Black Horizons; 2343

Tonight, disco may be dead, but big band music is alive and better than ever. Tonight at Rosebud, you can dance the night away to the area's biggest little band, Swing Fever. Or if you're a jitterbug and it's a little rusty, you can just sit back and relax to a mix of popular tunes from the 30s and 40s that will keep your toes tapping. Call 261 -2221 to find out more. Don't open your holiday season jockeying for parking spaces and standing in line at the mall. Head on down to the Manchester Craftsman's Guild instead for a fine jazz concert with the Louis Belsam Jimmy Heath quartet and Pittsburgh's finest jazz artist. Put off fighting the Christmas frenzy for another day and treat yourself to some fine jazz music. Call the guild at 322 -0800 for more information. If you can't wait for the carlers to come to you, go to the carlers. The Greater Union Town Corral is presenting a welcome all wonders concert at the Asbury United Methodist Church. Get caught up in the excitement of

the holiday season and call 437 -2709. Finally, get out your favorite pen or pencil input. You're thinking cap on. It's time for the second annual August Wilson Writing Contest. This year's theme is Family. You need to apply by December 16th and note that the entry deadline is January 6, 1992. You can express yourself through fiction, nonfiction, or poetry. What more could you possibly need to know about the telephone number? It's 2 -813141 and we told you all about black nativity. As a matter of fact, you just saw some fine singers from the show. It's December 19th through the 22nd at the Fulton Theatre downtown called 241467 for more information. Also, if you have any arts events, please write to us at Black Horizons, WQD -13, 480 -255 -New Pittsburgh PA -15213. Well, that's our

tenor calendar. Hope that you will be hearing from you soon with your arts event. And speaking of art, when I find friends, Sahoo Injai joins us today. I love that hat, brother. Thanks, please. You wear that hat. Yes, indeed. Sahoo, you know, sometimes we know people and we think we know them and we really don't. I've known you in your photography over the years for about eight or nine years, perhaps even more than that. And I've known you for that, but in fact, you are a fine artist also. Where does all this talent come from, brother? Well, I attribute all to God in the first place. That's who gave it to me and I'm using it to the max. I believe in emptying. When you fill up a vase, when it's full, you have to empty it for it to retain some more water. So I've been doing photography over those years that I've known you. And it's about time that I empty photography and fill up with art. That's why you're saying

my art out these days. Okay, yeah, that sounds great. I heard you tell a story about something once your father said to you about clouds in the sky. Do you know what I'm talking about? I attribute also my painting to my dad because he couldn't draw a straight line. Sounds like me. But he saw the artisan me when I was very young. At the age of six, actually, he sent me to learn how to draw. And in fact, to get started, that's why I did this painting of this old man here. He used to ask me what kinds of things did I see in the cloud formations. You know, in Africa, you sit out in the courtyard and it's open skies. You never watch it, you'd be better at anything. That's right. So I look up in the skies and tell him, well, I see a lion's face or, you know, this and this and that. You know, yes, I see that too, but I see something else, you know, kind of suggesting, you

know, encouraging me to be creative with the things that I see. Well, he did a fine job. I want to pull some of these paintings that we have around here. I'm going to take this small one first and just pull it around here and see if we can get a shot of it. And I'd ask you to describe it. First of all, I don't know because I'm looking at it upside down from my position. I don't know what I would describe it, but how would you describe it as it's creative? Well, this is a different piece from the other pieces that I have here in that it's very reddish. It's like a sunset, a perpetual sunset. And there are trees there without leaves. And the landscape is just barren and dead. I call it, this is the big question in terms of thinking about nature and how we are abusing our environment, how are we going to end up like dinosaurs? Our trees are going to assume dinosaurs, dinosaur shapes. So the big question. The big question. That's something definitely to think about. Next piece is

a little bit larger. I'm just going to move it out here. Bateek, is this? This is Bateek, yes. And I call this Grand Papa. Grand Papa? It's an old man. Yes, and the pilot. Actually, I did the sketch while my father was ill. He had Alzheimer's. And when I showed him the sketch of himself, he just smiled. I don't know if he understood what it was from him suffering from that disease or what. But that was to show him that he did a good job helping me come up with. And encouraging me. Okay, we got a couple more. And I sure want to look at this one right here and see what we have here. Would you describe this, please? I call this the bird dance. The bird dance.

Yes. It's like winged human beings dancing. There are drummers, there are color bashes, there are hands. My pieces, I interpret them as I see my pieces. But people are free to interpret them as they see them. Everybody has his own experiences. So they bring something to it also, right? That's right. Okay, we're going to look at one more, this very large one with some glass on it. Let's see if I can get the angle on it right here. And this is, I call this suggestivity. It's also a group of dancers at initiation time in Africa. The boys or the girls are taken away from the home and out in the woods and taught what they should be in becoming a woman or a man.

And coming back to the public, coming back home, they celebrate the beginning of life. And this is that celebration. So I call this suggestivity. When the elders take them out, they tell them what it is. But they only suggest things. So they come up with each individual his own way. So it leaves that same kind of creativity that your father inspired and you open, I guess, to each individual so that they can interpret. That's right. Well, I'm fascinated to learn of something that's been long standing. It's new for me, but I'm sure old for you. And that is your great artistic ability. Are you displaying anywhere now? Yes, I, in fact, I'll be showing at the winner artist's market at the PPG winner gardens starting the 26th of November. And if anybody is interested in obtaining any of your art, how can they reach you? Are they can reach me at my studio, 7 -8 -4

-8518? Okay. Now, when you feel this artist's face up, are you going to go back to photography or will there be something else? Yes. I can always empty and fill out. Okay. Well, thanks for being here. We appreciate it. Thanks a lot, Chris. Okay. And thank you for joining us here on Black Horizons. We're glad you could be with us for this show. We'll see you in two weeks because we're off the next two weeks as a matter of fact. See you. Bye. You You

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