IN KISII (2016)

In Kisii is a poetic voyage through Kisii town, Kenya. From the still image of a truck stopped on the curbside of the bustling city, images from three moments in time rise to the surface.

This video was realized following participation in the Kistrech Poetry Festival.

5th International Video Poetry Festival (2016)

Apples and Oranges (2015) will be playing at the 5th International Video Poetry Festival in Athens (Winter 2016) as well as Illumination (2016) – a collaboration with Valerie LeBlanc.

About Void Network and +the Institute [for Experimental Arts]

The yearly International Video Poetry Festival 2016 will be held for the fifth time in Athens, Greece. Approximately 2500 people attended the festival last year.

There will be two different zones of the festival. The first zone will include video poems, visual poems, short film poems and cinematic poetry by artists from all over the world (America, Asia, Europe, Africa). The second zone will include cross-platform collaborations of sound producers and music groups with poets and visual artists in live improvisations.

The International Video Poetry Festival 2016 attempts to create an open public space for the creative expression of all tendencies and streams of contemporary visual poetry.

Notes from the 4th Kistrech Poetry Festival (2016)

I have participated in many poetry festivals, each series of events is unique, but the fourth Kistrech Poetry Festival had something that others don’t have. To begin, there are not many venues for international poets or artists in Africa, the economic realities of the continent dictate this scarcity of opportunities. Christopher Okemwa, the director of the festival has been working hard to create an event where the audience and the poets can share insights and discussions. Another thing that made this festival standout was the fact that our group, the invited poets and a large section of the audience, were always together. We were together in the conference room, at lunch breaks and we were together in buses travelling to different locations. This created a sense of belonging and gave us a chance to get to know each other more closely.

Most of the Festival events took place at the main campus of the Kisii University from October 3rd until October 8^th with writers from Nigeria, the USA, Denmark, Netherlands, Norway, Canada, and Kenya. Student participants came from both Kisii University and Nairobi University. A series of readings by internationally based, Kenyan poets as well as student poets took place on the Kisii University Campus, at the Genesis Preparatory School, the St. Charles Kabeo High School and on the shores of Lake Victoria. In addition to these, papers were also presented: Beatrice Ekesa (Nairobi University) talked about issues of globalization in the context of Spoken Word in Kenya; Martin Glaz Serup (Denmark) presented the Holocaust Museum, a conceptual post-productive witness literature that deals with the representation of Holocaust; Eric Francis Tinsay Valles (Singapore) delivered a text about trauma in poetry; Seth Michelson (USA) talked about the process of translation and the practice of human freedom; Micheal Oyoo Weche (Kenya) spoke of oral poetry and aesthetic communication practiced by children within the Luo tribe; Tony Mochama (Kenya) discussed the modernity of African poetry in Kenya; Godspower Oboido (Nigeria) compared Nigerian poet Christopher Okigbo with Russian poet Alexander Pushkin; Margaret N. Barasa (Kenya) explained the convergence of language and culture in Manguliechi’s Babuksu after-burial oratory and Valerie LeBlanc and myself (Canada) presented our poetic work created within the Everglades National Park biosphere.

This was the first time that the Festival was held during the University’s Cultural Week. The campus was alive with students and many attended the festival’s lectures and presentations. Throughout the festival, there was a constant flow of energy, of shaking hands, of being truly part of the whole, like the Festival’s program states.

Here are two key moments, two events that made an significant impression on me. Both happened on October 6^rd 2016.

GENESIS PREPARATORY PRIMARY SCHOOL

We were on our way, to the Genesis Preparatory Primary School to meet and to read to the children. As with every morning, the light was intensely beautiful; the sky blue and the sun hot. At the school, three hundred children, dressed in their dark green uniforms with green and white checker shirts were waiting for us. They actually had been waiting all year for this moment and had a program of poetry, songs and dances prepared for the occasion. We all sat outside in the courtyard under the sun and under the shades of pine trees, on blue chairs and yellow chairs, on green chairs and magenta chairs. There was electricity in the air. A teacher came up front, to welcome us and invited a group of students to take place on the stage. Many students had a chance to perform poetry and to sing. To my surprise, a lot of the songs were in French. The Principal told me later that they wanted them to learn English, Kiswahili and French as many countries in the regions speak French. After that, it was our turn to read. Gunnar Wærness (Norway) created a song for a crow that was perched in a tree above us; Martin (Denmark) read 100 words from a children’s book; Jennifer Karmin (USA) involved the children with a participative poetry reading and so on.

After the readings, we were invited to plant trees on the school grounds. Poets planting trees: ‘Poet-trees’ said someone. The holes were already dug and the little seedlings were sitting in a wheel barrel, all ready to go. As each poet was busy planting, students would gather around, looking at our techniques and cheering for the forest to come. Many of the holes were sewn with yellow flowers that looked similar to squash flowers. This seemed to present a wish to protect and encourage the future growth of the trees. The man in charge of the grounds made sure that the dirt was well packed and that the seedlings were straight. When we left it looked like a little forest had been added to the valley.

BOGIAKUMU VILLAGE

When we stepped out of the bus, I don’t think any of us expected to be greeted with such enthusiasm. A musician was already playing his nyatiti, an eight-string instrument, as loud as he could. There was a lot of laughing, clapping and dancing. In the blink of an eye, we were dancing as well, which generated even more laughter. Then, each of the poets was taken in charge by one or two villagers for a personal tour. I left with my two hostesses and Cornelius, a Kisii University student who was translating the exchanges. In Kiswahili I said ‘good morning’ to the women. They both laughed. Cornelius told me that in the afternoon, the custom is to say, ‘good afternoon.’ I wished that I had a pen and a piece of paper to add this to my list of Kiswahili phrases. I repeated it in my head a few times like a mantra as we walked on the main road until we took a path down the hill. The earth is red. Everything is lush. The air is warm and humid. The pathways are incredibly complex, there are paths going everywhere. We walk past mango trees, papaya trees, banana trees, avocado trees, sugar cane and cornfields. Here and there a goat tied to a post looks at us as we go by. Cornelius tells me that the two women are widows and are cultivating their plots and raising their animals by themselves. We finally arrive at a house. As we go in, a few little chicks scramble to get out. The air inside the house is heavy and the sunlight makes the dust appear like diamonds floating in the room. The walls are covered with a lacework-like fabric. I notice two pictures on one of the walls and go to them. They are images of two smiling men. Under the images are their names and two dates. The men are dead. They are the husbands of the two women. The oldest man was born in 1963 and the younger in 1985. The images and the frames look old, as if they had been on the wall for a long time, but the younger man died just a couple of months earlier. After a while, we pull away from the wall and sit on couches. From there I can feel the heat radiating from the tin roof. Cornelius tells me that when one of the women’s husband died, she had to wait for planting the corn and this is why hers is so short compared to the rest. There is a silence. We hear the wind rustling through the nearby sugar canes. At that moment, we also feel the absence of this husband. Then the older woman gets up and goes out. We follow her lead back onto the paths. Red soil. Corn fields. The sun feels good. We arrive at the second home. The woman opens the door. The light floods into the main room. It is very hot and very bright. We sit and rest there for a while.

I can’t remember much from this house; my mind was still filled with the other place. Then we were back on the main road. There were many young people walking to the river to get water. It looked like they just came back from school. All carried yellow jugs. The river, I am told, is not far. I asked Cornelius to teach me how to say, ‘How are you’, and then I repeat this to a group of young boys. They all laugh. Cornelius tells me that there is a difference to whether you speak to one person or many. He teaches me how to say ‘how are you’ to many people, which I say many times during the walk back to the village centre.

The weather was turning. Big dark clouds were gathering and it started to rain. Instead of eating outside, we all went inside a large house to share a meal. We had yams and uji, a porridge made from ground millet. By the meal’s end, the weather had cleared up and we were invited to go back outside. We sat on plastic chairs in a big circle. The musician was in the middle with his instrument and dancers came from behind him. Eventually, it was the poets’ turn to join in the dance. Later, as we walked back through the pathways toward the bus, we saw a rainbow arching over the valley.

KISII POSTSCRIPT
The night before we left, two women were killed by the police at the market. Some people at the hotel heard what sounded like fireworks. I heard nothing. But two women died that night. Then there was a riot and wooden stands were thrown into a bonfire as people protested. In the morning as we drove down the road, the market looked empty, here and there were piles of charred wood. A few days later, the University of Kisii introduced new fee payment rules for its students. This change resulted in a massive riot, this time by students. A fourth-year woman student was shot in the head by a stray bullet, but survived. The Daily Nation (Nairobi) newspaper, reported that 10 students had been arrested while the Standard (Nairobi), mentioned that more than 30 students were arrested. According to the newspapers, the fee collection office and a School of Law office were set ablaze. Images of soldiers on the grounds of the University were unsettling to see. Many of our young poet friends from the Kisii University and University of Nairobi (Elly Omullo, Ombui Omoke, Roberto de Khalifa) wrote poignant texts on their Facebook walls, putting words to what was happening around them.

THITIMA (energy)

In this landscape
of shovelled earths
and un-shovelled earths
of arched goats
looking thoughtful
of speeding Boda-Bodas
and Boda-Boda sheds

In this land of Churches
and Choma zones
of men with shovels
walking empowered
dreaming of self-sufficiency
of yams and sweet potatoes and bananas

In this cosmology of paths
extending outward
shortcutting everything

In this endless network
of paths of life and death
of paths taken and abandoned
of paths like the energy of the Big Bang
like the music rising
from every bus
every stand
from the music
that envelops everyone

There is no stopping the going
and no stopping the rhythms.

A path goes this way
another one that way
they overlap
become larger
veer between bushes
They are the tentacles
of giant octopus’
dancing a waltz

The neurons
sending electricity
to each limb
light up this
East African night

The paths are
the way to go
the way to come
back home

They are
what is left
of having to go
of wanting to go

They are what is passed down
to the children who in turn
will invent new roads to travel upon
and new rhythms to walk along.

Daniel H. Dugas
October 9, 2016

GODS

God is everywhere!
Especially as decals on buses

GOD ALMIGHTY
in bold letters
racing on a dirt road
God in the middle of the wilderness
incarnated in every speeding Boda-Boda

God is everywhere!
I see him
in the diesel fumes of buses
I see him
in the whirlpools
of papers and bags
in the tails
of small goats
eating in ditches
I see him
in the yellow plastic jugs
balancing on heads
I see him in the tarps
flapping in the wind
in the wind that controls everything
I see him
in the smoke of every fire
of this never ending choma zone

He is here,
everywhere,
present on each kernel of corn.

Daniel H. Dugas
Oct 10, 2016

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I would like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts and the New Brunswick Arts Board for their support. / Je remercie le Conseil des arts du Canada et le Conseil des Arts du Nouveau-Brunswick pour leur soutien.

Illumination (2016)

Illumination: Valerie LeBlanc and Daniel H. Dugas
for the Poetic License Week, September 3-11, 2016

For this collaborative work, we have juxtaposed texts to appear as graffiti on the hull of a boat. The left and right hands both speak to the challenges of forging a path through life. The audio, wind from the sea, speaks for everyone.

Illumination from Basic Bruegel on Vimeo.

Kistrech Poetry Festival (2016)

We have been (Valerie LeBlanc and Daniel H. Dugas) invited to participate in the Kistrech Poetry Festival 2016 in Kissi, Kenya, October 3 – 8, 2016. We will also present a paper entitled Flow: Big Waters at Kisii University. We would like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts and the New Brunswick Arts Board for their assistance.

Kistrech Poetry Festival
Welcome to the 4th edition of Kistrech Poetry Festival in Kenya. This year’s event is seen to be unique since it will run alongside Kisii University Cultural Week. The venue, being at the University ground, will accord visiting poets an opportunity to interact and share with University student-poets, upcoming writers and lecturers.

KISTRECH POETRY FESTIVAL IN KENYA 2016
The Word is Not Alone. It is Part of the Whole
KISII UNIVERSITY
3rd to 8th October 2016

Website

http://2016.festival.kistrech.org/

People Carrying Signs (2016)

People carrying signs

Two images
of people carrying signs
supporting
a refinery
Wanting
a pipeline

Then it was Seadade
A chemical plant and an oil processing temple
along the shores of Biscayne Bay

Now it’s Energy East
A continental pipeline
to be laid across the land
over rivers and rivers and rivers
until it reaches the edge of the Bay of Fundy

Two images
of people carrying signs
of old folks and kids alike

The man with the cigarette in his mouth
and the woman with the pointy glasses
never saw their dream come true

But what about the YES PIPELINE kid
Will she be part of the sacrifice?

I don’t think
they understood then
or understand now
what is at stake
the gamble at play

The sheen of oil is making us mad
when we are willing to risk everything
to ease our pains

The sheen of oil is making us mad
when we believe that this endless tube of tar is not the Moloch
to which we will have to feed our own

Daniel H Dugas
August 12, 2016

Tales of two bays

The Bay of Fundy in Canada and Biscayne Bay in Florida are separated by more than 3,000 kilometers. At first glance, they seem to be worlds apart, but looking back into archival material, we realize that these two ecosystems have a shared history with industrialization. In this drama of progress we find two key players: K. C. Irving, one of Canada’s foremost 20th century entrepreneurs and Daniel K. Ludwig, shipping magnate and businessman with numerous companies, sometimes referred to as the American Onassis.

In 1959, Ludwig began buying acreages in South Dade, Florida to build a deepwater port and a refinery on a bayfront site east of Homestead Air Force Base. The project called Seadade was approved in 1962 and was supported by the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce, but soon faced growing opposition from the Safe Progress Association (SPA). The SPA argued that Biscayne Bay, a warm and shallow, salt lagoon could be easily and irreversibly harmed by industrial pollution. Support for the project faded and in 1968 the American Congress passed the Biscayne National Monument Act, establishing a 96,000 acre preserve.

The industrial developments threatening Biscayne Bay are not isolated circumstances, they are happening everywhere in the world. The geological makeup of the Bay of Fundy in Canada seems to be diametrically opposite to the one of Biscayne Bay. Fundy is known to have the highest tides in the world whereas Biscayne Bay is a shallow semi-enclosed lagoon. But similarities emerge when we look at the relationship between humans and these ecosystems. The first parallel is between the historical players behind the refineries of Seadade and the Energy East project. Energy East would send its tar sands oil across a vast section of North America to Irving’s refinery in Saint John, New Brunswick. The narratives arcs of the two tycoons followed similar trajectories: Ludwig was born in 1887 and Irving the founder of Irving’s empire, was also born just about the same time, in 1899. Both magnates died the same year, in 1992. The two of them were involved in a wide range of holdings, shipbuilding, pulp paper and oil refinery among other things. Their fortunes were equally formidable. In 1982, Ludwig was #1 on the first Forbes 400 “Richest Americans” list, while Fortune Magazine in 1989 listed K. C. Irving as the 11th wealthiest man on earth.

There is a second connection between Biscayne Bay and the Bay of Fundy. Both locations have nuclear plants built on their shores. The Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station was built just next to Biscayne National Park in 1973 while the construction of Point Lepreau in New Brunswick was started in1975. Both stations have had their share of safety problems in the past and are still plagued with ongoing problems today

The two bodies of water, on the Atlantic coast of North America, are magnificent. They are true natural wonders of the world. The question is why pristine areas are such magnets for big polluters? Why do they have to choose the most biologically diverse ecosystems to set up shop? If Biscayne Bay managed to avoid Seadade, can the Bay of Fundy do the same with Energy East? The two already have their own nuclear stations, their own safety, and cost management conundrums, it seems that this should be enough danger to deal with.

Daniel H Dugas
August 14, 2016

Notes

The Florida Experience: Land and Water Policy in a Growth State, Mix-up on South Bay, Luther J. Carter, RFF Press, New York, 1975p 157-192.

Daniel Ludwig, Billionaire Businessman, Dies at 95, The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/29/us/daniel-ludwig-billionaire-businessman-dies-at-95.html?pagewanted=all

K. C. Irving, 93, Industrial Tycoon Dominant in Canadian Province, The New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/14/world/k-c-irving-93-industrial-tycoon-dominant-in-canadian-province.html

Study shows severe nuclear accident at Point Lepreau 40 times more likely than initially thought:
https://www.conservationcouncil.ca/study-shows-severe-nuclear-accident-at-point-lepreau-40-times-more-likely-than-initially-thought/

Evidence of salt plume under Turkey Point nuclear plant goes back years:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/environment/article73233802.html

Nuclear energy, David Suzuki:
http://www.davidsuzuki.org/issues/climate-change/science/energy/nuclear-energy/
‘Nuclear power creates radioactive waste for which there is no accepted method of safely managing or storing. It is also prohibitively expensive.’

SAFE PROGRESS ASSOCIATION, INC. is a business entity formed in Florida and is a Domestic Non-Profit under local business registration regulations. Having the registration number 703668, according to the official registry, it is now Inactive. http://www.associationdatabase.org/safe-progress-association-inc

IMAGE CREDIT
Left: Pro Seadade demonstrators, January 23, 1963. South Florida History Magazine, Vol. 23, no 1, Winter 1995. / Middle: 18th-century depiction of the Moloch idol from Johann Lund’s Die Alten Jüdischen Heiligthümer (1711, 1738). / Right: Video still from CTV Atlantic ‘Pipeline arguments at NEB hearings’ by Ashley Blackford, August 8, 2016.

Utopia/Dystopia – Bath (2016)

Good news from Bristol!
FLOW: BIG WATERS in collaboration with Valerie LeBlanc as well as Apples and Oranges have been included in the ‘Utopia/Dystopia’ screening 2nd June 7.00pm at the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution.

In association with Bath Fringe Festival
tickets: £5.00 / £3.00 cons available at: BRLSI on the door
16-18 Queen Square, Bath, Avon BA1 2HN : 01225 312084

ISSUU Publication

Facebook event

She died in the sky (2016)

She died in the sky
in the Lockerbie bombing of 1988

We found a picture of her a few years later
A clipping from a newspaper
lining the bottom of a dresser
in a one room apartment
that we rented
on Schuyler St,
Utica,
New York

Daniel H. Dugas
January 2016

Apples and Oranges (2016)

I am very happy that my video: Apples and Oranges has been accepted in the FILE 2016 – Video Art! The exhibition will be held from July to August in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Apples and Oranges examines the question of boundaries. It is a video about freedom and captivity, about wilderness and confinement, about a prison existing next to a National Park.

Apples and Oranges is also designed to be presented as a three channel projection/installation.

Notes de terrain – São Paulo (2015)

J’ai eu l’occasion de me rendre à São Paulo en compagnie de Valerie LeBlanc où nous présentions au festival FILE 2015 une vidéo issue de notre projet FLOW : BIG WATERS. Ce voyage a été une occasion de rencontres et de réflexion. Voici deux événements, deux moments qui m’ont marqué.

L’heure de Brasilia : nous ne sommes pas seuls
L’heure de l’Atlantique donne souvent l’impression d’être isolé du monde. Sur la carte des fuseaux horaires de l’Amérique du Nord, les provinces maritimes semblent être à l’écart, et ce même si plusieurs îles des Caraïbes font partie de cette zone. Cette isolation n’est pas néfaste en soi, elle a contribué à définir le caractère unique des habitants de la région. Comme on le dit : There are good times, there are bad times and there are the Maritimes.

Lorsque je suis arrivé à São Paulo, je me suis vite rendu compte qu’il n’y avait pas de décalage horaire. Au Brésil, l’heure de l’Atlantique porte un autre nom, c’est l’heure de Brasilia. Tout à coup, je sentais l’énergie humaine de toute la ville battre à l’unisson avec les Maritimes. Nous n’étions plus seuls. Nous nous levions à la même heure, nous mangions en même temps, l’heure de pointe était la même dans les deux zones. Nous et la métropole de l’Amérique latine.

Il faudrait toutefois préciser que notre cohabitation n’est pas une condition permanente : nous vivons dans la même zone du mois de mars au mois d’octobre. Lorsque l’heure de l’Atlantique bascule de l’heure d’été à l’heure d’hiver et que l’heure de Brasilia fait la même chose, mais inversement, notre synchronisme euphorique, cesse. Mais rien n’est perdu, comme l’état de l’Amazonas n’observe pas l’heure d’été nous pouvons continuer de rêver en nous rattachant cette fois à Manaus et au temps immuable de l’heure de l’Amazone.

Réalité virtuelle vs réalité actuelle : nous sommes seuls
São Paulo est une grande ville. Une ville Big Bang qui s’étend de tout côté. Le soleil plombe sur l’avenue Paulista, l’air est rempli d’odeur subtile. La musique émane d’un peu partout. Une motocyclette passe, un homme appuyé contre une balustrade écoute une partie de football sur son petit transistor. Il sourit. Les ondes radio nous enveloppent.

São Paulo, la ville sans publicité, est recouverte de graffitis, d’alphabets inconnus, de jets d’encre explosifs. Il n’y a pas de Ralph Lauren, pas d’images de BMW, seulement une succession de tags mystérieux. Une tête verte aux yeux argentés nous regarde.

Les musées et les galeries d’art semblent être bondés en permanence. Les files d’attente s’étirent comme des rubans d’ADN. L’exposition FILE 2015 ne fait pas exception. Le public est au rendez-vous. L’œuvre qu’on retrouve sur la couverture du catalogue porte le nom de SWING, une installation immersive où les spectateurs sont invités à utiliser une balançoire pour découvrir un monde nouveau. L’opératrice, une bénévole, invite les spectateurs à s’asseoir en s’assurant que les lunettes stéréoscopiques sont bien en place. Elle met en marche l’application chronomètre de son iPhone (chaque spectateur a droit à deux minutes) et retourne s’asseoir sur sa chaise. Comme j’attends mon tour pour aller me balancer, j’observe autant ceux qui sont sur la planche que l’opératrice. Pendant que les secondes du chrono disparaissaient, elle est occupée à échanger avec ses amis sur Facebook. Elle envoie des messages textos de façon endiablée jusqu’à ce qu’un petit son de cloche la ramène au devoir. Elle se lève et s’occupe du transfert de spectateurs.

Il y avait quelque chose d’étrange, de la voir et de nous voir vivre des choses si différentes. Nous (dans le monde 3D de l’impossible futur) et elle (dans le quotidien de ses échanges). Il était impossible de savoir si nos trajectoires allaient se croiser ou si nous allions rester seuls dans chacune de nos bulles.

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