Say the word, bridge, and what comes to mind? It might be a beautiful span like the one that links the Rhode Island mainland to Newport. Perhaps it evokes the homecoming feeling one has crossing the Triboro on the way into Manhattan. I think of the bridge John Read built in Punakha Valley, Bhutan, which allowed his team to complete the ferrying of building supplies from India all the way to their guesthouse, nestled in emerald green rice terraces, on the roof the world. You might consider the word in its less literal sense and think of enterprising individuals and projects that bridge cultures. And, if you think of the flood disaster in Pakistan’s mountain reaches, you would think of the misery that waits on the other side of a bridge that is no more.
Harmon Parker, master mason, has been building bridges in Kenya since 1997, connecting communities to resources and to each other in safety and relative ease. The concept is simple yet profound in the physical as well as the spiritual and psychological sense. To read more about his journey bridging the gap, please read his inspiring story.
Since 2007, when fashion designer and philanthropist Donna Karan founded the Urban Zen Foundation, an inspiringly beautiful holiday market appears at 705 Greenwich Street in lower Manhattan. Each year, Karan creates a marketplace that combines humanitarianism with consumerism, promoting shopping with a purpose. The Foundation is dedicated to three initiatives: preservation of culture (past); bringing mind, body and spirit to healthcare (present); education (future.) The opening last night featured more than 40 artisans from countries as diverse as Colombia, Kyrgyzstan, India, South Africa and Mexico, artisans that exhibit at the International Folk Art Market in the Southwest each summer. The space is the perfect venue in which to display fabrics and objects, photographs and fashion in such a way that they - and you - feel instantly at home.
Of particular beauty were the feather light shrugs, coats and jackets of Farzana Sharshenbieva from Kyrgyzstan; the magnificently, finely tie dyed bandhani silk scarves of Gujarati Abduljabbar Khatri; the sensuous Zulu pots of Jabulile Nala whose mother is considered a national treasure. I adored the heavy, indigo dyed raw cotton jackets of Laotian Boukhong Signavong that greet you as you enter this magical space.
There is nothing more healing, nothing more inspiring, nothing more warming than to be in the presence of passionate artisans who draw beauty from their souls to share it with others. It was hard to leave Urban Zen last night, so hard, in fact, that I shall return tomorrow."
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