As the United States prepares to depart from Iraq, sort of, this journal entry appeared this morning, December first, as I looked for something else. I wrote this in March 2011.
The mountains, deep blue out the window of the catholic church where the names of the war dead are being read.
Iraqi names are musical. American names read across boundaries, cultures. And they are all so young.
But not as young as all these Iraqi children, who died of burns when a mortar or cluster bomb was detonated. Probably near their homes. Or in their homes. So many children.
I read the names of Iraqi farmers. There are five names. Five farmers. They had been bound, tortured and shot. I see them in a dusty field. I choke.
Driving down the road after my time of reading the names is over, tears come and I pray. I pray for us pathetic humans. I pray for awareness. I pray for the end of the War Economy.
I pray.
A red tailed hawk appears then, just then and floats above the road, this road to the south, this Blessed Bird.
Blessed Birds, blessing us.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Water - 2011 and some back story
Watershed - from 2010, exhibited at the Santa Fe Art Institute in 2011 and at the Santa Fe Community Gallery in 2010
There's water from the Santa Fe River in a jar next to the mural.
The four images below are the tiny squares that rest on each corner of the cross form - the text reads:
The Laws of Ecology
All things are interconnected. Everything goes somewhere.
There is no such thing as a free lunch.
Nature bats last.
by Ernest Callenbach
Another detail from the mural Watershed:
These are cottonwood twigs that I collected and arranged. Cottonwoods drop whole beautiful twigs. Why? This is the water tree in the Southwest. Cottonwoods grow near water, encourage water, and are habitat to so many - a tree of life.
A photo of returning the water I borrowed from the Santa Fe River, back to the river. It looks like there is a lot of water here...but this was actually a very large puddle. 2011 was a dry year.
The plastic bags are filled with water from our watershed and beyond (this was installed at the Community Gallery) - labeled: the Santa Fe River, Tesuque River, Rio Grande, snow melt and tap water.
Below: this is another event Dominique Mazeaud and I did together. This one with Elizabeth Wiseman. This was along the Orilla Canal in Albuquerque as part of the Land Arts events/exhibitions (a statewide project) in 2009.
In front of the 45 to 50 women is the wonderful singer Madi Sato. The buckets! I love the buckets...we had ropes attached to the handles and threw the buckets into the canal, drawing up water.
Here are a few images from the 2011 Santa Fe River event:
Below: Don Kennell's "Fish Out Of Water" installed next to the Santa Fe River - I curated a small outdoor exhibit of temporary art plus the Women in White did another water/river ritual.
Dominique Mazeuad listening to the river, to the Earth.
Last year, in 2010 (apologies for the lack of order here): I worked on the 350 (350.org) satellite event. This was coordinated by the Santa Fe Art Institute. That dry meandering line is the Santa Fe River, see that little blue section? That's about 1,500 people holding large pieces of cardboard painted blue, blue tarps, blue sheet, blue blankets, anything blue...to put water back in our river.
Here's a closer image.
Isn't that beautiful? There were also Buffalo dancers from San Juan Pueblo (they are to the right of the blue, standing above the river) and many elders, many children, families, people of all colours, ages and from many nations. For most this was the first time they had ever entered the Santa Fe River bed. Each person was utterly happy to be there, we were working with our Mother Earth and she with us. And we made something quite beyond our small selves, something inspired, beautiful and rich. We were the water, we were the river and she was us.
As Gary Snyder says, "Performance is currency in this Deep World. The Deep World being of course the thousand- million (billion) year old world of rock, soil, water air and all living beings...."
There's water from the Santa Fe River in a jar next to the mural.
The four images below are the tiny squares that rest on each corner of the cross form - the text reads:
by Ernest Callenbach
Another detail from the mural Watershed:
A photo of returning the water I borrowed from the Santa Fe River, back to the river. It looks like there is a lot of water here...but this was actually a very large puddle. 2011 was a dry year.
Below: this is another event Dominique Mazeaud and I did together. This one with Elizabeth Wiseman. This was along the Orilla Canal in Albuquerque as part of the Land Arts events/exhibitions (a statewide project) in 2009.
In front of the 45 to 50 women is the wonderful singer Madi Sato. The buckets! I love the buckets...we had ropes attached to the handles and threw the buckets into the canal, drawing up water.
Here are a few images from the 2011 Santa Fe River event:
Below: Don Kennell's "Fish Out Of Water" installed next to the Santa Fe River - I curated a small outdoor exhibit of temporary art plus the Women in White did another water/river ritual.
Dominique Mazeuad listening to the river, to the Earth.
Last year, in 2010 (apologies for the lack of order here): I worked on the 350 (350.org) satellite event. This was coordinated by the Santa Fe Art Institute. That dry meandering line is the Santa Fe River, see that little blue section? That's about 1,500 people holding large pieces of cardboard painted blue, blue tarps, blue sheet, blue blankets, anything blue...to put water back in our river.
Isn't that beautiful? There were also Buffalo dancers from San Juan Pueblo (they are to the right of the blue, standing above the river) and many elders, many children, families, people of all colours, ages and from many nations. For most this was the first time they had ever entered the Santa Fe River bed. Each person was utterly happy to be there, we were working with our Mother Earth and she with us. And we made something quite beyond our small selves, something inspired, beautiful and rich. We were the water, we were the river and she was us.
As Gary Snyder says, "Performance is currency in this Deep World. The Deep World being of course the thousand- million (billion) year old world of rock, soil, water air and all living beings...."
Monday, June 14, 2010
Water
In deepest gratitude to the waters, the snows, the rains, our rivers, our acquifers, our watersheds, our oceans and our Mother Earth. We remember that All Waters Are One and at this time we hold in our hearts and minds our beloved Santa Fe River and our Rio Grande, our Mother Rivers, as they travel to the Gulf of Mexico, where we send our prayers.
This is Dominique Mazeaud and I on June 5, 2010 about to read the above words at the Santa Fe Watershed River Festival, where we did a performance ritual at river side with the Women In White, Amy Christian's Spirit of the River puppet from Wise Fool (with the magical Fish) and singer/soundsmith Aimee Conlee. The photographs are by my daughter Halley Roberts.
Declaration of Water
Pai Yee Siw Ni
As children of water, we raise our voices in solidarity to speak for all waters.
Water, the breath of all life, water the sustainer of all life, water the voice of our ancestors, water pristine and powerful.
Today we join hands, determined to honor, trust and follow the ancient wisdom of our ancestors whose teachings and messages continue to live through us.
The message is clear: honor and respect water as a scared and life-giving gift from the Creator of Life.
Water, the first living spirit on earth.
All living beings came from water, all is sustained by water, all will return to water to begin life anew.
We are of water, and the water is of us. When water is threatened, all living things are threatened.
What we do to water we do to ourselves.
What we do to water we do to ourselves.
What we do to water we do to ourselves.
(Read aloud by the Women In White - this was adopted at the Hopi Navoti gathering October 23, 2003, Second Mesa, AZ)
Amazing Aimee Conlee singing a Brazilian Prayer to the Orisha of Water
In procession along the river, carrying the water we brought from our homes.
Singing our words for water (in some 150 languages) alongside the Santa Fe River, where we returned our water to the river.
For the right to life, for the respect of nature and the uses and traditions of our ancestors and our peoples, for all time the following shall be declared as inviolable rights with regard to the uses of water given us by the earth:
Water belongs to the earth and all species and is sacred to life, therefore, the world's water must be conserved, reclaimed and protected for all future generations and its natural patterns respected.
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government, therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these principles are noncontrovertable.
Water is best protected by local communities and citizens who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of water. The peoples of the Earth are the only vehicle to promote earth democracy and save water.
(The Cochabamba Declaration, 8 December, 2000, Cochabamba, Bolivia - created when the people re-took their water from the corporation Bechtel)
This is Dominique Mazeaud and I on June 5, 2010 about to read the above words at the Santa Fe Watershed River Festival, where we did a performance ritual at river side with the Women In White, Amy Christian's Spirit of the River puppet from Wise Fool (with the magical Fish) and singer/soundsmith Aimee Conlee. The photographs are by my daughter Halley Roberts.
Declaration of Water
Pai Yee Siw Ni
As children of water, we raise our voices in solidarity to speak for all waters.
Water, the breath of all life, water the sustainer of all life, water the voice of our ancestors, water pristine and powerful.
Today we join hands, determined to honor, trust and follow the ancient wisdom of our ancestors whose teachings and messages continue to live through us.
The message is clear: honor and respect water as a scared and life-giving gift from the Creator of Life.
Water, the first living spirit on earth.
All living beings came from water, all is sustained by water, all will return to water to begin life anew.
We are of water, and the water is of us. When water is threatened, all living things are threatened.
What we do to water we do to ourselves.
What we do to water we do to ourselves.
What we do to water we do to ourselves.
(Read aloud by the Women In White - this was adopted at the Hopi Navoti gathering October 23, 2003, Second Mesa, AZ)
Amazing Aimee Conlee singing a Brazilian Prayer to the Orisha of Water
In procession along the river, carrying the water we brought from our homes.
Singing our words for water (in some 150 languages) alongside the Santa Fe River, where we returned our water to the river.
For the right to life, for the respect of nature and the uses and traditions of our ancestors and our peoples, for all time the following shall be declared as inviolable rights with regard to the uses of water given us by the earth:
Water belongs to the earth and all species and is sacred to life, therefore, the world's water must be conserved, reclaimed and protected for all future generations and its natural patterns respected.
Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government, therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these principles are noncontrovertable.
Water is best protected by local communities and citizens who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of water. The peoples of the Earth are the only vehicle to promote earth democracy and save water.
(The Cochabamba Declaration, 8 December, 2000, Cochabamba, Bolivia - created when the people re-took their water from the corporation Bechtel)
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
3 March 2010
Finally unearthed this blog today with the help of Halley, my daughter (who also helped me set it up), advising me over the phone. When I asked her how to change the background colour she said, "Go to Settings and then, you'll figure it out." I love it when she says, "You'll figure it out." I did, too. My next question is how to post images (ho ho just saw the little window "insert image" hang on to your hats).
This is me teaching an art class sometime last year, my boss took this photo. These are bright kids - one of them told us about finding meteorites out around Cerrillos, NM, "Little super hard stones. Like finding MAGIC!"
These are concretions, not meteorites, but these are also MAGIC. I found these in Vermont alongside a river in a bank of beautiful gray clay, near where I was doing a residency a few years ago. The clay has been hardened around stones and sticks into (mostly) whimsical forms. Gifts from Mother Earth.
This is the clay bank - and a giant hand I made there.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
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