Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Mosaic, beach, guitar, conga, Jesuit

A minimalistic educational project with Angolan street kids
  (+11, -3)(+11, -3)
(+11, -3)
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Angola is a beautiful country with interesting cultures; a mixture of Latino-Catholic traces (Portuguese colony), native cultures, and modern diaspora influences.

Across the Atlantic you see Rio de Janeiro, a melting pot that has led to some of the greatest pools of artistic expression and musical creativity.

Eventhough there are already deep Brazilian-Angolan ties, this idea is aimed at making them more explicit, albeit in a subtle manner, and without pushing things.

The project is very simple: parallel to a sunny, deserted Angolan beach (of which there are many) we create a large but non-intrusive walkway made out of a mosaic, like the famous Copacabana promenade that was designed by Roberto Marx [link]. I have something very white, with a streak of vivid purple-red in mind. An abstract, light mosaic. Palm trees.

That's it. Nothing special.

Now we add a few locally available resources:

1. several percussion instruments, guitars, saxophones and some other musical instruments. Dotted on our walkway are cozy benches, where you can gather to do whatever you want. Playing music for example.

2. another ingredient is a Jesuit teacher-priest: disciplined but just. His (traditional) motto: "there is more in you" ("plus est en vous"). He just walks on the promenade.

3. the last thing is a small group of volunteers (everybody's welcome, from Angola itself, or from the US, Europe, Asia) who prepare food, and who keep an eye on the musical installation, the internet connection (a few PC's dot our walkway) and the dormitories.

Voilà. This is all very discreet, light, a minimalistic intervention on that beach somewhere south of the capital.

Now comes the crucial part: bring in the kids. Kids from the favelas of Luanda, that is. Poor street kids, the beach kids [link]. The kids of which it can be said that "there is more in them". In fact, they already showed this because they helped design and build the mosaic of the walkway (a small, fun, side-project).

Our army of kids gets a meal every day, can listen to music, and will be kindly watched after by our Jesuit and the volunteers. For the rest they are entirely free.

I can guarantee you that:

-within 5 to 10 years time this beach will have produced several music bands with an international impact; at least one mega-hit will emerge from it, to which the entire world will dance, longing for the tropics

-within 10 years it will have become a hotspot for passionate beach goers and tourists who like to dance away the night on the fire of the fantastic and unique music that is being played live each night

-within 15 years the place will begin to resemble a kind of infant Rio, but with its own identity and creative expressions; not a clone; the mosaic was only a trace, a sign, a sign of saying hello across the Atlantic...

-within 20 years it will have become a center of culture, with music, fashion, design schools, known for new styles of dance, of artistic expression and of new forms of sociality that amaze the world

All this can be predicted with a 100% certainty.

No hard discipline, our school is an open air school, where the spontaneity of creativity gets a place. Sun, beach [link], sea, music... are just environmental factors that stimulate particular processes in parts of the brain. The kids have nothing to lose. Some will become great musicians, designers, others will go into dance, fashion and other arts.

The entire project starts with a minimal fund obtained from donations. I guarantee that it can sustain itself from year 5 onwards. From year 10 on it is highly profitable.

It's a small development project that goes beyond the tragic utilitarianism that is often so typical of NGOs who work in the Global South. There's more than food. Like the Germans say: "erst die Moral, dann das Fressen" ("culture first, then food").

django, Jun 18 2007

Sea, tree, sand, mosaic http://www.travel-e...antica-sidewalk.jpg
That's the basis, we keep things minimal [django, Jun 18 2007]

Girl living on Luanda beach http://i3.photobuck...21.jpg?t=1182211257
This girl is extremely poor in economic terms, but very funny and musical. "Happy" too, at least I think so. She would join the school, I think. [django, Jun 18 2007]

paper, scissors, stone – fillet steak. paper_2c_20scissors...20fillet_20steak_2e
rpsf (pssfs) [zen_tom, Jun 20 2007]

[link]






       \\Across the Atlantic you see Rio de Janeiro\\
[goes to find taller chair to stand on].
moomintroll, Jun 19 2007
  

       Have taller chair, still can't see it. Can hear music, though.
normzone, Jun 19 2007
  

       What is the invention?
Galbinus_Caeli, Jun 19 2007
  

       The invention is a combination of technologies (promenade, musical instruments, Jesuit, the brain of children) that form one big creative machine that spontaneously converts human and environmental energy into passion and into mega-hits. The efficiency of the device is extremely high.   

       Soon to be listed on the Nasdaq :-)
django, Jun 19 2007
  

       Ok. (+)
Galbinus_Caeli, Jun 19 2007
  

       Well, yes + after you explained it that way...I'm never sure of things with *religious* stuff...
xandram, Jun 19 2007
  

       this is a very nice plan for a school of the arts, not a device or a machine. calling it a machine is figuratively speaking. sorry -
dentworth, Jun 19 2007
  

       I feel a strange urge to say bad science. You seem to be overly positive about humans. Then again you get my bun for the utopia.
zeno, Jun 19 2007
  

       (-) Good intentions, but I can't stand the tone of "All this can be predicted with a 100% certainty."   

       The German quote traditionally runs the opposite way (and makes sense that way, i.e. as a reminder that certain physical needs outweigh culture). The quote you *want* here is the Torah's 'Man doth not live by bread only'.
jutta, Jun 20 2007
  

       I keep thinking this is a variation of paper, rock, scissors, (fillet steak).
po, Jun 20 2007
  

       What [po] said   

       Mosaic covers beach
beach gets sand in guitar
guitar halts conga
conga enrages Jesuit
Jesuit condemns mosaic (as heresy)
zen_tom, Jun 20 2007
  

       Excellent [zen]! Let's play:

One, two, three,

Jesuit!
hippo, Jun 20 2007
  

       Beach!!   

       You win, Jesuit makes sandcathedral.
zen_tom, Jun 20 2007
  

       Yay!

The other relationships are:

Mosaic: Covers beach; Sharp edges of tesserae (mosaic tiles) scratch lovely gloss-finish on guitar
Beach: Gets sand in guitar; Slows down conga-line
Guitar: Halts conga; Frustrates Jesuit guitar-student
Conga: Enrages Jesuit; Bumps into half-finished mosaic, scattering pieces.
Jesuit: Condemns mosaic (as heresy); Makes sandcathedral out of beach

Nicely balanced you see - each thing is linked to each of the four other things with two 'good' and two 'bad' links.
hippo, Jun 20 2007
  

       Within 25 years it will be bombed by civil war.
RayfordSteele, Jun 20 2007
  

       [zen_tom] said:   

       "Mosaic covers beach" > I agree   

       "beach gets sand in guitar" > I fundamentally disagree because the guitars would be electric guitars, as they are so typically used in soukkous and rumba; the promenade also keeps the sand from reaching the guitar; moreover, the millions of profits generated from the mega-hits also allow us to hire several people who prevent sand from reaching the inner parts of the musical instruments; they use tiny brushes.   

       "conga enrages Jesuit" > on the contrary! Jesuits are known for their use of percussion as a way to approach pagans and to convert them; the historic record is clear on this; most Jesuit missions had a very strong musical component with music academies playing a key role in keeping the communities together   

       "Jesuit condemns mosaic (as heresy)" > we pick a tolerant Jesuit who feels confident that exotic mosaics and the exuberant parties that will be held on the promenade are fundamentally a social technology aimed at forming and strengthening communities and personal relationships, - the ultimate goal of the Creator. The Pope has never condemned Rio's Carnaval, for example. Instead, Brazil's bishops (several of them Jesuits) encourage this deeply pagan feast.   

       In short, [zen_tom], you are invited for a drink on that beach, the kids and the Jesuit will prove you wrong.
django, Jun 20 2007
  

       [Po]: the combination of resources into a thing that works is a technology. Social technologies are technologies too.   

       If you had been the inventor of "paper, rock, scissors", I'm sure you would have received lots of croissants. Proof that joining stuff together into fantastic little machines (like hand games, or creative colonies) makes sense.
django, Jun 20 2007
  

       I wish I knew what you were on about.
po, Jun 20 2007
  

       [Po], what exactly is so difficult about understanding the concept of technology?
django, Jun 20 2007
  

       nothing but why are you aiming all this at me?
po, Jun 20 2007
  

       <correct me if I'm wrong>   

       [django] I think you're imagining that [po]'s comment about the idea being like rock, paper, scissors (and based on the format of the idea's title - a number of things, separated by commas) contains a value judgement that just isn't there.   

       //If you had been the inventor of "paper, rock, scissors"// Oddly enough, she is - or at least one of the extended variants - see link.   

       In other words, there's nothing at all wrong with rps - in fact, if you take a look, you'll see that [po] herself has created her own version (rpsf), by technique of extension.   

       Her comment was just an observation based on the layout of your title.   

       </cmiiw>
zen_tom, Jun 20 2007
  

       My sincerest apologies, I have made an error, [po]. I mixed up [Galbinus_Caeli]'s comment with yours, and combined them into an imaginary judgement. Sorry about that.   

       Please remember that for non-native speakers it is also very difficult to process all the information on this website.   

       For example, I had to look up whether "paper, rock, scissors" is the same hand-game as the one we call "leaf, crystal, knife" in my language [Dutch]. It took quite a search to find out.   

       And then I confused several comments... tsss... apologies.   

       Anyways, I'm glad you compare the idea to "leaf, crystal, knife", I think it's a compliment, because it's such a brilliant little game.   

       Also, all this linguistic confusion from my part can be avoided via music, a universal language, especially if played on a beach, etc!!!
django, Jun 20 2007
  

       I'm not sure I like the idea, but the title is surely intriguing.
wagster, Jun 20 2007
  

       i like it. i don't why...but i like it.
abhorsen1983, Jun 21 2007
  
      
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