Last year, the Boston-based show was Valerie's Vignettes' first experience with Figment Arts Festival, the free, metropolitan celebration of participatory art and culture, "where everything is possible." Through sheer serendipity, a weekend day trip to Bean-town intersected with the day of fun, creativity and participatory art. It was a revelation. The event impressed me.
On that day, projects ranged from simple to complex, some with high-brow themes, like one of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Another project encouraged participants to grow "hope gardens" by constructing trees with trunks and branches made from P.V.C. piping and leaves made from plastic installation strips. A New York family, all of whom were dressed in webbed, lizard-like catsuits, performed together, acting out an evolution narrative that began with the age of dinosaurs and moved through time to the emergence of mankind. Most all of the varied styles of work engaged and delighted.
I moved through the grounds at the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway which were filled with dozens of exhibits, crafts projects, dance and music performances. I thought: "I could do this." And so, I did.
This year, Valerie's Vignettes and Valorena Online, L.L.C. debuted the latest iteration of "Valory the Koi of Courage," which was affectionately dubbed "Valory 5.0." The result of a collaboration with Texas-based sculptor Michael Washer, the new fish design represents a refined notion and effort to create a fun experience that aspires to unite people and bring families together through story, art and words.
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"Valory, the Koi of Courage" participated in three Figment Festivals:
Philadelphia 2013, New York 2014, and Boston 2014.
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The lay of the land at Figment Boston.
Interactive Art: "Valory the Koi of
Courage" at Parcel #19
My participation in Figment Festivals continues to be a journey of imagination, an ongoing labor of love, through which I have grown tremendously, and completed my own challenges from each of the category of scales.
I have met and persevered through relationship challenges with loved ones and new people I have met through my participation in the event; education and knowledge challenges which have tested my ability to write and develop the project and proposal to step out into a completely new arena — participatory art; financial challenges which have pushed me to invest in myself and my resourcefulness to bring this vision of mine into being at a level of which I can be proud; and health challenges (the challenge that started it all) which tested my mettle through the processes of being cut, poisoned and burned through surgeries, chemo and radiation, the treatments for breast cancer.
On the verge of completing my "Valory the Koi of Courage, 5.0" journey, I looked to not only manifest and feature the new creation, but also to continue and complete this project which has truly transformed me. The experience has affirmed in me, my spirit of creativity, imagination, and my sense of "can do" possibilities.
More, my experience has shown me the willingness of others to share stories, strength and power as illustrated in the amazing stories articulated and noted in the dozens of scales that have been created, many of which have been featured in the video on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6tQRJEkOm8), and in Twitter notes from ValorenaOnline. I thank the Figment organization for making room for me in their creative spaces. I have enjoyed every moment of each experience. I also thank those who participated in Valory's journey. I have been truly moved and inspired by the bits of yourselves, stories of courage, and sheer joy you continue to share.
In business, conventional wisdom holds that when naming a company, the following guidelines, as reported in a recent article by Entrepreneur magazine, should be followed:
Research whether your business name is unique.
Choose a name that is evocative and alludes to what your business does
Select a name that doesn’t confuse customers
The title of this blog, Valerie’s Vignettes, is pretty straightforward. But the company behind the blog, Valorena Online, L.L.C. eschews two of these naming conventions. Like the monikers of many other companies, including Apple, Virgin and more, for Valorena Online, L.L.C., the business name adheres to just one of the guidelines: the unique name has a story. If you know it, as described in an archive edition of Valerie's Vignettes, you could win a FREE gift!
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SUBSCRIBE, ENTER & WIN
Can you recall the origins of the Valorena Online, L.L.C. name?
Subscribe and post your response in the comments section below to enter to
WIN A FREE STARBUCKS GIFT CERTIFICATE
to enjoy a hot cocoa, or other beverage of your choice!
Must subscribe to the web site www.valorenaonline.com to enter.
The first 10 subscribers with correct answers will win.
Gift cards valued at $5.00ea. Contest ends July 30, 2014.
The BLACKstream blog at BlackPublicMedia.org is home to news and up-to-date information about the projects of the National Black Programming Consortium, and all things of the African Diaspora. Recently, for the BLACKstream, I interviewed four filmmakers who represent emerging voices and views of Caribbean filmmakers featured on National Black Public Consortiuum’s AfroPOP: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange. With projects that touch on themes of immigration, female matriarchy, untraditional black male, and questions of the futures of Caribbean youth, this season the program explored a whole new world, and unearthed unexpected stories from paradise that are funny, thoughtful, harrowing and bittersweet. Once you read the story, be sure to check out the film, and join the conversation.
A Modern Day Middle Passage Bodies washed ashore on white sand beaches. Immigrants’ corpses littering the shores of paradise. These are images Bahamian Filmmaker Kareem Mortimer recalls of his youth, (Read the full story here.) Auntie from Barbados: Women and the Caribbean International Family Lisa Harewood is a socially motivated artist whose short film, “Auntie,” invites contemplation of Caribbean life, immigration, extended matriarchal families and those left behind. Her debut effort as a writer and director, Harewood’s film is the result of a last- minute decision to enter the Commonwealth Foundation’s development scheme. More than a lark, Harewood said she had a mere 40 hours to teach herself screenwriting after her initial pitch won a coveted spot in the festival, (Read the full story here.)
Vivre: A Young Boy’s Flight of Reality Six may just be filmmaker Maharaki’s magic number. That’s how many years it has taken the native of Barbados to bring her award-winning screenplay, “Vivre” — which means “to Live” in English — to the silver screen. During the time, Barbados-based, Maharaki continued working, developing freelance projects throughout the Caribbean, including directing music videos, advertisements and short TV formats. Regularly involved assisting overseas productions, Maharaki’s projects have led her to work with music stars such as Rihanna and Shontelle, (Read the full story here.) A Small Life with Grand Visions Mariel Brown’s short, Small Man tells the story of John Ambrose Kenwyn Rawlins, an ordinary man of modest means with a gift for making extraordinary, creative objects. With a skill that went largely unrecognized — outside his immediate family and friends — in his lifetime, Rawlins had the ability to imagine entire worlds, orchestrating scenes which afforded him a universe of freedom that eluded him in his real, day-to-day life, (Read the full story here.)
I made a delicious acquisition yesterday. No, it wasn’t hot cocoa,exactly. Rather, it was a Badgley Mischka tote. In a hue of Spring 2014’s hot color -- black orchid, my purple tote was a purchase that required two trips to New Jersey and a bit of soul searching.
Relatively speaking, the bauble was a steal, purchased on final clearance, very deeply discounted from its near $800 original retail value. Brand new, the piece looks every bit the asking price, which was what gave me pause. Better stated, it was the voice of my conscience, strengthened over nearly a decade working with poor and at-risk youth that echoed loudly in my ears, telling me to put the bag back.
Long ago, when I worked in the non-profit sector and earned a modest paycheck, I had adopted an austere lifestyle. Simply put, such extravagances had proven oxymoronic to my humanitarian work. So, years later, I was convinced I had disabused myself of my penchant for such luxuries. Then, last year, I met Valerie Salembier.
My namesake is a former Senior Vice President, Publisher and Chief Revenue Officer of Town & Country magazine, among other C-suite appointments at media stalwarts like Esquire magazine, The New York Post, The New York Times and Harper's Bazaar. On this day, she was a panelist along with Suzyn Waldman and Paula Zahn, at the “Powerful Women in Communications,” industry round table discussion.
Impossibly slender, immaculately groomed and impeccably stylish, Valerie was refreshingly approachable. It was not a surprise, she rocked a killer, leather quilted bag -- was it Chanel, maybe Gucci or perhaps Hermes? We spoke briefly following the event, last year, when I learned of our shared passion — hot cocoa.
One Fashion Warrior
Sisters-in-hot-cocoa, she waxed how her taste for hot chocolate had led her across the globe, adventuring to exotic, far-away lands to try new blends and brews. Hot cocoa connoisseurs both, our love of the elixir was overshadowed by our interest and commitment to helping abused and exploited children, each in her own way.
My humanitarian efforts had led me to forgo lavish living. Whereas Valerie, in her life and work, embraces luxury, and has adopted a no-phonies sensibility that goes beyond an ordinary aversion to knock-off designer handbags and totes. Many frown on counterfeit bags that dilute the investment of purveyors who pay top dollar for top shelf bags. Valerie takes a harder tact. She espouses a zero-tolerance attitude, and feels selling or buying counterfeit bags should be criminalized.
These beliefs are fueled by Valerie's awareness that the counterfeit handbag industry is built on exploitative labor practices that funnel cash to drug traffickers and terrorists, according to reports. She recently told the Epoch Times that the counterfeit industry “supports child labor, 7-year-olds chained to sewing machines, eating two meals of rice a day.”
There are similar cases of abuse among manufacturers who operate legally in countries with less stringent laws; however, it is the illicit swath that goes unregulated and unchallenged upon which Valerie is focused. Valerie has also served as president of the Authentics Foundation, a nonprofit that reportedly advocates internationally against the dangers of counterfeit products.
The Authentics Foundation is one of few watch dog groups whose efforts have been successful in raising international awareness of counterfeiting activities. But those efforts have not gone unchallenged. Specifically, critics have questioned the authenticity of the group, asking for corroboration of the organization’s 501(c)3 status. Meanwhile, at its helm, Valerie has continued to speak out about the hidden crimes and exploitation that is part and parcel of the underground industry that is devoid of regulation and flush with revenue.
Fashion Funding Terror
Seven years ago, the International Herald Tribuneestimated that fake designer bags generated more than $500 billion in global trade. That same report, sourced from U.S. authorities, supports Valerie's contention and highlights that a significant portion of this revenue goes to terrorists and their activities. For these reasons, Valerie has become an adamant, and outspoken anti-counterfeiting activist. She is today a recognized authority in spotting haute couture knock-offs who has hosted for the past 10 years anti-counterfeiting summits, events which have featured keynote speakers including former Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Ray Kelly.
Knock-offs generate more than $500 billion, globally, according to reports.
In 2012, Valerie took the helm of the Authentics Foundation, a nonprofit that reportedly advocates internationally against the dangers of counterfeit products. Started by lawyers in foreign cities on behalf of manufacturers of some of the world’s most exclusive brands, the charity has as its mission to protect its clients from the counterfeit industry, according to a report in the Huffington Post.
The organization ran afoul recently, The Huffington Post reported last December, when it was found to be operating illegally. The international charity was registered neither with state, nor with the federal government. Allegations for which Valerie has gone on the record to defend. However, questions remain.
The charity’s woes have not stopped Valerie from getting the message out. Holiday season 2013 saw Valerie featured in local New York news and national reports on “superfake” handbag sales. One such example, was ABC’s Good Morning America reports: 'Superfake' Knock-Off Handbags:
Public sentiment remains split on the issue of whether sellers and buyers of counterfeit goods should be criminalized. Last June, New York City Councilwoman Margaret Chin and others, including Valerie, lobbied and heavily supported proposed legislation aimed at expanding punitive consequences from the sellers and purchasers of counterfeits. The bill did not pass.
Buyer vs. Seller: Who is the Real Criminal? Arguably, such legislation would stifle the free-market rights of sellers, legal and illegal alike, many of whom include immigrant Africans of the Cocoa Belt. Notably visible are poor newcomers from Senegal and Nigeria, who live in the US and work to eek out an existence. These include many African immigrant street vendors who hustle to sell super fakes to tourists and others looking for big bargains.
Many others argue that it is the consumer’s prerogative to purchase phony products. Whether this same contingent is aware counterfeit merchandise has ties to international terrorist groups remains unseen, but groups like Valerie's are convinced that if the public were aware, the counterfeit industry and its products would be vilified and funding sources would dwindle.
What has dwindled is the number of African immigrants selling these items in New York City. Instead, Chinese immigrants in New York City's Chinatown now claim the lion's share of this region's illicit counterfeit handbag sales.
Now with a new mayoral administration residing albeit symbolically at Gracie Mansion, it remains to be seen whether policy will be changed or if legislation will again be proposed to further control this activity.
Terrorist attacks here on U.S. soil, now, more than ever, call for vigilance. Much work still needs to be done in educating the public. Proof is the recent surge in demand for “Superfakes" that has been stoked by a slumping economy and unfettered tastes for luxury items. Moreover, with such activity and political unrest worldwide, redoubled efforts are needed to mitigate illicit activity. Consumers have increased reason to pause when purchasing bogus bags.
Today, heading out for a hot cocoa meet-up with friends, I catch a glance of myself in the mirror, my boldly colored bag hanging effortlessly from my shoulder. The sight makes me smile. For me, feeling that I got a great deal and knowing my money isn’t going to illegal activity eases my conscience. Feeling au courant lifts my confidence. The option of buying a discounted authentic offers value that goes beyond the price tag. That is more than delicious.
(c) 2014 Valerie Williams-Sanchez. All Rights reserved.
