Photographer Jason Gardner travelled across 15 countries for 15 years to document traditional Carnival in its myriad of manifestations. Seeking out villages and towns where festivals are at their most folkloric or least visited by outsiders, Gardner collaborated with ethnographers and local experts to engage with and understand each festival which at their core were united by universal themes of ritual, masquerade, identity, roots, and symbolism.
A selection of his vast archive of photographs were published last year in ‘We the Spirits’.
This incredible moving documentation/ art work has been instigated by Mary Evers. After a visit to Tate Modern to see an exhibition by Bangladeshi artist Yasmin Jahan Nupur. (see below)
Yasmin Jahan Nupur's embroidered world map of British colonial territories stirred something within Mary. “It struck me how powerful such a simple act was – using thread to document history and provoke thought,” Mary Evers
The idea for the "The Gaza Martyrs Project" materialised and Mary set about putting it in motion.
Mary spent months carefully planning. She sourced Egyptian cotton for its durability and nostalgic ties to her childhood “It also symbolises a shroud – honouring the lives lost,” she explains.
To reflect the Palestinian flag, Mary chose specific colour codes for the embroidery. Black threads represent Gaza men, red for women and green for children. The creamy white Egyptian cotton represents the white of the flag. Each panel, even without reading the names, visually conveys the demographic impact of the deaths. Some panels, overwhelmingly green, are a haunting reminder of the countless Gaza children killed. It has become a collective endeavour shared between communities with people hearing of it and joining the effort. While Mary plans to limit the project to 30,000 names, the rising death toll may lead to it continuing indefinitely. (source)
"I’ve been sitting with these thoughts today as I prepare the list of names and wonder about each person, who they were, what was their favourite colour, were they in love, did they dance at parties, normal every day things." Mary Evers
"Art that turns waste into gold of time.
It is known that Europe sends massive amounts of its worn-out waste to Africa, adding to its life but also massively polluting the African continent. The art of the art collective Ndaku ya la vie est Belle and the visual artist/performer and cultural worker Eddy Ekete transforms waste into works of art through an almost alchemical process. This kind of art mobilizes the entire social community and confronts the local community with its own responsibility, turning us into active transformers instead of passive observers of the ubiquitous rubbish that surrounds us planetary. At Bierbais, Eddy in collaboration with Youth Biennial/(collective for Contemporary Art from Belgrade) worked on a prototype of Can Man, performing street costume made entirely from recycled materials. Photos: Stephan Gladieu"
