THE STORY OF SYLVESTRE 

“To remember is to allow the past to move into the future and to shape its course”

Elie Wiessel

PROLOGUE

My name is Sylveste.

I am thirty eight years old.

I am a Rwandan. (continue reading…)

“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”

Pablo Picasso

This book is not a catalogue: it is a book of stories, a book in which one man tells of the experiences in his long life, it is a book which captures his dreams in his words.

This is the story of Monty Mahobe – artist, musician, and man.

Monty Mahobe walks into the Artists Proof Studio at 12h20; our meeting is scheduled for 12h15.

I hate to be late, so I am sorry for this.

But it is only five minutes late, there is no problem. Anyway I was about to pour the coffee, would you like some?

No, I will have tea, with milk and sugar, yes, I prefer tea to coffee.

Did you get here from Rockville by taxi?

No, I caught the Rea Vaya, it is much better than the taxis. I never know where they drop me off, I don’t know the routes or the ranks, sometimes they drop me at a rank which is too far from here, so the Rea Via is much better, they just go to the same place and I know which way to walk.

The man who speaks is Monty Mahobe. (continue reading…)

X

The house is filled with paintings; landscapes, clouds, an assortment of the ‘okes’, many of Ganesh. Also people, are they her children, her friends, the friends that she has made in her solitariness?

They are beautiful these paintings, the colours are soft, there does not appear to be anything harsh in them. Have you always been an artist, or is this something new?

I love art, all art; I have always loved it, particularly the more classical. I am not that keen on the modernists. I know and understand that they are attempting to tell me something but I am never certain what it exactly is. Yes, they talk, but not necessarily to me, and we all have to listen to our own voices. But to answer the question, no, I only started painting after I had the strokes. (continue reading…)

A story for Cyril … : a narrative, and a valuable story, based on a part of his life.

Barbara sits down opposite me. We are in a coffee shop in Killarney, the Europa. I have been here many times but not in the recent past. It has changed somewhat. The Jews of Killarney are still here, elderly women and men who have lived here for aeons, it is, but used to be more so, a very Jewish suburb, but now there are many more of Islamic extract. I supposed that both a Shul and a Mosque are close by. The Shul is old, the Oxford Shul, I’m not sure that many people still go there, and the Mosque is further away, but still close, up in Houghton. The same people, almost the same features, just different religions, and even some fashionable looking young women, but nowadays they are black and white, not just white.

“Do we make this like an interview? How will it work?”

She sits down on the chair opposite me and takes out a notebook, nothing else, just one notebook. (continue reading…)

·   A story – writing, about people and their experiences – a legacy

·   You and your family experiences, your business, something that just happened to you

·   I will write a narrative, including pictures, about you and your life

·   A graphic designer will design the layout

·    Something for friends and family, business associates, for you.

WE ARE HARDWIRED FOR STORIES
EVERYONE HAS A STORY
THERE ARE MANY STORIES IN OUR LIVES
STORYTELLING IS A FORM OF CREATIVITY

“We all have a story to tell. We cannot exist only for ourselves; we exist through and in the other, the other’s story, our story. And so to tell a story we become a character in our own story for in your own story you are the central character, you have agency. Sometimes the central character is hidden, he is the person behind the door, unseen, watching maybe you can make your character walk out of the narrative and another character will walk in, say what you want to say, do what you want to do, or say what you do not want to say, do what you do not want to do. The character of you is the story.” Murray Nossel: Narrative Inc. NYC

“The idea of the writing of your story; the capturing of themes, ideas, memories, for to remember and re-remember is to create a story, we are all creators, of our own present, our own future, to imagine a future is how to survive. Meaning does not pre-exist the interpretation and re-telling of experiences. So imagine a future and recreate a memory, redefine it, re-remember and change its power. “Michael White: Narrative Therapy