Image by: Usman Ahmed

It might look like blossom floating in the wind, but it’s arguably the most dangerous – not to say most contentious – sport in the world. And not just for those taking part. As if Pakistan didn’t have enough troubles to cope with on the ground, kite flying in its Punjab province was deemed so treacherous it was banned there a few years back – spoiling the fun for those who enjoyed its annual high point, though probably saving a few lives.

Rooftop kite launch

Image by: Iffyrana

One reason the pastime is so perilous is that some participants use kite strings made of metal, or coated with glass or abrasive chemicals. The aim is to slice the lines of rivals, so as to bring down and capture their kites, with wagers often riding on the outcomes of the aerial duels. Unfortunately, however, the necks of bystanders and motorcyclists have tended to get in the way, resulting in horrific, sometimes fatal injuries from road crashes and cut throats. To reduce the risk, bike and scooter riders have taken to fixing arched rods to their vehicles as makeshift protection against the lethal illegal kite strings.

Protective arched bows on bikes

Image by: Surprisemarise

Made out of coloured paper and bamboo stick frames, the eye-catching appearance and skilled craftsmanship of the kites themselves belie the havoc they can create once given flight. Other yearly causes of casualties connected with this highly hazardous activity include people falling off buildings while kite flying, people electrocuting themselves when their kites get ensnared in power lines, and people getting hit by stray bullets from celebratory gunshots. That’s quite a few ways for people to get caught in a kite-astrophy.

Rooftop kite gathering

Image by: Rehan Fazal

Kite flying in Pakistan is a custom intrinsically tied up with the annual Basant festival, in which bright yellow colours are displayed to celebrate the coming of springtime. In the country’s cultural capital Lahore, Basant was fast becoming one of South Asia’s most popular attractions, drawing tens of thousands of visitors from all over the globe to witness and join in the kite flying spectacular. But even as its popularity heightened, the festival’s tragedies were dragging it down, and the kite flying picking up a reputation for all the wrong reasons.

Kite string vendors

Image by: Rehan Fazal

Owing to rising public outcry over the kite-related death toll, in late 2005 a ban was imposed on the manufacture, sale and flying of kites. This led to mass protests by kite flying enthusiasts and people whose livelihoods hang on the kite trade, which in turn prompted the ban to be relaxed for several weeks. Despite a number of fatalities, the ban was again temporarily lifted for Basant in 2007 – but at a cost as eleven were killed and many more injured in all too familiar circumstances. Hundreds of people have been arrested for use of illegal kite lines or flying kites when prohibited to do so.

Kites at dusk

Image by: Rehan Fazal

If kite flying in Pakistan were not controversial enough already, religion is also entangled in the matter, with sections of the country’s Muslim majority objecting to Basant on grounds of its Hindu roots. Last year the festival was overshadowed by the tragic Lahore bombings, but with both pro- and anti-kite flying supporters ready to continue the kite fight, things look up in the air for 2009.

Kites for sale

Image by: Rehan Fazal

Today Basant remains unscheduled, the ban is in force, and only the occasional speck of a kite drifts across the Lahore skyline. Even so, with kite flying season about to take off again ready for spring, watch the horizon.

Image: MC =)

The Newspaper House is participatory art, community project and a statement on the environment all rolled up into one – literally! With the most recent incarnation boasting walls, floors and shingles of thousands upon thousands of rolled up old newspapers, Sumer Erek’s installation is a thought-provoking take on the place we call home.

The theme of ‘house’ is a common thread for Erek, who is a refugee of Cyprus and moved to Britain in 1970. From Erek’s website:

“A house is a building, it is a roof over one’s head, and it is also a repository for nationhood, identity and belonging. By creating a house, I don’t only dwell upon my existence in it, but also build a ‘home’ for art.”

Image: sarflondondunc

Commissioned by Creative City, the first Newspaper House appeared in Gillett Square, London, last March. The public was invited to stop by, rolled up London dailies in hand, to help the artist build the house. By the end of the live demonstration period, over 85,000 papers had been put to a good second use.

But why did Erek use newspaper as his material of choice for this house? He explains:

“The material is a key, fundamental part of the project. It works in three ways. ‘News’ defines our era, ‘information technology’ is the dominating part of our existence. ‘Paper’ makes a direct relationship with our environment, and ‘house’ ties all the things together.”

Image: MC =)

When the installation showed up at the Blackie Arts Centre for Liverpool’s 5th Biennial in September, participants placed even more papers into the house. By the time the exhibition ended, the house had been stuffed with over 100,000 recycled papers.

Image: MC =)

You might think that with that many papers, construction is complete, but Erek hopes the opposite is true; he wants this house to be a continual ‘work-in-progress’, just like life:

“I would leave it unfinished if I could for people to be able to participate forever and ever.”

Filled with millions of messages and built on the sweat of the community, the Newspaper House makes a strong statement about the information age in which we live, the possibilities that exist when we work together and just how much meaning a house can hold.

Photo: exfordy

Rising majestically out of the plains of central Burma, 2,417 feet up in the air atop an ancient, sheer-sided volcanic plug, the Buddhist monastery of Popa Taungkalat surveys the surrounding scene. An amazing example of a human construction merged organically with its natural setting, Taung Kalat also draws thousands of pilgrims each year because of its great spiritual significance.

Match made in heaven: Monastery and mountain appear seamlessly merged

Photo: Hoorob

There seems to be a tendency for religious structures to be built on top of massive volcanic plugs. It’s as if the architects of these places of worship were investing faith in the benevolence of the divine forces they venerated – or perchance putting their own religious beliefs to the test.

Spiritual site: Shining spires of the Popa Taungkalat monastery

Photo: Cesc

In fact though there is little chance of the golden-spired Popa Taungkalat monastery being blasted to high heaven. Mount Popa, the nearby volcano to which it owes its foundation, is thought extinct. Volcanic plugs are created when magma dries as it spews from a vent an active volcano. When they form, the extreme pressure build-up can lead to an eruption – but here such a danger seems to have long since passed.

Burma’s answer to Mount Olympus: Taung Kalat at sunrise

Photo: exfordy

Indeed looking at, it seems as if the monastery draws nourishment from the volcanic landform on which it lies. To the Burmese, this is certainly a place of spiritual sustenance. The monastery is still active, and the Taung Kalat is also home to the 37 Mahagiri Nats – spirits of humans who met violent deaths revered in conjunction with Buddhism – their statues to be found at the base of the Shrine.

Image of me: Mount Popa, or Taung Ma-gyi, dwarfing Taung Kalat, left

Photo: Wagaung

While many tourists mistakenly call Taung Kalat (“pedestal hill”) Mount Popa, the volcano proper is situated northeast of the monastery-crowned outcrop that has so spectacularly resisted erosion over the centuries. Often called Taung Ma-gyi (“mother hill”) to dispel confusion, the giant volcanic cone is 4,980 feet tall and contains a mile-wide crater at its main summit.

View from above: Taung Kalat as it appears from Taung Ma-gyi

Photo: Ralf-André Lettau

From the loftier perspective of Taung Ma-gyi, Taung Kalat retains a serene beauty, but it is from the smaller projection that the panoramic views open up. The ancient city of Bagan lies some 50km to the northeast, and beyond it the cone-shaped peak of Taung Ma-gyi towers like Burma’s answer to Mount Fuji. The surrounding areas are arid, but the Mount Popa area has many springs and streams, plus soil fertile from volcanic ash, making it something of an oasis in Burma’s dry central zone.

Lush and green: This volcanic region’s days of destruction are seemingly over

Photo: patrikmloeff

To get to the summit of Taung Kalat’s vertiginous protuberance, visitors must remove their shoes and climb 777 steps up a covered walkway to the top, where dizziness from exertion and thin air inevitably await. People must also run the gauntlet of gangs of Macaques, cheeky primates that may look cute, but which will snatch anything that looks vaguely edible without a second invitation.

Monkeys at the monument: Beware the Macaques

Photo: Donna Cymek

There are however far greater threats to the tranquillity of this location; for one, the government’s focus on expanding tourism at the expense of cultural preservation – like the religious importance of a place like Mount Popa. The area needs protection from the negative effects of increasing visitors, so that sacred sites such as Popa Taungkalat are not allowed to fall into neglect.

Photo: antwerpenR

Friendly fruit woman at Plaza Mayor, Madrid Image: Mike el Madrileno

We’ve all seen them in busy shopping streets and parks, or in front of monuments and tourist attractions: street performers posing as statues. Some whistle when you pass by, some move when you give them money. Some do it as a career, others between jobs. But whatever the case, being a living statue takes guts, strength, creativity and yes, a good deal of exhibitionism.

Image: Adrian Pingstone

Living statues can be seen all around the world, but have a long history, especially in the European street theatre tradition. More than merely standing around, they perform according to their own script. Many street artists painstakingly design their costumes and put a lot of thought into their performances.

Image: Christian Bickel

In the 15th April 2008 Metro.co.uk article, “Why Being a Living Statue Isn’t Easy”, one female professional street performer says:

“When I go on jobs on my own, I have to find someone to help paint bits like the back of my arm where I can’t reach. It can take a good 90 minutes for full body paint… The classical statues work best. I spent several nights creating a Madame Medusa head for one job and I love the challenge of making costumes. The Medusa was a funeral company trade show and I stood on a tombstone.”

There are even professional companies who employ living statues and rent them out for trade shows, parties and promotional events, no doubt charging a bomb.

Even the communist party has been caught on camera, promoting their agenda with two living hammer-and-sickle statues at a rally at Cochin Fort in Kerala, India. Successfully, it seems, as Kerala has been ruled by the communist party for decades now.

Image: David Wilmot

Being a living statue is not for everyone and requires physical and mental fitness, not to mention the ability to withstand extreme weather conditions. Confirms the source in the Metro.co.uk article:

“You need to be quite fit – it’s actually quite hard work standing still. It drives you up the wall in your brain because you think ‘I want to move’… You have to stand well, using your tummy muscles. That’s very important. If you stood with bad posture, after a while you’d have terrible backache. Also, you need to look relatively fit to look like a good statue, especially as some of the costumes are quite revealing. Ideally, you should find a costume in which you can wear thermal underwear underneath – it can get cold in winter.”

Image: Sigismund von Dobschütz

Some living statues really take the immobility aspect to extremes. One of them, Antonia Santos, aka Staticman, is the Guinness World Record holder for standing still for 15 hours, 2 minutes and 55 seconds in 1988. Can you imagine? He has been a living statue since 1987, starting off performing at Las Ramblas in Barcelona but now to be found all over Europe. Since then, he has surpassed his own record by standing still for 20 hours, 11 minutes and 38 seconds in 2003. Wonder what he does if he has sneeze – or pee.

Staticman at the Living Statues Festival 2008 in Espinho, Portugal.

Image: Staticman

Living statues are a well loved part of festivals, but they have their own events too, dedicated exclusively to their art, like the World Statues Festival that takes place every year in the Netherlands.

Image: Frank Vincentz

Here are some more pictures of living statues that might inspire you. What do you think: could you do it? Do you have the patience, strength and creativity? Or if you’ve done it, what was your experience? Let us know!

A personal favorite. Without the little fence, people wouldn’t know the difference between him and a real statue. Even the pigeons can’t seem to tell.

Image: Jim Linwood

Children are fascinated by living statues, and these two in Lindau, Germany seem to inspect the performer’s finances too.

Image: Friedrich Böhringer

Doesn’t this guy look like Jim Morrison? And they do say he used to be blue all the time…

Image: Jim Linwood

Particularly striking is the amount of detail street performers will follow. This woman here has not only found the perfect scenic spot in one of London’s parks, but even incorporated the pedestal she’s sitting on, the horse as prop, and the donation plate.

Image: Fairlight

This Egyptian sarcophagus, photographed in front of the Castello de Sant Angelo in Rome, is simple but effective – no body or face paint needed. It might just get a bit hot in there.

Image: Miss Karen

The statue of liberty is also a popular choice, especially in New York. These two ladies seem to be dudes though.

Image: longdistancehiker

Old castles and buildings are wonderful backgrounds for witches. This one in Santiago de Compostela in Spain has the costume down to a T – even the money cauldron.

Image: Georges Jansoone

Last but not least, an angel in green with little ruffled wings – straight from the ’60s it seems – at the Hempfest in Seattle. Can’t beat that scenery!

Image: Seattle Hempfest 2007

I gotta say that I’m having a hard time pronouncing her name but it doesn’t matter because this Lithuanian beauty has got it all! Born in Lithuania on August 3, 1994, her face has graced magazine covers in Russia and Japan. We can’t get enough of her classic and exquisite beauty, and of course, her gorgeous blue eyes and brown hair.

Auguste has modeled for Burberry, Jill Sanders, Prada, Les Copains and many more.

Green is definitely a favorite fashion color, especially if it looks as subtle and lovely as this newbie from Radley. Made of leather with signature scottie, this stylish and fun looking bag is ready to assist your daily necessities. We also love the ornament hanging, it surely gives a cozy feeling, don’t you think?

Tagged at £140, get your hands on this charming collection!