Water: Source and inspiration through the arts
A 75th anniversary arts event
10/06/2021
The arts have always had the power to challenge, transform and subvert. From its early days Initiatives of Change has harnessed the arts to promote personal and social transformation. Plays, films, songs and visual arts have carried messages of inspiration, hope, peace and change.
56 participants from all over the world joined Source and Inspiration, the inaugural event of the Caux 75 arts programme on 29 May. The event offered a varied selection from artists connected with Caux over the years. The motif running through the contributions was water - water for life and water as a symbol of spiritual renewal.
For those who would like to take part in one of this year's arts activities, we launched Sveinung Nygaard’s origami boat project Float your boat and you can still sign up for it until 11 July! The outcome will be shared at the Day of Gratitude on 1 August.
Two short clown sketches from Augusto Cabrera from Peru and Sweden began and ended the event. These sketches were created to entertain sick children in hospital with whom Augusto works when he is allowed to visit.
Yousef Khanfer, the world-renowed photographer from Palestine and the USA, has several times led popular photography workshops in Caux. With the help of film maker Mike Muikia from Kenya he made a beautiful video presentation of some of his photos featuring water set to music.
The main presentation was from Professor Abdelmohsen Farahat from Egypt. Professor Farahat is a leading architect in Egypt and with his wife has been involved with Initiatives of Change for many years. In the last five years he has turned his considerable talents to painting and he shared a selection of his unique paintings around the water motif, often inspired by the river Nile which is central to the life of several countries including Egypt. There was also music.
A short recording of an intriguing experiment by singer and composer Nicolette Macleod from Scotland called Singing Architecture using a bridge over a river as part of making music.
Aching Shaiza, composer, singer and teacher from Nagaland, North East India, wrote and performed a new song she had created with the help of her sister.
We see this event as a series of tasters and hope to hear and see more from all the artists during this year. Thank you to all of you for sharing your talent with us!
- You would like to take part in our next online arts event? Register now for Words and Music on 2 July (2:00 pm GMT)!
- Join the fun and send in your origami boat video until 11 July with Float your boat.
- Discover all the anniversary celebrations on 75 Years of Encounters.
- Register now for the Caux Forum Online 2021.
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You missed the event? Watch it here on our YouTube channel.
- Video Nicolette Macleod: Singing Architectures on YouTube
- Photo water: Marta Dabrowska
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