[Announcer] Funding for "The Art Show" is made possible by the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation, Montgomery County, The Carol Ann and Ralph V Haile, Jr Foundation, The Virginia W. Kettering Foundation, The Sutphin Family Foundation.

Additional funding provided by... And viewers like you, thank you.

[Rodney] In this edition of "The Art Show", vibrant paintings celebrate movement.

(upbeat music) Sharing the music and culture of Ukraine.

(upbeat music) Art Basel expands beyond Miami Beach.

(upbeat music) And paper silhouettes capture nomadic life.

(upbeat music) It's all ahead on this edition of "The Art Show".

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Hi, I'm Rodney Veal and welcome to "The Art Show", where each week we provide access to local, regional, and national artists and arts organizations.

Artist Said Oladejo Lawal was born in Nigeria and studied art there before coming to the United States as an adult.

His vibrant paintings are full of movement and emotion.

Let's watch and find out what moves him to create these colorful works of art.

(upbeat music) Generally, the inspiration to be an artist came from my dad.

My dad was a painter, he painted houses.

Which would include interior decoration, cotton stencils, doing friezes, borders, and stuff.

(upbeat music) My dad, he has this writing desk.

And that thing had drawers where he stashed all his drawings and stencils.

And when I'm in the house, you know, I would go through the drawers and just look at things.

And just look at the cuts, the drawings, and the color swatches.

He had all these color charts, you know, they were accordion folded type.

You would look and look, and colors, so, colors started registering that early.

You wouldn't think it's gonna be useful later in life!

(laughs) So, colors started registering very early.

I paint with bright colors intentionally, you know, with bright colors.

There's a school in artistry that I liked.

They call them the Fauvists.

They just love painting with colors in their original hues.

They can pick a yellow and just slap it there, red, blue.

So, they grade those colors according to their strength and light and shade.

Yellow becomes the lightest.

Blue, ultramarine, or cobalt, becomes the darkest.

And the reds might be in the middle with the orange and stuff.

So, marks you would think that person, artist would not retain because they think it's a mistake and paint over, those I leave there.

And they make the most impact because they trick your mind into thinking the action is still on, and on, and on, and on, and on.

Sometimes I do paint in such a way that, say I mostly use flat brushes, which are like chisel heads.

When you make a mark with them, they have a square, angular feel to them.

I can make those angles into rectangles and squares that can be patches that make up a face, make up a painting.

And you sort of see different swatches of squares and you're like... Well, when you stand back, everything merges and form the picture.

And then also sometimes I'm listening to, say, Vivaldi, which is one of my favorites, "Four Seasons", and you're painting and it feels as if your hand is being moved by the violin.

(gentle classical violin music) Maybe, maybe not.

But, it works and I have my fun doing that.

(gentle classical violin music continues) I always intentionally want my brushwork to create the kind of effect that, you know, brings emotion out.

(gentle classical violin music continues) I take inspiration from life.

I like music.

I don't play an instrument.

But, I like music.

And I always felt like life, even landscape, even general day-to-day things that we do, there is music behind.

There's a rhythm, there's a rhyme.

There's balance, there's everything in there.

But, then when you look at a painting which is a two-dimensional thing, you're wondering how do you fit music into that?

Other than painting a picture of a musician, right?

So, I started playing around with how to present sound.

I always like to make paintings that you stand in front of it and you're like, you can feel movement.

You can feel depth.

You can just sort of be like you're in a concert listening to whatever the picture is saying.

In Nigeria, there's a lot of dance.

Technically we have a party for everything.

There's always a reason to dance.

Weddings in Nigeria, wow, I miss that.

Colors, you see the women dress, you see the young ladies dance.

It's beautiful.

I wanted to present the joyful feeling that you find in an environment where people are dancing and celebrating.

And there's some certain cultures when they dance in Nigeria, they hold handkerchiefs.

And that handkerchief moves with their body, their arms.

And that handkerchief sort of it's like a conductor conducting a classical piece, you know?

You follow the conductor's hand.

You follow the beat, the rhythm, and everything.

So, I wanted to show all that.

But, at the same time be able to show that, you know, in life there are celebrations.

And when the time to celebrate is here, you make the most of it.

There are times there are no reasons to celebrate.

But, who would know if you choose to celebrate even though you had no reasons to celebrate?

Who would really, really fault you for it, really?

I mean, people might think it's awkward and out of place.

But that's what you might need for your sanity.

Your world is your world.

What you make of it is yours.

If you choose to have it all blue and sad, it's still yours.

But, if you choose to just, yes, in spite of everything, break forth and be the joy for yourself and for others.

It affects others.

See, it's like a reaction that just multiplies.

Gandhi was the one who said, "Be the change that you hope to see."

My painting is one of my ways of being the change and presenting the change.

If you'd like to learn more about this, or any other story on today's show, visit us online at cetconnect.org or thinktv.org.

The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus seeks to preserve the culture, music, and history of Ukraine.

By sharing the bandura instrument with people across the globe, the group keeps the rich musical traditions of Ukraine alive.

Now, let's take a look back to when they celebrated their centennial in Parma, Ohio.

(upbeat bandura music) This is not just your ordinary choir when you come in and sing maybe on Sunday in church.

This is a brotherhood, really.

And that's really what draws people here.

[Journalist] The Ukrainian Bandurist Chorus passes on a culture through its music.

The group has a 100-year history, and at times performing has come with a great cost.

Governments were very frequently scared of the bandura and the bandura players because they were the oral history of the nation, of the culture.

They were able to continue talking about historical events that maybe the authorities didn't want people to know about.

And it's maybe easier to burn a book.

It's pretty difficult to bury a song or bury an instrument.

-(somber music) -(singing in Ukrainian) [Journalist] The music dates back centuries with traveling performers sharing stories through songs.

After World War I, the Ukrainian government organized a professional chorus, which is the foundation of this group.

But then the 1930s came and Stalinist purges, persecutions, imprisonments, jailings, executions, and members of our group, conductors, bandura players, singers.

They were imprisoned, sent to Siberia, or executed.

[Journalist] Surviving members performed in World War II displaced persons camps before emigrating with other Ukrainians en masse to the United States.

Many members settled in Detroit, Michigan and revived the chorus, which continues today, with new players and singers from across the U.S. and Canada.

Andrij Birko is a third-generation member.

It was kind of in my blood to begin with.

My grandfather was actually a bandura player in Zhytomyr Ukrayina, Ukraine, which is a city a couple of hours from Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.

And he was a bandura player back home and he met up with the Bandurist Chorus in the displaced person camps in Germany.

So that's where he joined.

Then my family, that was on my mom's side, they came over to the United States in the late '40s.

And actually, my dad, in order to hook my mom, learned to play bass bandura and joined the choir.

(upbeat bandura music) [Journalist] Birko says the bandura is tough to play and members of his group have to rigorously practice outside of their regular work as these are unpaid positions.

He describes the instrument as a cross between a lute and a zither.

So it's a lowercase B that has strings on it.

It has a neck like a guitar, and then it's got a huge belly that sticks out over here.

And unlike a guitar where you press on the frets to make your different notes, the bandura is in some ways simpler because it's got one string per note, -you know.

-(slowly strums scale) You play individual strings to hit individual notes.

But that also makes it harder because it's got sixty strings or however many is on here.

There are various ages.

We have someone that's 14, they just started with us.

And we have gentlemen that are in their mid 70s, but they all work hard and we create a wonderful experience, not just music, but more importantly maybe experiences for us and also for the audience.

So they can maybe get a better sense of the history of Ukraine.

That's part of our mission.

We do act as ambassadors and in a difficult time for Ukraine, who is at war and is being occupied by Russian forces, we can show another side of Ukraine and kind of have some kind of musical diplomacy in some ways.

[Journalist] About a dozen members live in northeast Ohio, including Nazar Kalivoshko.

Whenever a person leaves their home country, they leave a bit of their heart behind.

And in addition to family and friends that I left behind, I also left the culture and the music that I love so much.

So when I came here, obviously, I was seeking to rejoin with the culture and with the music.

-(singing in Ukrainian) -(dramatic bandura music) [Journalist] The group travels around the world to perform and has done so for decades, playing everywhere from Severance Hall in Cleveland to the Sydney Opera House in Australia.

[Volodymyr] Recognize that building?

That's the Notre Dame Cathedral.

[Journalist] It is a source of pride for Volodymyr Murha, who moved to the US with his parents at age 2.

You're sharing something that is enticing to the people you're sharing it with, and it just makes the world a little bit more, no, I say a lot more interesting.

[Journalist] The chorus also fosters education of the instrument in order to keep the traditions alive.

There are bandura music schools, private teachers throughout the country and through Canada.

[Journalist] Birko is one of those bandura teachers, passing along the skills and the stories.

I have to give back this opportunity for the ones up and coming.

And who knows whether we'll still be around in North America 100 years from now.

But if we're not, it's not going to be my fault.

And I just I want this group to continue, and if it's to continue, there are people that got to do the work.

-(somber bandura music) -(singing in Ukrainian) (upbeat music) [Rodney] Did you miss an episode of "The Art Show"?

No problem!

You can watch it on demand at cetconnect.org and thinktv.org.

You'll find all the previous episodes, as well as current episodes, and links to the artists we feature.

(upbeat music) Each year, the art world descends on Miami Beach for Art Basel, North America's most comprehensive, international contemporary art fair.

And because the demand for art is so great, Art Basel events are now expanding into other south Florida communities.

For the inaugural Art of Transformation event in 2022, the city of Opa-locka, which boasts the largest collection of Moorish revival architecture in the western hemisphere, also hosted the largest display of African diaspora art at Art Basel.

Check it out.

(upbeat music) We believe that art and culture is a way of not only bringing understanding but bringing people together as well as helping to develop wealth, and we saw that from the beginning of the creation of Opa-locka.

It was about a film, art, and it was a fairytale brought from a far land.

Creativity, entertainment, and its Moorish architecture and its founding on creating film was what attracted the earliest settlers here to Opa-locka, and so we're just picking up from where we started.

(upbeat music) With this project, I've been tasked to help master plan this inaugural Art of Transformation event as a registered Art Basel location this year and tying together all the different pieces of the different curators and fusing it together into an outdoor experience, which sits in the midway point of three of the gallery activations.

(upbeat music) At the very start of this project, you know, all the creative leads were on a phone call about like, "Hey, what do we do?"

And the very first thing I said, and I think a few other people on the call were also thinking, is that nothing happens on Sunday of Basel.

It goes from 1,000% to absolutely zero, that happens.

And I think that then we started ideating, go, "Why don't we throw an exodus event?"

And we're like, "Well, actually that's perfect" because the majority people are exiting out of Opa-locka through the Executive Airport because that's the private airport for Miami, and that's where those big high-flying collectors and all the people are actually passing through this neighborhood already.

They can have some great food, experience some great art, and it's really something that's, you know, there's not too many cities that are curating their own special thing.

(upbeat music) How do we tie the past with the present?

What you're seeing now in this exhibit is a culmination of that, where we are not only looking at Africa but also thinking about the artists who are living in the diaspora, because Miami is such a diasporic place.

And so we wanted to root ourselves in Africa but also to think about where Africa is, instead of just the continent but also across the globe.

Obviously we're taking advantage that it's Miami Art Basel but I think more importantly for us is how do we engage our local community here in Opa-locka so that they can be a witness to all this amazing stuff that is happening in their backyard?

-Bon appetit.

-(crowd cheering) I will be providing you with a very cultural menu to showcase African and Haitian cuisine.

It's right up my alley because culture goes hand in hand with art, and art goes with food, so this category ties in all together, and my setups and my food is based on culture.

That's the first thing you'll taste.

(upbeat music) It's a way to represent, you know, not only our culture but the way we see life, and it is a testimony of the way we live, the way we feel about humanity and our own community.

(upbeat music) You will see the 509.

509 is the area code, the telephone area code in Haiti.

That's been, is a communication always and communication with Haiti.

My work represent everything for me.

You know, this is a way I can communicate with other people.

I can show the way I see things.

(upbeat music) I'm really excited about what Dr. Logan and his team are doing to transform the city, but also the impact it can have on young people in the city.

Seeing beautiful art inspires people, then I hope the impact of this show is that they are able to find the artistic side inside themselves, and maybe two, three years from now when we have the next edition of this show, we can feature artists that are from Opa-locka.

(upbeat music) All the international people that are coming asking me what I'm doing, what's happening.

I go, "Well, actually you should be coming up to Opa-locka, and you better see something at its genesis."

And I think that's, there's something beautiful about that, something raw about that, and something just eager for people to learn more about.

(upbeat music) I think it means that we've arrived in the sense that our work, the people who are represented here in the various activities, be it the visual art or the performance art or the spoken word, the culinary art, all that will take place over the next three or four days, has gained the respect and interest that other types of communities and cultures have developed over the decades and centuries and particularly over the recent years here in Dade County.

We also recognize that the African diaspora, which quite frankly is what most of Miami is made up of, has its place in all communities, and the quality of its residents, of people who represent those communities, of the businesses, the community organizations, as well as the governments not only are they capable but are deserving of getting their piece of the spotlight.

And the only way we can continue to grow Art Basel Miami Beach is with these satellite fairs, with these opportunities for the community, local artists as well as international artists to continue to have spaces where they can show their work, sell their work, and tell their stories.

(upbeat music) I think in the end, we really do believe in the term Art of Transformation because this is not just art for the sake of art.

This is art for the sake of transforming place, people, and lives.

(upbeat music) ♪ I believe it, yeah ♪ If you need more art goodness in your life, the podcast Rodney Veal's Inspired By is available now.

You can find it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

Learn more and find show notes at thinktv.org or cetconnect.org/inspiredby.

Our next artist, Turburam Sandagdorj, uses black paper, sharp scissors, and a lot of patience to create highly detailed silhouettes.

Through his process, he celebrates his Mongolian heritage, his love for nature, and an appreciation for the nomadic lifestyle.

Here's his story.

(gentle music) My name, Turburam Sandagdorj.

I am a Mongolian American professional silhouette artist.

(gentle music) I create silhouettes called Tsagasun Baru.

Tsagasun Baru is the paper silhouette art in Mongolia.

(gentle music continues) My father influenced me as the artist.

(gentle music continues) In college, I learned ceramics.

Ceramics is two-dimensional.

The ceramics and the paper cuts is not different.

It's the same thing, it's the same feelings, just you using different tools and materials.

You need to grab the paper and scissors and start to cut.

It's very important in the silhouette, -the tools, the scissors.

-(gentle music continues) I try with using that aggressive tool (gentle music continues) -into the fragile materials.

-(gentle music continues) I using hot press paper.

It's very thin.

It's almost like silk and you just cut in straight -and the curve.

-(gentle music continues) I always think about connection.

(gentle music continues) Without connection, all your lines collapse down.

(gentle music continues) -I try to start to end -(gentle music continues) -just one image, -(gentle music continues) -one meaning, one feeling.

-(gentle music continues) Sometimes you see this whole concept in your mind.

(gentle music continues) A lot of my art express the life of the nomads.

(gentle music continues) The nomadic lifestyle is very minimal.

-The nomads love the nature.

-(gentle music continues) -That's my message.

-(gentle music continues) -I love the nature.

-(gentle music continues) You see the open space and the sky like the blue, like the ocean.

In the night you see just the Milky Way, thousand stars, -and you just connect.

-(gentle music continues) -It talks with you.

-(gentle music continues) -I always simplify everything.

-(gentle music continues) It's kind of minimal.

I just choose the minimal life for me, it works for me, and also expressing into my art.

I illustrated more than 40 books, mythology, the folk tales, poetry, and history.

(gentle music continues) -I love the history.

-(gentle music continues) It's made me think about where I came from.

(gentle music continues) (upbeat music) If you want to see more from "The Art Show", connect with us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

You'll find us @thinktv and cetconnect.

And don't forget "The Art Show" channel on YouTube.

And that wraps it up for this edition of "The Art Show".

Until next time, I'm Rodney Veal.

Thanks for watching.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) (upbeat music continues) [Announcer] Funding for "The Art Show" is made possible by the L&L Nippert Charitable Foundation, The Robert and Adele Schiff Family Foundation, The George and Margaret McLane Foundation.

Additional funding provided by... And viewers like you.

Closed captioning in part has been made possible through a grant from The Bahmann Foundation.

Thank You.