Alternative G7 of Philosophy in TheRedBar

Lloyd Hotel & Cultural Embassy

17 April, 20.30 

At 17 April the Cultural Embassy of Lloyd Hotel organizes the Alternative G8 of the Philosophy. Eight young philosophers who have an innovative perspective on big social and ethical issues have been invited to use their thinking power. Starting point is not automatically the West.

The Alternative G7 of Philosophy takes place prior to the first G8 of Philosophy, on 18 April in the Beurs van Berlage. The organizers of this summit state that next to decisiveness there should be room for reflective power. Eight thinkers who are key figures in their field of work are invited to use their intellectual forces to think through pressing societal and ethical issues. The Netherlands is taken a case study, for many problems that play here are in fact transnational so the solutions can be implemented on a bigger scale.

At the Alternative G7 of Philosophy the world is taken as case study. The Netherlands can learn from issues that play on a worldwide scale and about which thoughts have been formulated on a global level.

Annewieke Vroom, Babah Tarawally, Andrea Speijer, Christian Greer, Bruno Jakic, Haroon Sheikh and Settie Wessels are participants to the Alternative G7. The question that was posed to them and the other invited thinkers is how their thinking can contribute to the way we deal with current societal and ethical challenges. 

About ethics and technology, political relations in the world, boundaries and the opening of them. Alternatives to the economic system.

The evening is edited and hosted by in-house philosopher Renate Schepen

All the programmes of the Cultural Embassy of Lloyd Hotel choose a different perspective.

Free admission, please register at: cultureleambassade@lloydhotel.com 

www.lloydhotel.com 

T    i   m   e         S   i   l   e   n   t                 S   t   i   l   l   e        T   y   d

1.700 year old Sunland Baobab: tree with largest diameter in the world

Modjadjiskloof, Limpopo Province, South Africa
Illustration: watercolour 114cm x 85cm on Arches paper

 Watercolour Exhibition   Waterverf Uitstalling

Wednesday 04 December 2013   9h00 - 18h00    

Address: 14 Zwaanswyk Street  Karindal  Stellenbosch   South Africa

Contact/Kontak:   Carien Van Der Merwe   Tel (+27) 021-8868059

    Realising how complex life can be I decided to stop a few years ago. No more running just because that is what people do. I started looking at life in slow time. I started meditating, first in Europe. Belgium, Sweden, England; at meditation centers. Then to Asia: India, Nepal and the Himalaya mountains. Lately in Myanmar, where I learnt extra-ordinary things from a monk about our existence, very profound information. This information changed the way I look at life.
    When I travel I go for months at a stretch, mostly meditating a lot. Traveling with my “knapsack over my shoulder” and a roll of paper under my arm, the drawings are mostly made outdoors in the in between periods. Sitting there for hours, looking at the landscapes and getting deeply absorbed in the moment... I use local water to make the drawings. It feels like taking the drops of water for a walk, and they leave their tracks on my paper as drawings, telling stories about the places where I travel.
    I started running with the flow of the water and allowing the surprises that are integral in the technique to dictate what the image will be, instead of trying to control the process - exactly what I was learning in meditation. Then watercolour becomes the most wonderful and free medium that is experimental and filled with life and movement, a constant communication with the place where I am drawing. I often use my hands instead of the brushes - which are far too intimidating and limiting in what it can do! My favorite drawing tool is the back of a broken brush, and often rubbing the precious watercolour paper, breaking the surface, brings very interesting qualities which a brush cannot do. And of course letting the water run its own course.
    Watercolour is an ideal medium to deeply express transient moments of life: “Try to catch it!” - and it is gone. Just as one gets it - “Yes, it is working, the painting is perfect...!” - and already the moment has passed. What becomes very important in the working process is to catch that òne fleeting moment when the balance is just right between the technique and the image, then these drawings start telling a story that is more than the sum of the parts. To catch the sphere of the place, the movement, to allow the surprise, and then to leave it as it is.
    It becomes really interesting when trying to repeat this moment. “That was magic, I’ll try it again, this time it will be better!” Not possible, the moment is gone. But instead of regret and frustration caused by the perfect drawing that simply does not happen, there is a trail of drawings left that tells the story of the day. While working colours change, shadows move, every object is continuously different. That is why I mostly end up with series of the same object - almost like film stills that change from moment to moment., but a film in slow time. Always searching for the one image that will tell the real story about that place.
They tell a story about living in slow time and finding that one fleeting moment of recognition, or of understanding, of communication beyond strict boundaries, about how we perceive our existence. Colour, texture, the energy of the place. Looking at one place for a long time changes one’s perception from solid, obvious objects into an awareness where one looks so deeply into it that time and boundaries disappear.

    “Who am I, where am I? Am I this, am I that...”