africanmask: June 2007

Thursday, June 14, 2007

Does ‘global war on terror’ mask a new imperialism?

Terrorism remains an abstract concept since the international community has never properly defined it. The League of Nations failed to adopt a convention for the prevention and repression of terrorism in 1937 because of a lack of agreement between member states. For the same reason the United Nations, despite many debates during its 60 years, has never manageda satisfactory definition. When the International Criminal Court was established in 1998, it had to exclude international terrorism from its jurisdiction, although it was tasked with prosecuting a wide range of other crimes, including genocide.

The topic has attracted considerable interest in the media: there is a publishing boom in scholarly and other books on the subject. Authoritarian regimes have seized power in many countries claiming that they alone can preserve the state from this serious threat. Most importantly, the 9/11 attacks prompted United States President George Bush to declare unending war on terrorism.

Washington must be pleased. Many more states have signed cooperation agreements with the US than ever before, even in the worst chill of the cold war and the fight against international communism. The European Union and Russia have both rallied to the US cause, increasing cooperation against terrorism, even if their support has more to do with a communion of interests than any real agreement.

Opinion in the US used to avoid analysing the political and social causes of terrorism, in case it was suspected of condoning such violence. Everyone was supposed to agree to the official line – that an irrational force inspired by a hatred of democracy threatened the planet. Political commentators and journalists avoided rocking the boat. But to judge from several recent books, taboos and received thinking have yielded to protests in reaction to scandals that have sapped the Bush administration. None of the books considered here justify terrorism; they analyse its causes and suggest remedies.

Violence with political aims
Matthew Carr, author of several works on international conflicts, contradicts neo-conservatives in his book Unknown Soldiers and shows that terrorism is violence in the service of political aims. He plays down the exceptional side of terrorism, recalling the bomb attacks and assassinations in 19th century Russia by organisations claiming to be inspired by the French Revolution. After the Paris commune was crushed in 1871, anarchists on both sides of the Atlantic, especially in France, adopted similar tactics. In the 20th century there was violence in the Balkans (1900-13), and in Ireland after 1916. All over the world colonies rebelled against their oppressors.

The colonial powers demonised freedom fighters to justify repression. Carr reminds us that the oppressors condemned terrorists as bandits, criminals, monsters and vermin. In the 1950s British officials and settlers in Kenya accused Mau Mau rebels of belonging to a fiendish sect; even The New York Times explained that the Kenyan uprising was due to the frustration of savages unable to adapt to the progress brought by civilisation. Official figures subsequently revealed that during the seven-year revolt, the insurgents killed 32 settlers and 177 members of the security forces, about 100 of them African. Yet the army and police killed more than 20,000 Mau Mau, with hundreds of thousands of Kenyans injured and driven from their homes. Carr points out that colonial conflicts often brought former terrorist leaders to power: Jomo Kenyatta in Kenya, Nelson Mandela in South Africa, Ahmed Ben Bella in Algeria, Menachem Begin in Israel and Anwar Sadat in Egypt.

For the authorities the motives of terrorists are never legitimate. The sources of their discontent, their political and social demands, do not deserve to be taken into account except under pressure. Their use of violence exemplifies their fanaticism. Carr explains that in the 1970s, the west German authorities removed the brains from the corpses of members of the Baader-Meinhof gang in the hope of finding a genetic explanation for their behaviour. A psychiatrist even claimed to have discovered a pathological disorder in a brain he examined.

Eminent American writers have advanced other theories. In 1993 Samuel Huntington, a professor of political science at Harvard University, forecast a clash of civilisations between the West and Islam. In 1964 the historian Bernard Lewis maintained that the root cause of the Arab-Israeli conflict was the inability of the Muslim world to adapt to modernity. Lewis subsequently became a highly appreciated mentor of US neo-cons and hardline Zionists.

‘Violence to oppose that of their oppressors’
Dining with Terrorists stands out for its contribution to demystification of the motives of terrorists. It is written by Phil Rees, an investigative journalist who has won a dozen international awards for books and documentaries. He travelled the world dining with the leaders of organisations and made contact with, even infiltrated, underground movements in Colombia, Algeria, the Basque country, Indonesia, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iran, Egypt, Ireland, former Yugoslavia, Kashmir, Pakistan and Palestine. The human side that he reveals, assisted by photographs, and his descriptions of the force of terrorists’ convictions, are powerful arguments for finding more peaceable ways to end the violence.

Rees is a remarkable storyteller and draws fine portraits of his hosts. None of them see themselves as terrorists, all claim that they resort to violence only to oppose their oppressors. Only a few count on military victory. Some want to force the enemy to negotiate a compromise, others merely want to put across a political message. Rees argues that we should treat some of the Palestinian activities in the 1970s, especially the hijacking of airliners, as propaganda.

The Palestinians are resistance fighters, like the Zionists under the British mandate (1922-48) and the French during the German occupation. In 1997 Rees got to know a founder of Hamas, Ismail Abu Shanab, who was a graduate of several US universities, professor of engineering at the Islamic University of Gaza, and the author of several books on technology or politics. Abu Shanab said he would readily support the Oslo accords if he thought Israel would agree to the creation of a proper Palestinian state. But what could the Palestinians do but send their children to their deaths in Israel as a response to tank shelling, bombs dropped by F16 jets and missiles launched by Apache assault helicopters? He believed that violence was merely a way of raising international awareness of distress. Abu Shanab remained a militant despite eight years in Israeli jails, including two in solitary confinement in a tiny underground cell. In 2003, six years after his release, a rocket launched by an Israeli helicopter hit and killed him in his car. Rees saw it while watching a satellite news channel; AbuShanab was the 138th victim in two years of Israel’s targeted assassination policy. (Under international law extra-judiciary executions count as war crimes.)

Beside its military activities Hamas is an influential political party, currently holding the majority in a democratically elected parliament. Yet the US and Europe have condemned it as a terrorist organisation, stopping aid to the Palestinian government after Hamas’s election victory.

Stop the war on words
Rees crossed Colombia, visiting the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) and the counter-revolutionary militia. Both are involved in kidnaps and murder, targeting not only fellow citizens suspected of sympathies with the other side, but also strangers. Rees was shocked but concluded that it was counter-productive to treat such groups as terrorists. It would be more helpful to stop the war of words and make allowance for the interests of the conflicting parties. Quoting former US ambassadors to Latin America, he points out that the US policy in its backyard has little to recommend it (1).

Rees makes no attempt to gloss over the crimes committed by the Euskadi ta Askatasuna (Eta) independence movement in Basque country, but blames the Spanish government, and by extension the US and Europe, for condemning this terrorism without trying to initiate a genuine dialogue with those who claim to represent Basque history, culture and identity. He notes that in Northern Ireland a peaceful settlement has been found for a conflict that dragged on for decades and was presented as being religious in origin, therefore intractable: it required long negotiations with the Irish Republican Army.

The situation of al-Qaida is different. Along with Bush, al-Qaida believes that the confrontation between Islam and the Judeo-Christian West is a life and death struggle. There is no question of negotiation or compromise, less still of the peaceful coexistence that could be envisaged with the Soviet “evil empire”. The jihad waged by Osama bin Laden is as inflexible as the crusade launched by Bush after 9/11. But coming to grips with such an organisation is difficult. It is scattered across the mountains between Afghanistan and Pakistan, with no overall command structure, nor national roots. It does little more than call its supporters to commit violence against the US empire and its lackeys. How should western governments deal with autonomous militant units dispersed around the world, with varying motives?

The Looming Tower, by Lawrence Wright, recently awarded the Pulitzer prize, answers these questions. It is one of the most comprehensive works on the topic. Wright is an academic and a contributor to The New Yorker. He bases his conclusions on first-hand evidence, unpublished material written by al-Qaida leaders, interviews with 483 protagonists or eye-witnesses (he provides a list), including people close to bin Laden, specialists on the Muslim world, and former Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation agents. His five-year investigation took him to Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sudan, Yemen and western countries. The book describes in detail the origins of the transnational organisation, its ideology, internal conflicts, illusions and disappointments.

His picture of al-Qaida leaders, their social and family backgrounds, reveals the psychological roots of their action. The personality of bin Laden, described by close acquaintances, is a surprise. A marginal, self-effacing figure born into a family of billionaires, he leads a hermit-like existence hiding in caves. He is considerate towards his four wives – two of whom are PhDs, one in child psychology, the other in linguistics – and a faultless father to 15 children. He started his life as a Saudi nationalist before becoming anti-US and is thought to have only limited intellectual powers. This explains the influence of Ayman al-Zawahiri, his Egyptian second-in-command and the brains behind al-Qaida. Both men draw their inspiration from Sayyid Qutb, the Egyptian fundamentalist scholar hanged under Gamal Abdel Nasser. Qutb maintained that the people of the US and Europe crushed their colonial subjects and saw the world divided into two opposing camps, Islam and the jahiliyyah (the decadent, pagan pre-Islamic era): a reference to apostate regimes subject to imperialism.

Al-Qaida’s rise not by chance
Al-Qaida began to be important in the 1990s, when most nationalist Islamist groups gave up violence, because they recognised its negative consequences, to enter the political arena. The 9/11 attacks brought the rift into the open. Almost all the legal or underground Islamist groups and Muslim religious authorities condemned the indiscriminate violence of the jihadists and their ideology as contrary to the message of the Qur’an. The media paid little attention to the schism and indiscriminate Islamophobia which seized western opinion and, dependent on prejudice and sloppy media presentation, confused Islam, Islamism, fundamentalism, jihadism and terrorism.

The cartoon published by a Danish newspaper in 2005 showing the Prophet Muhammad in a bomb-shaped turban exemplified the muddled thinking. The subsequent legitimate debate on the right to criticise Islam obscured more needed discussions. What about the many causes of terrorism, the frustration and anger provoked by US power, and the dictatorial regimes that stamp on civil rights? What about the corruption and social injustice in many developing countries, and the identity crisis ofimmigrants? Western elites know that Islam, as any other religion, has elements that may be exploited politically to justify good as much as evil.

US strategists had predicted that in the post-Soviet era, Islam would replace communism as the key threat. In Terrorism and Global Disorder, Adrian Guelke, professor of Comparative Politics at Queen’s University, Belfast, assesses the geopolitical dimension. He maintains that the US administration, along with many political commentators, is wrong to consider the 9/11 attacks as a turning point in contemporary history. It was the collapse of the Soviet Union that opened the way for transnational terrorism, a new form of resistance to the global domination of the US. (Although the political importance of 9/11 was inflated to justify the subsequent wars waged by Bush, who accused al-Qaida of seeking to “establish a totalitarian Islamic empire that stretches from Spain to Indonesia”.)

The 9/11 attacks were a gift to the neo-conservatives, an invitation to roll out their programme of imperial expansion: occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, as a prelude to the invasion of Iran; reinforced military presence in central Asia and the Gulf; control over oil resources; replacement of regimes refusing to bow to the new international order. All this to be done in the name of the “global war on terrorism”, which would be total and endless.

This April the British Foreign Office woke up to the negative implications and issued a circular instructing diplomats not to use the expression “global war on terrorism”. The audacity of the 9/11 hijackers, the number of their victims and the emotion worldwide, all helped initially to push the international community down the slippery slope behind the US. We know what happened next.

The Iraqi state has imploded. Afghanistan drifts further towards anarchy with each Taliban victory. Insurgents have thwarted the US military. These are the most spectacular results of the neo-con adventurers. The real consequences are far more serious. The Bush administration has taken advantage of the climate of fear to introduce repressive laws reminiscent of the McCarthy era. It has backed police states that repress opposition or minority groups. The US claims that any movement resisting US hegemony is a terrorist organisation. Yet state-implemented terror is allowed, even encouraged, if it serves US interests. This plays into the hands of those who use violence. The followers of al-Qaida, which had only 100 active members a decade ago, are now in a strong position in Iraq and are building up their forces in North Africa and Europe.

These books describe terrorism as the sole resort for the weak in a world dominated by the US. Only asymmetric warfare can harass the mighty. But then the only counter to terrorism is a political response.

by:mondediplo.com

Faces of Art: The Masks of Zarco Guerreroat

Arizona Museum for Youth
June 23 through October 7, 2007

The beauty, pageantry and power of masks have fascinated people throughout history and have served as reflections of the ever-changing belief systems of different cultures. On June 23, the Arizona Museum for Youth (AMY) presents “Faces of Art: The Masks of Zarco Guerrero,” an exhibition of masks by renowned artist Zarco Guerrero that explores their function as a prime example of culture and their role in building community and personal identity.

Featuring pieces Zarco has created over the last 35 years, the exhibit reveals the power of the mask to transform. Zarco, who has traveled extensively investigating the use of the mask in theater, ritual and ceremony, is also the founder of Xicanindio Artes, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to better understanding of Latino and Native American arts.

“Zarco Guerrero is one of Arizona’s living artistic treasures,” says AMY curator Jeffory Morris. “Throughout his career, he has received numerous awards, including the prestigious Arizona Governor’s Arts Award, and we are truly honored to display his work here at our museum.”

The exhibit is a celebration of diversity, blending elements of Mexican, African, Japanese and Balinese mask-making traditions. Items on display include carved wood masks, ceramic and multimedia installations and works in fiberglass and cast paper. Mask-making activities and art stops will allow children and caregivers to draw and design their own masks and interact with those on view.

The museum will host a special Meet the Artist event for members of the media on June 29 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Join us for “Faces of Art” and experience the transforming power of masks and learn even more about the nuts and bolts of mask making!

Located at 35 N. Robson in downtown Mesa, the Arizona Museum for Youth (AMY) is open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday, 12 p.m. through 4 p.m. Admission is $5 for everyone 1 year of age and over. AMY is a fine art museum for children and families that hosts several changing exhibitions each year and features ArtVille, a special art-town for kids less than 4 years of age.
by:www.evliving.com

'Lion King' hasn't lost its roar

It's been nearly four years since Disney's spectacular musical, "The Lion King," played at the Kentucky Center in Louisville. This past week, a national touring production of the huge Broadway show with Julie Taymor's awe-inspiring creatures returned -- and it's as exciting and spellbinding as the versions I saw on Broadway and in earlier tours.

As my 5-year-old guest exclaimed in her succinct critique: "This is a great show!"

Lexington, Ky., native Timothy Carter portrays Scar, a disgruntled African lion who seizes control of Pride Rock by murdering his older brother, Mufasa (a compelling Dionne Randolph), and hiring a pack of hyenas to kill his nephew, Simba. The Tony Award-winning musical, adapted from the Disney movie, tells the story of Simba's exile in the jungle and his eventual return to claim his rightful place among the pride of lions living on the savannah.

Directed by Taymor with songs by Tim Rice and Elton John, the musical also features African music and vocal arrangements by Lebo M and others. The show with Garth Fagan's fanciful choreograghy is exquisitely theatrical. From the tiny scampering shadow-puppet mice to leaping antelopes to the lumbering fabric elephant and the graceful, towering giraffes (actors on stilts), the show is a visual wonder that tells a Shakespearean tale of regicide and fratricide.

The transformative sets and costumes are breathtaking from both a technical and artistic point of view. My favorites are the African dancers in grass headdresses and swirling, grasslike hoop skirts and the lionesses who dance in golden robes under a lavender sky as they circle for the antelope hunt.

Carter, an experienced Shakespearean actor, imbues Scar with subtle menace and a dry wit. He swivels and tilts his lion mask to effectively punctuate his devious words. One of Carter's best scenes takes place in the elephant graveyard where Scar recruits his hyena thugs with the rousing anthem, "Be Prepared."

As the grown Simba, Dashaun Young is a lithe and handsome lion with a rich voice. His betrothed, the brave lioness Nala, played by Erica Ash, nearly steals the show from Simba and Scar with the moving ballad, "Shadowland," which recounts how Scar's leadership has led to overhunting and starvation.

Other standouts include South African native Phindile Mkhize, as Rafiki, a red-rumped baboon shaman with a playful sense of humor. Her distinctive African singing anchors the exuberant musical. And in Mark Cameron Pow's skillful hands, Zazu, the sardonic hornbill and servant to the Lion King, seems as real as a human being. Pow, who appeared here in the same role in 2003, hasn't lost any of his energy. If anything, he is better than ever as he manipulates Zazu's beak, neck and legs.

In Sunday's matinee, the trio of hyenas named Shenzi, Banzai and Ed were as obnoxiously entertaining as ever. The actors -- Maia A. Moss, Randy Donaldson and Michael Nathanson -- dance and sing, crouch and cavort while wearing 35-pound costumes and manipulating hyena masks. They were funny and fascinating, and I suspect they were dog-tired by the end of the show.

A cockeyed sun in the "Circle of Life" finale was the only detectable technical glitch in Sunday's effusive matinee. The musical is nearly three hours long, but the splendid ensemble -- from the opening parade of animals to the closing "King of Pride Rock"/"Circle of Life" song -- stays on its animal kingdom toes. Even the fourth time seeing "The Lion King" is a charm.

by:www.courier-journal.com

African magic on stage

The long-awaited Lion King made its spectacular debut at the imposing Montecasino Teatro on Wednesday. The play brings to the stage the sights and sounds of the African bush: the sunsets, the great herds of animals, the birds, the tall grasses and trees to tell a human story with universal appeal.

June 7, 2007
By Lucille Davie

THE wildebeest could be seen in the distance, thousands of them running, getting closer and closer, until, amid rising dust, they overwhelm the scene and eventually trample and kill the king, Mufasa.

The king is The Lion King; the scene is the stage of the grand new R110-million Montecasino Teatro, where Africa was brought alive with the sounds, sights and wonderful, extraordinary creations of the show, in its premiere on Wednesday night.

The stage is filled with tall ambling giraffes, a jiving rhino, mean, laughing hyenas, leaping antelopes, jazzy zebras, flying hornbills and buzzards, a huge elephant, and of course the main characters: Simba the baby lion and future king, his powerful father, Mufasa, his conniving uncle, Scar, his gentle mother, Sarabi, and his playmate and future wife, Nala.

The Lion King makes for an evening of pure magic, a truly African experience, celebrating everything that is special about the continent: the sunsets, the bush sounds, the great herds of animals, the birds, the tall grasses and trees. And with a story of Shakespearian drama and pathos, it combines the best of Broadway with the best of Africa.

The premiere was celeb-spotting heaven – everyone who was anyone in Joburg was there . . . in fur stoles, leather, black ties, sparkles, heels, hairdos, and saris. Even the deputy president, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, dressed in elegant headgear and matching traditional suit and heels, was there, as well as Oprah Winfrey.

The cast consists of 53 performers - almost all local actors - with a technical crew of 70. Linda Dlamini and Hlengiwe Maseko play the young Simba and young Nala, while Andile Gumbi and Tsholofelo Monedi play the older Simba and Nala.

Sello Maake-kaNcube plays Mufasa, Buyisile Zama plays queen Rafiki, Mark Rayment plays Scar, and Lyall Ramsden, Peter Mashigo and Pierre van Heerden play Zazu the hornbill, Timon the meerkat, and Pumbaa the warthog. Candida Mosoma, Simon Gwala and Michael Bagg play the three hyenas Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, respectively.

Aside from a few weak voices, their performances attest to the excellence of local talent, supported by brilliant choreography and lighting.

The Lion King, a musical, has been seen and no doubt enjoyed by 52 million people across the globe - in China, the United States, Britain, Canada, Japan, Australia, Germany, Holland, and South Korea.

The 1 900-seat theatre, specially constructed to accommodate the enormity of the show, is now one of 10 lyric theatres in the world. The stage has all the bells and whistles that add to the magic of the production, with holes opening up to reveal ponds or shooting steam or sprouting plants, and a moving stage accommodating breathtaking sets.

Theatrical techniques include rods, ropes, shadow and hand puppets, aerial dancers, inflatable set pieces and off-stage performing.

Bringing the show to South Africa, now in its 10th year, has been the dream of composer, singer, Grammy and Sama award winner Lebo M, who performed and composed songs in the first production on Broadway in 1997. Lebo M and theatre impresario Pieter Toerien have collaborated in bringing the production to South Africa. Many of the songs were based on Lebo M's album, Rhythm of the Pride Lands, which was inspired by the Disney-animated film.

"It became a personal journey for me to be involved in The Lion King, and most of the music I wrote is very much inspired by my life story and my background as a South African artist," said Lebo M.

The actors, depicting African animals, transcend their human shapes but at the same time are not hidden behind unwieldy masks. The masks sit atop their heads, giving the actors a powerful animal persona. Additional legs and bodies, as with the hyenas and the warthog, are cleverly sculptured to fit beyond the actors' bodies, making the actor either a loping, jawey hyena or a snouty warthog.

Director and costume and puppet designer Julie Taymor has done an extraordinary job. "The challenge was to take this epic film, to find its essence, and to make it theatre."

This means that she has taken the essence of each character, identified the expression that represents the character's main trait, and made a mask that captures that trait. This is in contrast to the film, where changing facial expressions could be easily captured.

So, for example, the essence of Mufasa is symmetry – "he is an extremely balanced and straightforward personality". His mane was designed to form a circle around his head, like a sun god, the centre of the universe. In contrast, his brother, Scar, who is "misshapen psychologically", has a mask sculpted with one eyebrow up and one down, which twists his face, aided by spiky, porcupine hair. "In its final form, the Scar mask has a bony, comic, yet terrifying feel to it".

Taymor has picked up a string of Tony Awards for her extraordinary work in the stage production of The Lion King.

The costumes, costing a cool R15-million, enable the actors to step into their animal characters easily. The almost-full-size giraffes and the one-person but four-legged zebras are very clever. The pack of hyenas evoke feelings of distaste and repulsion, so real are the costumes.

The music, supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, consists of five original songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, with additional songs by Lebo M, Mark Mancina, Jay Rifkin and Hans Zimmer. Several songs that were originally composed in Zulu were translated into English, but Lebo M composed several chants in Zulu which were retained in Zulu because "nothing can replace the poetry and mystery of that language's sound", says Taymor.

Says Taymor of the production: "It is rare to have an opportunity to experiment, take risks, and develop a piece of theatrical art that is intended to be commercial as well. The merging of these two worlds is a rare phenomenon."

The Lion King is a rare phenomenon indeed, don't miss it.

Tickets for The Lion King cost between R150 to R425, and are available at Computicket. The show runs until the end of September.

by:www.joburg.org.za

Could there be a dove lurking behind Mboweni's hawk mask?

Tito Mboweni, the SA Reserve Bank governor, is often seen as a hawkish central banker. But last week at a business breakfast, he said he "would have loved interest rates to be low".

Assuming he was not just saying this to endear him to the business people at the breakfast, perhaps it raises a question about the unanimity of the monetary policy committee's (MPC) decision to raise interest rates last week.

The official line is that the MPC's decision is reached only after everyone agrees on the appropriate course of action. Is the debate far more robust and the disagreements more vehement than we are led to believe?

In other parts of the world, the UK for example, the minutes of the MPC meeting are made public. This is not the case in South Africa.

The contents of the discussion would be very interesting - the discussion regarding what to do in the face of rising food and fuel prices, which are not the result of consumer excess, particularly so.

Mboweni has acknowledged that tightening monetary policy will not reduce oil or food prices.

He explained that the decision to hike rates was based on the fact that consumer inflation had shown a strong upward bias even when stripped of food and fuel.

One could therefore see the rate hike as more of a move to enhance credibility. Certainly consumers could have seen a neutral monetary stance as a go-ahead to spend freely.

But Mboweni's personal position of preferring low interest rates is not illogical.

Recent increases in the uptake of loans have largely been related to companies expanding their capacity amid the current fixed investment drive.

Low interest rates would mean low debt payments for these companies, and, in such an environment, much fixed investment may be achieved.

However, given the negative impact that inflation may have on the economy, the measured pace with which the Reserve Bank has raised interest rates is likely to be the best course of action, compared with doing nothing.
by:www.busrep.co.za

The Spirit & the Spiritual

The premise of "It's All Spiritual," an exhibition of tribal art at Betty Cuningham Gallery, is fair enough: "All great art — to one degree or another — has a spiritual component." What counts, of course, is the character of that component and the nature of the spirit involved. Not every spirit is benevolent.

To hold our page in the multicultural hymnal, we need a way around inconvenient cultural realities. Luckily, we have one in our own free-range aestheticism and that distinctly Western construct: the presumption of universally appealing formal properties and its imposition on the material relics of non-Western cultures. Artifacts that represent beliefs and practices we are thankful to be spared are all candidates for appreciation. Like a bishop conferring holy orders, formalist ideology granted the status of art to everything from tools to shrunken heads. There is no going back. At least not until the heads turn out to be our own.

Meantime, nothing lights up the foyer quite like a war club or someone else's funerary effigy. "It's All Spiritual" showcases a wide selection of objects from a variety of regions and cultures, including Native American, Mesoamerican, Melanesian, Polynesian, Indonesian, African, and Chinese. Entries date between 11 B.C.E. and the early 20th century. The exhibition was assembled by Alan Steele, an artist-turned-private dealer. Selected in part from Mr. Steele's own collection, the exhibition displays an artist's eye for dramatic sculptural volume, and textural and graphic interest.

A consumer-friendly spirit animates this eclectic collection. It has the allure of an oddlot auction: decorated Pueblo bowls, Tlingit baskets, small shamanic utensils (e.g. a vomit spatula from the Dominican Republic and a Melanesian chief's pudding knife), a Sioux story-drawing on muslin, two watercolors on ledger paper, Tahitian tapa cloth, fetishes, divinities, shields, and a variety of masks. All are arranged to good effect, minimizing the fact that the arthood of certain objects is less perceptible than others.

Contemporary audiences do not see these things as their makers saw them: functional items for daily living. (Or, in anthropologist Alfred Gell's term "magical technology.") We view them through the prism of modernism, its anti-classical bias and the emergence of abstract art. On pedestals and against white walls, a Papuan spirit mask or Malian hyena face seems oddly familiar. Picasso's Les demoiselles showed them to us a century ago.

Under gallery lights, figures once inhabited by gods or ancestral ghosts are emptied of purpose, vacant as logs on Walden Pond. Consider, for instance, a ferocious looking Congolese fetish, pierced with nails. A repository of immeasurable power against a battery of evil spirits, the nkondi was not made to please but to strike awe and humility — that mysterium tremens that defines the holy — in its beholders. No one dares lie or swear a false oath in front of it. Here, disembedded from its cultural context and aestheticized, it shrivels to a collectible, a primitive St. Sebastian. Local practice illustrates the distance of tribal art from Western aesthetic interests. Malangan figures from New Ireland, such as the late 19th-century painted rainmaker figure here, were laboriously produced. Yet, like much tribal art, these were often casually discarded or burned following the ritual for which they were created. Since wood deteriorates easily, items dating back to the 19th century are relatively scarce. (Provenance is paramount in a field acknowledged to be riddled with fakes.)

Death is a recurrent theme of tribal objects made for ceremonial use. One haunting 18th- or 19thcentury Yao mask from Southern China derives much of its impact from its recognizable affinity with the Western vanitas tradition. Another piquant sculpture is a male tau tau, a Sulawesi funerary effigy missing its arms and burial costume and wearing only a mildly baffled expression.

Among tribes on Sulawesi, elaborate funerals are the central cultural event, often lasting for days. The scope of festivities establishes the status of the family who funds them and encourages the newly dead to stay put and not become troublesome ghosts. Blood of a sacrificed pig is smeared on the commissioned tau tau. It is fully dressed and placed in a mortuary gallery chiseled into rock. Until resources are marshaled for funeral expenses, the departed one is not declared dead but stored, neatly wrapped, at home.

It is impossible to walk through this exhibition without thinking of Evan Connell's novel "The Connoisseur." Mr. Connell's aspiring connoisseur, Muhlbach, is bored by his tour of a collector's private museum. While the collector brags about the quality of his pieces, Muhlbach decides: "But finally, what matters is whether or not you identify with the spirit of a work."

If that were so, we might feel obliged to cover the tau tau, cleansed now of blood and the stench of decay, and pray for the dead.

by:www.nysun.com

OSA symptoms common among African-American women

Celebrity masks raise money for Detroit Zoo

Who wouldn't want an African mask designed and signed by James Earl Jones?

Or, for that matter, Tim Allen, Jennifer Hudson or Elmore Leonard?

In what has to be one of the most unusual money-making gambits in recent years, the Detroit Zoological Society asked a dozen celebrities to design African-themed masks in keeping with the Zoo's "Out of Africa" motif for its June 15 fundraiser, "Sunset at the Zoo."

They tried to get former President Bill Clinton, but no go.

Most of the luminaries asked, explains Zoo spokesman Patricia Mills, have some sort of Michigan connection. Allen, for example, is famously from Birmingham, and Jones graduated from the University of Michigan.

The Zoo sent each celeb a blank papier-mache mask, along with paint, feathers, beads, and "really cool zebra and giraffe print papers," says Mills, and asked them to channel their inner artist.

Mills' personal favorite -- well, oneof her favorites -- is the lion's head that Jones crafted out of the mask, with the clever addition of a dust mop for mane.

"His is so cool," she says.

The masks will all be put on eBay today through June 10 for bidding. Just visit www.detroit zoo.org, and click on the "Celebrity African Mask" icon.

by:www.detnews.com

South Africans due for fall

AUSTRALIA star Matt Giteau hurled an explosive taunt into the South Africa camp last night, accusing the Springboks of preening themselves over recent successes.

The millionaire centre and owner of the fiery onfield moniker "Kid Dynamite" is prepared to do more than dance for his money in the Tri-Nations opener at Newlands on Saturday.

He is also willing to voice his belief that the Wallabies can end their long-running misery in the republic on Saturday night.

One victory from 12 Tests on South African soil since 1996 is hardly the fuel for igniting confidence.

But Gtieau remains convinced a Boks side arguably as good as any they have fielded in the professional era can be undone, despite the emotional high they are riding after a South African title grab in Super 14 and a two-Test demolition of England.

Asked whether the pressure of the Wallabies' poor record in Africa was cause for anxiety, Giteau replied: "Not really. It's more about desire.

"Every time you come over, and I've never won here playing for the Wallabies, it increases that desire to win. You want it more.

"I don't feel any more pressure in this situation. If anything the South Africans are putting themselves under pressure.

"We've got the underdog tag, which suits us pretty well.

"Obviously while they're playing really good rugby, they are talking it up a fair bit.

"We haven't had the best preparation, we haven't played that well. But we are looking forward to a big game this weekend."

Giteau could be excused if he was feeling the heat, individually and as part of the team.

This is the bloke who started the season at halfback because the Wallabies wanted his flashing feet working their magic at the scrumbase.

Within a week he was also earmarked as the next best option at five-eighth if Stephen Larkham breaks down with injury between now and the end of the Wallabies' World Cup campaign.

Throw into that mix his latest deployment - a back-to-the-future selection at inside centre.

Giteau has not started there in a Test since the Wallabies went down to the All Blacks in Auckland last August.

His experiment at halfback was initiated on the end-of-year tour to Europe and continued through a recently completed two-Test series against Wales, before a knee complaint sidelined him from the flogging of Fiji in Perth five days ago.

He returns to the No.12 jumper to face a Springboks back division growing in self-belief and reputation.

"In the first two Tests against the Welsh I moved back to inside centre (during the second half) and felt completely comfortable," Giteau said.

"I felt at ease. I could just get out there and play my normal rugby.

"The guys we've got in the backline, too, I've obviously played a fair bit of football with them so it shouldn't be a problem."

There is no mask of trepidation, even though he shoulders both gamebreaking responsibilities and the expectations that are tied to his standing as Australia's highest-paid player.

His crack at the Boks, while sure to stir their emotions, is made with similar fearlessness. Giteau knows the Wallabies face a challenge this weekend as imposing as Cape Town's famed Table Mountain.

But it is one he intends to embrace rather than hide from.

"The younger players in their backline are starting to develop into pretty experienced international players," he said.

"The way they're playing, too, it looks like they've got a fair bit of freedom and that's probably when they're at their best.

"This is a pretty good Springboks side, probably the best we've played.

"And whenever you play the Springboks, they lift that extra bit playing at home so we have to lift our game as well.

"We've got to match them physically and that's not just in the forward pack, but throughout the whole side.

"Once we do that we have to look to outsmart them.

"Patience will be the key. In the first three Tests we didn't have too much patience when close to the line.

"We tried to score off every phase. That's something we need to work on.

"We definitely need a fast start too, to silence the crowd as much as we can.

by:www.foxsports.com.au

France: Don white masks to fit French society

Newly elected French President, Nicolas Sarkozy has appointed the first African to his cabinet, Rachida Dati, who is of Algerian and Moroccan descent, as justice minister. A calculated move by Sarkozy to appoint someone from one of the communities of colour that he recently denigrated but one who has clearly assimilated herself into “French society”.

Significantly Dati, who has been described in the Spanish press as, a

friend of the family, helped write legislation to prevent juvenile delinquency. As justice minister, no doubt she will be working towards implementing the legalisation and cracking down on any descent from the mass of unemployed marginalised youth of urban France.

The appointment appears to be a not very subtle attempt to send a message to people of colour in general but especially to the youth of African and Muslim descent. The message is – there is a “French Dream” like an “American Dream” and if you assimilate and become “French” (think white, secularise) then you too can make it in France.

In a recent interview, Dati admits that her route to Justice minister is atypical but that it does illustrate the wish of the President that “we can get work and we can be deserving”. She goes on to state that she started working full time at age of 16 and throughout her studies and believes she is a positive role model.

However the reality is most youth from the housing estates of urban France, even those who are graduates but because of racism, cannot get jobs relevant to their qualifications, will not relate to Ms Dati. Her appointment and position will be seen at best as a token and at worst as having “donned the white mask” as she herself states, her personal success is not representative of the community she comes from.

Sarkozy has also created a Ministry for Immigration and National Identity thus problematising immigration and race even more and placing them in direct opposition to what he considers to be “French”. The ministry will be responsible for teaching new arrivals about France, make sure they learn French, and guide them toward acquiring a French identity. Failing to take on this national tribal identity will mean you remain forever marginalised and excluded.

Being French must be the goal of every immigrant and their descendants which for Sarkozyists means wearing a white Christian mask on your black and or Muslim face. Dati, as a long time close associate and supporter of Sarkozy, has already made donned her mask.

by:www.africanpath.com

OSA Symptoms More Common Among African-American Women Than Caucasians

In a study that examined the relationship between race, menopausal status and symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), middle-aged African-American women were found to be more likely to experience OSA symptoms than their Caucasian counterparts, according to a research abstract presented at SLEEP 2007, the 21st Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

Elizabeth Beothy, of the University of Pennsylvania, who authored the study, administered a questionnaire to 269 subjects, with an average age of 48, and 49.4 percent of which were African-American. Further, 37.5 percent of women were pre-menopausal, 43 percent in the menopausal transition and 19.5 percent post-menopausal.

The mean apnea score among African-American women was nearly double that of Caucasian women. Menopausal status was not a significant predictor of OSA symptoms. Race remained a significant predictor of OSA symptoms after adjustment for current body mass index (BMI), BMI change over time and menopausal status.

"Although menopausal status did not predict OSA symptoms, OSA symptoms on our cohort of menopausal women increased with higher BMI and larger BMI increases over time," said Beothy, who added that studies to document whether OSA is more common among African-American women than Caucasian women should be performed to further investigate these findings.

OSA affects an estimated 15 million to 20 million Americans, as well as millions more who remain undiagnosed and untreated.

Scientific evidence shows that CPAP is the best treatment for sleep apnea. CPAP provides a steady stream of pressurized air to patients through a mask that they wear during sleep. This airflow keeps the airway open, preventing the pauses in breathing that characterize OSA and restoring normal oxygen levels.

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Persons who think they might be suffering from OSA, or another sleep disorder, are encouraged to consult with their primary care physician, who will refer them to a sleep specialist.

For more information, visit http://www.sleepeducation.com/CPAPCentral, a Web site developed and maintained by the AASM, that provides the public with comprehensive, accurate and reliable information about CPAP. CPAP Central includes expanded information about OSA and CPAP, including how OSA is diagnosed, the function of CPAP, the benefits of CPAP therapy and an overview of what to expect when beginning CPAP therapy; the position of experts on CPAP therapy; and tools for success. CPAP Central also features an interactive slide set that educates the public about the warning signs of OSA.

The annual SLEEP meeting brings together an international body of 5,000 leading researchers and clinicians in the field of sleep medicine to present and discuss new findings and medical developments related to sleep and sleep disorders.

More than 1,000 research abstracts were presented at the SLEEP meeting, a joint venture of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society. The four-day scientific meeting brought to light new findings that enhance the understanding of the processes of sleep and aid the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy and sleep apnea.
by:www.medicalnewstoday.com