January
Our limelight activities, in Mauritius, were work sessions at national and regional level on "Distance Learning” with our SPES innovative vocational program in view, seeing that it focuses on upgrading human resources for the development of environmentally-friendly enterprises, through the improvement of skills and Product Design, specially within the SEPAC/SADC countries.
SPES had the pleasure of having as a visiting guest the top informatics advisor of this region, and we spent a stimulating week, power computing, and establishing electronic data communication linkages. As SPES has the Chairmanship of the SEPAC Working Group on: Information, Industrial Technology and Transfer, we are looking forward to the planned global dynamic interactive communications for the development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises.
Crafted Model Ship Photo
Mauritius is reputed for its handcrafted Model Ships and vast collection of faithful replicas of famous historical sailing ships, from several countries: France, Spain, UK, USA and others.
SPES selected “Le Superbe” from the SAILOR’S DREAM Studio for Cyber presentation. For export details do contact us.
Web Page Connections
For your information, USIS-Mauritius (U.S. Information Service) has established a direct link to their Photo Gallery page, which includes images of Arts and Crafts from SPES. The USIS Web Page is updated daily with regional and international news.
February
As SPES is a member of the PLANET SOCIETY, a network at UNESCO for a "New Art of Living on Earth”, the SPES Internet communication this month is dedicated to pre and primary school age Internauts, as we are firm believers that Environment and Design Awareness starts at a tender age.
Hence, we would like to share, through Cyberspace, a stimulating learning experience that the SPES Designer/Craftsmen initiated through the creation of crafted animal toy "actors” for the imaginative Play we entitled ” The Tale of the toy animal with the longest tail in the green dream Island of Mauritius”.
Follows a short adaptation of this SPES Play using extracts of the script and some digital images for you, young Cybernaut children, to browse through. Do feel free to use your imagination and interact out aloud.
The scenario of the Play
Audience: Young Mauritian children from the neighbourhood & Cyber space audience young internauts.
Scene 1
As a backdrop, a tapestry weaving of a magic tropical Forest, where 28 handcrafted toy animals gathered together for an amusing animated Toy Parade
Scene 2
Once upon a time on the Island of Mauritius there was a Green Dream Forest populated by care-free animals and there lived many many dodo birds who ate so much – doug, doug, doug -, that they became dowdy and much too heavy to fly, so they became easy preys and were caught and eaten up by sailors and pirates, and as for the dodos’ delicious big eggs the monkeys enjoyed eating them all. So much so, that these friendly dodos became extinct and disappeared from the natural environment.
But, other more agile animals survived in the Green Forest, and one day, Children all the animals who still lived in the forest, gathered together, under the baobab tree and for fun decided to have a competition, and parade to see which animal had the longest tail.
Scene 3
A slow-moving turtle arrived – tat, tut, tat, tut – and went up to sniff a flower, and all the toy animals saw, that she had a tiny tiny tail, so the turtle had to give way to the next animal.
Scene 6
Then followed an amusing squeaking mice family. They were dressed up in grey floral skirts and one was wearing an avocado green jersey top, another an embroidered silk top and the other a white woven top. Keeping an eye on them was fat Mother Mouse. She was all dressed up in a blue floral dress and she knitted knitted away with coral-coloured wool and her very special, hand-sculptured, wooden needles. Although they looked pretty they guessed, their thin tails were not that long, so they quickly quickly scampered away.
Scene 12
Lastly but not least crawling swiftly crawling, close to the ground and hissing away, arrived a shwishing striped snake, slowly she coiled up and all could see, that she was the Winner of the Competition, as the harmless non-venomous snake was the toy animal that had the longest tail, as her body was all in tail!
And, so, ends the Tale of the Mauritian Green Dream Forest and the SPES magic crafted Animal Toy Kingdom.
We hope, children, you noticed all the different materials, colours and textures the SPES Designers used such as clay, fabrics, handprints, leather, straws, wood and wool to make-up the crafted collection of toy animals, which the Mauritian children enjoyed playing with at the SPES Art & Crafts and Design Centre.
May we encourage you, young Internaut children, to create your own imaginative Plays but remember to depict and respect animal life and the much-needed natural environment.
Let us know, if, you would like SPES to organise a Creative Tale Competition, and we will try to look for a Jury and sponsorship, so that the best creative play-scripts can be compiled in a CD-ROM. Your suggestions and views are most welcome.
Osaka Gift Fair
SPES thanks the WORLD CRAFTS COUNCIL, WIS Kyoto, for organising the photographic poster advertisements of selected Mauritian Quality Crafts – SPES Woven Tapestries Aubusson-type and Model Ships from "Sailor’s Dream” at the Osaka March Gift Fair.
There are now many Cybernauts that interact with SPES and we find this experience very stimulating and encourage such communications, which are very enriching cultural and technical exchanges.
March
This month SPES is projecting into Cyberspace a young Mauritian Jewellery Designer, who has benefitted from WCC Regional and International Seminar/Workshop cultural and technical exchanges. We would like to present to you, for your appreciation, the semi-precious stones and gold colour combinations, he has worked with materials from our Southern and Eastern African sub-regions.
This Ring has a 39 carat Amethyst stone and 32 diamonds, totalling 1.20 carat, embedded in 18 carat white and yellow gold, which he shaped in the form of nine snakes.
These Earrings are handcrafted in white and yellow 18 carat gold with suspended articulated pieces that hold smoky quartz cabochons.
Ravior Jewellery Boutique looks forward to making Internet contacts, do feel free to use SPES e-mail.
Story/play and Crafted Animals Competition
In view of the interaction that arose from children of several continents, after our February 97 update, we are now planning a Competition and possible publication of worldwide stories, which might result in a CD-ROM with the best story/play productions.
Young Cybernauts who wish to participate at the Open Venture to create a short story/play animated by crafted animals of your Region or country, please take note of the following:
REGISTRATION
Please register now c/o S.P.E.S.
- by ordinary mail: 7 Labourdonnais Avenue Quatre Bornes, Mauritius.
- or e-mail: spes@bow.intnet.mu
- or by Fax: (230) 424 2960
CONDITIONS
- Age group: 3 – 12 years old children
- Crafted animals of all kinds using any type of materials for story/play animated “actors”
- Environmentally-friendly script
- Length maximum equivalent to three typed A4 pages to be sent to SPES plus pictures during the month of October 97 only.
- Send in your application form as from now
APPLICATION
DATE FOR SENDING WORKS
Deadline to send in your story/script and coloured photos, negatives or slides (SPES can scan or digitise, if needed): 31st October 1997 (now extended to end of February ’98)
COMPETITION RESULTS
Prizes will be announced at a later date, the Winners will be annouced and notified by end of November 97 (now extended to April ’98)
April
This month SPES presents the modern creations of the family Enterprise Aubdoola that for the past thirty four years has had an environmentally-friendly approach, recuperating waste materials of all kinds, shaping and assembling them into attractive utilitarian goods of all sorts. They are wizards at recycling bits of wood and metal and turning them into animated toys for the great joy of young children.
To quote father and son on the success of their lucrative recycling enterprise:
”Our Bank and interest is the dust-bin!”
SPES photographed, to illustrate their humoristic remark, a few objects from their latest functional, decorative and fashion Collection, which they made up, ingeniously, from discarded plastic bottles!
Their innovative festive party creations cater for the young and the old, for the greens, for kids parties, for the classic and for the romantic. To be noted that the colourful plastic bracelets and drop ear-rings (here depicted in green and silver) they make with several collage designs are popular amongst the local and tourist teenage girls.
No wonder presently this Family Enterprise has to work overtime to satisfy the market demand!
SPES would like to point out that the Head of this enterprise not only has gold fingers, but has a golden heart and although over sixty, finds time to visit nursery schools and playfully encourages the young children to develop Crafts skills, and create, from waste materials, toys such as: planes, helicopters and plastic whirling birds, that sing, thanks to one of the many simple sound devices they devised! Their inventive powers have no boundaries…
Incidentally, the Family Enterprise was invited to demonstrate some of their creative skills in the south of France, and are willing to accept invitations from other countries to give courses in their inventive ways to recycle discarded plastic bottles. For marketing details contact SPES that will transmit your message.
Do remember to be ecologically-minded.