Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Flags GSNC Members

Our community has many different cultures and and countries. These flags represent the different people who come to our center.  (Listed in no particular order.)

We found our information and pictures from Wikipedia. (Links at end of post.)





KENYA.The red band has white border on its two sides. These three bands are horizontally equal to each other. In the middle of the flag there is a Maasai warrior shield with two spears.


SPAIN: The flag of Spain (Spanish: Bandera de EspaƱa, colloquially known as "la Rojigualda"), as it is defined in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe. Traditionally, the middle stripe was defined by the more archaic term of gualda, and hence the popular name rojigualda (red-weld).

ITALY: Some have attributed particular values to the colours, and a common interpretation is that the green represents the country's plains and the hills; white, the snow-capped Alps; and red, blood spilt in the Wars of Italian Independence. A more religious interpretation is that the green represents hope, the white represents faith, and the red represents charity; this references the three theological virtues.



RWANDA: The flag has four colours: blue, green, and two forms of yellow (standard yellow for the middle band and what the Pantone system calls "sun yellow" for the sun). The blue band represents happiness and peace, the yellow band symbolizes economic development, and the green band symbolizes the hope of prosperity. The sun represents enlightenment



KENYA: The white stands for peace and honesty, the red stands for hardiness, bravery, streangth and valor,and the black stands for determination. The writing means ALLAHU AKBAR (god is great). The stars stand for the three tennents of the Ba'ath motto, which in English are Unity, Freedom, ad Socialism

USA: The 50 stars on the flag represent the 50 states of the United States of America and the 13 stripes represent the thirteen British colonies that declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain and became the first states in the Union.

CANADA: The maple leaf has served as a symbol celebrating the nature and environment of what is now Canada since the 18th century



HONG KONG: The design of the flag carries cultural, political, and regional meanings. The colour itself is significant; red is a festive colour for the Chinese people, used to convey a sense of celebration and nationalism.  Moreover, the red color is identical to that used in the national PRC flag, chosen to signify the link re-established between post-colonial Hong Kong and China. The position of red and white on the flag symbolizes the "one country two systems" political principle applied to the region. The stylized rendering of the Bauhinia blakeana flower, a flower discovered in Hong Kong, is meant to serve as a harmonizing symbol for this dichotomy.
LIBERIA: The eleven stripes symbolize the signatories of the Liberian Declaration of Independence, red and white symbolizing courage and moral excellence. The white star represents the freedom the ex-slaves were given, above the blue square representing the African mainland.
PUERTO RICO

YEMEN: According to the official description,, the red stands for the bloodshed of martyrs and unity; the white for a bright future; black for the dark past.
The color red represents the sacrifices of the national heroes, yellow represents the country's opulencs a symbol of hope and e and wealth; the star iambition for the country. The blue field represents peace and harmony.
TANZANIA: Green represents the natural vegetation present in the country, yellow represents the rich mineral deposits of the country, black represents the skin colour of Tanzanians, and blue represents the numerous lakes and rivers and the Indian Ocean.


POST created by Riam and Theo

Kenya: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Kenya
Spain: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_spain
Italy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_italy
Rwanda: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Rwanda
Iraq: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Iraq
USA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_usa
Canada: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_canada
Hong Kong: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Hong_Kong
Peurto Rico: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_puerto_rico
Liberia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_liberia
Yemen: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_yemen
Tanzania: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_tanzania

Thursday, May 10, 2012

You Are Here

As the first part of two workshops, we are inviting University of Buffalo to host a project here as part of a larger series of events called Fluid Culture.  The first part will be this Saturday May 12th at 1pm, and it will be focused on our stories of displacement.  It will include a visual arts aspect through mapping as well as mixed media storytelling of oral histories (audio recording, poetry, and drawing).

The second part will be next Saturday May 19th at 1pm, and we invite everyone to see the unveiling of the project that UB graduate students in the Architecture Department have been working on.  We will also be exhibiting the work and the stories from the first workshop.

The three questions that we'll be focused on, based on the idea of where we're from, are:
  • What did you bring?
  • What did you leave behind?
  • And what did you find?

Please talk to Janice if you're interested!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Mural ... completed!

Thanks to everyone who came out to our mural unveiling on Friday!  Feel free to stop by anytime to see the real thing:





Thursday, May 3, 2012

Mural Unveiling tomorrow!

 Our members have been hard at work finishing up a 11' x 5' mural that represents our core values of creating an open, safe, and productive space.  We're holding a casual event tomorrow starting at 6pm to give everyone a chance to check it out and hear more from the people who participated and made this work of art possible.  So invite your friends and family and stop on in tomorrow, Friday 5/4 at 6pm!

See the event reminder on the PUSH Buffalo website

Check out the photos from the mural kick-off on April 3rd

For members, if you're interested in helping out, check in with Megan to see if there's work to still be done.

- Janice