I leave on Tuesday. It’s a punishing trip. I fly from RDU to Atlanta and then take Delta non-stop to Johannesburg. It’s one of the longest flights in the world – a little over 17 hours. Nancy, who will be coming from Boston meets me in Atlanta. She wanted a window seat to look down on Africa as we fly south.
Coming this route, the first view of Africa is usually the dry, desolate vastness of Namibia -- awesome and mesmerizing in its tones of ochre, umber and charcoal. An otherworldly geography. Years ago I traveled up the Skeleton Coast where chilled waves crash on dark stones, on old shipwrecks and gleaming seals. I climbed the desert dunes of Sousiesvlei at sunrise --- my footprints the first to disturb sharp-edged curves of orange sand against a pitiless blue sky.
I will have an aisle seat and an ambien. Even then I have a battle sleeping. Another option would be to watch movies. You can pretty much fit in 5 during the trip.
When we arrive in Johannesburg we will catch the Gautrain from the airport to Sandton to meet my sister, Deborah. This super modern high-speed train was completed in time for the World Cup. A sleek silver streak whipping past suburbs and slums.
We will go to Deborah's exhibition. Two days ago I listened to a podcast of a radio interview with her. The interviewer was in awe at the amount and variety of work she has produced over the past year for this exhibition at the Everard Reed Gallery. Two buildings filled with her work. I am bound to tear up at the emotion of seeing it. I have promised her that I will not to look at photos ahead of time. That I will wait for the full impact.
A surprise package arrived for me last week from Nancy. It was a beautiful and substantial catalog celebrating 25 years at the Caversham Press of South Africa. Nancy had bought the catalog when she went to an exhibition at Boston University --"Three Artists at The Caversham Press - Deborah Bell, Robert Hodgins and William Kentridge", . She was struck by the serendipity that this was in her home town at precisely the time she was preparing to travel to South Africa and come with me to “Presence”, Deborah’s big solo exhibition in Johannesburg.
I paged through the catalog and found a full page reproduction of Deborah's “Shining Through the Shadows.” A shiver went down my spine. This print hangs in my living room in Durham, North Carolina!
I’m intrigued by the serendipitous connections which crop up in our lives – like invisible threads weaving and linking things together in some wondrous, unknown ways. My life feels rich with “serendipity” or “co-incidence” – whatever we choose to name it. It seems as though this may be the way the universe spot-lights things for us, brings them to our attention and makes them more special. Perhaps it can also be a way that things are revealed to us ---such that they shine through the shadows.
Coming this route, the first view of Africa is usually the dry, desolate vastness of Namibia -- awesome and mesmerizing in its tones of ochre, umber and charcoal. An otherworldly geography. Years ago I traveled up the Skeleton Coast where chilled waves crash on dark stones, on old shipwrecks and gleaming seals. I climbed the desert dunes of Sousiesvlei at sunrise --- my footprints the first to disturb sharp-edged curves of orange sand against a pitiless blue sky.
I will have an aisle seat and an ambien. Even then I have a battle sleeping. Another option would be to watch movies. You can pretty much fit in 5 during the trip.
When we arrive in Johannesburg we will catch the Gautrain from the airport to Sandton to meet my sister, Deborah. This super modern high-speed train was completed in time for the World Cup. A sleek silver streak whipping past suburbs and slums.
We will go to Deborah's exhibition. Two days ago I listened to a podcast of a radio interview with her. The interviewer was in awe at the amount and variety of work she has produced over the past year for this exhibition at the Everard Reed Gallery. Two buildings filled with her work. I am bound to tear up at the emotion of seeing it. I have promised her that I will not to look at photos ahead of time. That I will wait for the full impact.
A surprise package arrived for me last week from Nancy. It was a beautiful and substantial catalog celebrating 25 years at the Caversham Press of South Africa. Nancy had bought the catalog when she went to an exhibition at Boston University --"Three Artists at The Caversham Press - Deborah Bell, Robert Hodgins and William Kentridge", . She was struck by the serendipity that this was in her home town at precisely the time she was preparing to travel to South Africa and come with me to “Presence”, Deborah’s big solo exhibition in Johannesburg.
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| Shining Through the Shadows. Deborah Bell |
I paged through the catalog and found a full page reproduction of Deborah's “Shining Through the Shadows.” A shiver went down my spine. This print hangs in my living room in Durham, North Carolina!
I’m intrigued by the serendipitous connections which crop up in our lives – like invisible threads weaving and linking things together in some wondrous, unknown ways. My life feels rich with “serendipity” or “co-incidence” – whatever we choose to name it. It seems as though this may be the way the universe spot-lights things for us, brings them to our attention and makes them more special. Perhaps it can also be a way that things are revealed to us ---such that they shine through the shadows.
1 comment:
Thanks for taking me along on a virtual trip to South Africa. No packing, no 17 hour flight - I can hardly wait to see pictures of your sister's exhibition!
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