Ovi magazine; Thursday November 2nd, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems, the thoughts, the reviews, the photos, the paintings and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Thursday November 2nd, 2023

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Adolfo Vera: Struggle is not a word by Amir Khatib

When I was studying at Sibelius Academy a course supervisor told us: We will take mutual pictures tomorrow for the university magazine. I did not care about what he said and we engaged in studying, but we had a judo lesson as part of the course.

Oh, judo tomorrow. This means that we will take the picture while practicing judo. A skinny young man with Middle Eastern features entered, so I thought, but my thoughts were wrong, as he is from Chile, his name was Adolfo Vera.

He entered with a camera and the supplies of a professional photographer. We got to know each other after that. I knew that he was an artist, and not was only a professional photographer. We met more than once, we became friends and we discussed about my project that I was busy with, “The Migrant Artists Network Project.” That was in 1998.

Continue reading HERE!

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My grey shadow #poem by Bohdan Yuri

“Next to me is my grey shadow
the one that falls into a shade
and holds a candle when it rains.
its borrowed soul is from my own
but I never told it what to perform.
instead it hides from my sight
and I can’t find my soul at night.”

Continue reading HERE!

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A fistful of cactus #066 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more A fistful of cactus HERE!

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Ovi magazine; Saturday January 14th, 2023

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Saturday January 14th, 2023

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kholoud Hawash by Amir Khatib

Iraqi born artist kholoud Hawash came to Finland with her husband, also Iraqi artist Saddam Al-Jumaili.  Kholoud is an active and well known among the artistic community in Finland and their starting point was their Art Residency in 2018 and their continuously presence in various stages of the program since then while eventually based in a semi-fixed house in the Tsubu area near the Finnish capital, Helsinki.

‏ Kholoud talented artistic textile creations are inspired by the heritage and archaeological landscapes of the region and the centred female presence, made her known first in Finland, gradually to all Scandinavia and consequently she was invited to participate in one of the most important artistic events in the Nordic countries, the five-year exhibition called Ars.

‏I, myself have participated alongside some extraordinary contemporary artists from all around the world and I’m proud that some of them are of an Iraqi origin, including a Jew who lives in the USA. Therefore it was with special pride to see the Scandinavian media spotlighting this young artist; to show a talented Iraqi woman, active, effective and interactive with a full artistic environment.

Continue reading HERE!

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Restless Hawk (V2) #poem by Michael Lee Johnson

“The angels of wings are always in flight
be the devil or archangel Michael.
I’m a hawk, I’m a night owl night
barroom flights, fighter,
seeing eyes that eye me contact,
not blind, a rhythm of sensuality.”

Continue reading HERE

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Martin Niemoller: After Nazi Violence, Reconciliation Efforts by Rene Wadlow

Martin Niemoller, 14 January 1892 – 6 March 1984, was an anti-Nazi German theologian who after the end of World War II worked for active reconciliation among Germans and then for reconciliation between the West and the USSR. He was one of the six co-presidents of the World Council of Churches (WCC) from 1961 to 1968 – a period when the WCC reached out beyond church circles to raise issues of peace, development and anti-racism. I knew him somewhat during his WCC presidency when he would come to Geneva and often gave talks on his reconciliation efforts.

Martin Niemoller’s father was a well-known Protestant pastor who hoped that his son would follow but who left him all freedom to choose. Martin Niemoller’s first choice was the military navy, and he became a navel officer and a commander of a submarine, a U-boat. He was a U-boat commander when the 1914-1918 World War broke out. His was a nine-laying sub which mined French harbors causing damage and lose of life.

Continue reading HERE

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Ephemera #78 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more Ephemera HERE!

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Ovi magazine; Saturday November 19th, 2022

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Saturday November 19th, 2022

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Fabien Poes by Dr Elsa Lycias Joel

Fabien Poes painting the walls of Alliance Française (AF) Chennai was a sight to watch. Standing on the ascent stool, his hand held and swayed the spray paint just as a kabuki dancer would sway the fan. In spite of me standing next to him and asking too many questions, his graffiti strokes seemed admirable just as his answers. I found his work and story impressive. At times when Fabien got sentimental about what led him to his destinations, he drifted to his mother tongue and I relied on Saanchi Agarwal, translator at AF. Born in 1983, Fabien grew up in Paris in the La Defense district. Growing up without a television was a blessing for he developed a love for novels and spent most of the time playing with his friends in his neighbourhood, a concrete maze to be precise. Somewhere between creating his own imaginary world, going to school and coming back home he began to do graffiti on the walls when he was sweet sixteen. It started off as a game.

A couple of times Fabien got arrested for painting private walls and that didn’t deter him from doing what he enjoyed the most. Instead it gave him an adrenalin rush helping him realize graffiti was his calling. Yes, the writing on the wall was clear. Walls spoke through colours and Fabien laboured in freedom after dark to throw some light. Darker the nights, better his imaginations. Some days, he waited for his parents to go to bed to run to his hideouts from where he communicated to the society. Nothing could stop Fabien. An insatiable quest for stories and encounters took him to the four corners of the new borderless Europe that cherished his works for more than 20 years.

Continue reading HERE!

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The woman that was a starling #poem by Abigail George

“Put the lion in his magnificent cell and
worship him there. In my dream leaves
turn into milk quietly. Daylight crushed
my dreams. Birthed the telephone-poet
with her flaming debt-free-volcano-lips.”

Continue reading HERE

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A fistful of cactus #41 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more A fistful of cactus HERE!

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Ovi magazine; Saturday October 1st, 2022 – International Day of Older Persons

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Saturday October 1st, 2022 – International Day of Older Persons

The overall umbrella theme for the United Nations International Day of Older Persons in 2022 is “Resilience of Older Persons in a Changing World.” This theme will be celebrated by the NGO Committees on Ageing in New York, Geneva and Vienna – each with a unique and complementary approach to the overall theme. See below for more information.

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Books & art, the last stand to authoritarianism? by Thanos Kalamidas

The Greek dictators during their regime that lasted seven years (1967-1974), ban the sale and owning of over 200 books including Jaroslav Hašek’s “The Good Soldier Švejk”, all  Bertolt Brecht’s and Anton Chekhov’s work. Works considered classics and monumental for human history. “The Good Soldier Švejk” was forbidden due to its anti-war message, Bertolt Brecht was socialist and Anton Chekhov Russian. Ethnicity was enough for the dictators to forbidden a book and make reading them punishable.

On 10 May 1933, the students burned upwards of 25,000 volumes of “un-German” books in the square at the State Opera, Berlin, thereby presaging an era of uncompromising state censorship. In many other university towns, nationalist students marched in torch lit parades against the “un-German” spirit. All books from authors with Marxist or Pacifist affiliations, literature with liberal, democratic tendencies and attitudes, like the works of H. G. Wells, Heinrich Mann, Thomas Mann and of course… all Jewish writers.

Continue reading HERE!

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Torment Of The Night #poem & #painting by Nikos Laios

“In the corridors 
And the hallways
They whisper,
On the boulevards 
And city streets 
They walk alone 
In the silence of 
The night.”

Continue reading HERE!

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Manish’s Zodiac Signs Predictions for October 2022 #horoscope by Manish Kumar Arora

Continue reading HERE!

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Insert Brain Here 2.0 #022 #cartoon by Paul Woods

For more Insert Brain Here 2.0, HERE!

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Ovi magazine; Friday September 16th, 2022 – International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Friday September 16th, 2022 – International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer

The ozone layer, a fragile shield of gas, protects the Earth from the harmful portion of the rays of the sun, thus helping preserve life on the planet. The phaseout of controlled uses of ozone depleting substances and the related reductions have not only helped protect the ozone layer for this and future generations, but have also contributed significantly to global efforts to address climate change; furthermore, it has protected human health and ecosystems by limiting the harmful ultraviolet radiation from reaching the Earth.

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When the memory fades by Amir Khatib

Once I somehow tried to define homeland. Homeland is the tenderness our mothers gave us; it is the cold winter next to the warm stove and a cup tea waiting to go to school, it is running and playing with friends, it is that cart at the school door with the good seller who packs eggs and vegetables in bread and give them to us with a smile.

Homeland is all the memories of childhood.

And it is all the memories collected and stuffed in our head with or without our will. It is memories inserted to our conscious or unconscious from time to time and we do retrieve them, reflect the joyful moments more often than the painful ones. We bring back the rectangle of the contemplation in the buildings, the faces and events that passed and have solidified or calcified us; that have become thin layers of us that sometimes are difficult to browse through.

Among those memories, Yassin Ghaleb clutches and carries them with sincerity, joy and burdened. He carries them on all his long personal life journeys, a life that took him to the farthest point in the north of this earth.

Continue reading HERE!

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My grey shadow #poem by Bohdan Yuri

“Next to me is my grey shadow
the one that falls into a shade
and holds a candle when it rains.
its borrowed soul is from my own
but I never told it what to perform.”

Continue reading HERE!

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Ephemera #69 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more Ephemera, HERE

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Ovi magazine; Monday May 16th, 2022 – International Day of Light

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Monday May 16th, 2022 – International Day of Light

The International Day of Light is a global initiative that provides an annual focal point for the continued appreciation of light and the role it plays in science, culture and art, education, and sustainable development, and in fields as diverse as medicine, communications, and energy.

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All in a name by Dr Elsa Lycias Joel

There is not one person in Kanyakumari district who hasn’t heard of Martyr Devasahayam, widely referred to as Devasahayam Pillai. Born as Neelakandan to Vasudevan Namputhiri and Devaki Amma, he was trained in archery, varmasastra and weapons of war only to serve as a soldier in the army of Maharaja Marthanda Varma, king of Travancore. He also served as an official in the Neelakandaswamy temple at Padmanabhapuram and as a palace official. Neelakandan met Eustache de Lannoy, a prisoner of war and got to know him better when he served as the paymaster to the construction labourers of the Udayagiri fort. A friendship developed between Neelakandan and the Dutch officer De lannoy with whom he shared his sorrows and identity crisis. De Lannoy comforted his friend with stories of Jesus and Job. Anguish and despair of Neelakandan’s heart were lifted. Feeling strengthened, uplifted and with full of hope, Neelakandan embraced the new found faith. His admirers and followers knew the 2 reasons behind his allegiance.

1. He was moved by the heartrending story of Christ’s unconditional love and forgiveness

2. He realized there is no true love among people who discriminate and exploit fellow beings

Continue reading HERE!

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To a prisoner #poem & #Art #AstInstallation by Amir Khatib

“The people carried their commandments and left…
 On the way, the oldest of them shivered in doubt;
 Who is following him?”

Continue reading HERE!

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Tang & Ram #035 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more Tang & Ram, HERE!

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Ovi magazine; Monday March 21st, 2022 – World Poetry Day

 

The articles, the opinions, the stories, the poems and the cartoons Ovi magazine covers for Monday March 21st, 2022 – World Poetry Day

World Poetry Day takes place every year to promote the teaching of poetry, as well as the publishing, writing, and reading of this form of writing around the world. It was declared by UNESCO in 1999 and they stated that their purpose for creating this day was: “with the aim of supporting linguistic diversity through poetic expression and increasing the opportunity for endangered languages to be heard”

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How the state has destroyed Malay dignity – Malays are second-class citizens in their own country by Murray Hunter

When I was back in Setapak Garden during the Asian financial crisis, my bedroom window looked out onto a street where there was a Chinese coffee shop and a stall selling goreng pisang in the afternoons, nearby. The coffee shop was open until 4am every night. It was full of noisy beer drinkers, singing and occasionally smashing beer bottles on the street in the early hours of the morning. In the afternoons, a young Malay guy, who lost his job during the crisis, sold goreng pisang to feed his family. Then, one day the DBKL officers came in large numbers, confiscating the stall and fining the poor guy, in what could be best described as a humiliating scene for him.

Notwithstanding all this, the coffee shop continued to open unimpeded making a racket every night.

Continue reading HERE!

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“Sidewalk” #poem & #ArtInstallation by Amir Khatib

“I did not know then what
I know now. That I was a
pioneer of sorts embarking
on a new adventure to seek a”

Continue reading HERE!

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Ephemera #046 #cartoon by Thanos Kalamidas

For more Ephemera, HERE!

For more Ovi Cartoons, HERE!

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Guard Earth #5

 

Don’t let nature become a painting in a museum!
An Ovi Magazine ‘Awareness’ Campaign

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“Tiger in a Tropical Storm” by Henri Rousseau (1891)

St. Petersburg days in Helsinki

EU-MAN’s Permanent Gallery - St. Petersburg days in Helsinki

The European Union Migrant Artists Network (EU-MAN) cordially invites you to attend the grand opening of the permanent EU-MAN Gallery in Helsinki’s Cable Factory on Tuesday April 14th. Since the launch of EU-MAN in January 1997 there have been countless exhibitions in many countries displaying a huge variety of artworks created by the Network’s many active members, but this is the first time that a permanent exhibition has been established and it is an exciting prospect for everybody involved.

As a special part of this first exhibition, there will be a celebration of 200 years of relations between Finland and Russia. EU-MAN is participating in the “St. Petersburg days in Helsinki” event with a painting exhibition that includes works from 13 Russian artists and five artists that are members of EU-MAN in Finland. The certain exhibit will be open between the 14th and 24th of April.

The gallery’s opening and the exhibition is going to be attanted by Mr. Goubankov Anton Nikolaevich, Chairman of Culture committee of SPB and Mrs. Larisa Skobkina Curator, Chief of the Department of the newest currents of the Central exhibition hall of St. Petersburg “Manege”, so you have the opportunity to meet and talk with them.

So please join us as the 12 year-old EU-MAN organisation celebrates another first and is finally able to display an impressive selection of its members’ work.

The Russian artists:
Oleg Frontinsky
Larisa Golubeva
Rashid Dominov
Boris Zabirohin
Alla Geguerey
Lada Panyukova
Stas Kasimov
Nikolay Vasilyev
Andrei Chezhin
Lyudmila Chezhina
Dmitry Konradt
Dmitry Shaguin
Andrey Kouznetsov

The EU-MAN artists:
Andrea Bauer
Tigneh Negash
Nastaran Nasirzadeh
Amir Khatib
Thanos Kalamidas

EU-MAN Gallery Grand Opening
Tuesday April 14th
Cable Factory
Block B, Floor 3
Tallberginkatu 1
00180 Helsinki

The Ovi magazine today

A German lullaby by Thanos Kalamidas
And it did happen again and this time in Germany, with more victims - fifteen, the news say, including the boy that held the gun. The question remains, who put this gun in his hand and who triggered it!

The Chai Wallah Oscar by Asa Butcher
The Ovi readers that eagerly followed my live update on Oscar Night may wonder why it has taken me so long to present my review of 'Slumdog Millionaire', the film that walked away with the coveted Best Picture at the 81st Academy Awards.

Universal Colours #109 by Amir Khatib
'Universal Colours' is the magazine for professional migrant artists and we invite you to download the latest issue as a free PDF today
"preface to sail" by Bohdan Yuri
"Each man carries within him the soul of a poet who died young." - Sainte- Beuve

Ovi today

Hammering Concrete! by Thanos Kalamidas
A brand new exhibition from Thanos Kalamidas.

The Big Three in Asia by Valerie Sartor
Bill Emmott, the former chief editor of The Economist, presented a talk at The Beijing Bookworm about his newest book: 'Rivals: How the Power Struggle Between China, India and Japan Will Shape Our Next Decade'.

Our Global Societies' Philosopher's Stone by Leah Sellers
Alchemy is sometimes vilified because it's associated with magic. In my mind, magic is just unknown Science; just as today's science fiction is tomorrow's Science.

"Schiavo" by Jan Sand
"Each memorable verse of a true poet has two or three times the written content." - Alfred de Musset

The Ovi magazine today

Killing the death penalty by Asa Butcher

The death penalty has been a regular issue discussed among the Ovi team and there is never any harm in broaching the subject again, especially after this week's news that an innocent man spent 26 years in prison.

Lev Semenovich Vygotsky: Thought, Language, and Children at Play by Emanuel L. Paparella
In 1958 an Italian translation of a novel written in the Soviet Union and suppressed there appeared in the West winning its author instant fame and recognition and the Nobel Prize for literature besides - the novel's title is 'Dr. Zhivago'.

Bloode's Beastly Beckoning by Matt Williamson
The good Mr. Bloode bounded into his bakery, took out a clean apron, and wiped his hands upon a crisp white cloth.

Nunes Gallery: Graphics Exhibition by Alexandra Pereira
You are invited to an exhibition by Antti Jokinen, Pekka Litmanen and Taina de Carvalho (Graphics) opening on Tuesday April 22nd, 1700-1900.

Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq! by Thanos Kalamidas
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has made an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad. She said she hoped to see further reconciliation of the various sectarian groups in Iraq.

Bob Dylan wins Pulitzer

Singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has received an honorary Pulitzer Prize for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture".

The special music award recognised the 66-year-old's "lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power". Prize administrator Sig Gissler said the honour "reflects the efforts of the Pulitzer board to broaden the scope of the music prize".

The time has come!

The Ovi magazine today

Doping kills sport by Thanos Kalamidas

What happened these days in Greek sport is not new, it is not that it never happened before and it is not that it will never happen again.

Petra Kaminen's Helsinki Mosher Exhibition by Alexandra Pereira
A new generation of artists-gallerists will thus come on to Helsinki's art life scene, with refreshing new ideas, expectations and provocative new questions to pose.

Cry Rohingyas!!! Cry!!!! by Rohingya Human Rights
Thailand's Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said after emerging from a two-hour meeting of the National Security Council on March 28.2008 that the Thai Navy is exploring a deserted island to place the Rohingya refugees living in Thailand.

Life Undercover #733 by Thanos K & Asa B
It is time to change the sheets... our inquisitive duvet-loving hero has some female company now asking the great questions of life, religion and the universe.

Jules Dassin dies

American film director Jules Dassin has died in an Athens hospital after a short illness, at the age of 96. Blacklisted in Hollywood after WWII, he went to Europe where he married the late Greek actress and later culture minister Melina Mercouri.

Melina Mercouri starred in Mr. Dassin's most famous film, Never on Sunday. After her death in 1994, Mr. Dassin fought to realize her main goal: the return of the Parthenon, or Elgin, marbles from Britain to Greece.

A spokesman for Hygeia hospital in Athens said Mr. Dassin had been admitted for treatment two weeks ago. "Greece grieves the loss of a rare human being, an important creator and a true friend," Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said in a statement.

Art is going to miss a great creator!

The Ovi magazine today

Noam Chomsky on the Politics of the Essence of the Human Mind by Emanuel L. Paparella

Noam Chomsky is considered one of the pivotal linguists of our time. He follows a long heritage on the nature of language which begins with the ancient Greeks and continues with Giambattista Vico in the 18th century.

Whither Democracy in America? Part 3: Myths and Lessons of Athenian Democracy by Dr. Habib Siddiqui
The word democracy derives from the ancient Greek dēmokratia (literally, rule by the people) formed from the roots dēmos "people," "the mob, the many" and kratos "rule" or "power."

"Charles Darwin and a pool party" by Alexander Mikhaylov
"Perhaps no person can be a poet, or can even enjoy poetry, without a certain unsoundness of mind." - Thomas Babington Macaulay

"I wish" by Bohdan Yuri
"Poets are mysterious, but a poet when all is said is not much more mysterious than a banker." - Allen Tate

Blade runner composer’s birthday

Vangelis Papathanasiou, born March 29, 1943 and he is mostly known through just his first name, has made a remarkable career in music composition.

The musical talents of Vangelis first became obvious at a very early age. His parents tried to encourage him to study with a professional teacher, but he did not respond well to formal education, as he was generally unwilling to follow instructions. At the end of his school years, he and some friends formed a band called "Formynx", which became popular. In 1968 Vangelis moved to Paris.

Together with Demis Rousos and Lucas Sideras, he formed "Aphrodite's Child". This group scored an immediate world wide hit with their first release, "Rain and Tears". Later on, the band split and he continued solo in Paris writing music for movies.

His career launched and Vangelis received an array of awards, among them an Oscar in 1982 for the soundtrack of the film "Chariots of Fire". The music of Vangelis is too diverse to be described as pop, rock, classical, jazz, or new age.

Explaining his music, Vangelis says, "All I try to do is let people know what I think through my music. I just bring the music to you and it is up to you to do what you want with it".