Some photos from my Greece – Middle East Odyssey!

March 15, 2009

When I took these pictures I used a cheap “instamatic” camera without a zooms lens. My instamatic camera used film and it was very expensive to develop the large number of rolls of film I had when I returned to Australia. I then scanned the photos and used Photoshop to enhance and edit as needed. Today (2022) I use my phone camera, not only is it far cheaper to take and see your photos, but also with the large memory in them you don’t have to worry about carrying rolls of film. If you have even more than the camera phone can carry you can upload them to the cloud.

So, 2000 seems like another age when it comes to photography!

The following pictures are from my old instamatic camera.

By the way, after the series of photos with captions there are lots without captions with some repeats. I figure I haven’t the time to caption them but you know they’re from my trip through Greece & Middle East, so I won’t have to. Sorry!

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I will add more from my odyssey as time allows.

Here’s a few:

Just click on the pictures below to see an enlarged version.

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Recommendatons for Living – G I Gurdjieff

March 15, 2009

 

George I Gurdjieff  (1866? – 1949) was a Greek – Armenian who introduced the Fourth Way to the Western world. His Greek name is Georgiades which has been “Russified” to Gurdjieff by which he is more commonly known. Gurdjieff’s ideas have touched me to the core and I can say that of all the spiritual teachings available to us today, that his resonates in a very deep way with my own needs and search.

G I Gurdjieff

G I Gurdjieff

Below are some “Recommendations for Living”  from a Spanish site that states these are Gurdjieff’s. Don’t know if this the case but they feel right. Both the original in Spanish and an English translation are here, plus a link to the original source is provided at the end of the quote:

1. Fija tu atención en ti mismo, sé consciente en cada instante de lo que piensas, sientes, deseas y haces.
~ Fix your attention in yourself, be conscious at every instant of what you think, feel, want and do.

2. Termina siempre lo que comenzaste.
~ Always finish what you started.

3. Haz lo que estás haciendo lo mejor posible.
~ Do your best with whatever it is you are doing.

4. No te encadenes a nada que a la larga te destruya.
~ Do not chain yourself to anything that will destroy you on the long haul.

5. Desarrolla tu generosidad sin testigos.
~ Develop your generosity without witnesses.

6. Trata a cada persona como si fuera un pariente cercano.
~ Treat every person as if they were a close relative.

7. Ordena lo que has desordenado.
~ Order what you have messed up.

8. Aprende a recibir, agradece cada don.
~ Learn to receive, thank every gift.

9. Cesa de autodefinirte.
~ Cease to autodefine yourself.

10. No mientas ni robes, si lo haces te mientes y te robas a ti mismo.
~ Do not lie or steal, if you do, you lie to and steal from yourself.

11. Ayuda a tu prójimo sin hacerlo dependiente.
~ Help your neighbor without making him dependent.

12. No desees ser imitado.
~ Do not wish to be imitated.

13. Haz planes de trabajo y cúmplelos.
~ Make work plans and carry them out.

14. No ocupes demasiado espacio.
~ Do not take too much space.

15. No hagas ruidos ni gestos innecesarios.
~ Do not make unnecessary noises or gestures.

16. Si no la tienes, imita la fe.
~ If you don’t have it, imitate faith.

17. No te dejes impresionar por personalidades fuertes.
~ Do not let yourself be impressed by strong personalities.

18. No te apropies de nada ni de nadie.
~ Do not take possession of anything or anyone.

19. Reparte equitativamente.
~ Distribute equitably.

20. No seduzcas.
~ Do not seduce.

21. Come y duerme lo estrictamente necesario.
~ Eat and sleep what’s strictly necessary.

22. No hables de tus problemas personales.
~ Do not speak of your personal problems.

23. No emitas juicios ni críticas cuando desconozcas la mayor parte de los hechos.
~ Do not emit judgments or criticisms when you do not know most of the facts.

24. No establezcas amistades inútiles.
~ Do not establish useless friendships.

25. No sigas modas.
~ Do not follow fashions.

26. No te vendas.
~ Do not sell yourself.

27. Respeta los contratos que has firmado.
~ Respect the contracts you have signed.

28. Sé puntual.
~ Be on time.

29. No envidies los bienes o los éxitos del prójimo.
~ Do not envy the goods or successes of your neighbor.

30. Habla sólo lo necesario.
~ Say only what’s necessary.

31. No pienses en los beneficios que te va a procurar tu obra.
~ Do not think of the benefits that your actions will bring you.

32. Nunca amenaces.
~ Never threaten.

33. Realiza tus promesas.
~ Keep your promises.

34. En una discusión ponte en el lugar del otro.
~ In a discussion put yourself in the place of the other.

35. Admite que alguien te supere.
~ Admit that someone might supersede you.

36. No elimines, sino transforma.
~ Do not eliminate, transform.

37. Vence tus miedos, cada uno de ellos es un deseo que se camufla.
~ Conquer your fears, each one of them is a desire that camouflages itself.

38. Ayuda al otro a ayudarse a si­ mismo.
~ Help the other help himself.

39. Vence tus antipatí­as y acércate a las personas que deseas rechazar.
~ Conquer your antipathies and get close to the persons you wish to reject.

40. No actúes por reacción a lo que digan bueno o malo de ti.
~ Do not act out of a reaction to what good or bad they say about you.

41. Transforma tu orgullo en dignidad.
~ Transform your pride in dignity.

42. Transforma tu cólera en creatividad.
~ Transform your anger into creativity.

43. Transforma tu avaricia en respeto por la belleza.
~ Transform your greed into respect for beauty.

44. Transforma tu envidia en admiración por los valores del otro.
~ Transform your envy into admiration for the values of the other.

45. Transforma tu odio en caridad.
~ Transform your hate into charity.

46. No te alabes ni te insultes.
~ Do not praise nor insult yourself.

47. Trata lo que no te pertenece como si te perteneciera.
~ Treat what doesn’t belong to you as if it did.

48. No te quejes.
~ Do not complain.

49. Desarrolla tu imaginación.
~ Develop your imagination.

50. No des órdenes sólo por el placer de ser obedecido.
~ Do not give orders just for the pleasure of being obeyed.

51. Paga los servicios que te dan.
~ Pay for the services that you are given.

52. No hagas propaganda de tus obras o ideas.
~ Do not make propaganda of your doings or ideas.

53. No trates de despertar en los otros emociones hacia ti como piedad, admiración,
simpatí­a, complicidad.
~ Do not try to awaken in others emotions towards you like compassion, admiration, sympathy or complicity.

54. No trates de distinguirte por tu apariencia.
~ Do not try to distinguish yourself by your appearance.

55. Nunca contradigas, sólo calla.
~ Never contradict, just be silent.

56. No contraigas deudas, adquiere y paga en seguida.
~ Do not contract debts, acquire and pay right away.

57. Si ofendes a alguien, pídele perdón.
~ If you offend someone, ask for forgiveness.

58. Si lo has ofendido públicamente, excúsate en público.
~ If you have offended him publicly, apologize in public.

59. Si te das cuenta de que has dicho algo erróneo, no insistas por orgullo en ese error y
desiste de inmediato de tus propósitos.
~ If you realize you have said something wrong, do not insist out of pride on that mistake, and desist immediately of your intentions.

60. No defiendas tus ideas antiguas sólo por el hecho de que fuiste tú quien las enunció.
~ Do not defend your old ideas just because of the fact that it was you who uttered them.

61. No conserves objetos inútiles.
~ Do not keep useless objects.

62. No te adornes con ideas ajenas.
~ Do not adorn yourself with others’ ideas.

63. No te fotografíes junto a personajes famosos.
~ Do not take Pictures of you next to famous characters.

64. No rindas cuentas a nadie, sé tu propio juez.
~ Do not explain yourself to anyone, be your own Judge.

65. Nunca te definas por lo que posees.
~ Never define yourself by what you posses.

66. Nunca hables de ti sin concederte la posibilidad de cambiar.
~ Never speak of yourself without granting yourself the possibility of changing.

67. Acepta que nada es tuyo.
~ Accept that nothing is yours.

68. Cuando te pregunten tu opinión sobre algo o alguien, di sólo sus cualidades.
~ When asked your opinion about something or someone, only say their qualities.

69. Cuando te enfermes, en lugar de odiar ese mal considéralo tu maestro.
~ When you are sick, instead of hating that illness consider it your teacher.

70. No mires con disimulo, mira fijamente.
~ Do not look hintedly, look straight.

71. No olvides a tus muertos, pero dales un sitio limitado que les impida invadir toda tu vida.
~ Do not forget your dead, but give them a limited place that impedes them from invading all your life.

72. En el lugar en que habites consagra siempre un sitio a lo sagrado.
~ In the place you live consecrate always a place for the sacred.

73. Cuando realices un servicio no resaltes tus esfuerzos.
~ When you perform a service do not highlight your efforts.

74. Si decides trabajar para los otros, hazlo con placer.
~ If you decide to work for others, do it with pleasure.

75. Si dudas entre hacer y no hacer, arriésgate y haz.
~ If you doubt between doing and not doing, take a risk and do.

76.  No trates de ser todo para tu pareja; admite que busque en otros lo que tú no puedes darle.
~ Don’t try to be everything for your couple; admit he/she may search for in others what you cannot give him/her.

77.Cuando alguien tenga su público, no acudas para contradecirlo y robarle la audiencia.
~ When someone has their public, do not approach to contradict or steal the audience.

78. Vive de un dinero ganado por ti mismo.
~ Live off of money earned by yourself.

79. No te jactes de aventuras amorosas.
~ Do not boast about love affairs.

80. No te vanaglories de tus debilidades.
~ Do not vainglory yourself of your weaknesses.

81. Nunca visites a alguien sólo por llenar tu tiempo.
~ Never visit someone just to fill your time.

82. Obtén para repartir.
~ Obtain in order to share.

83. Si estás meditando y llega un diablo, pon ese diablo a meditar.
~ If you are meditating and a devil arrives, put that devil to meditate.

http://www.librosdeluz.net/2008/04/mandamientos-de-gurdjieff.html#

Here are some photos of Gurdjieff and some of the key people in the Work:

http://digitalseance.wordpress.com/galerie-dimage/la-galerie-de-gurdjieff/

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A Ganma Odyssey

March 11, 2009

 

This is the title I used for an article published in  “Education Australia”  way back in 1998. I think it is still relevant in many ways, particularly now that Australia has had a change in goverment. Since it already is online I will just give you the link to it here  “A Ganma Odyssey” . If the link should ever become inactive I will upload it to this blog.

I chose this title to connect an Aboriginal word with my Greek heritage – the Odyssey. Ganma is an Aboriginal word from the Northern Territory which is the name for a waterhole that has fresh and salt water mixing together in a rock pool. One of the speakers at the conference (see below “The Ganma Metaphor”), suggested we use the word “ganma” to refer to a “multicultural space” as in a classroom. Anyway, read the article and you will see the full context. By using the word “odyssey” I alluded to my own Greek heritage and the fact that the journey to the Heart of Australia was also a journey to the centre of my own heart because I was retracing a journey I undertook about 25 years earlier as a young man on the road looking for truth . . . . my own naive version of a Dharma Bum.

The coloured text excerpts and photos, beneathe “The Ganma Metaphor” are scanned from the hard copy of “Education Australia” Issue 39, 1998. So, check the article out >> “A Ganma Odyssey”.

The Ganma Metaphor

“This metaphor I had learned during earlier visits to Yirrkala Community School in East Arnhem Land, on the coast of the northeast corner of the Northern Territory. Yirrkala has organised their curriculum and teaching around a metaphor of the contact zone where rivers meet the sea, named ganma in one of the local Aboriginal languages. Literally, ganma is where fresh and salt water meet. Metaphorically, ganma is where cultures meet: fresh water is indigenous Yolngu knowledge and practices; salt water is the white Balanda knowledge and practices; and one place where they meet is in school.

Flying in a small plane from Yirrkala west to Darwin after a visit in 1993, l could see clearly the swirls of different colors in the ganma waters: bluer from the sea, browner from the land. Manduwuy Yunupingu, who was principal of Yirrkala when I first visited in 1991, has also described the role of Yothu Yindi, his internationally known rock group, in the meeting place of popular culture in these same ganma terms (Shoemaker 1994).

At first thought, this ganma metaphor may seem to ignore the important power differential between dominant and nondominant cultures in institutions like schools. But if you think again about literal relationships between fresh water and salt, the potential threat of unequal power is there: salt water tides and typhoons can flood the land, while fresh water cannot seriously harm the ocean. But if the two can be kept in balance in the ganma space, then the rich nutrients that come together from the mix of different waters nourishes richly diverse forms of life-biologically in the literal situation, culturally and intellectually in the metaphorical.”

Courtney B. Cazden

Quote from ‘A Postscript from Alice Springs’, in Multiliteracies: Literacy learning and the design of social futures.

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Here is an excerpt from the article :

It has been suggested that the human notion and definition of self has been through major shifts since the beginning of human consciousness (Julian Jaynes, “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind”, Boston, Houghton Miffen, 1977 ). The closest to us historically, that may demonstrate this shift, is said to have occurred in Homer’s Greece.


According to this view, in Homer’s day, the people did not have the same sense of self as we may have. Their inner psychological organisation was different to what we take for granted. The voice of the mind was somehow perceived as a “god” speaking from outside themselves. It didn’t take too long before people started sussing out that there were a lot of “gods” running around in the temples and in the marketplaces saying contradictory things about how things were, that they saw the untruth of their “godhood”. Gradually this voice of the “gods” became established in the sense of self we call “ego”. What was there before the voice? Who and what was Ulysses’s “sense of self” on his Odyssey?

Have we in the dying years of the Industrial Age, come to a cultural cul-de-sac? Somehow, we have alienated ourselves from not only each other but also the common ground of experience – nature, the Earth. Is it time for another definition and sense of self, another way of knowing, one that acknowledges something other than the sovereign rights of the mechanistic, rational, technocratic and anti – spiritual mindset of the “Western” sense of self?

Edward de Bono in his “I Am Right, You Are Wrong”, thinks that this is the case. He suggests that a renaissance of thought and language patterns is needed so that humanity doesn’t self destruct. He proposes turning away from the “table top logic” of the traditional “Western” mindset in favour of developing a way of knowing that is based on perception. De Bono explains that recent developments in the understanding of self-organising systems and ideas from information theory, have given indications as to how the neural processes of the brain perform the activity of perception. Perception operates in nerve networks like a feature of a self-organising biological system, a living entity. Let’s call information that comes through our senses impressions. These impressions fall on the inner landscape of our mind like rain. The rain on the mind organises itself into tributaries, rivulets and streams of temporarily stable patterns. These patterns can subsequently flow into new sequences and patterns. According to de Bono, the perceptual mode of thinking encourages the mind to form multiple branching flow patterns; the sensory information is not boxed in by fixed linguistic concepts, generalities, and logic. Perceptual thought patterns follow the natural behaviour of neural networks; our present mode only plays back a recording of words and concepts provided by a preestablished cultural mindset.

Courtney Cazden during her paper on Ganma Space spoke of the necessity of getting rid of the margin and centre metaphor. This metaphor was based on the myth of terra nullius of students’ minds and being. Courtney told us that while she and Mary Kalantzis were flying to some school in the Northern Territory they noticed water holes that had fresh and salt water tributaries and other smaller rivulets all feeding the main space of the water hole. This, they found out was known as a ganma. The ganma looks like localised swirling spirals from the air. Courtney said that the mingling of brown, fresh and salt water in this space was analogous to the culturally diverse classroom. And in light of the process of perception is an apt image of the inner subjective world, our mind, our being.

The multicultural classroom as a Ganma Space, this metaphor rather than create separate marginalised groups besides the mainstream, recognises the primacy of all the diverse groups’ backgrounds and experiences. There is no one central dominant culture enforcing a mainstream reality. There is an influx of different cultures, different literacies, different world views, a swirling waterhole, a turning of bracken water whose salt has not lost its savour.

A living Ganma Space.


Let’s go one step further and consider that in the industrially developed world there is the primacy of the head, (some localise it to the left hemisphere of the brain) and all the other ways of being and cognition – feelings, sensations and intuition have been marginalised. What do we have if we apply the ganma metaphor to our own inner world? In this ganma, head, heart, body and spirit all contribute equally, but differently, to our sense of the real. These parts of ourselves may all be cognitive in nature, they may be different tributaries of knowing, different source data. Ganma Space taken as psychological space, the internal world of our experience, would allow for the possibility to connect our known and unknown parts of ourselves. This opens the opportunity to connect with others by being able to include more of the “other” in one’s awareness.
Could the perceptual mode of thinking be a ganma way of knowing?

The taste I seek is a taste of being – not in the philosophical sense – a point of view to be debated, but rather an experience, an immersion through the background/underground of one’s chattering monkey mind – into the moment. We’ve seen that working from only a part of ourselves doesn’t work. The problems confronting all of us in this time of planetary transition are whole systems oriented. Now we see through Chaos theory, that a butterfly fluttering her wings in South Africa has global consequences. And when it comes to the ecological state of the Earth and the widening gap between the rich and poor across the planet, it is obvious that whole, global issues require an effort and a response that is from the whole of ourselves, the ganma of ourselves.

From “A Ganma Odyssey” published in Education Australia, 1998.

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Cartoon

March 9, 2009

g-fly

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Flotillas True Beginnings ……from the Holy Mountain

February 28, 2009

Mount Athos, Greece

Mount Athos is in north eastern Greece, east of Salonika and only accessible by boat from Ouranopolis (ouranos means sky so Ouranopolis means Sky Town).

Mount Athos is in north eastern Greece, east of Salonika and only accessible by boat from Ouranopolis (ouranos means sky so Ouranopolis means Sky Town). The Holy Mountain is located on the red peninsular of Halchidi.

  When are true beginnings of events, births and resurrections? I ask this question because I’ve been asked when did the “Flotillas of Hope” begin? Common sense answers that it was the day and time the boats set off for Nauru. “Eureka” left Sydney on 15 May and “One Off” and “Eureka” left Brisbane for Nauru on 23 May, 2004. However, before the boats even existed, “Flotillas of Hope” was an email sent at a particular date and time from somewhere. Was this email “Call to Action” the real beginning of the project? A feeling anchored in my heart for a few months before the “Call to Action” email was sent over the internet.  Was this feeling the real beginning that only needed my fear of ridicule to disappear to express itself? Where did this feeling arise from?

I believe the real beginning happened four years before we set sail for Nauru. My father died in December, 1999 and being the eldest son of a Greek family it was my duty to go to Greece and check out some property stuff. I hadn’t been back to Greece since I left when I was four years old. I couldn’t afford to return to my birthplace, my roots, until I was 48. Over the years I dreamt about returning and all the special places I would visit. One was Dodona which is about 5 kilometres from Anatoli, the village where I was born. It is the oldest oracle in Greece, older than the Delphic Oracle. Legend has it that Jason, before he sailed off with the Argonauts searching for the Golden Fleece, visited the oracle of Dodona. The miraculous priam that spoke in prophecies from the front of the Argonauts’ boat, was carved from wood of Dodona’s  sacred grove.

Dodona, oldest oracle in Greece. I sat on one of the rocks and listened to Zeus speak through the rustling leaves before I left for the Holy Mountain.

Dodona, oldest oracle in Greece. I sat on one of the rocks and listened to Zeus speak through the rustling leaves before I left for the Holy Mountain.

This is near the spot where Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos) shipwrecked on Holy Mountain's beach.

This is near the spot where Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos) shipwrecked on Holy Mountain’s beach.

One other place I dreamt of visiting was Mount Athos, the Holy Mountain as Greeks call it. The monks who live there consider themselves gardeners for the Mother of God’s Garden on Earth.  When Mary and Saint John set sail from Cyprus their tiny boat was blown by strong winds off course to the north east coast of Greece where it shipwrecked. When Mary saw the beauty of this place she asked her son Jesus if she could have it as her garden. Soon after, seekers of truth arrived, some remained to become gardeners and others left after some respite. This is why it is called the Holy Mountain.
 
 I was baptised as Greek Orthodox when I was a baby. In my late teens and early twenties I searched far and wide, behind book covers and the open roads of Australia and New Zealand looking for something. As part of that search I found that the Holy Mountain may have something of what I was looking for. I had sought answers in religions and philosophies alien to my heritage. Now was the chance to look into my own indigenous faith.
 
Ouranopolis - this is where you leave by boat to go to the Holy Mountain.

Ouranopolis – this is where you leave by boat to go to the Holy Mountain.

It was Easter, 2000, there I was sitting opposite Geronta Pavlo at the table with the wood oven heating some water behind me. I was inside a time bubble hugged by mud, stone and timber walls. Byzantium breathed in this small kitchen that has cooked meals and boiled water for over a millenium.

The tiny church next door to the room I stayed in at the old Byzantine house.

The tiny church next door to the room I stayed in at the old Byzantine house.

Of all the cats scampering for fish heads in the saucer near the door, two – the twins, Alpha and Omega ran towards Geronta, finding their way onto the table top. Geronta was quietly reading a newspaper. His hair, like small waterfalls of grey, fell over his shoulders and behind his back. Strands of his long white beard fell on the table. Gerontas, 90 years old, looked like a middle aged biker, with the full round belly of body armour and broad shoulders. Alpha and Omega tugged at his beard, he said, “Off with you,” and then smiled. I went to lift the boiling water off the stove and when I returned I saw Geronta folding a page of the newspaper. Over and over he folded. I wondered if this was some kind of Holy Mountain origami. When he finished folding he held it up.

He said, “Here Stavros, this is for you.”

I said, “What is it Gerontas?”

“It’s a boat. I don’t know why but my heart told my hands to make this for you.”

As I received the gift he said, shrugging his shoulders, “Who knows, it may mean that you return to the Holy Mountain sooner than you think. Or maybe something else. It is for you.”

The paper boat folded by Gerontas and given to Stavros.

The paper boat folded by Gerontas and given to Stavros.

What was interesting in retrospect is that he gave me the boat a day after we had a discussion about what is needed to alleviate suffering and injustice on Earth. I was thinking about the dispossessed, the homeless, the weak, the persecuted, the refugees of the world. I told Gerontas that the needs of the world are such that people who can do something should not hide on Holy Mountains but be in the world and try to change it for the better, Smiling, he said, “Our Christianity is esoteric, it is hidden. Here on the Holy Mountain you are no longer in the exoteric world. Our concerns are spiritual.”

“Gerontas, you appear not to care for the very ones Jesus tells us we should care for.”

“Stavros, from where you are it appears that way. You know, the Holy Mountain needs at least five monks to survive in caves and feed on light. Without these monks connecting Heaven and Earth through their sacrifice, the Mother of God’s Garden will wither and die. How do you know that this house, this monastery, this Holy Mountain does not play a similar role for the whole Earth? How much more pain and injustice would be on Earth now if the Holy Mountain did not exist? We, each of us has our calling, our vocation. My work is here while yours is in the exoteric.”

“Gerontas, do I need to become a monk to fulfil what is needed or is there another way?” I asked him.

Alpha or was it Omega, crawled softly towards his hand. He reached for the cat’s head and stroked it gently. He said, “This is what is needed from all…..the practice to bring the spiritual into the material, Heaven on Earth. You don’t need to be a monk or a nun to do this. All you need is pure intention. If your intent is pure, the way is open. Do what you have to do, follow your conscience and allow this particle of God,” he pointed to my heart,” your conscience, guide you.” He looked at me with soft eyes and added, “You must die before you die and then be reborn, this is what Easter is all about.”

A few days after I was on my way to Istanbul or Constantinople as Greeks call it with the paper boat and lots of material for thought. My journey over the next two months was along the ancient trade route from Istanbul to Cairo.  

I took the paper boat with me on Eureka. I now believe that the beginning of the journey to Nauru was the moment when Gerontas gave me the paper boat. He, as a gardener, planted a seed. 

St Paul at the base with Mount Athos in the background.

St Paul at the base with Mount Athos in the background.

Entrance path to the house I stayed in with the two monks.

Entrance path to the house I stayed in with the two monks.

View from a balcony near my room.

View from a balcony near my room.

 

 

 

 

4 Comments | consciousness, Dodona, flotillas of hope, fourth way, Holy Mountain, hope caravan, human rights, Mount Athos, personal, philosophy, photography, refugees, sufi, travel, Zeus | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
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Symbols

February 24, 2009

geomterical-illusion

Here’s something I wrote a while back and have decided that it’s OK to just scan my hand written stuff as long as its legible.  Actually, I’m enjoying having this blog because it gives me the opportunity to sift through stuff I’ve written and then to “store” the “chosen” stuff in virtual space. If you’re reading this and you don’t like what I write, that’s OK too because you can move on and I still have my stuff stored in “space”.

Anyway, here’s something I wrote on I Ching symbolism ….. 

symbols-writing-sg

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Cultural Stomp 1997 – 2007

February 21, 2009

Below are a series of articles, photos and graphics of the Cultural Stomp. Rather than me writing about it here, just read the articles – one from the NSW Government Hansard, one I wrote for “Education Australia” and there is the editorial I wrote for the 2007 Tenth Anniversary of the Cultural Stomp. I was one of the original founders of this amazing Festival, being part of the organising group we called Cultures in Action ( CIA ).

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Cultural Stomp, 1998

 

Newcastle Celebrates it’s Cultural Diversity

 

Around Easter, 1997, there was a feeling in the City of Newcastle’s air that was brittle, if not fragile. BHP had just announced the closure of its steelworks and 2500 workers were to be on the scrap heap by 2000. Many of these workers had literacy and numeracy learning needs. The “downsizing” of BHP also would have a painful effect on ethnic communities of the Hunter, with about 600 non English speaking background workers needing extra English language skills.

 

The Hunter region was in a state of shock, because those 2500 workers retrenched would by the multiplier effect mean another 12 to 20,000 jobs would also disappear in the region. Newcastle was hurting, and hurting bad. So when, only a couple of weeks later, the announcement that the One Nation Party was to be launched for the first time in NSW on 30 May, 1997 at the Civic Theatre in Newcastle it was important that an alternate forum for people with opposing views should be organised.

 

Drawn by a common need and a common objective, a diverse group of citizens met at Wollatuka, Newcastle University to see what would be done. A young Aboriginal student stood up and said to the circle of people who had gathered, “Hi, my name is Belinda and I’m glad that so many people have shown up today. I want to do something about Pauline coming to visit us, but I don’t want to yell at her… I want to do something positive… I want to celebrate what we already have in our city. Who also wants to?” Instantly people called out “Yes” in their diverse ways. We divided up into work groups and we all knew that whatever we come up with we only had three weeks to organise it. We decided that on the same night that Pauline Hanson was speaking we would hold a celebration of our cultural diversity in Civic Park which is only about 200 metres from Civic Theatre. Some us met later at the Pod, and we called the event, The Cultural Stomp and our group, Cultures In Action (CIA).

 

On the night, over five thousand people turned up at Civic Park to let One Nation know that we have something to celebrate in our local community ; we were celebrating our diversity and the unity of that diversity as Australians. With dancing, singing, music, poetry, fire twirling and a Ceremony scheduled at the same time Pauline Hanson was due to speak, The Cultural Stomp made its debut. Outside the Theatre, where 1000 people paid $10 to listen to Hanson, there was a large crowd of people letting her know that her views weren’t necessarily felt by a large percentage of people living in Newcastle. In many ways, the Cultural Stomp was a reconciling force to the active and the resistant forces of One Nation and confronting each other outside the theatre. The Lord Mayor was quoted in the Newcastle Herald as saying, “If it wasn’t for The Cultural Stomp last night, there may well have been violence.”

 

This year, Cultures in Action (CIA) met once again to see if we would organise another Cultural Stomp. In a fundamental way the purpose was the same as last year; to hold a peaceful celebration of Newcastle’s cultural diversity and unity in Civic Park. The only difference this year was that we didn’t have the visual presence of the One Nation Party to contend with, which meant that we probably wouldn’t get the media exposure and build up of hype. The process of organising the event, the networking and the seeking of support and sponsorship revealed that Newcastle loved the concept of The Cultural Stomp. Its sponsors and supporters included Newcastle City Council; The Pod; Newcastle City Centre; Newcastle Trades Hall Council; Ethnic Affairs Commission; Awabakal Co-Op; New South Wales Ministry of the Arts; Hunter Area Health; Newcastle University Student Association; Purrimaibahn Unit; Migrant Resource Centre; Multicultural Neighbourhood Centre; Ethnic Communities Council; Hunter Institute of Technology Association; Newcastle University Union; Newcastle Workers Club;Wollatuka; Fast Events; Ron Hartree Art School; Alan Morris M.P; Bryce Gaudry M.P., Brian Birkefeld and many more.

 

Three nights before the event, at the end of the Sorry Service for the Stolen Generation at the Anglican Cathedral, the bishop said, “Don’t forget to come to The Cultural Stomp at Civic Park on Saturday.” The night before the event I had returned home late after working with fellow CIA members making lanterns and the bamboo and paper Globe of Reconciliation for the Cultural Stomp Ceremony. As I walked through the door my kids called out, “Dad, come quickly, The Cultural Stomp is on TV!” I rushed over and saw our logo of the nine petalled flower and heard our event announced in the middle of a football game between the Newcastle Knights and Western Suburbs Roosters. From an utterance in the Cathedral to the middle of a televised footy game, The Cultural Stomp was announced.

 

On the day we had crowds coming and going in the thousands. This year’s Stomp included Hunter Institute of Technology’s Purrimaibahn Unit displaying art and writings from TAFE students and kids at infant, primary and high schools of our region. It was a wonderful gesture of reconciliation where Aboriginal people shared their work, their hopes and dreams of living in harmony with other members of our culturally diverse community. Throughout the day, performances and speeches from the local multicultural community kept people entertained and informed. We had started the day at 2 o’clock in the afternoon with an Aboriginal Smoking Ceremony; at dusk we were united in the Globe of Reconciliation Fire Ceremony; and the night ‘finished’ at 10 o’clock with dancing irt the park.

 

Two weeks later, after the news of the One Nation win in Queensland, I was talking to a few students and teachers in the sun outside the classrooms. Someone raised the spectre of Hansonism and an Aboriginal student said, “Newcastle is OK, we had the Stomp and people here are OK.” Someone else said, “You know, I walked through Civic Park the other day, and it was different. I could still remember all the people and the kids painting the didgeridoos, the South Pacific Islanders dancing and just the whole thing. The Cultural Stomp has changed the way I see Civic Park.”

Cultures in Action is planning another Cultural Stomp for next year and it promises to be bigger and better; regardless of the political landscape.

 

Stavros

Education Australia, 1998

Cultural Stomp went on to run annually for a decade with the support of Newcastle City Council and provided paid work for others long after I stepped back. I didn’t document that continuation at the time, but I’m glad it happened.

=================================================================================

Legislative Assembly Hansard (Extract)

Hansard extract, NSW Legislative Assembly, 7 June 2000 (article 36).

Speakers: Gaudry Mr Bryce; Markham Mr Colin  |   Speech Type: PRIV; Private Members Statements

CULTURAL STOMP

Page: 6794

 

 

Mr GAUDRY (Newcastle—Parliamentary Secretary) [5.52 p.m.]: Last Saturday, together with several thousands of Newcastle and Hunter people, I participated in the fourth Cultural Stomp in Newcastle, an event the aim of which is to bring people together. The Cultures In Action Committee organised the event to nurture the spirit of the culturally diverse Australian society, to give people the opportunity to work together and celebrate reconciliation while simultaneously respecting differences and commonality in our cultures. That cultural event occurred approximately a week after one of the greatest, if not the greatest, demonstrations of solidarity that one could ever wish to see, when hundreds of thousands of people came together in Sydney to celebrate Corroboree 2000 and reconciliation with Australia’s indigenous people.

The Cultural Stomp was first staged in Newcastle in May 1997 as a strong but peaceful statement opposing the strong and divisive politics that were being espoused at that time by One Nation. The whole approach was to bring people together into social action and in peace to demonstrate all the values that can be combined in a community rather than focusing on the divisiveness that was occurring at that time. Since that time, the Cultures in Action Committee in Newcastle has built a really successful cultural event which takes place in Civic Park, opposite Newcastle City Hall. The events bring together a whole range of young people and community groups such as the ethnic communities in Newcastle, the arts communities and visitors from areas outside Newcastle.

 

The Cultural Stomp day of celebration includes demonstrations of a whole range of dancing and singing. Very importantly, this year’s celebration involved people who have disabilities. The Life Without Barriers group. Life Without Barriers, a special group in Newcastle that works towards providing access and opportunities to people who have disabilities, participated in performances in Civic Park. One of the really significant events was the participation of Mrs Benita Mabo. Tuesday 6 June was the anniversary of the handing down of the Mabo decision, a decision that has brought about tremendous change. It ended the theory of terra nullius and began the continuing struggle by many indigenous people for reconciliation and recognition of their rights as the original occupants of this land. Mrs Mabo spoke of the personal struggle of Eddie Mabo and the struggles of her own people, the South Pacific Islanders, who came to Australia during the labour trade, which featured blackbirding. She referred to the struggle that continues for her people to obtain recognition in this country.
One of the outstanding features of the day was a performance by the Mulloobinba Newcastle high school dance group, which previewed the dances that they will be performing at the opening ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. I congratulate Mrs Barbara Greentree and the dance group on the selection they will perform at the opening Olympic ceremony and also on the performance that was given on the Cultural Stomp day. One of the organisers of the Cultural Stomp, Mrs Lorraine Norton, has adopted a comment from David Suzuki’s book The Sacred Balance, which states that local communities are actually the mainstay during change. It states further: 

 

“The social unit that will have the greatest stability and resilience into the future is the local community which provides individuals and families with a sense of place and belonging, fellowship and support, purpose and meaning.”

That is the whole idea underlying the celebration that takes place annually in Newcastle. Its aim is to bring people together, to celebrate their diversity and the linking of all cultures in Australian society.

Mr MARKHAM (Wollongong—Parliamentary Secretary) [5.57 p.m.]: The honourable member for Newcastle is to be congratulated for bringing to the attention of this House the Cultural Stomp, which takes place annually in Newcastle. The event is a real demonstration of reconciliation in action—and as I have often said, actions speak louder than words. I congratulate all those involved with the Cultural Stomp. Similar events, as often as possible, should be held in all parts of Australia.
 

cultural-somp-2007-foot1

 

Cultural Stomp 1998

Cultural Stomp 1998

Scanned article from the 10th Anniversary Cultural Stomp Programme

Scanned Editorial from the 10th Anniversary Cultural Stomp Programme, 2007.

cultural-somp-2007-stomp-out-racism1

Horoscope: Cultural Stomp 4 PM 30 May, 1997, Civic Park, Newcastle, Australia.

Horoscope: Cultural Stomp 4 PM 30 May, 1997, Civic Park, Newcastle, Australia.

Original 1997 Poster with phone numbers erased.

 

2007 Cultural Stomp Poster - note the 9 petalled flower from the first Cultural Stomp in 1997.

2007 Cultural Stomp Poster – note the 9 petalled flower from the first Cultural Stomp in 1997.

 

Combined Churches' Statement on the visit of Pauline Hanson on 23 May, 1997.

Cultural Stomp, 1998

First Press Release for Cultural Stomp, 1997

First Press Release for Cultural Stomp, 1997

Letter to people, May 1997.

Letter to people, May 1997.

Cultural Stomp, 1998

Cultural Stomp, Newcastle

Cultural Stomp Update May, 1997.

cultural-somp-original-logo-green

Flyer for Community Meeting to Organise Cultural Stomp in 1998.

Flyer for Community Meeting to Organise Cultural Stomp in 1998.

From 2007 Cultural Stomp Programme

From 2007 Cultural Stomp Programme

From 2007 Cultural Stomp Programme

From 2007 Cultural Stomp Programme

From 2007 Cultural Stomp Programme

From 2007 Cultural Stomp Programme

Cultural Stomp 1998

Cultural Stomp, Newcastle

6 Comments | art, community art, Cultural Stomp, Festival, human rights, Newcastle, politics | Tagged: , , , , | Permalink
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Forgotten Madonna on the Run

February 20, 2009

 

I found some poems and lyrics I wrote some time ago, in a box of stuff I had forgotten about. So here’s one. Yes, it’s a song with chords and melody……., but here all you’re getting are the lyrics.

Forgotten Madonna on the Run

Along the punished ground with no fences,
down the road I go.
I lost my defenses.
Chased the ashes blown by the wind,
siezed the moment that was between
the parting of the ocean, the parting of a dream.

You stood there so warm and still,
in the door of a Dollar Hotel.
With a secret late in the night,
a Forgotten Madonna on the run,
a Forgotten Madonna on the run.

I searched for gold when I was younger,
near the place where angels linger.
Now my life’s flung around a TV dial
stopping where vision is on file,
where a pair of eyes stare in the dark within a dreaming.

You stood there so warm and still,
in the door of a Dollar Hotel.
With a secret late in the night,
a Forgotten Madonna on the run,
a Forgotten Madonna on the run.

Civilized days drape over the window pane
of those who live with the Flood,
who scorch their eyes in all night cinemas
obsessed with heroes,
who fool around revolving doors
between hell and paradise.

The young sing Armaggedon tunes,
the old dance to satellite news.
The neon light flickers on
a Forgotten Madonna on the run,
a Forgotten Madonna on the run.

stavros

2 Comments | lyrics, poetry | Tagged: | Permalink
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Portrait

February 20, 2009

Stavros - portrait by John Bell

Stavros , 1974  – portrait by John Bell

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I am sanctified . . . . . . . . .

February 20, 2009

 

My heart is being stretched. I am sanctified after being petrified. I’ve lost everyone’s tomorrows and have found my own. The sky above is my sky. Never before have I owned the earth, never before has the sun burnt  through my shadow to enlighten the crevices of my brain. I await no one and no one awaits me. I dip my finger into the Aegean Sea and taste its salt. This same salt is in my blood, and yours, yet my life had lost its savour, until now. Hidden eyes in my skull open like blossoming flowers to see my nakedness.

Kiss my eyes, kiss my mouth, kiss my hands, kiss my feet, kiss my heart, for I am now sanctified. I’ve leapt into the abyss and it’s nothing, like tomorrow is nothing, like yesterday is nothing. The abyss is none other than this moment, the Today of my life. I’ve let go my fears, my hopes, my wishes, I only breathe and feel the pulse of here and now. This here and now is not limited by a circumference of a clock and hands that tick and cut like a knife each moment. No, this now is the Present of my whole life. In this Now, I am being conceived, I am being buried in my grave, I love, I hate, I cry, I laugh, every moment of existence is here and now.

I no longer need to believe, I’ve crossed the threshold of belief.

To what?

The great Unknown.

stavros

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