The Times Advocate, 2004-04-21, Page 12Crossroads
12
Wednesday,April 21, 2004
Exeter Times Advocate
'Art is a Journey not a Destination' exhibition
By Pat Bolen
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
EXETER — An Exeter
artist is displaying a large
amount of her work for
the first time at a gallery
in Brights Grove.
Gallery in the Grove is
presenting the work of
Exeter's Catherine
Weber -Kunz and Sarnia's
Tony Wright from April 4-
24.
The exhibit, called 'Art
is a Journey not a desti-
nation' features displays
of pastel watercolour and
acrylic.
Weber -Kunz has 30 her work, Weber -Kunz
pieces on display in the
Gallery, with 36 by
Wright.
Weber -Kunz born and
raised in Switzerland,
attended art school and
received her diploma in
Fashion Design.
After immigrating to
Canada in 1992, she
began painting, influ-
enced by French
Impressionists such as
Degas, Benoit and
Toulouse-Lautrec.
Although this is the first
time she has displayed
such a large amount of
has had smaller numbers
of her paintings displayed
across the province.
After applying to the
gallery and showing sam-
ples of her work, Weber -
Kunz was selected for the
show.
Wright and Weber -Kunz
came up with the title of
the exhibit together, and
she painted a number of
pieces for the display.
Her work will also be on
display at Chapters in
London later in the year.
Exeter artist Catherine Weber -Kunz, whose work is being featured at the Gallery
In The Grove in Brights Grove until April 24. The exhibition is called 'Art is a
Journey not a Destination.' (Left) An example of Weber-Kunz's work. (photo's sub-
mitted)
Democracy grows in El Salvador
By Pat Bolen
TIMES -ADVOCATE STAFF
EL SALVADOR — There
are signs of hope and
progress in El Salvador,
but much remains to be
done, according to an
Exeter resident who spent
part of March in the
country monitoring elec-
tions.
Fred Knip of Exeter and
Hank Koskamp of Ripley
were part of an interna-
tional group of observers
sponsored by the Centre
for Exchange and
Solidarity who monitored
the presidential elections.
It was the first trip to El
Salvador for Knip, who
has been to Nicaragua
and Costa Rica several
times on school building
and land for landless
farmers projects.
"There is a tremendous
amount of problems with
the poor people and the
opportunities given to
them" according to Knip.
"But this, I think, will
probably become a better
country to live in."
After decades of politi-
cal violence in the coun-
try, the United Nations
supervised a peace
accord in 1991, a part of
which was transparent
elections with internation-
al observation teams.
Knip said the elections
appeared to have little
fraud, with a large
turnout.
"Prior to 1991, every
time they had an election,
the military government
won and there would be
a lot of protests in the
streets. The government
would eventually say
`enough of that', bring the
guns out and start shoot-
ing people. It just went
from bad to worse, but
now the elections are
pretty peaceful, legitimate
and up front."
Although the election
itself was run smoothly,
there were charges of
vote buying which Knip
said were unproven.
Although there is a
growing middle class in El
Salvador, there are still
Fred Knip of Exeter (right) was in El Salvador in March with Hank Koskamp of
Ripley, helping to monitor elections. (photo/submitted)
large contrasts in living
standards.
The capital, San
Salvador, has a modern
downtown and suburbs
guarded by armed securi-
ty, with large slums called
barrios on the outskirts of
the city.
With land reform
ignored by successive
right wing regimes, much
of the rural population
tries to exist by growing
coffee as a cash crop
although the market price
doesn't meet their pro-
duction costs.
Working class families,
employed in
Maquiladoras or free -
trade area factories, are
subjected to long hours,
poor working conditions
and employee harass-
ment.
Knip said he and
Koskamp came into the
country about a week
before the elections after
a week of training.
"We played it really low
key and just said we were
tourists. Some people
said `we're here to
observe elections and
make sure everything is
right', and they were the
ones who got detained."
There were about 30
Canadians in the group
from across the country,
as well as a large number
of university students
from the United States.
The training for the
observers included how
the elections would be
held and what the group
would be looking for.
After casting their bal-
lot, Knip said voters had
to stick their finger into
ink to show they had
voted and wouldn't be
able to again.
There was a 60 per cent
turnout for the election,
which was the highest
ever.
"I think people are get-
ting a little more confi-
dent the elections mean
something" said Knip.
Steps were also taken to
ensure poorer segments
of the population had the
chance to vote, including
providing transportation
to voting centres.
The election was also
held on a Sunday, since
workers find it difficult
taking a day off work.
Although he has no
immediate plans to return
to Central America, Knip
said he probably would in
the next couple of years.
"Whenever a project
comes up."