Art for Madagascar

Fine art prints by Paula Cox

2010-08-17T12:08:00.000-07:00

Market Day 2010
Aquatint Limited Edition 75
Image Size 19cm x 43cm
Paper Size 40cm x 62cm
20% to Feedback Madagascar

Walking With Water 2010
Aquatint Limited Edition 75
Image Size 27cm x 41cm
Paper Size 40cm x 62cm
20% to Feedback Madagascar
For prices contact artist

www.paulacoxart.com

Malagasy Dance 2010
Linocut Limited Edition 75
Image Size 21cm x 30cm

Mother and Child 2010
Linocut Limited Edition 75
Image Size 13cm x 31cm

Waiting For Rain 2010
Linocut Limited Edition 75
Image Size 21cm x 30cm

Paper sizes 38cm x 48cm
20% to Feedback Madagascar
For prices contact artist

www.paulacoxart.com

Malagasy Children

2010-08-17T11:27:00.000-07:00

Human Rights posters by Paula Cox for Feedback Madagascar

2010-08-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

Translation for children's rights poster:
All children have the right to go to school and to continue their studies, whether girl or boy. Let's take action together to support children's rights.

Translation for women's rights poster:
Women & men have equal rights to inherit! Don't forget: Possessions which aren't in your name aren't yours! Message to encourage women to get proof of ownership of things, otherwise they always end up with the man. Let's take action together to promote equal rights. (literally - 'to make equality rule')

Madagascar in black and white

2010-03-21T13:05:00.001-07:00

PAGE ONE of two exciting pages

Eco Tourism

2010-03-21T12:41:00.001-07:00

'Eco tourism' is responsible travel to fragile, pristine, and usually protected areas that strives to be low impact and (often) small scale. It educates the traveler; provides funds for conservation; directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities; and foster respect for different cultures and for human rights. For many countries ecotourism is not simply a marginal activity to finance protection of the environment, but is a major industry of the national economy. In Madagascar ecotourism represents a significant portion of the gross domestic product and economic activity. One definition of ecotourism is “the practice of low-impact, educational, ecologically and culturally sensitive travel that benefits local communities and host countries” (Honey, 1999).

Feedback Madagascar has been involved in the development of various community ecotourism projects. These tourist opportunities are in line with Feedback's philosophy as they not only allow tourists access to beautiful countryside but also allows an opportunity to experience the Malagasy way of life first hand, they ensure that whilst doing so the tourist also gives back to the community by partaking in a sustainable, locally managed project that supports the local community you are visiting. A rural community 39km southeast of Ambalavao, Ambohimahamasina (literally “at the sacred mountain”) is home to Madagascar’s most sacred mountain ‘Ambondrombe’ It is believed that the spirits of all dead people reside on this mountain. There are fixed rates for guides as well as meals and accommodation at the homestay. We stayed the night in Ambohimahamasina and got up early to pay our tourist fee at the ‘commune’ office; these funds are managed by a local committee to improve amenities and benefit local communities.

The trek started with a walk through the rice paddy countryside on to the steep path through forest to the top of the 'Itaolana', the little brother of the Ambondrombe mountain. Our guide was the keeper of the sacred mountain on reaching the top he said prayers and gave thanks to the ancestors who were thirsty for a sip of rum no less! Our lunch was delicious and still hot! Rice and vegetables followed by pineapples grown by our guide. The views across what’s left of the rain forest in the area are breath-taking. Going down the mountain we were met with a thunder storm and got soaked to the bone whilst experiencing the extraordinary light that transformed the countryside in an instant. Eco tourists are housed within the villages and our trail arrived at the basket weavers homestay with full board and lodging, we were made comfortable in the main room of the house where all the family property was on display. We admired the bright yellow men’s tailored jacket which hung on the wall whist we sipped the local rum to dry our damp bones. The family was happy to provide an excellent celebration dinner which was beautifully laid out on the floor upon an array of colourful hand woven matting that the village specialises in. We visited the weaving workshops the next day, you can see the Andoharano basket weavers village which is part on Feedback Madagascar ecotourism trail here Basket Weavers Village Slide Show

Silk Route Trails for Tourists + Homestay:
The discerning tourist can also explore the traditional silk industry in the beautiful Betsileo countryside of Manandriana. Tours can be organised to the village of Soatanana, 38km southeast of Ambositra (tarmac road for 30km). This is a village specialized in spinning and weaving of wild silk, using traditional methods. This region is home to the greatest surface area of tapia forest in Madagascar. You can see the silk weavers village which is part of Feedback Madagascar ecotourism trail here The Silk Weavers Slide Show

The scheme creates economic opportunities for the local communities and provides direct financial benefits for conservation with a focus more on the marketing the local craft product. There is a very desperate need in Madagascar for responsible tourism that includes programmes that minimise the negative aspects of conventional tourism on what's left of the fragile environment and enhance the cultural integrity of local people.
For more treks organised by Feedback Madagascar see their web site

Madagascar in colour

2010-03-21T12:17:00.000-07:00

Click here Art for Madagascar Funding Appeal

'Education to avoid teenage pregnancy' by Paula Cox for Feedback Madagascar

2010-03-21T10:44:00.001-07:00

Water Aid: Providing clean water to communities

2010-03-19T06:43:00.000-07:00

Feedback Madagascar works to ensure that all communities have access to clean water, their water supply work is concentrated on providing boreholes, installed with handpumps, using a hand-drilling technique called rotasludge. Feedback Madagascar now has two teams of well-drillers. Their current supporters are Fresh20 and the Eagle Foundation but they are desperately in need of funding to keep the work going. Action is centred around the promotion of the three main WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) messages, essential in reducing diarrhoel disease. Diarrhoeal diseases are still a major cause of sickness and death in Madagascar, and this is largely due to drinking dirty or contaminated water.

Many rural communities have experienced decreases in disease and sickness because of the work with the provision of drinking water systems, and through educational programmes related to the prevention of diarrhoel disease. Some villages have been supplied with gravitational water supply systems and hand pumps. Since Feedback Madagascar started working with HIP, in December 2007 community health educators have been trained in communication techniques to promote behaviour change related to water, sanitation and hygiene. Local masons have also been trained to build hygienic cement latrines using the ‘sanplat’ model.

Basket Weavers Village Madagascar

2010-03-18T07:13:00.000-07:00

In 2006 Feedback Madagascar helped to create the woman’s association ‘Soamiray’ in Ambohimahamasina to develop basketry into a sustainable and income-generating activity. Now Soamiray, who produces baskets, handbags, place mats, hats and other wicker items, is making products of better quality that are ready for the international market, & the fair trade company Hazomanga is their main client. Over 140 women work in 14 workshops spread over different villages.

View Basket Weavers Village Slide Show (by Paula Cox)

CLICK HERE to view second page of Art for Madagascar Blog

Erosion and deforestation

2010-01-12T13:02:00.000-08:00

Erosion and deforestation

We arrived back in Europe 27th December. Madagascar far behind us once again a coloured spot on the globe but not obscure now after our intense and intimate adventure with the country and culture. We can happily describe the trip as a success in terms of our expectations working with Feedback Madagascar who run a miraculous collection of projects in a reticent environment. However Madagascar is a show case of devastation and therefore demands a determined traveler who can uplift a heavy heart and maintain a positive attitude.

Madagascar has suffered severe environmental degradation but still retains some of the most biodiversity on the planet sadly there are major environmental problems these include:Deforestation and habitat destruction, Agricultural fires, Erosion and soil degradation, Overexploitation of living resources including hunting and over-collection of species from the wild, Introduction of alien species. With its rivers running blood red and staining the surrounding Indian Ocean, astronauts have remarked that it looks like Madagascar is bleeding to death.

WILD MADAGASCAR WEB SITE

'Human Rights and the Child' Illustration for Feedback Madagascar

2009-12-18T05:48:00.001-08:00

Paula Cox at her desk in Madagascar

Workshop in Ambohimahamasina with Julienne Dolphin Wilding

2009-12-18T05:48:00.000-08:00

Key words Discussed:
Constructive
Criticism
Experiment
Assert
Positive
Feedback
Confidence
Trust
Teamwork
Competition
Assumption
Anticipate
Judge
False Praise
Asking Questions
Problem Solving
Negative
Jealousy
Yes but…
Superior
Hierarchy
Abstract
Fear
Fantasy
Honesty
Brainstorming

Feedback Madagascar helped to create the woman’s association ‘Soamiray’ in Ambohimahamasina to develop basketry into a sustainable and income-generating activity. Now Soamiray is making products of better quality that are ready for the international market.
Basket Weavers post

First day. The workshop was of intensive discussion and constructive 'games' with me speaking in English with translation into French by Romain, followed by a translation into Malagasy by Vero. One woman had walked twelve kilometers to attend the work shop with the much needed sewing machine on her head. The point of the key words was to introduce the possibility of ‘professional’ communication skills between the co op as there are many rifts between the women due to their complex hierarchical system. The thirty one women were eager and attentive and once their shyness was overcome they beamed creativity. They had brought their unfinished product work with them but were happy to be introduced to the idea of improvisation exercises as a means to communicate. The second day was a more technical as we were refining strengthening existing designs, which was a relief as the sewing machine was finally used when I demonstrated to the women an alternative to the woven bag handles.

Second day: Workshop Sessions were animated to express communication skills these were: Miming the personality and characteristics of objects or beings. Silent impersonations and Surrealist folding drawing game. We went on to technical improvements after lunch.

Previously to the work shop Ambohimahamasina we visited the Association Relais with Romain, Samantha and Vero from Feedback Madagascar. Relais has bought up a disused government owed car factory in Fianarantsoa to house the arrival of tons of second hand clothing that is bought from the charity organisations in France. These are bound up as bales with wire and plastic. I devised a way to fashion a bag handle from the plastic strapping by making a fabric sleeve. I then demonstrated how the wire from the bales can be threaded into the woven lengths to make ridged sticks for the lamp supports.

New Products brainstorming
Lamps, Children’s toys, Mobiles, Hot pot holders, Slippers, Belts, Tea strainer, Cut out shapes for door privacy/fly curtain e.g. birds(Paula's Amnesty International dove design)butterflies, stars etc.

Product Analysis
Sampling
Strengths
Weaknesses
Colour
Detail
Decoration
Finish
Texture
Shape
Construction
Form
Size
“Where is the fault?”
“Where will it break?”
Drawing
Model
Proto type
Test

Click on group photo to enlarge

Turkeys arriving for Christmas

2009-12-18T05:46:00.000-08:00

Silk Weavers Village, Soatanana

2009-12-04T06:19:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we visited the Silk Trail in the village of Soatanana. This is a new tourist destination in the Amoron’i Mania region. For adventurous people wanting to discover local culture & village life, visitors have the opportunity to stay within the community. The wild silk used in these scarves was raised in semi-domestication in the highland Tapia forests of Madagascar. Madagascar is one of the Earth's great treasures of biological diversity, it's ecosystems are also among the most threatened.

The tapia forest is the only natural forest which exists in Madagascar’s highlands. It is home to great wealth, including the production of wild silk cocoons, medicinal plants, plants used for dyes as well as orchids. Eight community forest management associations are supported by NT/FBM in their management and conservation of the tapia forest. Each forest management association carries out reforestation of tapia and other species annually, in order to restore the forests. A tour of this area provides the opportunity to see all the stages in silk production, from the cocoon to weaving, including dyeing of the threads which is done with exclusively natural dyes. A circuit lasting one day is proposed to visit the villages of Antapia and Soatanana.

Feedback Madagascar oversees a project in this area to reintroduce the wild silkworm to the tapia forest and supports a weaver’s union, ‘Tambatra’, which regroups about 70 people. For the Feedback Madagascar tree-planting campaign this year, the objective of planting 45,000 tapia saplings has been set in order to ensure the reforestation of 30 hectares. All the population of around 585 households bordering the tapia forests would benefit. Tapia woodlands harbor many benefits, including wild silkworms (whose cocoons have been harvested for centuries to weave expensive burial shrouds), fruit, fuel wood, mushrooms, edible insects, and herbal medicines. In the 17th century, Europeans discovered that there was a special silkworm to the Great Island Madagascar.

Two types of silks exist in Madagascar: one is made from breeding silkworms and the other by Borocera Madagascariensis, silkworm living in the wild tree tapia. But, it is endemic to Madagascar. The silk worm Borocera Madagascariensis are holometabolous, therefore they have three distinct morphological stages; larva, pupa and adult. After hatching from the egg, larvae go through four molts as they grow. During each molt, the old skin is cast off and a new, larger one is produced. The silk worm larval life is divided into five instars, separated by four molts. After they have molted four times (i.e., in the fifth instar), their bodies turn slightly yellow and their skin becomes tighter. The larvae enclose themselves in a cocoon of raw silk produced in the salivary glands that provides protection during the vulnerable, almost motionless pupal state.

The cocoon is made of a thread of raw silk from 300 to about 900 meters (1,000 to 3,000 feet) long. The fibers are very fine and lustrous, about 10 micrometres (1/2,500th of an inch) in diameter. About 2,000 to 3,000 cocoons are required to make a pound of silk. Based on 1 kilometer (about 1,100 yards) per cocoon, ten unraveled cocoons could theoretically extend vertically to the height of Mount Everest. According to E. L. Palmer one pound of silk represents about 1,000 miles of filament. The annual world production represents 70 billion miles of silk filament, a distance well over 300 round trips to the sun.

The silkworm cocoons are boiled. The heat kills the silkworms and the water makes the cocoons easier to unravel. The silkworm itself is sold at market to be eaten. The cocoons then are compacted into balls and allowed to dry in the sun for four days. They are then beaten to make them soft and then washed again with soap. The silk is boiled dyed again with natural additives as dyes to develop the colours: Eucalyptus mixed with soil makes the colour black. Passion Flower makes the colour green 1 kilo of cocoons makes one large or two medium sized scarves. It takes one day to weave one scarf.

The Sale of Silk Scarves supports both the conservation of the native woodlands and the traditional handicraft of these scarves, as well as providing a sustainable source of income for the women who make them. The wild silks are hand spun, and dyed with natural dyes. Each scarf is different, with the subtle variations in colour and weave inherent with any handcrafted product, and each is beautiful.

View Silk Village Slide Show (by Paula Cox)

Daily life in Madagascar

2009-11-30T06:00:00.000-08:00

Violette and Dieudonné product commission ideas: Chiminea/Stove/Wheel Barrow

2009-11-16T01:56:00.000-08:00

Cooking in Madagascar is done inside the home without a chimney which is the cause of many fires and lung related diseases especially in children (who tend to be the ones responsible for lighting the fire.) It is strange to view homes throughout Madagascar with black windows and roofs instead of a chimney pot, why the houses have no chimneys is still a mystery.

A basic metal chiminea adapted for smoke extraction is a possible solution to this problem. As the story goes, chimeneas originated hundreds if not thousands of years ago by Mexican tribesmen who developed the chimeneas as a means of providing heat for their family as well as a vessel for cooking and baking.

Fuel wood and charcoal production. The endemic spiny forests of Madagascar are being cut at an alarming rate for charcoal production. In eking out a living selling little piles of charcoal along roads in southwestern Madagascar, local people turn towards the nearest plant source, which are often Alluaudia trees.

The charcoal is transported on yolks on peoples backs this system is used everywhere as there are so few roads in Madagascar, walking is the main transport often balancing along the ridges of the ubiquitous rice paddy fields. We are also going to commission the antique wheel barrow in the photograph as a second product for the factory workshop.

First visit Violette and Dieudonné

2009-11-10T23:44:00.000-08:00

The first project visited on arrival in the capital Antananarivo was the brilliant factory run by Violette and Dieudonné. They employ 450 workers and have built a school for their families. There is a factory out-let shop built into the main house which is a huge folly visible from the road, tourists and locals are bought there via taxis. They prefer to be independent from any government sponsorship for fear of being compromised by them. Once the workers have money they build their homes on land purchased by the company.
The raw material used for the products is tons of disused steel cylinders which are sliced up and beaten into shape becoming plates, mirrors, boxes and ornamental Baobab trees to name a few. Their elegant work was evident in many of rooms we stayed in during our travels. We will propose new designs for their product range.

Artist support for health and culture

2009-10-29T19:22:00.001-07:00

Project proposal by Paula Cox and Julienne Dolphin Wilding

We have been invited by Samantha Cameron of Feedback Madagasca r
to use our individual skills to support their projects. As artists we will be working on specific initiatives to benefit the Malagasy people.

Paula will be designing posters for human rights, topics will include: Better hygiene and sanitation to reduce disease. Land security (as often women do not have the same rights to inherit) and equal rights to education. We shall document ongoing projects with Feedback Madagascar with images to use for their publicity and catalogs.

There is a need to develop income-generating activities for communities, as well as assisting the creativity of new sustainable crafts. The visual inspiration will be developed to create a collection of fine art prints celebrating the Malagasy people, these together with Paula’s photography will be exhibited at venues in London, Barcelona and Paris in 2011 for exhibitions that will honour and promote Malagasy people.

We will be funding our own time and combined skills to accomplish our specific initiatives to benefit the Malagasy people.

An appeal for charitable funds for artist lead project

£2,000 Two return flights to Madagascar
£2,000 Photographic exhibition costs
£4,000 Plate making/printing/framing costs for the exhibition of art works
20% from sales of the art work by Paula Cox will be donated to Feedback Madagascar.
£8,000 Total
Please contact us artformadagascar@gmail.com

Paula Cox

2009-10-29T18:48:00.001-07:00

Artist printmaker and photographer Visit Paula Cox web site

My work is figurative using fluid lines and carefully chosen colours. One of the major themes of my artwork is a celebration of different cultural identities around the world and in relation to this I have worked in association with Amnesty International as an ‘artist for human rights’ since 1988. I have recently completed a project ‘Celebrating the Life of Palestinian Women’ for which I received a grant from the Arts Council to be an artist in residence in Palestine.

Working together with my project partner and associate artist Julienne Dolphin Wilding we are planning an initial visit to Madagascar in November 2009 to research and develop our ideas and start our art based project with Feedback Madagascar. After we have successfully secured sponsorship we will return in 2010 to complete phase one of the project. I intend to use my skills as an illustrator to highlight hygiene and sanitation concerns to reduce disease and assist a water project with PHAST public health and action support team.

As a photographer I shall document on going projects with Feedback Madagascar with images to use for publicity and catalogues.

I will create a series of fine art prints from sketches and Madagascan inspiration that will celebrate the cultural traditions and ethnic diversity of the Malagasy people.

I would also like to create and audiovisual presentation from all the collated images and work with Malagasy musicians for the sound track.

An exhibition of my work together with products and designs by the Malagasy people including basketry and woven silk by the women from the silk cooperative would take place independence and highlight the glory of this unique island nation.

Julienne Dolphin Wilding

2009-10-29T18:35:00.000-07:00

Artist and Designer. Visit web site Julienne Dolphin Wilding

My work has developed specifically within environmental concerns. I have a large range of work, including site specific sculpture, furniture, product, interior and garden design. I am very interested in visiting Madagascar to run a project working with sustainable and waste materials that are widely utilized there.

In my work I use durable materials that do not break and survive the life of the product; recycled materials; materials fabricated from factory production waste, and sustainable raw materials. The materials take on a new role which exploits their natural individuality and irregularity, precisely those characteristics which preclude their use in most applications.

I am able to work with local crafts people as a group, or as an individual 'artist as a mentor'. I have taught design, art and craft at university level for fourteen years and feel strongly that I have something to contribute to the new crafts initiatives in Madagascar.

I would like to support the Malagasy crafts women and help to make informed and meaningful decisions about their products.

Developing new sustainable Malagasy crafts as income-generating activities for communities, as well as working on the creativity of the current silk and basketry products.

Promoting Malagasy craft products and Paula's exhibition prints that can be exhibited in venues in London, Barcelona and Paris in 2010. These exhibitions will celebrate and promote the work of Malagasy people and support community action to save the rain-forest.

Feedback Madagascar

2009-10-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

Feedback Madagascar is a unique, well respected organisation that aims to alleviate poverty through an integrated approach, recognising the inter-relationship between poverty, environmental degradation and poor health.

Their focus encourages local people to identify their problems and needs helping them to create their own solutions. By working in a participatory way, with community consultation at all stages of programme design and implementation, they ensure that projects are effective and sustainable.

They implement activities which promote the social development of local communities and the improved management of natural resources. Since 1993, Feedback has improved the lives of thousands of Malagasy families. Their unique sustainable approach has seen impressive results, everything that has been achieved has come through direct consultation and partnership with local people and they are still going from strength to strength!

Click here to go back to most recent posts