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The difference between an Haitian mud cake and an American one is very fitting to symbolize the difference between "their" lives and "ours". Whereas recipes here call for ingredients like cocoa powder, butter, flour, liqueur, eggs and sugar, the main ingredient in the Haitian mud cake is, well, mud.
I had read an article about mud cakes last summer: Haiti: mud cakes become staple diet as cost of food soars beyond a family's reach, The following is taken from this article:
"For years mud cakes have been consumed by impoverished pregnant women seeking calcium, a risky and medically unproven supplement. But now the cakes have become a staple for entire families. It is not for the taste and nutrition - smidgins of salt and margarine do not disguise what is essentially dirt - but because they are the cheapest and increasingly only way to fill bellies. "It stops the hunger," said Marie-Carmelle Baptiste, 35, a producer, eyeing up her stock laid out in rows. She did not embroider their appeal. "You eat them when you have to." These days many people have to. The global food and fuel crisis has hit Haiti harder than perhaps any other country, the rise in food prices pushing a population mired in extreme poverty towards starvation and revolt. Hunger burns is like "swallowing Clorox".
You can read the whole article here.
That was the situation in Haiti BEFORE the earthquake.
I was putting the last touches to my January Newsletter editorial, a little lighthearted piece about tigers and woods, and sports achievements, quite suitable I thought to start the new year, when the earthquake struck Haiti. I just couldn't go on. All I was thinking of was mud cakes, and that they, of all things, rhyme with earthquakes.
And as calls for help and donations started to come, it occurred to me that the exhibit now hanging on the walls of the Elusie was practically all set to be a fundraiser: To Be Hung Over, our annual sale of "used" artwork, is in a silent auction format, just like a fundraiser.
So as of today To Be Hung Over IS officially a fundraiser and I am inviting you to come to the Elusie Gallery and bid!
100% of the Elusie Gallery's proceeds will got to
UNICEF's Haiti Relief Fund.
The items exhibited are very eclectic in styles, formats, media, and range in price from $45.00 to $4500.00. There is something for everyone. Come see for yourself. Bids will be accepted until February 6th.
I also invite all the owners of the works exhibited to donate some or all of their part of the proceeds. Please email or call me to let me know how you would like to participate.
For more information, please call 413-529-9265.
If you can't take part in our fundraiser but still want to donate, a quick and easy way to contribute is texting HAITI to 90999 on your cell phone, $10.00 will be deducted from your cell phone account and promptly donated to the Red Cross. More than 22 million dollars have already been collected this way, in less than a week.
Thank You!
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Have you heard of the recent study about what indoor cats are doing while we're off to work? A team of scientists with nothing better to do have fitted little cameras on 50 indoor cats. These devices were programmed to take pictures every 15 minutes.
The results were quite surprising: cats are apparently much more active than we thought. Apparently. What these scientists forgot is that cats are very smart. Cats are smarter than scientists. I'm sure they realized very early on the implications of such a study and were very worried about what their owners would do to them if it was confirmed that they were loafing around all day: hamster wheels for cats, walks in the park on a leash like those silly dogs, feline aerobics classes, you name it.
No way. The guinea cats sensed very quickly when the cameras were going to take next shot and they would get up just before, pretend to be running around chasing their tails or play with some silly fake mice and then, as soon as they heard the click of the cameras, go back to their lounge chairs for another 14 1/2 minutes nap, totally fooling the researchers.
To prove my point I decided to conduct my own study, with my own camera, taking shots at totally random times. The pictures below speak for themselves.
January 10, 9:00AM
See, these scientists have it all wrong!
You may have recognized Ellie Kat in these pictures. I adopted Ellie last year, hoping to provide her with a nice new home and give my other cat Mango a playmate. Well, it's NOT working. Ellie got used to her new home very quickly, she is very friendly and cuddly with people, but doesn't want anything to do with Mango. And poor Mango keeps trying to play with her, which results in a lot of hissing and angry meowing, Ellie being always worried of Mango's whereabouts as soon as she leaves the couch, and occasional chases around the house. Not fun for her, not much fun for Mango, and not much fun for me either...
Ellie needs a new home.
She's a great cat, very friendly with humans, litter trained even though she seems to prefer going outside, doesn't scratch furniture. If you know someone who wants a cat and DOES NOT have any other pets, or if you are this someone, please email or call me at 413-529-9265.
Thank You!
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I occasionally mention exhibits in this newsletter, but i do it only if the exhibitors are Eastmont customers, or friends, they are often both actually.
And if I don't forget...
Otherwise, the best place to post your listings is the Valley Arts Newsletter: it is published weekly, reaches a wider audience, and is very professionally done.
SWALLOWED
by
Maggie Nowinski
Hampden Gallery at UMASS Amherst
OPENING RECEPTION Sunday, January 24th, 2-5 pm
January 19th-February 23
"Consuming water from a plastic bottle is both "rejuvenating" and "emotionally numbing", according to artist Maggie Nowinski, whos' been in the process of creating a conceptual response to social and personal issues with water in plastic. The proliferation of of process plastic has invaded what Nowinski describes as 'a somatic moment' for humans, a 'primative experience of a basic need being met'. Made up of thousands of plastic water bottles, hundreds of photographs and drawings and a variety of audio and video recordings, Swallowed illustrates
not so much a point of view as a visceral experience."
(Jillian Fink, Preview Magazine Jan. 2010 issue)
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Some facts about plastic water bottles:
- The recycle logo on these bottles is not at all effective: almost 80% of them will end up in landfills.
- 2.7 million tons of plastic are used worldwide to bottle water each year.
- Production of plastic water bottles requires three times the water the bottle will eventually hold.
- You could fill a quarter of your water bottle with the oil it takes to produce it.
- 1.5 million barrels of oil is used annually to produce plastic water bottles for America alone - enough to power some 100,000 U.S. cars for one year.
- The bottled water you purchase is often in #1 PET or PETE bottles (polyethylene terephthalate), which may leach DEHA, a known carcinogen, if used more than once.
- 40% of all the water in plastic bottles is tap water.
- In the U.S., public (tap) water is regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which requires multiple DAILY tests for bacteria and makes results available to the public. The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates bottled water, only requires WEEKLY testing and does not share its findings with the EPA or the public.
- One Brita or PUR filter provides the equivalent to about 300 plastic bottles.
What I can conclude from these facts is that we should all be drinking wine! It comes in glass bottles, is good for your heart, and is a renewable resource.
In moderation of course, in moderation...
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Easthampton Artist Marjorie Tauer is showing her
Creative Journey
at the Northampton Council on Aging and Senior Center
The Artist Reception is
TODAY
January 21st from 3:30 to 4:45
Northampton
Council on Aging
& Senior Center
67 Conz Street
Northampton, MA
01060 |
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Congratulations to Easthampton City Arts for having been nominated
2009 Non Profit Organization of the Year
by the members of the
Greater Easthampton Chamber of Commerce.
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ECA has also recently been recognized by the Valley Advocate in its traditional "Halos and Horns" issue.
Halos: to the geniuses who conceived of Easthampton Bearfest. We're not sure how anyone successfully pitched the idea in the first place: "Let's put a bunch of giant painted fiberglass bears around downtown - that will get people to come to Easthampton." But, boy, did it work: Easthampton City Arts' Bear Fest was an adorable success. If we had a dollar for every time we passed through downtown Easthampton during the five-month fest to see hordes of people, cameras in hand, strolling the streets to visit the 35 bears decorated by local artists, well, we'd have had enough money to buy one of those bears in the festival-ending auction, which raised almost $60,000 for city arts programs.
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Speaking of awards and the Advocate:
It is time for the annual Best Of.
Please click on the logo below to cast your vote for, among other, your favorite Picture Framer!
Remember: you have to vote for at least 10 places for your vote to be counted.
Thank you!
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Thank you for reading!
Look out for our February Newsletter, with exciting news about the February Artwalk, a great new exhibit at the Elusie Gallery, some not to be missed news and offer on museum glass, and of course, my January editorial!
Jean-Pierre Pasche | |
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