Rishikesh Art Exhibition

/// A COLLABORATION BETWEEN KIDS AND GROWNUPS

For the second time we put up an art exhibition in Rishikesh which turned out be more like an art festival than just a show. People could buy the photos and drawings and by that help the orphanage and CRE8 Foundation. The kids performed a theaterpiece and had a danceshow, over 400 phot…os were up, live music, good food, video, installation, interactive artpieces, lots of smiles and laughter made this a magic day. looking already forward to be back next year !! Thanks for everyone who supported this event !
I put together a Flickralbum that documents the work and i hope you enjoy it …

Smile

I am working on a portrait series and i think i already found my personal favourite. I didn´t ask him for his name but his smile still has its spell on me and keeps pulling my own mouth into a humble smile. Love it !

Shiva says hello

Kumba Mela

There´s no real word to decribe the experience of walking around KUmba Mela. It definitly did NOT feel like planet earth anymore to me, rather a very very distant galaxis…

Baba´s Corner

The other day i walked down the usual lane i wlak almost everyday and i saw this group of baba´s hanging out there, smiling, wtaching me with my bulky camera with an obvious interest. They were on the way to Haridwar to visit the Maha Kumba Mela and were excited to get there and wanted me to take their picture and this little series came out…

India Indeed

Yeah, i know it´s been a while now since my last update. But Internetconnection is slow here in India and Impressions too many that digesting it and putting stuff up just seems to take a lot longer.But all is well here in Rishikesh. It´s great coming back to a place where you spent so much time already. It feels like a second home India is again giving me a big old warm & crazy hug. Love it or leave it, but i am deeply in love again with this parallel universe…

Here some pics from the last days. I just came back from Maha Kumba Mela in Haridwar which is the biggest spiritual gathering on the planet (also the biggest in general…) and about 80 (!!) Million (!!!) people are expected but to be honest once you start seeing people everywhere it doesnt really matter anyway. Baba´s that usually just hang out in their caves to meditate come to bath in the Ganga and meet and greet with the other fellow babas from the subcontinent. So just relax and enjoy the show.

Shidt happens

I am on my way to the Maha Kumba Mela, it´s early morning, my eyes would obviously rather still be on standby.
But as they say here, there´s little less that brings you more luck than stepping into a big pile of shidt. And it might very well be true.
About half an hour later i found 20 Rupees on the ground.

Stuck in Paradise

There´s some places where you know you just don´t want to leave to the moment you get there. That happened to me about 4 years ago the first time i visited this little Island. It´s at the very south of Laos just when the Mekong opens up and an area of little islands starts to sprinkle the surface seen as little dots from a birds perspective. One of the dots is called Don Det and i dont know if it was the village life with the fishermen, the ultrarelaxed atmosphere or the kids and pigs running around on sandy ways that caught me. But i am once again in love with this place. Please no one get me out of here. But the moment of truth came today, i picked up my indian Visa (no waiting time!! almost surreal!!) and i am now already on my way to the Himalayas where the next workhops with the kids of Ramana´s Garden orphanage are waiting. Also Kumba Mela is happening and a small amount of indians (aproximatly 80 millionen and with that the biggest gathering on this planet. ) are also on their way up north. There will be no space for claustrophobia i guess. Hmm, trains will probably be full. So how do i get there now ?!

Everybody get crazy right now

I started a little collection of the everyday visual crazyness you are exposed to over here. This is one of them…

Oh what fun it is to ride…

Christmas was rather unsnowy here in the land of coconuts & curries. Nevertheless i had a beautiful day  in Chiang Mai with friends listening to a thai grandpa playing countryversions of western christmas classics. Doesn´t get a lot better than that. Only when Tom rides home and continues singing that song on his moto. I wish you all a beautiful Christmas time. I am making myself on my way to Laos now…

( ♥ )

untitled (vagina), 2009
from the series: 1-minute-art-pieces

Music is the key. Especially in Thailand.

The Thai´s love music that´s for sure.
This lovely lady is singing in the Bangkok Chattuckak market with an endurance that seemed to be coming from a different dimension. I came back after 5 hours of walking and she was still doing her thing.
Most of the tunes you get to hear in Thailand somehow stongly remind me of the 90´s.
Softrock at it´s best !
Often a little cheesy with a lot of “i love you´s“  hidden inside the lyrics.  Actually not really hidden but more right in the frontrow. But that´s of course not all. More than back home, there´s chanting and singing together on a way more open level. Music is all over. In the temples when the monchs chant mantras, in the private households when grandma sings a new Popsong on the karaoke machine or simply the musicians hanging out on the street playing on their instruments or youth getting together for a jam session at the bonfire.  Here´s a little collection of musical moments that i captured so far. We start with the western style which was very popular in the 90´s and now slowly seems to be replaced with Reggae as the new favourite.
So Johnny cash goes coconuts.
Let´s listen:

When wandering the streets and you take a peek inside the households you will sooner or later stumble into a scene that includes a TV and and microphone and some regular local dancing and shouting at a volume that you ususally connect only with rockconcerts. And that´s exactly what it is !
A little karaoke concert at your own home to pass time, have a break from preparing fine tasting dishes.
Can it get any better?

In my opinion Thailand deserves to be not only known for their famous smiles but also for their musicality. I have never meet so many youngsters being able to play a guitar than here.I will finish of this post with my own personal favourite Thai Song. I actually heard it for the first time 3 years ago and it got stuck inside my ear. Job to do (great artist name ,no?! Of course a phonetic translation from thai) sings about a girl that leaves him and aks:

The chorus goes like that:

“Doo doo doo te tam. Tam mei tung tam kap chan dai?”

which could be translated as:

“Look what you have done. Why you hurt me like that?”

And it´s not about his girlfriend running of with a new lover.
No, it´s worse!
It´s about her stealing his Bob Marley Cd. That´s of course not cool at all and that anger had to be converted into a hitsingle.
I truely completely dig that tune and i am happy i found a nice live version on youtube that i can now share with you:

But when tuning into the chords to broken heart seems soon fergotten and the mind ready for the next round of a karaoke or bonfire jamsession.
Music is the key.
Especially  in Thailand.

P.S. Ok, one more round if you still haven´t got enough. Here´s another one.
I posted it earlier already but now i feel is the time to dig it out again.
It´s a twisted selection of Thai pop, Pakistani poppywood, North Korean commie funk, Haitian voodoo drums and Syrian techno that will definitly make your neighbour knock on your door if you tune it up to the right volume !
Enjoy the madness !! Hehe.
by Lowdjo Live

A fucking strange moment

When i walk out of my little bungalow  and hop across the garden that is filled with banana and mango and limetrees then just behind that little river when i walk out on the street i usually pass a bunch of dogs from the neighborhood. Most of the time there´s a lazy cat lying on my moped challenging me to find a different way to get to the buddhist temple and have breakfast. This specific morning there was love in the air.
You could smell it. Love so strong that it seemed to get stuck in all the little openings it could find. Love so passionate that it seemed to find a strong lasting grip on the surface of my skin even though i just put on some sun lotion.
Then i had a look on the street and my intuition was right. But loving someone also means letting go. That´s is a lesson yet to be learned by  humans as well as the dogs of this neighborhood. I put the  purring cat on the side and start the engine while leaving behind an odd moment to be witnessing at such an early time of the day.

Fieberschübe

Manchmal ist Fieber so etwas wie ein etwas zu stark aufgesetzter Saunagang. Es tut weh wenn man zulange drinnen bleibt, fängt an bunt hüpfende Sterne zu sehen und die Fähigkeit zwischen heiss und kalt zu unterscheiden scheint irgendwo in den hinteren überbrühten Synapsenverkettungen verloren gegangen zu sein und alles was ins duale Bewertungssystem vorzudringen scheint ist: heiss und scheissheiss und ganz vielleicht noch ultrascheissheiss.
Aber dafür fühlt man sich danach meist um so besser wenn man aus seinem brutzelnden Dornröschenschlaf erwacht ist , und wer hat schon was gegen ein paar milde Halluzinationen und ein allabendliches Traumprogramm das ein aufregende Mischung aus Harry Potter und Hitchcocks Psycho ist und jedes noch so gute 3D-Kino in den Schatten stellt? Inklusive Dolbysurroundsound und Flugfähigkeit.
Ich eigentlich nicht.

Das einzige Problem bei Denguefieber ist, es dauert nicht die üblichen 2-3 Tage sondern kann bis zu einem Monat dauern. Drei Tage Saunagang, ein Tag Pause und das Spiel geht wieder von vorne los. Ich denke ich bin nun nach 10 Tagen über den Berg und hatte damit glücklicherweise nur eine milde Version der von Mücken übertragenden Viruskrankheit.

Dengue ich zumindestens.

Nun habe ich mir eine schon öfters beim Reisen auftretende Krankheit zugezogen: Reiseenthusiasmus Fatalica.
Tritt bei mir meist bei betreten des Zuges zum Flughafen auf und breitet sich dann langsam aber sicher immer weiter in alle Bewusstseinsebenen im Geiste aus bis sie kurz vor Ende dann vom der Rückflugticketsnostalgia Ultimativa abgelöst wird. Aber das ist ja noch ne Weile hin. Will sagen, das Fieber hat mich zwar gut durchgeschüttelt, dafür bin ich jetzt umso dankbarer für die wieder einsezende Klarheit und körperliche Gesundheit.
Pai, der Ort in dem ich gerade bin, hat sich in den letzten Jahren von einem verschlafenen Hippienest für batiktragende „Farangs“ und thailändische Bohemiens zu einem In-Ort für grossstadtmüde  Thais aus Bangkok und Umgebung entwickelt. Der ökonomische Boom hat Läden aus jeder Ecke spriessen lassen und eine Kette von Entwicklungen in Gang gesetzt der nicht immer ganz koscha zu sein scheint. Farmer ethnischer Minderheiten im Umland bekommen von Banken Kredite angeboten, diese sind den Umgang mit grossen Summen nicht gewohnt und verprassen meist in kurzer Zeit die Summen und eines Tages steht die Bank vor der Tür und pfändet ihr Land, weil sie ihren Kredit nicht zurückzahlen können. Und ein weiterer Bungalowkomplex ensteht der sich meist nicht viel von dem des Nachbarn unterscheidet. Trotzdem gibt es natürlich auch hier noch wunderschöne  Gegenden. Der Natur scheint es es meist zemlich latte zu sein, was diese kleinen wuseligen Homo Sapiens da um sich herum alles treiben. Sie bleibt sich selbst einfach treu und die Flüsse schmiegen sich weiterhin an die hügeligen braunrötlichen Bergketten, Reisfelder werden wie eh und je von einem saftigen Grün umschmeichelt während die Wintersonne ein mildes organgeweisses Licht in den Abendstunden verströmt welches mich mit jeglichem Wandel in egal welche Richtung wieder versöhnt. Ich mein lästern kann ja jeder und ich verstehe auch das der globale Wandel nicht mehr aufzuhalten ist. An Orte nach mehreren Jahren (Bei mir und PAI sind es 3 Jahre)zurück zu kehren und diesen Wandel anhand von nicht mehr extistenten Verhältnissen zu erleben stimmt einen doch teilweise etwas nachdenklich. Die Welt ist Wandel, und wenn die Temperatur zu hoch wird gibt es halt einen globalen Saunagang. Mutter Erde schwitzt ein bißchen die Schadstoffe aus und geht danach wieder frisch erholt an ihr Werk sich in einer Elypsenform um ihre grosse Schwester die Sonne zu drehen die ganz unter uns gesagt  eh unter konstanten Fieberschüben zu leiden scheint.
Aber das ist eine andere Geschichte.

Elephand

Elephand, 2009