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17/3/2002

Mobius

Mobius, Boston

Artist's Talk
March 2002

Mobius
presents
"Reports From Afield: Human Rights/Human Lives"
an artist's talk given by
Chaz Maviyane-Davies

Monday, March 18, 7 pm

(Boston) Chaz Maviyane-Davies has been described by the UK's Design magazine as "the guerrilla of graphic design". For more than two decades the award-winning, controversial Zimbabwean designer's powerful work has taken on issues of consumerism, health, nutrition, social responsibility, the environment and human rights. His life and art has been shaped by growing up in apartheid Rhodesia (since 1980 renamed Zimbabwe) which has a literacy rate of 85%, is about the size of Montana, and, because of its mild climate and rainfall, used to be considered the breadbasket of Africa. The average income is $450 a year and steadily decreasing under President Robert Mugabe's increasing chaotic and repressive rule. The people of Zimbabwe are hardworking, colorful, and peace loving, and it is exactly this nature that enables President Mugabe to intimidate voters and rig elections. Maviyane-Davies sent out daily "Graphic Commentaries" on the web for the thirty days prior to the 2000 parliamentary elections. The 2002 elections will take place soon and the world's eyes will be focused on those results.

While operating his twenty year old graphic design studio in Hirare, Maviyane-Davies has watched Zimbabwe deteriorate. Of his work, Maviyane-Davies says that he has "always felt that Zimbabwean daily life can communicate dignity, and gain respect for who we are, if used creatively and effectively. I have tried in my work to form a new visual language that is able to redeem some of our heritage and individual spirit, whilst offering a new vitality, and greater appreciation for our diversity to the entire world. In order to do this, I believe in transforming constraint and lack of resources into opportunity. This means using our own images, resources and materials to their fullest potential, even though our western education makes us regard them as inferior." Maviyane-Davies work can be viewed at http://maviyane.co.zw/.

(Bio.) Chaz Maviyane-Davies' credentials include an MA in Graphic Design (with distinction) from the Central School of Art and Design in London, and an Advanced Diploma in Postgraduate Film-making from the Central St. Martins School of Art and Design in London. He also spent a year in Japan studying three-dimensional design and ten months in Malaysia working on various world-reaching design projects for the International Organization of Consumers Unions and JUST World Trust. His design work experience in London includes time with Fulcrum (Design Consultants), Newell and Sorrell Design Ltd., as well as a stint in the Department of Graphic Design of BBC Television. From 1983 until recently he ran the renowned design studio in Harare called The Maviyane-Project. As a result of the social, humane and confrontational nature of his work, he felt compelled to temporarily leave his homeland because of its adverse political climate. He is presently an Associate Professor of Design at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston. Films written, directed and produced by Maviyane-Davies include "After the Wax," a personal view of nationality and identity' (1991 .17 min, 16 mm in colour). This work has been screened at several film festivals and television channels around the world where it has won several accolades. As well as being published in numerous international magazines and newspapers, his work has also been acknowledged in "Who's Who in Graphic Design," "First Choice: Leading International Designers," "Rewriting the Rules of Graphic Design." "Digital Portfolios Unzipped," "Graphic Agitation," "Graphic Design Timeline: A Century of Design Milestones" and was included in the list "ID Forty" ID magazine's annual honors list profiling leading-edge designers from around the world, New York 1998. Besides extensive individual and group exhibitions worldwide, his design work has been represented in most of the largest international graphic, invitational and poster exhibitions from 1980 to the present time, while he has also been invited to judge several International exhibitions and competitions. His work is included in several international permanent collections in various galleries.

"Reports from Afield" is an ongoing series of monthly Monday evening talks by members of the Mobius Artists Group and Boston/regional/national/international guest artists. These presentations focus on projects that have been created abroad, and/or in a public arena, and that explore important artistic, socio-cultural, or political issues. In addition, many of the reports reflect Mobius' increasingly international outlook. "Reports from Afield" has been made possible with support from the Boston Cultural Agenda Fund, City of Boston. Please call the Mobius office if you would like more information about this program.

In 2001, Mobius was granted a Boston's Best Performance Art award by The Improper Bostonian. "For more than 21 years, Mobius has been the city's premiere venue for experimental art, programming a 42-week roller-coaster ride of events that range from consciousness-raising to the downright bizarre. The annual ArtRages fundraiser is one of the funkiest and most fun happenings in town, and the group's commitment to the Fort Point artists' community is one of the few things standing between it and the developers' wrecking ball. Our hats are off to them." Mobius also recently received the "best place to get in touch with your inner Yoko" award from the Boston Phoenix.

Tickets:
free, with reception following; reservations recommended; please call Mobius at (617) 542-7416

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Video Screening
March 2002

Mobius presents
"Video Archaeology"
a screening of video works from HO Association for Contemporary Art
(HO ACA) International Festival for Video Art 1-2-3

When:
Thursday-Saturday, March 21-23, 8 pm

Tickets:
$7 / $5 for students, seniors and Friends of Mobius. Reservations are recommended, please call Mobius at 617.542.7416.

(Boston) How will future citizens of Earth view us? In "Video Archaeology," HO Association for Contemporary Art (HO ACA), from Sofia, Bulgaria, pieces together visual fragments of our contemporary lives, attempting to make a legacy of these times for future prospectors. These provocative fragments, presented at the International Festival for Video Art in Sofia, cross over the boundaries of the visual into multi-disciplinary and new media forms. They offer possible evidence for future archaeologists who will unearth them and attempt to make sense of our era. More than likely, this task will be as mystifying as simplifying Stonehenge.

"Video Archaeology" is a retrospective of the first three years of the Festival. The projects embrace the archaeology of the body, the world, even the future. The program highlights video work created as if they are the "coin" or the "tool" left as artifacts. "Video Archaeology" poses simple themes that could indeed create very complex future findings. Highlighting works from Germany, Bulgaria, Russia and Yugoslavia, HO ACA presents the cream of Eastern European video art as it meets the innovations of the West. For more information about HO ACA log onto http://va.cult.bg.

HO ACA's mission is:
* to bring together highly innovative ideas and artists, working with new electronic media. HO ACA privileges the visual arts; however, it also initiates and strongly supports projects whose nature crosses the boundaries of the visual into multidisciplinary and new media forms
* to provoke theoretical and visual dialogue about current issues in visual culture
* to revisit and rethink well-defined theoretical positions
* to popularize underrepresented contemporary problems and minority viewpoints through the visual arts
* to encourage and support the integration and dialogue between the Eastern European countries and the West by financially supporting international new-technology grounded projects, and by stimulating professional collaboration among artists, critics, theoreticians, and new media activists throughout the world

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Mobius
Boston's Artist-Run Center for Experimental Work in All Media
354 Congress St.
Boston, MA 02210
phone: 617-542-7416
fax: 617-451-2910

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