Good evening Ladies and gentlemen.
I would like to pay a tribute to the memory of the late Peter Indari, Botrous Indari (Abou Ziad) -”The Dean of the Arab Journalists in Australia”. This painting is dedicated to his memory, paying respect to all that he has done to enrich our home Australia. I met the late Peter Indri nearly 30 years ago and knew him very well during this time. I intended to paint his portrait from life, but I feel just as honoured to paint him from a photo.
Even though Peter passed away a year ago, the emotions are still raw. He is still in our hearts, our feelings and our memories, which are stronger than death and larger than life.
As an artist and writer, in my own words in Shifting Waves’ book © 1998 p.15: “my interest in the morphology of human faces and my admiration for features can reveal personality and highlight the influential aspects of an individual.” The sparkle in his eyes shows he was intelligent, the shine in his skin shows he had the light of knowledge to enlighten people. In his well acclaimed column ‘lest we forget’ he was an intellectual critic and social reformer, he was also a historian and a politician – Peter Indari was a remarkable man. A friendly smile, he was always calm and humble, overall a truly lovable person. I have to say that, while I was painting this portrait, I took a deep breath several times, and pictured his great personality in my mind, where I have tried to capture his soul and offer a vivid sense of his presence.
It was pure co incidence that I saw his monumental before anybody else when it had just finished and I felt that he is with us and has not departed. I am sure this feeling will be shared by everyone who knew him.
I still recall Abou Ziad’s words in his column ‘Kay La Nansa,’ in An-Nahar newspaper 10 Sptember 1992, when he mentioned “there is a lack in the Australian Arabic communities where we don’t even have one cultural centre.” And I replied in my column ‘kalema Abara’ in the same newspaper on 24 September 1992: “yes we definitely need a cultural centre which will provide an intellectual and artistic nutrition for all members.” I’m sure we all feel loyal to continue his legacy by creating a cultural centre. From his quotes: “Long Live loyal people”. Ref: Boutros Indari, Kay La Nansa p.182.
I will now deliver his portrait to the committee members of the “Commemorative Assembly to honour Peter Indari”.
Thank You
I would like to pay a tribute to the memory of the late Peter Indari, Botrous Indari (Abou Ziad) -”The Dean of the Arab Journalists in Australia”. This painting is dedicated to his memory, paying respect to all that he has done to enrich our home Australia. I met the late Peter Indri nearly 30 years ago and knew him very well during this time. I intended to paint his portrait from life, but I feel just as honoured to paint him from a photo.
Even though Peter passed away a year ago, the emotions are still raw. He is still in our hearts, our feelings and our memories, which are stronger than death and larger than life.
As an artist and writer, in my own words in Shifting Waves’ book © 1998 p.15: “my interest in the morphology of human faces and my admiration for features can reveal personality and highlight the influential aspects of an individual.” The sparkle in his eyes shows he was intelligent, the shine in his skin shows he had the light of knowledge to enlighten people. In his well acclaimed column ‘lest we forget’ he was an intellectual critic and social reformer, he was also a historian and a politician – Peter Indari was a remarkable man. A friendly smile, he was always calm and humble, overall a truly lovable person. I have to say that, while I was painting this portrait, I took a deep breath several times, and pictured his great personality in my mind, where I have tried to capture his soul and offer a vivid sense of his presence.
It was pure co incidence that I saw his monumental before anybody else when it had just finished and I felt that he is with us and has not departed. I am sure this feeling will be shared by everyone who knew him.
I still recall Abou Ziad’s words in his column ‘Kay La Nansa,’ in An-Nahar newspaper 10 Sptember 1992, when he mentioned “there is a lack in the Australian Arabic communities where we don’t even have one cultural centre.” And I replied in my column ‘kalema Abara’ in the same newspaper on 24 September 1992: “yes we definitely need a cultural centre which will provide an intellectual and artistic nutrition for all members.” I’m sure we all feel loyal to continue his legacy by creating a cultural centre. From his quotes: “Long Live loyal people”. Ref: Boutros Indari, Kay La Nansa p.182.
I will now deliver his portrait to the committee members of the “Commemorative Assembly to honour Peter Indari”.
Thank You
Marcelle Mansour 22 May 2013
0 comments:
Post a Comment