January 2002
ART, ENTERPRISE AND CHARITY
(Continuation of Ronald Leask's article)
Once retired from full time architectural practice I was able to tackle more ambitious works. These included an angel on the wall of a new primary school, twelve stone corbels in a private house and several foundation stones. Occasionally I design and carve gravestones for Subud friends, but I have to limit this work in view of the advancing years of members who joined in the first years of Subud U.K. Recently I have added large scale glass engraving to the skills I can offer. Since retirement I have completed 29 projects which yielded £15,000 plus for Susila Dharma.
Although I have retired from architectural practice I have acted as Consultant to Wisma Mulia, the holistic HealthCare Project, Brecon Centre and the Lewes Subud House.
In conclusion; I have a dream that would be realised by a beautiful building embellished with sculpture, stained glass, painting, tapestry and landscaping. The building would frame the arts of music, drama and dance. For Subud to produce such a work we would have to learn to work together toward establishing principles similar to the Botegas in Renaissance Italy where Architecture, Sculpture, Painting, Music and Drama were fused into a living reality. I believe that artists need actual commissions to safeguard against purely subjective works, meaningful only to themselves or directed to a largely corrupt market. Hope in the possible achievement of this vision was provided by the production of "The Isles" where artists of many disciplines worked together in an unselfish way, made possible by the action of the latihan, to stage an amazing production at the Spokane Subud World Congress. (Ronald is keen not to boast about his achievements, but it's inspiring to hear of his work, both artistic and in fundraising - editor - Margaret Hughes).
GRANT
APPLICATION SUCCEEDS!
We are pleased to announce that our recent application to the Community Fund has been successful. A grant offer of £99,157 has been received, for an expansion of SD Britain's current Sustainable Livelihoods project in Central Kalimantan over the next 2 years.
Up to now we have been dealing with the Dayak and immigrant Javanese communities on an equal footing but the new programme will have a greater emphasis on the needs of the local Dayak people - in 2 or 3 extra villages each year. A Training Centre will be set up in conjunction with SD Germany, where all the ethnic groupings can work side by side. This it is hoped will help to resolve racial conflict problems in the area. Separate funding is to be sought from other sources (including Subud ones) for parallel projects addressing urgent issues in HealthCare, education and the environment. Sachlan North sachlan@northkal.demon.co.uk
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