ECHO CURIO Exhibit - COSMIC UMBILICAL CORDS: Kite Creations and Kite Curiosities

E C H O C U R I O E X H I B I T I O N

COSMIC UMBILICAL CORDS:
Kite Creations and Kite Curiosities

March 16 - April 8, 2007

Calling all High Soarers, Stunt Riders, Aerial Signalers, Cloud Piercers, Astral
Projectors, Wind Scientists, and Flying Battlers... this is the exhibition for you!

Cosmic Umbilical Cords is a group exhibition exploring the culture of kite flying
from indigenous symbolism to the outer fringe of creative aerodynamics.

Special mini-exhibits on:

Singing Kites and Aeolian Musical Instruments
Polynesian Kite Traditions
Kite Communication (In this and other worlds)
Medicinal Benefits of Kite Flying
Tethered Man-Lifting Devices
and more....

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Loads of Kite Creations by local and international artists, musicians, and DIYers.

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Kite Making Workshops for Kids and Adults
Kite Flying Events
Kite Lectures
Kite Musical Events

From an interview with Michael Steltzer, a kite guy
http://www.oneskyoneworld.org/skytimes.html

OSOW: Why kites?

MS: Kites connect people. Kite-lines connect oneself to
the Cosmos. A friend of mine, Dan Leigh calls kite-lines
"cosmic umbilicalcords". And kites are art, pure creativity.

OSOW: Technology meets nature, and no one gets hurt.

MS: Kites are a beautiful way to appreciate various laws
of Nature. They combine physics and engineering. Kites
are kids. Kites are dreams. Kites are power and energy.
The kite business is trade and economics.

OSOW: And yet they're amazingly diverse.

MS: Each culture has it's own kite culture. There are
certain kites which you associate with certain countries,
kite rituals which belong to certain peoples and kite
designs and shapes which belong to certain individuals.
If you are in Turkey, you will see lots of octagon shaped
kites; in India, you will see lots of little colorful fighter
kites. As the world becomes more globalized, these
shapes and forms intermingle..

OSOW: Yet they also bridge the divide between cultures.

MS: Kites are communication catalysts. Where they fly
above, things happen down below. The kites are still
flying and things change. Kites have helped to connect
the various facets of my life and given me an identity, one
I love to live with.

OSOW: Politically, as well?

MS: Kites can be very political. They have been for
centuries. And then here comes this woman, Jane
Parker Ambrose, with the idea of flying kites for peace all
over the world on one single day. Well, I had to support
that idea. I have been a fan of One Sky One World ever
since. I have tried to support this grassroots activity
everywhere I can. What a great way to celebrate the unity
of our world and our environment. What a source of
positive energy.