Artist Pascale Monnin was invited to participate with an installation in the exhibition 'Roots and More' in the Africa Museum in Holland which she felt was a great opportunity. She writes in her report that she was really happy as her installation had previously only been exhibited in parts in different places around the world. 'To be given the chance to gather all these pieces that were scattered all over and showcase them for a first time as one installation was gratifying'. Pascale was born in Canape Vert hospital, in Port-au-Prince on March 26, 1974. In 1977 she moved with her mother to Switzerland, but returned to Haiti frequently for extended stays over summers and school holidays. She received an intensive art education in Geneva, studying painting, printmaking and sculpture. As an adolescent she designed and built theater sets, made carnival masks and studied fine art restoration. She is a voracious consumer of art-related knowledge, devouring books, attending exhibits and experimenting with every known form and material of art.In 1994 she returned to live in Haiti. She was one of five Haitians invited to exhibit in the V Biennal in Cuenca, Ecuador in 1995. The next year she had a one-woman show in Los Angeles and has since participated in solo and group shows all over the world. She professes to have a fear of stagnation so works in many different media. She is attracted by the mystery and symbolism of all the world's religions although she does not practice any of them. Read more on www.afrikamuseum.nl Read the short report by Pascale Monnin
An international and musical meeting for Saxophone and Clarinet was organised in Bolivia from the 17th until the 21st of August 2009 with support of the Prince Claus Fund. This event offered various concerts (for the first time bass clarinet was heard as a
solo instrument), a First Contest for Clarinetists and Saxophonists, Master Classes, the
formation of a Big Band, and the creation of the First Clarinet Ensamble.
Latin America’s clarinet is wakening step by step in the area of clarinet. Only five years ago,
the only regular Festivals or Meetings took place in Mexico and Venezuela. In the past years
similar events have taken place in Uruguay, Guatemala, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica,
Ecuador and now Bolivia. The vision and dedication of Sarah Mendieta puts Bolivia in an
International map with clarinet, and the work developed is an example to follow not only in
Bolivia, but in all of Latin America. This Meeting has been a real opportunity to unite many
young musicians, to discover new repertoire, create music together and increase considerably
their technical knowledge, establish personal commitments of improvement and realize that
music is a positive option for them. Read more in the report of
Andrés Robles and Marco Antonio Mazzini ( English)Read the full report in Spanish
In 2003 the hotels and restaurant holders in Ségou decided to unite in an association to work together for the promotion of their city. They created AHRTS, Association des Hôteliers et Restaurateurs pour le Tourisme à Ségou. AHRTS has as mission to contribute to the development and prosperity of the region by stimulating tourism in the region of Ségou in a national and international context. Within the context of this movement AHRTS, initiated, with its president Mamou Daffé, hotel owner in Ségou, an autonomous structure that was in charge of conceiving, financing and realizing the first Festival Sur le Niger, which took place in 2005 in Ségou. This festival was a great success. Since then the festival has taken place up to present every year. Besides of the purely economic development for the region, Festival sur le Niger SARL also has as mission to open a radiant perspective to durable development based on cultural tourism. In 2009 the Prince Clasu Fund supported the festival again. Read more on the site of the festival www.festivalsegou.org
With support of the Prince Claus Fund Two poets went to the XIX International Poetry Festival of Medellin, which will was held between 4 to 11 July 2009. Nguyn Quang Thiu (born 1957) is a poet, fiction writer, playwright, and translator, living in Vietnam. Azam Abidov was born in 1974 in Namangan, living in Uzbekistan. He is a talented poet and literary translator, he published more than 10 poetry and translation books. Azam’s translations from English, American, Indian and French poetry were also acclaimed in Uzbekistan. The most successful books compiled by Azam Abidov are 'I leave you in complete boredom', 'Tunes of Asia' (English translation of contemporary Uzbek poetry), 'Dream of lightsome dawns', and 'A miracle is on the way'.
Azam Abidov has sent a report to share the experience of travelling to the Poetry festival of Medellin. Read the Report; Medellin – my everlasting yearning.
From the 7 - 21 of June 2009 artist Strijdom van der Merwe from South Africa attended the OEROL Art Festival at Terschelling. As a land artist he uses the materials provided by the chosen site. Strijdom Van der Merwe’s sculptural forms take shape in relation to the landscape. It is a process of working with the natural world, using sand, water, wood, rocks etc..
In an email he states ' It was a life time experience to be part of such a wonderful and well organized festival and to be part off such a high quality of artistic expression. This is a festival that I will recommend to other artists in the future to attend or to become a part of. The festival is growing from strength to strength and becoming very quickly a major international role player in the field of the arts'. More information on www.strijdom.co.za
Art installation by Pascale Monnin in Roots and More
A saxophone performance at the international
meeting in Bolivia
Festival sur le Niger 2009
Azam Abidov (on the left) in Medellin
Installation by Strijdom van der Merwe at OEROL
With the aim of encouraging worldwide cultural debate, the Prince Claus Fund organises and supports events around the world to facilitate intercultural exchange. These events include conferences, lectures, meetings and exhibitions.
The results of these exchange events are presented to a wider, international audience in the form of articles, books and websites.
These exchange events provide a creative environment in which new approaches can be presented and new contributors can become engaged in the debate. The events also serve as a guide to the Prince Claus Fund in its endeavours in the field of culture and development.
