To consider ancient traditions

While I expected to see many horticultural wonders during my visit to

the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh last summer,

what took me by complete surprise was a photographic exhibition on display

in the main entrance lobby.  The images were so compelling I used a great portion

of my garden-viewing time to read the entire story

behind each powerful photograph.

With kind permission from the desk staff, I used my phone camera as best I could

to make record of several I thought were particularly potent in their imagery & description;

those that were especially moving and/or important to me.

In light of recent Peace Day 2014 this seemed like an appropriate time to share them.

* PLEASE NOTE*

The original photographs have been slightly cropped to fit

the format of this blog post.  Reflections on framing glass couldn't be avoided

nor some odd angle and color distortions.

The descriptions were copied verbatim from the exhibit walls. 

Photographer's names are clickable to their websites.

Visit them.  They are all amazing.

:::

No Strangers: Ancient Wisdom in a Modern World

... a group show about the wonder of culture

and the plight of indigenous people throughout the world

no strangers  poses a fundamental question: What does it mean

to be human and alive?  When the people of the world answer this question, they do so

in 7,000 unique voices.  Tragically, half of these may be silenced within a generation or two.

At risk is our human legacy, a vast achieve of knowledge and expertise.

Rediscovering a new appreciation for the diversity of culture is a

crucial challenge that should be faced.

            © Steve McCurry / Magnum photos

            LHASA, TIBET

            A young Tibetan woman poses next to a Chinese fighter jet on display in front of the

            Portola Palace, the ancient home of the Dalai Lamas, the spiritual rulers of Tibet.  Such

            symbolic gestures of intimidation are encountered throughout Lhasa, which has become

            largely an outpost of the Chinese government and a symbol of their conquest of the 

            Tibetan nation.

            © Randy Olson

            OFU ISLAND, SAMOA, 2000

            The training of the Polynesian way finder, or navigator, begins in infancy as he is placed

            in tidal pools for hours at a time so he might feel and absorb the rhythms of the sea.  If,

            on his first deep ocean voyage, he becomes sick from the swells, his teacher will tie him

            to a rope and pull him behind the canoe until the nausea passes.  It was by such devotion

            and rigor that the Polynesian ancestors settled the Pacific.

            © Carol Beckwith & Angela Fisher

            KENYA, 2006

            A Swahili woman from Kenya decorates her hands and feet with designs made from henna,

            a dye derived from a powdered leaf mixed with water and the juice of unripe lemons.  The

            designs are drawn with a fine twig; five to six applications are required to ensure that the

            henna doesn't fade too soon, a process that takes up to 12 hours.  In modern times, a black

            synthetic dye is used to enhance the elaborate designs.  A Swahili woman who appears in

            public must remain concealed in black veils and long robes.  Her hands and feet are the only

            parts of her body that may be seen.

            © Brent Stirton

            TIMBUKTU, MALI, 2009

            In 1914, when the French took control of Timbuktu, they confiscated the ancient manuscripts,

            threatened the scholars with jail and taught the children that their ancestors were not Arab

            or Berber, Tamashek or Tuareg, but Gaul.  The library pictured here is one of the oldest in the

            world.  It is filled with ancient manuscripts that have survived throughout the centuries.

            © Wade Davis

            ARNHEM LAND, NORTHERN TERRITORY, AUSTRALIA, 2008

            For over 55,000 years, the Aboriginal peoples of Australia thrived as hunters and gatherers,

            and guardians of their world.  In all that time the desire to improve upon the natural world had

            never touched them.  They accepted life as it was, a cosmological whole, the unchanging

            creation of the first dawn, when earth and sky separated and the original Ancestor, the

            Rainbow Serpent, brought into being all the primordial ancestors who through their thoughts,

            dreams and journeys sang the world into existence.  This woman stands in a sacred site of

            the Rainbow Serpent.

            © Aaron Huey

            OGLALA, SOUTH DAKOTA, 2011

            Stanley Good Voice Elk is a Heyoka (clown dancer) and a dreamer of the Thunder People.

            His Heyoka name is Wakinyan Hoksila (Wakeeya Hokshila) which means Thunder Boy, or

            or Iktomni Hoksila, Spider Boy.  He burns sage, prays and prepares for a coming kettle

            dance to thank the thunder beings (thunderstorms) as they leave for the summer.

            © Steve McCurry

            HENAN PROVINCE, CHINA, 2004

            Young monks train at the Shaolin Monastery in Henan Province, China.  The physical

            strength and dexterity displayed by the monks is remarkable, as is their serenity.  At its

            core Buddhism is simply a wisdom philosophy, a set of contemplative practices, a spiritual

            path informed by 2,500 years of empirical observation and deduction that, if followed, offers

            the certain promise of a transformation of the human heart.

            © David Hiser

            SARAWAK, MALAYSIA, 2012

            A Penan family from the Ubong River in Sarawak with a feast of wild foods - sago, wild

            boar, fruits and seeds - all gathered or hunted in the forest.  A Canadian or American grows

            up believing that poverty for some is a regrettable but inevitable feature of life.  The Penan

            live by the adage that a poor man shames us all.  The greatest transgression in their culture

            is "sihun," a concept that essentially means a failure to share.

: : :

Traditional societies are not failed attempts to be modern, let alone

failed attempts to be like us.  Every culture is a unique expression of the

human imagination and heart.

When asked what it means to be human and alive, the peoples of the world

respond in 7,000 different voices, 7,000 languages that together

express the full wisdom and knowledge of our species,

insights that no doubt will prove invaluable to future generations,

even as we continue this never ending journey.

~ Introduction, copied from the entrance wall ~