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Arts & Education - The Sunday Gleaner - December 30, 2012 As curtains come down on 2012 the last sunset of the year etched, painted, captured (figuratively and metaphorically), we reminisce some moments of the year. It has been a voyage of discovery. Arts & Education took you on an exciting journey, seeking out and showcasing the creativity of our people from packaging boards being carved into drums to making vanity and tea boxes, or the subtle movements of the dance form to crescendo of folk singing, or feasting the eyes with delectable gourmet fare. The journey of this endless and timeless discovery continues. As we look back at some of our top stories for the year, we take this opportunity thank you, our readers, for your continued patronage and wish you a happy new year. -------------- Life's journey painted on canvas   Published June 24, 2012 What is art? It is the response of man’s creative soul to the call of the real, said Indian poet, playwrig

Delhi gang-rape victim dies in hospital in Singapore...screamed the breaking news ticker on this Friday evening. This heinous incident and numerous others that don't hog the headlines has brought intense feeling of shame, shock, disgust. India is a land of paradox, we all have experienced, but how do we justify the fact that Goddesses are revered and yet this is how women are treated...we have surely transformed ourselves into two-faced, hypocrite monsters. God, in whatever form, who should reside in our hearts is merely a showpiece on the altar. December 28, 2012 is one of the blackest days in the history of the country, more-so for those of us who are living abroad and carrying the burden of misdeeds of fellow country people, we have to take onus and responsibility! Is this what our forefathers fought for when they took the country from the colonial rule to independence? Am sure they must be wincing and crying out...What have we become, we are not qualified to call ourselve

Ringing in the Christmas spirit...Jingle Bells sprinkled with Indian spice.

Excitement resonated in the voices of Shayzan Andriade and William Lewis as they proudly pointed out the numerous jewellery items handcrafted out of wires, twines and coffee beans, explaining the meticulous process. "I took a wire, twisted with pliers and then put coffee beans," explained Lewis, as Andriade, with a gleam in her eyes, clutched a bracelet she made from coffee beans. Shayzan Andriade and William Lewis The budding artists, Lewis and Andriade are part of Chupse, an initiative of The Jamaican Association on Intellectual Disabilities (JAID), to encourage intellectually disabled persons to acquire skill sets, hone their creative acumen and integrate them into the society. "Chupse was conceived as a brand name to sell the fashion jewellery made by persons with intellectual disabilities (ID) by JICA (Japan International Cooperative Agency) volunteers," informed Marilyn McKoy, development officer at JAID. "It was catchy and also summed

Participants of the ITEC programme with Pratap Singh (centre), Indian high commissioner to Jamaica Thirty participants of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) gathered at India House on West Kings House Road to celebrate the successful completion of their respective programmes on December 19. The young professionals, drawn from a range of backgrounds, were in India to supplement their studies and gain proficiency. "Since the inception of the programme, more than 200 Jamaicans and 50 Bahamians have benefited from the ITEC training programme and have contributed to the development of their respective countries," said Pratap Singh, high commissioner of India to Jamaica. The ITEC programme, the participants recalled, not only exposed them to various methodologies and nuances in their respective subject areas, but also to different cultural experiences. During the programme, they interacted with their colleagues from Africa and South East Asia. &q

'Tis the season for food so take some vegetables, meat, put them on the cutting board, sharpen the knives, and drop the ingredients in a Dutch pot and plate them … luscious fare, yes? Did someone say a work of art? Yes, you heard it right. Before the cuisine satisfies your appetite, it whips up the visual senses. "I believe that we eat with our eyes first," says Melissa Dukharan, culinary artist and chef as she ran a potato over a mandoline (an instrument used for slicing and cutting juliennes), sliced it paper thin and rolled them to make a rose, as a part of a salad presentation. Bouquet of salad - Blanched potato rose with lettuce The road to creation of culinary art involves traits that an artist would put in a painting or a sculpture. But the challenge is to complement the looks with the taste. Over the years, the tastes and trends are paying more attention to detail, into which the new age chefs are foraying. "A culinary artist is someone

Deepika Lal holds a cone made of plastic bag, filled with henna paste. Grasping it with artistic perfection, she uses subtle, meticulous strokes to draw out lines on the palm, converging to create an intricate design. The process, to the bystander, looks more like putting icing on a cake, but Lal is practising the ancient Indian and Middle Eastern art of applying 'Mehndi' (the name for Henna), which, over the years, has become a fashion statement as well as a mystic Eastern charm. Even after centuries, the rudiments and fundamentals of this art of adornment are based on the skill-set, imagination and creativity of the person applying henna. "The designs are nature-inspired and, most times, not predetermined," says Priya Anaokar, a veteran in the art of mehndi. "They (design elements) have evolved over the years, but certain elements have never changed." Traditionally, preparing the henna was a multi-pronged, labour-intensive process, taking s

Shop display by Noel Roberts Shop displays: the silent salesperson in the retail world They entice, solicit, whip up emotions, and put a glee in the eyes. Shop-window displays are critical to grab attention and encourage the window shopper to open the door and walk into the store, especially during the Yuletide season. Kenisha O'Connor Over the years, with competition in the retail sector rising and the spending dollar of consumers tightening, the shop-window displays have not only become a mix of art, fashion, design and marketing, but they also help define the store’s brand and image. “My philosophy to the concept is: just as they say that the eyes are the window to a person’s soul, a display window is soul of a store,” says Noel Falcao Roberts, who has been an interior designer since he was 18. “It is, essentially, the selling point by which a consumer decides whether or not they want to venture into your establishment or not.” Noel Roberts To achieve both t

Thomas Alva Edison’s saying, “a genius is one per cent inspiration and 99 per cent perspiration”, could fit Arthur Harriott, who is turning metal from its rustic form to subtle and intricate pieces of furniture and objects of daily use. From bar stools, mirror frames, patio sets, tables and chairs, Harriott cuts, bends and lets his creative sparks fly as he welds pieces of metal together. A self-taught designer, he learnt the trade as a teenager. “I used to save money to buy (the) latest tools,” he said. Growing up in Bull Bay, Harriott did welding as a vocational subject, graduated in 1992, and found a job at a fabricating workshop to hone his skills. “I used to do evening classes at Kingston Technical and also got a certification from HEART in welding,” Harriott said. Necessity is the mother of all invention, it is said, and in 1997, his position was made redundant. Instead of searching for another job, he decided to start his own venture and began his journey of met

Paperboy JA staff Jason McKenzie  hands over gifts of clothing, books and toys to Glenhope Nursery Manager Maxine Smith.  Looking on are Child Development Agency’s Training Officer Sophia Walters and a DHL representative The pitter-platter of the small feet of children trying to make the best of their circumstances - most of them in worn out shoes and no toys to play with, touched Geoff Lewis of Paperboy JA. “I have visited children’s facilities on more than one occasion and I felt that if we could help give these kids a sense of self-worth, and brighten their outlook on life, many of them could begin to rise above their harsh beginnings,” Lewis said. Armed with the zeal to do something for these needy children, Lewis started garnering materials to donate. “I wasn’t in a position to help financially,” he said. “So I decided to reach out and collect clothes and books.” “I felt that a good place to start would be to provide the children with toys of their own to play with,

Tea boxes by Charl Baker The idiom 'One man's junk is an other man's treasure' fits perfectly on artists Charl Baker and Mazola Ma Mwashighadi, who are transforming discarded items into artefacts and pieces for everyday use. What does a broken light pole, copper wires, discarded packaging material or a rusting flywheel of a bicycle mean to most of us ... junk? Creations by Charl Baker Baker and Mwashighadi, like farmers sifting through mud to reap the most beautiful foliage or the sweetest smelling flowers, have managed to transform them into a photo frame, vanity boxes and a wall hanging. "I use different kinds of wood, used in construction, I go to woodwork shops and pick up discarded wood, or pieces of metal from the garage," Mwashighadi said. "As a child, I used to draw and sketch, and was always fascinated by baskets and rings from coloured wires," Baker recounts. "Everything can be something, things that people throw a