Press dispatch in the interest of wide dissemenation of the information.

We thank you for reading Tribal Artery, the blog letter of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person. Additional information about the Arctic and Arctic people and their art may be found at http://inuitindianart.blogspot.com , the blog of a colleague with a gallery at http://www.freespiritgallery.ca . Examples of Arctic native art may also be found at http://www.tribalworks.com (navigate to the Arctic Room.

Aboriginal art acquired by American and French collectors

Geoff Maslen reports in the July 27, 2005 edition of the Melbourne Age that two vintage works by Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri, one of Australia's most renowned Aboriginal painters, were purchased at a Sotheby's auction on July 25 for A$411,750 each.

One was reported to be the first painting ever made by the artist, a small one entitled 'Emu Corrobee Man'. It was purchased for an American collector through Melbourne art dealer, Irene Sutton. The painting was said to have been purchased from the artist originally in 1972 for less than A$100.

The second work was a "wall-sized" canvas, 'Man's Love Story.' It also went for $411,750. The buyer was said to be a collector from France.

Although Australia has restrictions on the removal from Australia of early works by Aboriginal artists , both of these paintings were exempt as they had left the country prior to enactment of the restrictions and had been returned to Australia only for the Melbourne auction.

According to the Melbourne Age, 195 works were sold at Monday's auction for a total of A$2.04 million. Forty-eight of the works went to buyers outside of Australia.

Clifford Possum, now deceased, worked primarily in the genre known as "dot painting" or "desert painting", emulating on canvas the images that traditionally were created on desert surfaces as part of the Aboriginal process of transferring culture to younger generations.

In addition to his own work, Clifford's off-spring became painters of some accomplishment. Gabriella, for example has been quite prolific. Examples of her works are available on line at http://www.tribalworks.com/gabriella_possum_dot_painting_gallery.html

Other Australian Aboriginal paintings also are on exhibit within the pages of this online gallery.

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Thank you for reading this issue of Tribal Artery, the blogletter of Aboriginals: Art of the First Person and its sister galleries at http://www.ZuniLink.com , http://www.Native-PotteryLink.com and http://www.Native-JewelryLink.com
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