Tschingis Aitmatow Project Diary ‘Der Junge und das Meer’

The following is one of my long term projects in development

‘Der Junge und das Meer’  

‘Pegij pjoss begutschij krajem morja’ 'The Boy and the Sea'

Tschingis (Chinghiz) Aitmatow (1928-2008) was born in West Kyrgyztan and wrote both in

Russian and Kyrgyz. You might be familiar with the beautiful love
story Dshamilja. It made headlines around the world and was translated
into English as are other texts by Aitmatow Chinghiz.

To me personally ‘Pegij pjoss begutschij krajem morja’ (Der Junge und
das Meer) is ultimately more touching and complete. First published 1977 in Kirgizie 1977 and 1983 in Russian (paperback 92 pages).

Short synopsis of the story translated by myself from Rovolt Taschenbuch Verlag 1983 german edition.

“If one is on land one never thinks about being on land. If one is at
sea however, one thinks continually about the sea”
Perplexed by this elementary revelation, young Kirsik is taken to sea
for the first time by the wise Organ, Emrajin his father and Mylgun
his uncle. On this journey Kirsik is meant to be learning the skills
of the hunter and to become friends with the sea as is custom in his
clan the ‘Nifchen of the distant Ochotskischen sea’.
When the hunters get lost in an impenetrable fog, tragically but
equally as a matter of course, the three men sacrifice themselves to
offer the boy the chance for life.

Dreams, myths and legends became alive and are mixed with reality and
with Aitmatow’s own culture and traditions of his childhood.
Aitmatow considers the aim to find a harmonious relationship between
human and nature one of the most pressing messages that art can offer
today. Presenting us with the ultimate humility evoked by the power
and understanding of nature, he is demonstrating how a respectful
relationship with nature will evoke generosity, empathy and dignity in
humanity. (Translated by myself from Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 1983)

MY INSPIRATION

I realise now, that it must be twenty five years ago when I first red this little book ‘Der Junge und das Meer’ and it had become part of my inner conscience since. At the time I was puzzled as to why I was given it by a person who I did not know very well and had only met once. In any case I was intrigued and right away loved the beautiful completeness of the description of the human condition and its relationship to nature.

Sadly I was never able to ask the person of his reasons for giving me the book as he died under tragic circumstances soon after.

Hidden away in my library, the booklet traveled with me from one country to the other until settling in Exeter on one of my bookshelves.

There was a little flurry of activity when I was trying to pass the story on to my then teenage children. However, they never really got to read it, as my treasured book turned out to be written in German, something I had completely forgotten about by this stage. To my everlasting regret my children are not truly bilingual. I was disappointed at the time, but with life moving so fast and children living here and now, I left it at telling them the story to the best of my ability and was simply glad for the reminder of reading it again with a little more maturity. It had not lost its magic on me.

The story keeps popping into my head at the most unexpected occasions and gradually I started to visualize different scenes of the story in a variation of active scenarios. Sometimes the story is telling itself in my head as an opera, at other times as an animation or puppet show. Some scenes I see as stills and paintings, sometimes just a colour appears other times the fog and the water become alive with images of people.

Then, again a big surprise: a dear Swiss friend giving me a lovely edition of the same little book for my birthday. I read it again with pleasure and at this point I am thinking this is a sign and no coincidence, I must do something with this story, it is too profound and beautiful a story to be forgotten. At that time I was too involved with a number of other projects to do anything about it, but in the back of my head I start to formulate a plan.

ACTIVATING THE VISION 

It is only a few months ago when I felt ready to activate some of my visions. For this to happen however, I needed to give the book to other practitioners to read. No problem I thought, and searched the net to order a few copies in English. It was only then, that to my disbelieve it emerged, that this fantastic story had never been translated into English.

Well I thought, could I possibly be so bold and try to translate it myself? Perhaps I could just about get away with creating a working english copy but never could I do the poetic accomplishment of Tschingis Aitmatow any justice. Besides the fact, that he wrote the story in Russian and I could only translate from its german translation even though I believe this translation is beautifully done. So, no I don’t think it would be appropriate for me to attempt this.

Next step, I make a few enquiries with some of my friends. One very senior publisher suggested to me that I had little chance to get this taken on by anyone without paying a considerable amount of money (regretfully money I don’t have). But after some research and through the Society of Authors I stumbled onto Robert Chandler, a highly respected russian-english translator.  He promptly answered my enquiry in regard to translating this story and after sending him a short synopsis (in my crude English) he pointed me with encouraging words to Meike Ziervogel. As luck had it, Meike is german speaking and runs a small publishing company in London. Apparently she devoured the story without delay and loved it straight away. The story suits the company’s profile perfectly and Meike is now waiting to hear if it is at all possible to negotiate the publishing rights.

This will take some time as no doubt it will not be straight forward. I am waiting eagerly for a progress update next month.

Should this channel not materialise, I will resort to plan B with a russian speaking friend who is willing to attempt to translate a working copy from russian into english.

For now I am creating a list of a colourful selection of creative practitioners of all medias who I would like to encourage to create a piece of work inspired by this book.

One day I hope this will result in a kind of festival of emotional expressions evoked by this story.

Secondary to my vision of some wonderful productions, it might be interesting to study the individual outcomes of the works, considering the cultural and social backgrounds represented in the participating artists.

Exhibition Production Diary continued

Tom Adams’ Christie Cover Story Diary 

Facsimile of Public Record Office Book M.DCCC.XIX (1819)

Card Packs

• Since picking up the 500 card packs just before the festive season began, I have been busy negotiating orders with National Trust shops, Museums and a number of other specialised retailers. It is now vital to spread the word and get some return on the investment in order to finance the next edition presenting further twelve of the iconic images. It is also my hope that these card packs will raise Tom Adams profile in the build up towards the forthcoming exhibition in August 2012 in Torquay Museum.

Exhibition space

• After a further meeting with the Marketing Director and Exhibition Manager of Torquay Museum on December 16^th 2011 the design of the exhibition is starting to take shape in my mind. The space allocated in the Museum is sizeable, but not particularly ideal. The space has very high ceilings in a large rectangular room that has a cold and clinical feel. Even though there is a track system for spot-lights I am concerned about the height of the lights. For Tom’s minutely detailed paintings with an average size of 40 x 50cm a reasonably intimate space would be more desirable. We also have a long rectangular glass show cabinet available for the artifacts. Within its limitations I am hoping to create an environment appropriate to the work on display and aim for the exhibition to have an inviting, interesting and dynamic atmosphere.

Paintings

• Having been able to assemble thirteen original Christie cover paintings for Tom’s retrospective exhibition in 2006 I know already some of his collectors and the whereabouts of some of the paintings. At the time I included works across the whole spectrum of Toms career whereas this time the exhibition is concentrating on Tom Adams’ Agatha Christie Cover Story only. For some time now I have been on a mission to find additional paintings. Spending time with Tom and jogging his memory I have been given some leads. In particular I would like to find 'The Sitaford Mystery', since I have this rather bizarre Antelope Head and the 'Evil under the Sun' to mach up with the wonderful driftwood.

All in all things are looking good with the paintings I have been able to locate and the owners of the paintings are generously agreeing to loan them to us for the next two years (to tour the exhibition after Torquay). I think the chances are, that I might be able to present around twenty originals if not more. I think it is fair to say, that to raise the profile of an artist through an exhibition is an advantage to any collector.

As soon as possible I will go on a road trip collecting the paintings that are waiting for me dotted around the country.

Artefacts

• Knowing that Tom had always gone to enormous length in his research while planning his paintings, I suspected that there might still be some of the artefacts or props around that he used for study and in his paintings. Sure enough we have found a number of the objects integral to some of the paintings. To my delight, it also emerged that apparently there is a box full of sketches, drawings, reviews and articles relating to the covers somewhere in Tom’s attic. Bearing in mind Tom’s age, things tend to take a bit of time to be remembered and to re surface. I am hoping to get these shortly.

Tying up all these items with the paintings will start to tell the story for the exhibition. 

Projector

• In the mean time I am investigating the practicalities of installing a projector into the exhibition, broadcasting a small film demonstrating Tom’s working practice. Not only would such an addition be interesting to other practitioners and students in its content but would also add movement and the dynamic of modernity to the exhibition. Further it would extend the interest to a yet wider audience therefore adding extra value, when offering the exhibition to other venues. A small film/presentation would have to be made either from existing material or perhaps in interview form.

           Budget constraints make such endeavors always more difficult then they ought   

           to be at first conception. However I am in discussion with a number of people   

           that might be willing to lend a hand in making this possible.

At this stage the material for the exhibition is coming gradually together. It is only when I have everything in my hands that I can start to write the story and construct the exhibition in full.