Main fundraiser photo

The Stream Project Fundraiser

“Water has no enemy.” --African proverb
“Water scarcity could be the major cause of new conflicts to break out in the foreseeable future.”             --Ban Ki-Moon, United Nations Secretary General

Statement of Problem:
     What  is The Stream Project, and why a project on water when the world is inundated with more “serious” problems such as religious fundamentalism and strife, refugee crises, poverty, and lack of food.
     Recently, I was referred to a documentary on water. The film is about a community in northern Nigeria where a small stream serves all the water needs of the inhabitants. In a corner of this stream, a woman is fetching drinking water; to her right, another woman is doing laundry, and a third bathes her child. Further up, a man is almost defecating into the river next to where a herd of cattle is drinking. It mentions that tanker drivers also come regularly to the stream to fill their tankers with “drinking” water. The same stream!
     The UNDESA estimates that about 3 billion people are affected by water scarcity half of whom face economic water shortage. Most of those severely affected by the problem live in Africa. As if the situation is not grim enough, the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, predicts that water scarcity could be the major cause of new conflicts to break out in the foreseeable future. So, as artists, humanists, and social activists, we feel a compulsion to be part of a global effort to address the problem.
     The Stream project, a multimedia installation art which has taken almost a year in conception and execution, creates awareness about the problems of water scarcity and offers/initiates appropriate corrective actions in situations where the problems exist. The Stream’s tiny crew do this by building grassroots movements, soliciting the support of the community, and disseminating advocacy materials. We are also crowd-sourcing to procure project materials and equipment, sustain advocacy, transport and insure work, and provide accommodation during the ArtPrize, and tours.
     Up to 60% of the proceeds from the sale of 'The Stream' will be applied to a rural water scheme in a community in Africa or Haiti, to be decided through open voting on our Facebook Page.   https://www.facebook.com/theartofemekaikebude


Our Pledge to Donors:

$10+ =Thank You note, acknowledgments in our Facebook and web pages, exhibition updates.

$50+ =Signed and framed 5"x7" black-and-white edition of the "eye" section of the work, Thank You note, acknowledgments in our Facebook and web pages, exhibition updates.

$100+ =Signed and framed 8"x10"
Limited Edition of the "eye" section of the work, Thank You note, acknowledgments in our Facebook and web pages, exhibition updates.

$200+ =Signed and framed 16"x20"
Limited Edition of the "eye" section of the work, acknowledgments in our Facebook and web pages, exhibition updates.

**All pledges will be fulfilled in November, 2015 by Kebood Media Inc. Free shipping within the US and Canada.


Description of the Project:
     ‘The Stream’ is the result of combining everyday materials such as wood and wooden dowels, rope, and fabric with LEDs, and water and manipulating them into a multimedia installation that intersects art and technology. We intended to produce a work that would draw attention to the problems of water scarcity in the developing world. To achieve this, we based the composition on the images of teary eyes, water, and women due to their strong social and spiritual significance, and evocative power.
     The Stream has three formal sections which, wholly, mirror the society as it is, but are set conceptually to awaken a sense of discovery and fantasy in the viewer. The upper section represents the spaces of liminality, where the eye exists as a surreal landscape. Each piece of the dowel and squares become tesserae fragmenting memories of another time. The eyeball is engineered with LEDs to create an illusional, yet immersive, 'endless tunnel'. The mid-section is a water fountain appearing to be formed from rivulets of tears. It interlaces the composition and breaks fixed boundaries. The uninterruptible flow of the water at some times, and its complete shutdown at other times, is a metaphor for contrasting parts of the developing worlds where water scarcity is severe and basic infrastructures non-existent in most places, with the Western ones, for example, where abundance often leads to excessive consumption and wastage. The lower section represents the space of temporal existence; The two women and a baby, who appear fixed in pursuit of ever-shifting dreams, portray the critical roles that traditions and cultural practices play in the “effeminization” of poverty in the developing world.

 The Stream Projects’s Up-coming Activities:
     The Stream will make its debut at this year’s ArtPrize, the world’s largest art competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. My pavilion is at the DeVos Place Convention Center, and vote code is 62490 (http://www.artprize.org/emeka-ikebude/2015/the-stream). The Stream will then tour some galleries. We would like to partner with UNDESA, with a show at the UN Plaza, to mark the end of  the International Decade for Action: “Water for Life.” More updates coming.

 About the Artist and Initiator of the Project:
     Emeka Ikebude is an award-winning visual artist. He uses painstaking techniques to transform everyday materials such as fabric, wood, and metal into a body of work that explores the themes of dislocation and fragmentation within the contemporary context of globalization. The result are works that often evoke non-habitual modes of perception.  
     His interests also span across the intersections of art and technology, architecture, spaces of ruins and contestation, psychology of perception,  and social activism. He lives in Dallas, Texas.

Organizer

Emeka Ikebude
Organizer
Dallas, TX

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