Archive for September, 2009
Religious oppression
Sep 30th
Today visited the Jewish Museum. It has a striking design where the walls and floors are at angles representing a broken star of David. There is a holocaust memorial echoing the one we saw yesterday except with olive trees growing above it, and a silent tower space made from stone where only a slit of natural light is allowed in.
It disturbed me not only because of the history it represents but also the worsening situation in Bat Nha at Prajna Monastery where I blogged just over two years ago. Three hundred monks and nuns have been taken into custody by the Vietnamese Police and at least three senior monastics have disappeared. This monastery follows Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay) the exiled Vietnamese Zen Master whose teachings I follow. When I was in Saigon we visited a temple where five of his followers had been murdered- they suspect by the communists. They are represented by five pebbled mounds in the grounds. If the world waits and takes no notice of this happening in Vietnam how will these 300 be remembered? Vietnam was taken off this list of regimes that repressed religions prior to it hosting APEC in 2006 when coincidentally they allowed Thich Nhat Hanh to return for a second time to hold Great Ceremonies of Mourning for all those who suffered and died during the American War.
poems
Sep 29th
Holocaust Memorial
Rectangular sentinels of the dead
Play hide and seek
Gaps in memory with quick disappearances.
Kreuzberg
Plain black type on white
Protests against immigration
In a neighbourhood of darker faces
Lounging at tables with coffee and cigarettes
Berlin- first impressions
Sep 28th
We have landed in the multicultural neighbourhood of Kreuzberg, dominated by Turkish and the odd anti-immigration poster on the walls. The weather is surprisingly sunny for Berlin- so I’ve been told by Laura- our friendly guide from the Literaturewerkstratt. She is Italian, and speaks German and English fluently. Our attempts at German so far lapse into English pretty frequently. Our hosts Agnes and Piettre have provided us with a very large room, double bed, bathroom and kitchenette which we share with their daughter who I have not sighted yet. Today we visited the Eastern Gallery- the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall that is covered with art. It was morbidly fascinating, thinking what the Wall used to represent and the deaths caused, now reduced to pretty mosaic memorials and a magnet for tourists. Mostly German ones, I have only seen a handful of other Asians here so far- though the Vietnamese restaurants are common- along with sushi and Chinese noodle shops.
onto berlin…
Sep 23rd
Diana Nguyen as Ma in Silence
I’m going to Berlin on Saturday and am very excited by this. During the Melbourne Writers Festival I met Antje Strubel, the German writer exchanged to Australia and we had very interesting conversations about writing, philosophy etc. I’m looking forward to meeting her again in Germany.
I’m leaving Silence in very good hands with Wolf Heidecker who is working with the cast and the puppeteers. It never fails to amaze me how someone else can read so much into your words and sentences. The play truly does have a life of its own.
Tom Cho is going from strength to strength- you can vote for his book for the Melbourne Civic Literature Prize!
