TRADITION VS. INNOVATION Welum’s third coffee table book is here! As per tradition, our coffee ta- ble books are avenues in which we explore differ- ent themes, and take the liberty to rethink the notion of a printed book. The content is from all over the world, showcasing some uniquely interesting talent as always. The theme for the third book is “Tradition vs. Innovation”, playing well into Welum’s core where we aim to reinvent the editorial platform. For this theme we’ve played with the idea of illumination and very literally explored our own brand (‘we are lum-inous’). We took the book’s cover, traditionally there to protect the con- tents of the book, and transformed it into a DIY multipurpose element with an innovative twist. The cover is made of clear plastic, and following the instruc- tions on the last page, the reader can use the cover to create a 3D prism for viewing holographic moving images. This way the reader can engage with the book in a completely different way, using traditional craftsmanship to create a quite innovative and surreal experience. Once the prism is assembled, you simply place it onto a smartphone or tab- let, go to Welum’s Flash Channel on our site and play the 3D holographic video. You are in for a treat! The future is here, and Welum wants to explore it with you. AFRICMIDDLEA MIDDLE AFRIEASTCA For me, ethics is on one side stay- ing true to your- self despite all doubtful and scary moments and it is an ongo- ing process for me in my own life both professionally CREDIT: Writer: Jill Ferguson Sahbe Aminikia SAHBA AMINIKIA http://www.sahbakia.com/ COMPOSES FOR THESE TIMES Sahba Aminikia was called by the San Francisco of those cultures who are symbolically hostile to culture where storytelling was a survival skill and Chronicle “an artist singularly equipped to provide one another. I feel very privileged and fortunate to people around me used and developed this skill a soundtrack to these unsettling times". Aminikia be a boatman between the two. in order to make the lives of their loved ones eas- lives in the United States, but his family is from ier in difficult times. I hear music in my own head Iran. Early this month, his work was part of a festi- What has been your biggest learning when I go through my own most difficult times in val by the world-famous Kronos Quartet, for whom experience? life. So I think for me it was not much of a difficult Aminikia is writer-in-residence. His mother, a U.S. Studying humanities at the Conservatory of Mu- decision to make. green card holder who is in Tehran, was caught in sic in San Francisco. It gave me the opportunity the travel ban issued by President Trump, so she to re-evaluate, challenge and sometimes reject What are your goals for the near and distant missed the early February festival at SFJazz that many of my previously-learned ethics and to seek future? included her son’s music. a deeper connection with human beings beyond I believe in increasing the quality of the moment Aminikia’s compositions are haunting and ethere- language and culture. to the maximum potential and that's what creates al and combine elements from both eastern and a bright and worthy-of-living future. If I lose a mo- western musical traditions to create sounds that How do ethics play into your compositions and ment of now, which is continuing what I am doing are as exotic as they are familiar. your life? until my last breath, I feel that I have betrayed my Welum caught up with the 35- year-old compos- For me, ethics is on one side staying true to own future both near and distant. I intend to cre- er to ask about his music and how beauty and eth- yourself despite all doubtful and scary moments ate as much music as I possibly can. ics are taken into account in his artistic creations and it is an ongoing process for me in my own life and in his life. both professionally and personally. The true self What do you most hope listeners take away from is beautiful, and beauty is the key to the heart of your music? Do you consider yourself an Iranian composer or every life form on this planet. So, on the other side, A cathartic experience that haunts them, confirms, a composer who happens to be Iranian, or some- my ethics are based on beauty, passion and love. nourishes and amplifies their dark side and then as thing else entirely? For example, someone struggling to accomplish a in exorcism, purifies them by fully immersing them I consider myself an Iranian-American compos- beautiful act is the most poetic and morally pleas- in their own avoided emotions. er and the only reason that I am insisting on both ing image in my mind and encourages me to re- Sahba Aminikia composes music for solo pro- identities is because my life story and music has spond to that beauty with creating another live jects, chamber music groups, ensembles, multime- been shaped in both geographical locations and being and passing on this tradition of creating life dia projects, vocalists and full orchestras. A com- inevitably they both form a large portion of my sto- in form of a piece of art to the next listener. plete listing of current projects and groups with ries. However, while taking no pride in being part whom he's working is on his website. of neither of them, I take pride in moments when What prompted you to become a composer? either of them have been the home to bright and I think music is one of the few surviving arts of idealistic individuals throughout their histories. magic, which are mostly extinct now. And by mag- ic I mean shaping and transforming human emo- What has been your greatest triumph so far? tions by using undecided science. I think this also Understanding that the ideals of every culture and takes us to the ancient story of Gilgamesh and nation connect and relate to one another more what is in fact the deepest dilemma of human be- than the political hemispheres of those cultures ing; immortality. Stories and melodies are what re- do. I see myself as a connecting dot between two main of us. In addition to that, I was born into a CREDITS: Writer: Michela Tucci Roche van den Berg ROCHE, http://roche-recycle-relove.withtank.com/ RELOVE AND RECYCLE create with. One day, walking through downtown become pieces of evolved “Art”, who are also able a call to action: Cape Town, I saw Rubber Inner Balls and thought to pass on their culture to their daughters. of creating foldable flowerpots. I mainly work with let us be’ waste products, like rubber and tires. I have to go Simple: Brave. around to dealerships and bicycle shops to col- “a society of artists” lect waste rubber. The rubber then goes through Beautiful. Bold. Roche van den Berg is committed to the evolution a strenuous cleaning process so that I start cutting of nature, and in doing so, she is actively contrib- the shapes and designs. Depending on what piece – is all I can say! uting to the preservation of Earth. I am creating time varies. For example, a piece van den Berg is certainly actively committed to Her favorite part of being a designer is the abil- of jewelry can take four to five hours, whereas a beating the drum of consciousness, in a way that ity “to live in passion, to be part of the magic that tree sculpture can take me weeks. I only use hand is not just aesthetically beautiful, but also vibrating can transform something completely discarded or crafted techniques like cutting, punching, crochet- with a call to action. worthless, breathing New Evolutionary Life into it, ing, sewing and weaving,” she said. “To not only look, but really SEE! One can ei- and creating textures, from Nature, that speak a After finishing school, van den Berg travelled ther see the ugly in something that is; Or one can language understood by all humans.” for two years and then studied Interior Architec- notice the beauty in what it can BECOME....Sus- In this statement van den Berg shows off that ture in Cape Town, completing her studies with an tainability is about creating new and better ways she is intuitively an agent of change, a lighthouse, International Diploma. But, from a young age, she for humanity to meet its needs without destroying for a world lost to the pollution of our environment was focused on preservation of the environment either the beauty or integrity of Nature. In order and degradation of cultural heritage. and her environment through art. for us to achieve sustainability, we have to become As the renowned architect Richard Rogers once “I was taught to knit, sew, crochet, bead and a society of artists, willing to take creative risks, said, “The only way forward, if we are going to im- fix things myself by looking around me and using attempting to make connections and leap across prove the quality of the environment, is to get what I have, from a very young age. That to me is disciplines and cultures in ways previously not at- everybody involved.” sustainability of culture, to pass on the skills that tempted, or even imagined. Sustainability has got van den Berg has been “involved” since Day help us create, not only what we need, with what to be the main objective of all people on Earth,” One.