The Norwegian government opened a global seed vault on Svalbard (February 28, 2008) as a service to the world. The Prime Minister of Norway, Jens Stoltenberg and African Nobel Peace Prize-winning environmentalist Wangari Maathai placed the first seeds in the vault.
This video clip features Sami musician Mari Boine singing Elle inside the mountain in Svalbard during the opening ceremony.
To read the lyrics and learn more about the film read my earlier post on the Kautokeino Rebellion film here.
Every now and then I discover with great joy a part of our world which leaves me filled with wonder. In the case of the Surma and Mursi people in Ethiopia, my delight is also visual.
Silvester describes his mission, "what’s most important for me is saving, in some way, as much as possible of this truly living art, which is mobile, changing, subject to infinite variation, and whose constituent elements are simple and form a link between man and nature. It seems to me that our modern painting found the purpose of these elements, this simplicity, and used it as its foundation."
HERE IS A SLIDE SHOW OF MORE THAN FIFTY OF SILVESTER'S IMAGES
I'm happy to report that Hans Silvester has a new book featuring these photographs. The title is Natural Fashion: Tribal Decoration from Africa. It is available now at amazon.com HERE.
Hans Silvester published part one of this two book series in April 2007. It is Ethiopia: Peoples of the Omo Valley. The first volume of the deluxe two-volume set presents the everyday lives of the Omo people, their rituals, parades, children’s games, and even their battles. Silvester's text details his experience.
Learn more about Hans Silvester's time with the L'omo people at the Marlborough Gallery website HERE.
