Bishkek Art Centre (‘bArt’) 31 October – 14 November 2008

Russian        Kyrgyz

Daniel Maselli is a trained biologist with a PhD in Geography. In 1980 after finishing highschool he worked an entire summer as a tourist guide and sold souvenirs to tourists in a shop in Interlaken (his homeplace in Switzerland) to buy his first camera – a Nikon F3 body. This camera – together with a more mechanic Nikon FM2 - accompanied him all over the world when travelling.
While doing his field research in the Swiss Alps for his MSc he took plenty of pictures. Based on this photographic material he compiled an own plant and insect book which he complemented with black and white scientific drawings.
During his PhD studies in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco he gradually shifted from plant and landscape pictures to portraits and people in their daily life. His pictures were then used to illustrate books and articles as well as to print postcards.
His various assignments allowed Daniel Maselli to travel to many places on the globe. However, his particular interest is in mountain regions and semi-arid places where living conditions for the population are often harsh.
In 2000 he started realizing another own project – a large format art calendar. The basic idea was to share the unique and emotionally striking encounters with a broader public. He then combined this idea with a charity component trying to track the people featured on the calendars and handing them over copies of the calendar and some money collected through the selling. This approach - although based on a modest print run of less than 1000 copies a year – has proven to be self-sustainable and until now seven calendars have appeared. This has allowed to printing more than 80 different subjects including pictures from Central Asia where he carried out and coordinated research on natural resources for the NCCR North-South and helped the ‘Central Asia Mountain Partnership’ (CAMP) Program as well as the University of Central Asia (UCA). Before leaving this fascinating region in spring 2009 for a new assignment at the headquartes of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Daniel Maselli wants to share some special glimpses of ordinary life with local and foreign people currently living in Bishkek / Kyrgyzstan.
The expositon ‘People and Places - Ways of Living Around the World’ will be opened on Friday 31 October 2008 at 16.30 at the Bishkek Art Centre ‘Б’Art’, Karaseava Street no. 1, and will remain open until Friday 14 November 2008. The pictures exposed will be on sale and the profit will be used to support aging people in Kyrgyzstan and the Б’Art Centre to further promote culture in the city. During the vernissage the persons featured in the calendar 2007 and living in the Sokuluk valley will participate with members of their family. There will be the opportunity to discuss with them and learn how they reacted on being featured on a calendar.
You are most welcome to participate in the vernissage or to visit the exposition during opening hours every day from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (Monday closed).