The Cultural Arts (visual, performance, poems, stories, films, music) can be a powerful force in educating and influencing personal, community and institutional actions for a better quality of life for people and the planet. This Dinner Theme reflects Earth Charter’s Principle 14b “Promote the contribution of the arts and humanities as well as the sciences in sustainability education.”
Guests
Family, Friends, Cultural Artists, members of art organizations, educators in the arts, community members with interest in the cultural arts and funders of art initiatives.
Setting
At-Home setting; Space in buildings related to the arts; museums, community parks, and university/school settings
Tablescape
Arrangement of artwork/sculptures/writings/books/videos that depict art with themes from the Earth Charter, an international declaration for a sustainable future, on the interconnection of all life on this planet, respect for nature, economic justice, human rights, participatory democracy and a culture of peace. C
Create centerpiece crafted from recycled materials
Create Artistic centerpieces from foods–http://weburbanist.com/2009/01/08/food-art-and-food-artists/
Art/Music
Song or Art with sustainability themes like interconnection of all life on this planet, respect for nature, economic justice, human rights, participatory democracy and a culture of peace.
Menu
Food:
Mussels in White Wine & Herbs from Picasso and Van Gogh’s old stopping ground Montmarte in Paris
Recipe: http://edible-europe.com/2011/02/22/weekend-in-paris/
Mussels with White Wine and Herbs as found on Suite101.com
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
- 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds mussels, cleaned and de-bearded
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 3-4 whole peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- a pinch of thyme
- 1-2 cups of good-quality white wine
Directions:
1) Scrub and debeard the mussels. The “beard” is the fibrous hairy thing hanging from one side of the tasty bivalve. Pull it off with a side-to-side motion.
2) In a large pot over medium heat, melt butter and sauté the onion until just translucent. Add the garlic and sauté just 30 seconds longer.
3) Turn the flame up to high and add all of the rest of the ingredients to the pot, including the mussels There should be enough wine to have half an inch covering the bottom. When it comes to a boil, put the lid on tightly. Cook until most of the mussels open, about five minutes
4) Take the pot off the burner. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the mussels to serving bowls. Discard any shells that did not open.
5) Let the broth rest a minute to allow the remaining sand and grit to settle to the bottom. Then either carefully ladle the broth over the mussels, or carefully tip the pot to pour the broth into an intermediate vessel. In either case you want to leave the sediment at the bottom.
Serve with plenty of crusty French bread to mop up the delicious sauce and a bowl for shells.
Wine:
White:
From close to Van Gogh’s Arles comes Vin De Pays Des Bouches Du Rhone Blanc 2009–Floral aromas beautifully combine with hints of vanilla produced by maturing in oak
OR Pinot Grigio of your choice
Red:
Starry Night Zinfandel Lodi 2007– 2007. ($16)This wine is well structured like a painting or a musical composition with fresh flavors of blackberries, cherries with hints pepper, spice and eucalyptus. Especially good with pasta, steak, lamb, burgers and chocolate flavored breakfast cereal.Red:
Or if you just sold a painting or a song, go for 2007 Starry Night Alexander Valley Old Vine Zinfandel ($30)
Conversation Opener
The ecosystem of the arts includes artists themselves, the organizations that help to bring their work before the public, art appreciators, ticket-buyers and other beneficiaries of artworks and arts programming, and donors, government and private institutions that subsidize the cost of doing it all. What role do you play in this ecosystem and for how long have you been doing it?
Is there a painting, performance, song, poem or some other artwork that has moved you regarding a quality of life issue like peace, human rights, economic justice or respect for nature?
Questions to be Asked after a Glass of Wine
Cultural Artists vary on their view of whether art can affect “socio-cultural” issues and change. Some believe that art cannot change the way “humans act as a culture” although it can change the way an individual looks at the world and may challenge the way an individual thinks about what is going on. Others believe there are “activist” artists that do inspire behavioral change although arenas like literature and film seem to have more power to do so.
Please share your thoughts and examples if you have them.
According to Richard Florida in his book, The Rise of the Creative Class, economically healthy cities have a flourishing creative economy. His view of “creative workers” includes cultural artists (visual, performance, poems, stories, films, music) and he writes that they contribute greatly to the livability and vibrancy of a local community.
- Please share your thoughts about the cultural artists in your community—who they are, their works and their value to the community. Are they integrating quality of life issues in their work? How? If not, what possible challenges exist to making to happen?
- In what way is your community supporting cultural artists that do integrate quality of life issues in their work–jobs, opportunities to express themselves and/or funding? How can that support be increased?
Actions
Share and discuss some of the following Ideas for Raising Awareness through the cultural arts for issues related to human rights, respect for nature, economic justice, and a culture of peace:
- Recycled Fashion Shows:
- High School Recycled Fashion Show—outfits made of entirely of reusable items—plastic bottles, newspaper, plastic bags, aluminum, etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uZummz8v3c&feature=related
- The Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County (SWANCC) in Illinois has been putting on fashion shows inspired by recycled materials for five years. This year’s show was held on Nov. 17 to commemorate America Recycles Day, and drew 500 attendees. .http://earth911.com/news/2011/12/23/video-ard-trashy-fashion-show/
- Reverse Garbage Cooperative and M.A.D. (Make a Difference) in Australia www.reversegarbage.org.auSells artworks, furniture, lighting fixtures and other design products made specifically at least 50% from recycled materials by community members. Holds “Junk Love” competitions where artists are challenged to make works using only recycled goods.
- Greenpeace Energy (R)evolution Tour in which local residents were challenged to create a 3,000 candle art piece depicting a wind turbine.
- The exhibition Unframed Landscapes researched our relationship with nature across the full range of current media, including: landscapes painted from train windows, video photography exploring gender and landscape, computer animation researching images of a natural phenomenon on the web, digital snaps expressing the marginality of nature in city life, and physical interventions in the natural environment. The participating artists were Balázs Beöthy, Ivan Bura, Péter Császar, János Fodor, Andrea Huszár, Tibor Iski Kocsis, Csaba Nemes, Ana Opalic and Matko Vekic.
- There is no single entry point to Ivan Ladislav Galeta’s Art of Living Space. Wherever you begin, you’re immediately immersed in the interconnectedness and complexity of art and life, humans and nature, private and public. At the core of his activities is the questioning of our relationship towards water, plant life and the animal world, and the function of man in the world. ‘There are no hierarchies in nature’, he states. The environmental concept of ecological citizenship, correspondingly, is based on the need for human beings to acknowledge their obligations towards other members of the biotic community and to expand the notion of social rights to include the right to quality of life.”
- Riverfest for the Brisbane River—visual art projects entitled Out of the River…Imagine…inspired by pollution of the river…plastic bags, plast bottles, breat tags. ”350 plastic bags…imagine” brought Brisbane school students together with artist to carry out a project in which 350 plastic gas, the amount cleared out of river each week, were turned into kites flying from the Goodwill bridge and Cultural Forecourt. ”700 plastic bottles, imagine”, the amount of bottles cleared each week from the river, were turned into chandeliers and a scultural wall piece. A state school captured the imagination of residents when they launched campaign to collect 1 million bread tages from the river and turn them into unique sculpture spanning Victoria Bridge. Information on Australia’s Art & Sustainability Activities http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1580&context=isp_collection
Conversational Parties held in Museums and other cultural art venues
- Topics TBD
Earth Scouts Festival Information Packet found at http://www.earthcharterus.org/ecus-youthchildren/earth-scouts
Plans are in the works for an International Cultural Arts EcoFest held in Tampa in Fall 2014 with simultaneous EcoFests held around the globe and connected via web streaming. More info coming to this page. Contact operationbonappetit@gmail.com if interested in one being held in your community.
Closing Toast
“Art in its highest form is art that serves and instructs society and human development.”
– Harry Belafonte