Griffith BUGs (Bicycle Users Group)

Yesterday I did something that I have never done before.I rode to work with the Griffith BUGs (Bicycle Users Group).

There is a back story to this. Last month, I meet up with for breakfast with some cyclists (who I’d never met before) who work at my campus, to celebrate the Ride to Work Day 2016. I work at Griffith University (NA) and it was the first time that I had deliberately connected to other cyclists at my workplace. No one in the office I work at rides bikes, so it was a good opportunity to meet up with some new people in different departments from mine, who ride to work.

I arrived late for breakfast, but still with enough time to have a chat and exchange contact details with one of the organisers of this group dubbed Griffith University BUG (Bicycle Users Group). On the Ride to Work Day, they mentioned that once a month they meet-up at 7 am in Brisbane city and ride together out to Nathan Campus and then have breakfast. I was invited to join them.

 

Tuesday morning ride to work from Brisbane city

So yesterday I joined them. It was the first time that I had ridden from the city centre to Nathan. I ride from my house the Uni campus, which is about 28 kms each way, but it does not go anywhere near the city (in fact almost in the opposite direction). So it was good to go with a group heading out of town to see what route they took and to widen my orientation about the surrounding bike routes.

I usually avoid the city, but for this ride, I made an exception. We met at the Goodwill Bridge, and after waiting alongside another group for more than myself and another rider to arrive, we finally realised that the group of other eight riders who were waiting across the road were actually the other riders we were waiting for! So we introduced ourselves, teamed up and got started on our journey in high spirits.

It was an interesting dynamic for me. I have had the winter off road riding and heard about some bad accidents. I was wrestling with inner safety demons and was happy that the group took the bike path route and not the road. It was great to see so many cyclists riding into the city and whizzing past, but also also a little treacherous trying to navigate the steady stream of riders turning in all directions and coming on and off the bridge and funnelling into the city. There was a lot going on and I  really had concentrate. I had forgotten that it can be a tricky on high-volume trails, crossing busy streets en masse, traversing bridges wiht lots of others, and weaving in and out of tight, steep corners. It had been a long time since I had ridden inner city peak hour – so, I was much more relaxed when we started heading out a little further and the intensity – and density – of bike users settled down a little.

likeey_m

                                                                                                                                              Source: @likeey_m

Riding with the Griffith BUGs

I was surprised at how quick the trip took and it was useful to learn where certain turn offs and link ups were. I was happy cruising with the main group, chatting and meeting a few new folk. It was good to hear the riding gossip about a new bike trail development, the completion of which is anyone’s guess. It was nice to ride at a leisurely pace and although there were different levels of ability, the group was cohesive and attentive and waited at opportune times for this behind, but not to the point of holding up the group up as a result.

There is a long, consistent hill right at the end, right near the final turn off to the Uni. I like pushing up it. At the risk of looking like a competitive wanker, I kept a steady, but respectable tempo on the way up with another rider– just enough to feel the reminder twang of a physical challenge set by a mate the day before. I rode with a few to the cafe on campus and I arrived happy, relaxed and very content.

 

Breakfast at work

At breakfast, the conversation was lighthearted and engaging. I was invited for another social ride in the city on Saturday night. I sat there at breakfast enjoying the camaraderie and marvelled as I usually do, at how an artefact such as the humble bicycle can be so effective at bringing such seemingly disparate people together. It was a real pleasure to ride to work with the Griffith BUGs, and I appreciated their friendly and inclusive nature.

I felt very welcomed and safe – and I had a lovely time riding with them and getting back on the roadie. I though that this is exactly what the Ride to Work event is for, not just riding one day to work, but building positive relationships and lifestyle habits where active transportation to the workplace is encouraged, promoted and shared. I thought it was a very successful follow-up to the original event day and I was delighted to have been invited. I was also glad that I made an effort to go or a ride with the Griffith BUGs. It was a great start to the day and to blow out the roadie cobwebs.

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Griffith EPS HDR Student Conference 2016

Today was Griffith University’s Education and Professional Studies (EPS) HDR Student Conference. This Graduate HDR* Conference is organised by the EPS PhD Candidates for other Candidates. Although I am on the organising committee, I did not attend the proceedings today because I am Melbourne for another event (SSWC 2016 – see upcoming post). * In AU we call  PhD Programs HDR = Higher Degree by Research i.e. PhD or Doctoral programs. In the US, PhDs are part of the Graduate Program (Grad School)  – hence ‘Graduate HDR’*

The reason I am posting about the Graduate HDR Conference now, is the theme for this year’s conference “Aiming for the future: Learning from reflection and reality” really resonated with me. In developing my PhD research proposal, I was very strategic about synthesising certain professional and civic dimensions that I think are very important – education, social justice, community development, and of course, bikes! One of the reasons I am so motivated in my research is that it is inherently practical to implement. It is not difficult for me to translate my research into practice. This is not necessarily the case for other researchers.

 

Griffith Graduate HDR Student Conference 2016

So this conference theme aligned well with my personal approach to research. I think there is great value in exploring and trialling methods and praxis, and feel that unless research can be operationalized to contribute to a better outcome for all, then a project does not fully reach its potential. It is also an excellent forum to not only get together and network, but also to share ideas about work being undertaken. I was looking forward to hearing the abstract sessions detailing what others were working on – I find it perpetually inspiring and engaging to hear the range, types and topics that others are working on. Most of all I was looking forward to the Guest Speaker Workshop “Possibilities: Knowledge into action” session (understandably why) to get some fresh insights and motivation.

 

The need for peer contact

Whilst organising this conference, I sometimes caught myself thinking that there were certain aspects of this conference I was sorry I was going to be missing. At this stage in my PhD, I am preparing my Early Candidature Milestone (Feb 2017) and coming out of my most challenging time working on this project so far,  I recognise that I wanted to go to this Conference to reconnect with some Uni contacts. I had been feeling quite awash, distanced and anxious after not having my usual regular contact with peers and supervisors. So I was craving to discuss and mull over a few challenges and to get some suggestions, motivation and ideas. I found that just by working on organising the conference, meant that I had more contact with some of the other candidates and started feeling much better. By the time I met with my supervisors mid this week (a meeting which I had been very much looking forward to), I felt was already feeling much more settled and refocused.

 

Actioning the theme

Now that I am down in Victoria for some bike riding and exploring some research possibilities, I am back in my element – the physical realm. I most certainly would have attended the Conference had I still been in Brisbane, but I like the idea that, instead of sitting in a room talking about how to energize research and translate it into real world practice, I am out in the real world investigating ways to translate the lived experiences into research. In a strange way, I’m putting into practice the main theme of the conference, which, I suppose, if I was not there to participate, is a bloody good alternative!

I am looking forward to hearing how the conference went and some attendee feedback as to what they got out of it, what worked and what didn’t. It is a great opportunity to get the HDRers out from behind their screens to network, share and stimulate each other. You never know where a conversation topic might take you, or how participating in a workshop can unlock a new idea or direction – after all, I am now doing my PhD because I sat at a table in a workshop last year and got chatting to those around me on the table – and boy and I glad I did. I hope the attendees today had an equally provoking and restorative experience.

Now back to the bike and making some contacts for recruiting singlespeed research participants!

 

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More mountain bike rage – caught on video

This article, published only two weeks ago, is an adjunct to Lloyd’s previous 2015 paper – and previous blog post – detailing the 2011 mountain bike rage incident on the Flying Nun track (NZ) that was caught on GoPro, uploaded to the internet and then went viral. It is by the same author, on the same topic, but analysed from a slightly different paradigm. It uses some of the main elements of the previous paper as far as the actual event, but as this paper was published in the journal Visual Studies, the analysis takes a different approach as it specifically looks to ‘examine the spatial, temporal and interactional order of a rare case of cycle rage’ (Lloyd 2016 p 206).

 

Bike rage – caught on video

Source: Lloyd, M. (2016). ‘it’s on video, every second of it’: A micro-sociological analysis of cycle rage. Visual Studies, 31(3), 206. doi:10.1080/1472586X.2016.1209986

After the abstract (see below), the paper starts with an introduction to the event to establish the context and frame the video factors analysis. There is some overlap in content with the first article, which is understandable given that the contextual facts need to be provided, especially considering the audience and distribution for this publication will not be as familiar with the event as the previous paper.

 

Abstract

Source: Lloyd (2016)
Source: Lloyd (2016)

 

Some useful verbage

What this paper does do well, is develop the same event, but in a different direction and with different critical lenses, such as:

  •  Macbeth’s (2012) ‘circumstantial details’
  • Spinney’s (2006, 2011) ‘kinaesthetic enthnography’ of road riders
  • McIIvenny’s (2014, 2015) ‘velomobility’ as separate to ‘mobilities turn’ and ‘disputed mobile formations’ (who also builds on Goffman’s ‘mobile participation units’ notion)
  • Katz’s (1999) ‘tight phenomenological explanation of the grounds for road rage’ and Seductions of Crime (1988)
  • Chelfen’s (2014) ‘a camera-populated world’

In this article, the methodology applied to this micro-sociological event is still ethnomethodological and the fact that both riders did not know each other is still highlighted as a key distinction. In the literature review, it is good to see a lament about the lack of mountain biking specific research – as there is currently (previous to Lloyd’s two papers) only one other author specifically publishing in this field (McIlvenny).

Given the industry ‘visual’ focus of this particular publication, the data used is divided into three key aspects: Third part video, camera position, Google Maps, Mountain biking experience and Screensnaps and transcription. For the data analysis, the below table is included and key aspects and themes are extrapolated on in more detail to draw out more nuanced understandings of the event as it ‘unfolds’ through the video analysis.

Source: Lloyd (2016)
Source: Lloyd (2016)

The final discussion section draws correlations to road rage incidents and reflection as transferable framework to ‘cycle rage’ situations such as this. In the conclusion, an aspect which was of great interest and stood out for me when I read the comments below the video, was fact that Dalton (older rider) was a former mountain bike champion. This to me, triggered implications of hyper masculinities and competitive ego at play (more psychological aspects as opposed to sociological) – an element that was not fully explored in the first paper. One of the closing statements calls for possible more work on this aspect – a suggestion of which struck me on my first reading as well.

Especially given my own particular interest in gender and cycling – I am thrilled to see these (and a very small handful) brave and adventurous researchers broadening the scope of leisure/sport exmainations into some new and unchartered territories such as these.

Happy Chinese Teacher’s Day

I knew this would be a busy week – all my 4 classes have assessments due, which means an intense week of marking, uploading feedback, moderating scores and dealing with student (and my own) associated paperwork, technical difficulties, administration and all the general ballyhoo that goes with a convergence of assessments.

 

Happy Chinese Teacher’s Day!

So imagine my surprise when out of the blue, I get and email from an ex-student that I worked on a bridging program to get into uni. He was on campus looking for me – to give me a present – as it was Chinese Teacher’s Day (on Saturday). He finally tracked me down, scouting across campus and hauling his wrapped gift with him, until we managed to catch up two days later when I was back on campus. Today we met for coffee and he gave me his present (see below) as a thank you for being his favourite teacher.

He described the thought and time he put into looking this gift and how he remembered I love bicycles. It was a lovely surprise. We talked about what some of the symbolism in the picture might mean and we retold stories for our old class days.

I was deeply touched to have such an unexpected gift, presented with such genuine gratitude. Especially when juxtaposed against such a hectic week. This lovely interlude reminded me of the importance and valuable of education and authentic interaction. I treasure such moments and am really humbled to meet students at a certain point in their life and have the opportunity to work with them – but then see them move on and go their own way.

Having a chance to reconnect with students and hear what they are doing and what has transpired since we last met, is a part of my work that I adore. Some stories are hard, most are good, but to have a personal link and connection with each of them is truly remarkable.

 

Did you have one particularly good teacher?

Did you have a teacher who made a difference in your life? We remember the good ones (and the bad ones) and not many in between. Have you ever gone back to revisit a teacher after leaving school? If you have – share you experience in the comments below, I’d love to hear how it went!

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PhD Lit Review – 6 Months Review

This week I saw my supervisors for a meeting as it is my PhD 6-month review.  We were meeting to discuss my PhD Lit Review. I’ve not had a meeting with them for a while as we’ve all had things on – I’ve been working on my Lit Review, one had long service leave and the other has been working hard for the start of the Uni semester.

I’ve been keeping busy and trialling different productivity techniques and activities to varying degrees of success. I’ve missed not meeting my supervisors each month. I like the routine, and it gives me enough time to get some work done and work towards the next deadline.

I’ve been struggling the last month with my Lit Review as I’ve found myself summarising the issues to do with my topic and not fully critiquing the references as I’d like to be. I chatted to a few other full-time PhDer about getting their lit reviews done and it the consensus is that it is on ongoing progression that you keep coming back to. I asked my supervisor to see her original thesis she wrote in 1999, which she gave me a copy. I’m keen to see to what degree and how she critiqued her sources, synthesised content and expressed her analysis and critical thinking about the methodologies and theoretical frameworks – I know I have to work on these areas for my own lit review.

My primary supervisor suggested I look at the online RMIT Lit Review material as she thought it was helpful. However, I like the practicality and find having examples more instructive, so the UQ Reviews with examples is more my style – especially seeing as though there is extra downloadable info.

But to get me back on track – I’m going to first head to Randolph’s (2009) A Guide to Writing a Dissertation Literature Review, which is clear, informative and has some great info. I’ve extracted the following two tables from said article.

I find this first table useful to approach readings, and I like the idea of having questions to answer or a focus to draw out – it also helps hone key terms, methodologies and points for comparison that I would not otherwise necessarily have looked for – but most importantly I like the reminder, and I’ve found it invaluable in relation to looking for disruptions and gaps in some research aspects.

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This second table is a useful editing and content refinement checklist. It helps keep me honest, structured and stimulated content inclusion and points that I need to clarify, include or emphasize. I think ultimately, I will incorporate ideas from all these three sources. After a week of marking course work (this week) and having a little mental break from my Lit Review, I’ll use these resources as stimulus to get stuck back into it and refocus the themes and work on increasing the level of critical analysis – which is probably a good thing as this will be my main task at least up until November.

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Week 1 – Semester 2, 2016

And so it begins (again…)

Well, it has been a busy first week of semester 2, 2016 and there is still another day to go until it officially ends! By 6 pm this evening I had met all my new classes for this semester- and there is a massive contrast between the courses I’ve taught before and the new one  I’m starting on for the first time this semester, but that’s half the fun and thrill of teaching!

To add a little extra to the general Uni anxiousness, the energy on campus is high as people run around making last minute changes to what (I’m not exactly sure), students furiously confounded by the illogical building placements whilst trying to find their classes and market day today at the Campus Heart was adding extra noise and confusion to the already raucous humdrum, with groups singing chants and oversized Jenga and chess games being disputed, and almost successfully drowning out the blaring DJs as the food trucks were doing a roaring trade – phew.

And amongst it all, I have been trying to keep sane and succeeding quite well. I learnt my lesson well last semester, and I’ve not taken on such a heavy teaching load, but enough to keep busy and pay the rent (just). I been making progress on parts of my Early Candidature Milestone (ECM) report (due Feb 2017) and have a supervisors meeting in 2 weeks (mid-August), which will mark my first six months part time since commencing my PhD.

It is a busy time, but I am a lot more settled than this time last semester. I have work completed on my Literature Review and have been getting better at finding a sustainable balance between work, researching and riding.

I’ve been missing riding most of all lately due to the cold weather putting a dampener on my motivation to get our early on the bike and a seemingly non-stop run of family and friends visiting one after the other. It has been great do see them all, but I have genuinely craved some quiet time and have been looking forward to the routine of the semester to have that regular structure to fall back on to. And please, bring on the warmer weather!

The cold, the socialising and the crazy build-up to Uni’s first week is enough to turn anyone to the drink – which, it turns out, is also reminding me to get back out and actually ride one, as opposed to just researching about it. In the last two weeks with all the visitors and family coming through, it has been delightful to see that bicycle culture has been warmly embraced as evidenced by the beer and wine that graced our tables recently.

It has been lovely to share a love of bikes, good food, good company and festivities – but from now on; it is most certainly back to work!

Good luck to all for the new semester! I’ll drink to that and riding!

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Using Bicycles to teach Systems Dynamics

I recently found an older academic paper that was published from the Uni of Illinois from 1989 reporting on an ‘innovative approach’ to teaching mechanical engineering undergrad students System Dynamics. It involved the students investigating open-ended engineering design questions in relation to bicycles for a full semester.  I love how in the introduction section pointedly justifies that ‘the bicycle is not a trivial topic, as one might suppose at first glance, but it is a rather formidable subject of study’ (Klein, 1989, p 4).

Bicycles challenging engineering ‘truths’

The paper goes into detail about the learning, philosophical and pedagogical principles for using bicycles as the instruction tool and how the program, class and resources were managed and major beneficial outcomes from the program.

The students applied a number of the theoretical concepts they were learning in class to the bicycles, thus modifying bicycles to take into account engineering qualities such as ‘zero-gyroscopic’ bicycles, which are ridable and therefore refute a common held scientific misconception that it is the gyroscopic effect of a bicycles rotating wheels that keep the bicycle upright -mythbusted!

Engineering modifications

The students put the bicycles through a number of different hardware modifications (such as flyball governors, raw egg dynamics, hydraulic servomechanisms and Passive R-L-C circuits) and apply various calculations and manoeuvrer to the bikes to test an array of laws, theories and modelling dynamics.  One of the most successful modifications the students applied was a rear-seated bicycles. Overall, many of the augmentations to the hardware that the students applied were evaluating outcomes of how power, stability, dynamics and functionality to see how they were effected.

So can they now answer..

Also, the engineering students were required throughout the semester to write their findings up in essays, of which included topics like:

Source: Klein (1989).
Source: Klein (1989).

AARE Theory Workshop 2016

As support to my continuing PhD bike research, this time last weekend I attended the Australian Association of Research in (AARE) Education Theory Workshop 2016. It was the first time I have participated in this event and I went because my supervisors recommended it Griffith HDR candidates who registered got free admission. I was not sure what to expect, but I went out of general interest – to get inspired, make some contacts and perhaps even get some ideas for my research.

It was a pretty impressive event for a number of reasons. It was a very challenging and stimulating environment, with lots of academic theories, conceptual frameworks and readings being thrown around. It was at times engaging and confusing – but I let it all wash over me. I took lots of notes, contributed to extending my own understanding and I got some worthwhile advice and follow ups from the sessions I attended and the conversations I had.

I got what I wanted out of the experience and would go again. Some session were more helpful than others and I am glad that I went with a clear sense of personal purpose – I felt comfortable and productive.

 

Lots of big words – AARE Theory Workshop 2016

There were a number of academics from all over Australia and quite a few HDRs at different stages of their research. At first, I found the theorising quite dense and overwhelming. I had to readjust my brain to the intensity and level of analysis. I made a conscious effort to relax and glean what I could. Of course, this meant that the connections and meaningfulness of some of the ideas presented became more accessible and easier to understand – hooray for relaxing and not being intimidated by big words!

It was pretty tiring making sense and engaging with such a high level of interpretive and rigorous dialogue about abstract debates, developments and applications.  In many ways it was also quite refreshing as well. I found myself exploring connections and following up lines of questioning that, although not related to my topic, were good fun to explore just for the sake of applying critical thinking to derive some new understanding, reframing or link I could make to a previously unrelated idea.

 

A few gems

Without going into detail – here are a few gems that I’m still mulling over….

• ‘Glocalization’
I have not heard this term before – the next evolution in the globalisation discourse which highlights the is a combination of “globalisation” and “localization” to describe the relationship of local/global service/products development and distribution – as taken from Glocalization: Time-Space and Homogeneity-Heterogeneity” sociologist Roland Robertson

• The ideas that academics ‘read themselves away from their friends.’

• The Critique Theory perspectives of Normadology/Hautology and Critique as ‘Exile/Contrapunctal’ (Edward Said).

• The idea that research is meant to upset your conceptual framework because this is where ‘learning’ occurs.

• That research is studying ‘spaces’ in between – What ‘space’ are you studying? What part of reality are you trying to study? What is the ‘space’ you are looking at in between?

• That there are stages and phases of (raw) data in research and that you need to develop that into a cohesive ‘story’ to write up

Luis Moll’s notion of Funds of Knowledge that create ‘unsettling deficit views’ and how that relates to my teaching practice (working with students)

• Research is not about working towards equality in the future, but verifying our equality NOW in the present.

• Interesting to hear Naomi Barnes speak about the amount and type of reactions she received in relation to her article Why I’m choosing the local state school – even though it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles about the public school vs. private school debate that arose from here The Conversation Piece.er article

• I will read George Marcus – Ethnography Through Thick and Thin.

• In Faucault’s Discipline and Power he explores the idea of ‘the soul’ (presentation of subjectivity) and the internalised affect of power and how that impacts outcomes and intersects with matrices of knowledge and power.

• That research work should include an evolution of hybrid criticality as you and the content move through different paradigms (conceptual frameworks are not set but fluid).

• Exploring the difference between anthropology and ethnography

• From the anthropology session, I was moved when Liz (an Ethnomusicologist) said that the aboriginal group she worked with belived that ‘If you don’t have music on your tongue, you are not human’.

• Knowing (becoming) —-PARTICIPATION ———Learning (being)

 

…..all very interesting – but really, WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?? I’m not sure yet, but I’ll get back to you if I work it out.

I did find out that one of the head academics is a MTBer! He saw the biking t-shirt and came up for a chat about bikes on the second day – hooray for the community-creating bike t-shirts – I was not alone there and SOME senior academics are normal!!

Source: AARE Theory Workshop 2016

Source: AARE Theory Workshop 2016
Source: AARE Theory Workshop 2016

 

Shut Up & Write Workshops

Being away in Cairns for the 2016 UCI World Cup was a brilliant thing to do and I had a ball, but it meant that I have not done any work on my Lit Review for a week. I made an effort to achieve some writing goals before I left, as I wanted to be sure I had some content on paper to come back to.

I have noticed that at this early stage, often my writing time was being sabotaged. Usually, occurred when I got caught up in editing whilst I was writing, or looking for a reference, or feeling like what I was writing was too close to what I had just read, so I would scrap it and start again. This means that it takes a lot of time to produce a relatively small amount of content. It is also quite frustrating. This means that although I have been working on my Lit Review, the process thus far has been cumbersome and ineffective. So, coming back to writing again after a week’s break – I want to change my writing process and experiment with some other techniques to see if I can get more out of my writing time.ccurred

I want a designated space to brainstorm, write and express ideas that did not feel so rigid and awkward. I like the using the Pomodoro technique for writing.  I know a number of other Higher Distinction by Research (HDR) students who are also wrestling with the same issues. So I wanted to form some kind of ‘study group’ where we could all contribute and benefit from a new approach.

Hosting Shut Up & Write Workshops

A Shut Up & Write workshop is a great place to start. I like the idea of having company when I write that is conducive to productivity and professionalism. I looked around to join one. Griffith University Postgrad Student Association has a Breakfast Writing Workshop on Saturday mornings, but that’s my prime bike riding time.

So I decided to host my own SU & W sessions (a series of 3 consecutive Mondays) and I opened them up to other Griffith University students and staff a to attend.

WHO CAN ATTEND:

All are welcome! Any level of students – Bachelor, Honours, Postgrad, HDR, any type of student – international or domestic, academic or support staff, people who have no experience with SU&W or Pomodoro, writers who want a designated time to produce writing or others from outside of Griffith who want to give it a go.

WHEN: 9 am- 11 am  Wednesdays 2nd, 9th and 16th May, 2016  (Week 9, 10 & 11)
WHERE: N76_1.02/1.03 Nathan
WHAT TO BRING:
  • Your own writing materials (paper/pen or laptops)
  • 3 topics that you want to produce some writing for
  • A big smile
NOTE
  • There will be a short introduction so participants know what to expect and how to use the session most effectively. Pomodoro timing will be provided.
  • We will complete at least 3 Pomodoro rounds (maybe 4).
  • This is a professional academic workshop, so adherence to punctuality, preparedness and silence during writing times is expected.
  • Arrive early to avoid disappointment.
  • See you there and let’s get writing!

Shut up and Write Semester 1, 2016.-2

Art Bikes Revealed

Sunday was the revealing of the Bicycles Create Change Summer Program Art Bike Project – and what a success it was!

It was a relaxed, colourful and highly informative session and not even the small amount of rain that came could dampen our enthusiasm. I picked the team up early and everyone was in good spirits as we headed to the Community Gardens. Then the heavens opened and a few worried looks were exchanged. Nevertheless, as always, the sun shone through intermittently and then we had a burst of beautiful blue sky, right on cue as we had our bikes in hand and were rolling out to go and set up. As we walked our ART BIKES down to Bethania Street Community Gardens, we received a few locals honking and shouting out well wishes for our presentation. We arrived in plenty of time to set up and get ready.

The proceedings

We had nine attend, which was perfect (I was aiming for between 5 and 15 for the audience) so there were enough seats. It also meant that when it rained a little at the start, there was enough room for the audience, presenters and all the bikes to fit comfortably under the pavilion. Quickly after that, the weather turned it on and we had gorgeous sunshine for the rest of our time there. After a quick welcome, the order of proceedings and topics for the Art Bikes were:

Sachie – Gender Equality

Juliet – Women’s Emancipation and changing roles

Gabriel – The importance of bicycles in Cameroon Culture

Mauricio – Corruption

Nina – Child Labour

The presenters introduced themselves, their topic/issue and their bike, then discussed how their bike was symbolic of the issue they had chosen. At the end of each bike, the audience asked questions and gave feedback – which was fantastic as there were some very interesting insights and ideas raised.

We then had a brief close and thank you. It was great to see people milling around and making the effort to go and speak to each art bike artist to discuss their own reaction, interpretations and feelings about some of the issues raised during the presentations. It was very relaxed and friendly, with lots of jovial chatting. Conversations that were more profound emerged later on. Thank you very much to the locals and friends who came on the day to participate – your good company and input were very much appreciated.

Garden Butterflies

It was also heart-warming to see people drifting off into the garden to look at what was in bloom and finding something to munch on. I was especially pleased to see how excited Gabriel was to spot cassava growing there – he was delighted to see such a familiar staple food from Africa there, what made it even more awesome was that he had not idea it grew here – GOLD!

Congrats to all!

I was very impressed by the thought, effort and research that each team member had put into their bikes. The symbolism, motifs, creativity and explanations that were demonstrated showed a depth of critical thinking and careful judgement that surpassed expectations and made for a very enjoyable and stimulating morning. The presentations themselves were witty, engaging and well structured. I was incredibly proud of our team and was thrilled to be part of such a meaningful, worthwhile and illuminating event. We plan to have each artist share their bike creation and development process in a guest post on this blog.

Congratulations to the wonderful team members who have worked so hard for so long – I am so proud of you!