My Fief after the rain...

Back from a little catering, the rain is gone, lights are on...
and the sky is beautiful...






















Rue Oberkampf from the place Menilmontant.

A gentle morning breeze blows from Washington...

... to Paris, as Barack Obama gets ready for today's swearing-in ceremony.


(Ass. Press/Gérald Herbert)
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Inauguration Central (Washington Post)
Related events in France (Democrats Abroad)

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Guess who's coming to dinner ?

His life's credo : being a medium between people and societies.

Jim's Sunday Dinners

Every week for the past 30 years, I've hosted a Sunday dinner
in my home in Paris. People, including total strangers, call or
e-mail to book a spot. I hold the salon in my atelier, which used
to be a sculpture studio.
The first 50 or 60 people who call may come, and twice that
many when the weather is nice and we can overflow into the
garden. Every Sunday a different friend prepares a feast.
Last week it was a philosophy student from Lisbon, and next
week a dear friend from London will cook.
People from all corners of the world come to break bread together, to meet, to talk, connect
and often become friends.
All ages, nationalities, races, professions gather here, and since there is no organized
seating, the opportunity for mingling couldn't be better. I love the randomness.
I believe in introducing people to people... (more)

Guests at his Sunday dinners have included Allen Ginsberg, Robert Crumb (remember
Fritz the Cat ?),
Molly Ivins...

Jim Haynes was born in Louisiana,
- ran a bookstore in Scotland,
- created a theater company in London,
- launched a newspaper in Amsterdam
- and taught media studies in Paris.
(full biography - hold tight !)

Jim likes jazz and recommends the Swan Bar in Montparnasse.
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In a less intimate way than Jim's - say "6 billion Others"...


are supposed to meet each other, virtually, following Yann Arthus Bertrand's Project.

Discover YAB's project on the site - (English version soon).

Le Mur, just featured...

on January 15th - in the evening and still damp...



















"Mire Project" around 8 pm.
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A Tribute to Susanne Wenger, the Artist.

The world famous artist and Yoruba priestess
Susanne Wenger died on the 12th January 2009
at the age of 93 in her adopted hometown of
Oshogbo, Nigeria.

See > Susanne Wenger's Obituary, by Wolfgang Denk.
(Photo Cibulka-Frey)


I could have met her, end of 2006, when I was in Nigeria and she was still alive and
well but, unfortunately, my friends had already visited her place in Osogbo before
my arrival. Sob ! I would have liked to meet her, see her work and record all this by
myself...

(Slideshow pics by Andrea Hinterseer - Osogbo, 2005)



(osunyemi)
Locally know and revered as Iya Adunni, Susan Wenger an Austrian sculptor
moved to Osogbo, Nigeria in the 1950's. She is credited with stimulating the
Osogbo Art Renaissance and almost single handedly saving the Osun Grove
from development.
She and local artists and craftsmen turned the grove into a mysterious sculpture
garden dedicated to the deity Osun.
This past summer, 2008, we had the opportunity to meet Iya and several of her
adult adopted children.
We consider her son Sangodare one of our Osogbo friends.
The footage in this video stems from two days spent with Sangodare walking
through Grove and hearing about his experiences with his mother over the last
50 years.


(osunyemi)
Leading Asheville Sister City Delegation to visit Susan Wenger (Iya Adunni,
Osun Priestess) credited with saving the Osun Osogbo Grove.
Her monumental sculptures are now in need of repair.
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