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Tuesday 24 February 2009

Bush Fires in Oz national day of mourning -Climate change


Black is all I see
Where green and gold once cloaked the land
Where eucalypt and pine did stand
Where man did live and lay his hand
Now black is all I see
Where horses grazed and cattle drank
Where grasses lined the river bank
Where stood a house and water tank
Now black is all I see
There was a town with store and hall
Which proudly stood ‘neath ridges tall
Now nothing moves or lives at all
And black is all I see
There stood a home and there another
Where lived a daughter, father , mother
A sister, cousin, niece or brother
Now black is all I see
Our nation grieves and holds them tight
Throughout the darkness of the night
Till daybreak brings an ashy light
And black is all I see
“Poor fella, my country”
N.D. 11 FEB 2009



Australian expert says bushfires caused by "climate change"
+ -
18:07, February 19, 2009

An Australian climate change expert said on Thursday the devastating bushfires in Victoria were the "fires of climate change."

Climate Institute chief executive John Connor said climate change was the cause of the bushfires.

"In our view what we have seen in Victoria, with such devastating ferocity, are the fires of climate change," Australian Associated Press quoted Connor as saying in Melbourne.

"The reality for firefighters and rural communities is that the rules that applied in the past to fighting and surviving bushfires have changed forever because of our warming planet," he added.

Victorian Premier John Brumby has already pointed to climate change as a factor in the fires, saying the climate is becoming more extreme.

But most experts and conservation groups have been more circumspect, saying climate change will cause more bushfires but it had not necessarily caused the Victorian blazes.

Sunday 8 February 2009

michelangelo pistoletto


MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO “Buddha”, 2008
scultura dorata del Buddha, specchio | golden Buddha sculpture, mirror

Galleria Continua
è lieta di annunciare l’evento speciale

MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO
INCONTRO CON L'ARTISTA


Mercoledì 11 febbraio 2009, ore 18

al CCCS - Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Strozzina - Firenze

L'artista presenterà al pubblico il proprio percorso artistico e i lavori più recenti creati in occasione della mostra che inaugurerá il prossimo sabato 14 febbraio presso la Galleria Continua di San Gimignano.
L'incontro fa parte di una nuovo formato ideato dal CCCS in collaborazione con le diverse realtà del contemporaneo presenti in Toscana. Il CCCS diventa piattaforma d'incontro e di dibattito con artisti di fama internazionale temporaneamente presenti sul territorio.
Michelangelo Pistoletto è uno dei protagonisti dell'arte italiana e internazionale degli ultimi cinquant'anni. L'importanza del suo lavoro è riconosciuta in tutto il mondo e le sue opere sono presenti nelle collezioni museali più prestigiose.
La discussione si svolgerà in lingua italiana.
L’accesso sarà consentito previa presentazione del biglietto multiplo CCCS.
Si ringrazia Galleria Continua di San Gimignano per la gentile collaborazione.

www.strozzina.org
www.palazzostrozzi.org

- - - - - - -

English version

Galleria Continua
is delighted to announce the special event

MICHELANGELO PISTOLETTO
ARTIST TALK

Wednesday 11 February 2009, h 6 pm

at CCCS - Centro di Cultura Contemporanea Strozzina - Firenze

The artist will be retracing his artistic development and presenting his most recent works, created for an exhibition that he will be opening at the Galleria Continua in San Gimignano on Saturday 14 February 2009.
The encounter is part of a new format devised by the CCCS, working in conjunction with the various contemporary artistic strains active in Tuscany.
The CCCS is fast turning into a forum for encounter and debate with the many international artists who temporarily reside in the region.
Michelangelo Pistoletto is one of Italy’s most well known artists, internationally acknowledged as one of the main representatives of the Italian Arte Povera. His work mainly deals with the subject matter of reflection and the unification of art and everyday life in terms of a Gesamtkunstwerk.
The debate will be held in English. A CCCS multiple ticket will be required to gain admission.
Many thanks to Galleria Continua in San Gimignano for their kind cooperation.

www.strozzina.org
www.palazzostrozzi.org

Saturday 7 February 2009

Poem by Tenzin Tsundue-Tibetan exilee in India http://www.friendsoftibet.org/


HORIZON

From home you have reached
the Horizon here.
From here to another
here you go.

From there to the next
next to the next
horizon to horizon
every step is a horizon.

Count the steps
and keep the number.

Pick the white pebbles
and the funny strange leaves.
Mark the curves
and cliffs around
for you may need
to come home again.

Senza appartenenze Transculturalismo, migrazione e turismo dell'intendere



Senza appartenenze
Transculturalismo, migrazione e turismo dell'intendere


seminario con Augusto Ponzio e Morteza Keyhan

aperto a tutti coloro, studenti e non, che siano interessati

Mercoledi 11 febbraio 2009, ore 15.30, aula A, Facoltà di Lingue,
via Garruba 6, Bari
Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature Straniere
--

New my sites: http://www.augustoponzio.com/
http://www.lingue.uniba.it/plat/generale_dipartimento.htm
http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/epc/srb/cyber/cyber.html
http://www.semioticon.com/semiotix/semiotix5/newsletterindex5.htm
Dipartimento di Pratiche Linguistiche e Analisi di Testi
Facoltà di Lingue e Letterature Straniere
Sezione Filosofia e Scienze dei segni
Università degli Studi di Bari
Via Garruba, 6
70100 Bari, Italy
phone: 0039 080/5717503
fax: OO39 080/5717460
augustoponzio@libero.it

FESTA is announcing auditions for Shakespeare's Macbeth at the BARGELLO MUSEUM in Florence, Italy, July 2009

Attention, Actors and Actresses!
A message concerning auditions for Macbeth
forwarded at FESTA's request...


FESTA is announcing auditions for Shakespeare's Macbeth at the BARGELLO MUSEUM in Florence, Italy, July 2009. We are currently seeking actors from around the world for this international production. You will have the opportunity to work with collegues from the United States, Great Britain and other contries, as well as with local Italian artists, and to perform this classic in its native language. Workshops will be held in Florence as necessary to assist actors in English proficiency, pronunication and technical aspects of working with Shakespeare. Monetary compensation is dependent on experience and need. Some housing and financial assistance may be available for actors not living in Florence.

Rehearsals start at the beginning of June 2009, and the show runs July 8-12 (possible added performance on July 13), 2009. Macbeth will be performed entirely in the English language (with subtitles in Italian for the audience) so a solid knowledge of English is necessary. FESTA is seeking trained professional actors. Auditions will take place on Feb. 21 from 10:30 am - 3 pm at St. James Church (Via Bernardo Rucellai 9, Florence, between Via della Scala and Via il Prato), and auditions will consist of performing a 30 second to 1 minute selection from Macbeth. Actors should choose their own selection from the text. Please come prepared. The text, with modern 'translation' can be found at http://www.enotes.com/macbeth-text. For an audition time, please write to Suzanne at sidasilva@yahoo.com or call 347/9397010. For more information on the show, www.themacbethproject.org. For information on FESTA and its past shows, go to www.festatheatre.com.

Monday 2 February 2009

volcanoes




From today's news:
Smoke billows from a crater of the snow-covered Mount Asama, central Japan, Monday, Feb. 2, 2009. The volcano erupted early Monday, belching out a plume that rose about a mile (1.6 kilometers) high, according to Japan's Meteorological Agency. The plume was still roiling over the volcano's crater late Monday.

(AP Photo/Kyodo News)

As I grew up and lived 20 years of my life in the Vesuvius's shadow -as they like to say- volcanoes and their temperament have always been part of a possbile future scenario, one that would touch you directly.
Today I read the news about Mount Asama's eruption ( Mount Asama is the picture on the right, covered in snow, the other is my volcano, that horizon part of my imagery).
In my suffering and confused world made of Gaza's struggles, Berlusconi thriving, Obama'icones building, art pervading thoughts and life and life in general being terribly interesting but equally mysterious, could not help looking into Plinius' death in the Vesuvius.

I was always fascinated by it as a younger person and still am: this amazingly curious scholar who has to see close by what rumbles in the womb of the divine mountain. I have called Mount Somma-my mountain, where I lived- as the 'mother' of the Vesuvius. In my mind Mount Somma was female and Vesuvius was male. Now with age I think she is female and has a rumbling womb... As a good Southern Italian I have always thought I will find death in knowledge. And I came across this fantastic account of his nephew, Plinius 'il Giovane'. And thought of most of you my friends-no death in site...

[Pliny the Younger, Letters 3.5.14-16;
tr. B. Radice]

The only time he took from his work was for his bath, and by bath I mean his actual immersion, for while he was being rubbed down and dried he had a book read to him or dictated notes. When traveling he felt free from other responsibilities to give every minute to work; he kept a secretary at his side with book and notebook; and in winter saw that his hands were protected by long sleeves, so that even bitter weather should not rob him of a working hour. For the same reason, too, he used to be carried about Rome in a chair. I can remember how he scolded me for walking; according to him I need not have wasted those hours, for he thought any time wasted which was not devoted to work. It was this application which enabled him to finish all those volumes [of the Natural history].