[June 2009] Our friend and champion Jim Smale sadly passes away.

Top: Jim and Julie Smale
Bottom: Jim

It is with sadness that we announce the passing away of our long time friend and champion Jim Smale.

Jim passed away after a long illness.
I met Jim Smale many years ago, when I was still a teacher, and piloting the Umcebo model, as a programme in my Art Classroom. Jim has been a long time friend and champion of us and our work. Like so many of the people who have made the Umcebo Model into what it is, Jim was always there whenever we needed him. He spent his life giving to others, and we will miss him so much. With money collected at his funeral, we are going to build our 4.5m high Eco-Tree. This is our tree project, which we have had on the drawing board for sometime, and which was originally going to be made from stainless steel wire and glass beads. Given the current recession, and the focus on being green and recycling, we have redesigned the tree project, so that the core of the tree will be made from recycled PVC piping, and clad with a coating of recycled items. We feel this will be a fitting tribute to Jim and his support and encouragement for our project. We are hoping that Jim's family and friends can travel to see us and the tree, and we are hoping to unveil the tree at the 2010 Design Indaba in Cape Town. We will also apply to Guinness for a new World Record for the tree. As always we will keep you updated on this project, which stands as a tribute to Jims kindness, generosity and unfailing belief in what we are trying to achieve with the Umcebo model. Jims son Ben has kindly sent us an image of Jim, and of Jim and his wife Julie. We will never forget you Jim, and hope to make you smile as you watch over us and our work.

[May 2009] Partnership with Carey Moran and Rootz Creations:

Umcebo Trust will be starting to stock the work of Rootz Creations in their uShaka store, and will be working on a collection of collaborative chandeliers.

They are hoping for these to be exhibited jointly, and for them to lead towards many future collaborative projects. We are very excited about this collaboration, and the possibilities it represents for the future. Carey is a good friend, supporter and now collaborative partner. The Umcebo and Rootz brands are strong enough to co-exist and partner, and to still retain their charateristic strengths, which they have become recognised for. We will report back as our partnership develops and grows.

[May 2009] Meet Nandita:

Nandita Palchoudhuri

Our good friend Carol Brown, recently introduced us to Nandita Palchoudhuri (see her CV below). Nandita lives and works in India. She works with traditional groups on the most amazing projects, involving panels and 3D installations, using bamboo armature, encrusted with millions of small lights.

We are hoping to collaborate with Nandita and her groups, on a garden installation. This will combine their craft skills with our local bead and wirework, to produce a fantasy magical midnight garden. We will keep you posted as this collaboration develops and grows. We have also posted a picture of Nandita and her various projects. We are very excited about the possibilities here, and will report back regularly to you about this project.

RESUME
Nandita Palchoudhuri, is a social entrepreneur working with Traditional Indian Folk Practices in the Visual Arts, Crafts and Performances.  Her work creates cutting edge functional applications using traditional skills to address a current social need. This process not only helps to regenerate the craft and provide income and livelihood for the highly skilled but often unemployed artisan but also serves the needs of contemporary India.
She has presented work in India and all over the world.       

• Chairperson-Trustee - India Foundation for the Arts (Bangalore), www.indiaifa.org

• Member International Initiative for Social Philanthropy - Ford Foundation.

• Governing Board- Calcutta School of Music

• Trustee-India Carnival Trust,

• Member-Calcutta Regeneration Trust Chaired by the Governor of West Bengal

• Trustee-Jeevika -Womens Group

• Governing Board- Neemrana Music Foundation(New Delhi),

• Ex-Secretary Crafts Council of West Bengal,

• Member - Expert Committee- Indian Chamber of Commerce,

• Artisan –Health worker partnerships Using Traditional Story telling method of Jorano Pat (scroll painting-singing)as HIV communications for rural India, in conjunction with UCLA(USA), and UNAIDS since 2002.

• Project  Exhibited at Fowler Museum, UCLA and Mexico  2008
  

• 3D installations (Bajra-Peacock Boat) and storytelling exhibitions on Ramayan developed from an indigenous street lighting technique of Chandannagore. Bengal .

• Exhibited at Calcutta 2006, the Black pool Illuminations 2005,

• Thames Festival 2003/2005 in London,

• Belfast Festival  2001 .

• Signature images of Durham incorporated in the traditional Giant Gates that span the roads of Calcutta during the Durga Festival. Installation exhibited in November,2008,on Elvet Bridge in Durham UK.The Bamboo panels are encrusted with 120,000 hand wrapped bulbs and animated to create a spectacle, unique to Chandannagar in Eastern India.

• Partnerships with a UK groups in process to create a plug in,lifestyle commodity using the craft skills of Chanddanagar .

• Traditional bamboo and cloth Pandals(marquee) built as temporary outdoor temples in the likeness of Famous buildings etc.  Re designed as a knocked down, transportable commodity that can be erected at site. (UK 2003.) EU-UK –INDIA project for 2007 to 2011

• Giant Animal Street Puppets of Orissa redesigned to stage proscenium performances with a focus on environment. Kala Ghoda Mumbai 2000, Brighton and Belfast ,UK 2002, New Zealand 2000

• Contemporary on site  Giant Sculptures using Chau and Shola techniques, USA 2002, Spain 2004, New Zealand 2007

• Lecture Demonstration on Best practices in Indian Crafts , Artisan Skill Bank Development and Application, Innovations of approach in Rural Employment  SOAS(London), Bradford, Leeds, Belfast, Brighton, Blackpool,UK .

• Asian Museum Of Art, San Francisco, UCLA ,Los Angeles ,Houston, USA
  Madrid ,Barcelona,Spain
  China Academy of the Arts (Hangzhou), Auckland, Wellington ,New Zealand etc

[April 2009] Beadwork Commission for HIVAN:

Above: HIVAN Beaded Logo

Above: HIVAN Info [click to enlarge]

Debbie Eustace and the team at HIVAN  commissioned us to do a beadwork edition of their HIV 911 logo, as a sign for the offices.

This has recently taken up pride of place in their new offices in Hut Ten, at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. The artwork made from beads and with energy saver bulbs built into it, has also been photographed, to be used in their HIV 911 Directories, where our artwork is on display, and where we also have a feature page. The distribution of these directories is enormous, and we cannot thank Debbie and her team enough for this opportunity and exposure. We hope to be working on many collaborations with them in the future, and we wanted to share some information about the HIV 911 programme with you, as well as an image of the artwork.