Hidden beauty
By Maikel Liem

Alberto在厦门大学艺术学院教学期间, 和学生们的"互动教育"成效卓著, 他们一起欣赏作品, 举办展览, 最重要的是, 从平凡生活的点点滴滴中去寻找和发现"美".

"It might be as small as a leg muscle contracting or an ordinary plant in your living room, but when you frame it with a camera you can discover beauty in everyday life," said Dutch artist Alberto De Michele, guest teacher at Xiamen University. Alberto has seen many things he defines as beauty during his one and a half month stay in China. Unfortunately, his busy schedule at the university has not allowed him to capture all of these, but he has managed to give Chinese students many insights into video art during his workshops.

Interactive learning process



Alberto obtained his Masters Degree in Art from the Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam and has a studio in that city. When Mr. Qin Jian, a professor teaching at the Art College in Xiamen University saw his works in Amsterdam, he invited the artist to come to Xiamen. Teaching postgraduate students, Alberto has found his experience here a good learning process for himself and his students. In fact, he does not consider his work as teaching. He thinks of it more as an interactive learning process. Students can come to see him at any time to talk about their work. In this respect, Alberto believes Chinese and western teaching styles differ somewhat. In the West learning is more individualized. Students can interact with their teachers more freely instead of the teachers merely telling the students what to do.

At the end of his workshop, Alberto organized an exhibition allowing his students to present their final works. He believes this is a very important aspect and should be done more frequently. As he remarks "Exhibitions are an important medium for people to share and discuss their work".

Personal interpretation

His students had many questions for the artist. First, they wondered about the length of some of his videos. Alberto had introduced the concept of the "one minute video." As its name suggests, these were very short video productions, and many students were eager to know more about the genre. When asked about the meaning of some his works, Alberto responded, "You have to make your own interpretation. There is no right or wrong answer when analyzing an artwork. Everyone has a different view. The most important thing is that you think about that view and come up with your own interpretation."

Alberto tried to push his students to be keen observers and to think about every detail. At first the students were reluctant to do this, but after a while, their eye for detail improved tremendously. What impressed Alberto most was the moment his students began criticizing and correcting each other. He found it interesting to note that his students were not blindly copying his particular style, but were instead developing styles of their own.

Capturing hidden beauty

While teaching at Xiamen University, Alberto was open to all ideas, but in his own camera work he tries to capture events of every day life and turn these into art. "The best thing," he says, "is to find objects within a few meters of you and try to frame them."

The artist has now left for Beijing to lecture at Renmin University for a week. Then he will begin work on his first feature film, which is set in Naples, Italy. Alberto is seriously considering returning to Xiamen in the future and opening a studio here because, according to the artist, "China is the most interesting place to be and see." But wherever Alberto goes his strong desire to find hidden beauty in everyday life will remain unchanged.

 

 

Scottish Fair in Maroochy
By Jiang Zheyan, Maroochy Shire, Australia

南半球现在正是冬天. 但是在厦门的澳洲友城马卢奇郡, 阳光、蓝天和温和的气候, 让它总是五彩缤纷、美妙无比! 2005年7月9日, 苏格兰节就在这个田园式的角落举行.

It is winter now in the southern hemisphere, but the sunshine, the blue sky, and the lovely temperature in Maroochy Shire, the sister city of Xiamen on the Australian Sunshine Coast is always colourful, cheerful, and wonderful!

On July 9th, a Scottish Fair was held in this Arcadian corner of the world, and people of all ages and occupations came to enjoy a pleasant Saturday afternoon.


Mr Jiang Zheyan(L) with the organizer of the fair

Malcolm, a Scottish bagpipe player, played "Auld Lang Syne," "Amazing Grace," and many other familiar melodies, accompanied by a Maroochy band. The band members said they would be happy to plan a visit to Xiamen next year.

Australia is a multicultural society with immigrants from many countries. Note the "Claus" organ from Germany and the Ginger Bread Boy from the Netherlands, as well as the children watching a puppet show.



Peter, one of the organisers of the Scottish Fair and a pastor of Maroochy Presbyterian Church, said the fair is held annually in Maroochy Shire. Peter acknowledged that Maroochy Shire has a beautiful sister city in Xiamen, where there are many visitors from Maroochy Shire and Australia.
He also mentioned that once he had the opportunity to read Common Talk and liked it very much. He hoped in the long run the bilingual newspaper would thrive as well as the friendship between the two sister cities.

 

Vocabulary
interactive 相互作用的
hemisphere 半球
tremendously 非常地
annual 每年