Ethiopia: Secret Land of Africa by Duncan J.D. Smith (opening talk 2/2)

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• published: 05 Jul 2011
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At the "sternstudio" gallery in Vienna Duncan J.D. Smith gave a talk about his exhibition titled "Ethiopia: Secret Land of Africa". This show presented photos, stories and artifacts collected during a journey in Ethiopia in late 2010. The opening included a a traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Duncan J. D. Smith F.R.G.S. (born 1 December 1960) is a British travel writer, photographer, historian, and explorer.Smith was born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England in 1960. Both his parents were librarians. His maternal grandfather was P.G.M. Dickinson, former Archivist of the County and Borough of Huntingdon. Dickinson rediscovered the town charters of Huntingdon in 1941. Smith's Scottish great grandfather was Alexander James Smith, who was instrumental in establishing Chivas Regal as a global brand in the early twentieth century. Smith's great great grandfather was Henry Doman, the nineteenth century Lymington poet and friend of Coventry Patmo His other great great grandfather was Professor William Charles Spooner of the Royal Veterinary College. Educated in Sheffield, Smith simultaneously ran his own private museum. He then attended Birmingham University and studied Ancient History and Archaeology. Between 1985 and 2003 Smith worked in the publishing industry, during which time he wrote five local history books about Sheffield and Yorkshire, four of them with his late father Trevor Smith. The book Yorkshire: A Portrait in Colour (1995) has remained in print for over fifteen years. Since 2003 Smith has worked as a travel writer, photographer, historian, and explorer. He favours travelling off the beaten track in search of unusual places and people. His European findings are being published in an original series of books called the 'Only in' guides. So far volumes on Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, and Cologne have been published, and a volume on Zurich is in preparation. Smith has also written for magazines such as Hidden Europe. Smith's travels also encompass parts of Africa (including Ethiopia) and the Middle East (including Syria and Jordan). Smith has created a website celebrating Penguin Books' vintage cerise-coloured 'Travel & Adventure' series. In 2010 Smith was made a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and in 2011 he was elected a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers. CuChullaine O'Reilly F.R.G.S., co-founder of the Long Riders' Guild, has described Smith as "the thinking man's exploratory investigator". In June 2011 Duncan J.D.Smith presented his first exhibition at "sternstudio" gallery. The exhibition-space "sternstudio" is an independent and non-commercial project that is offering a platform for exhibitions, interpretations and presentations of contemporary artistic work in an open and accessible environment. As part of an artists-studio the "sternstudio" near the Praterstern in Vienna (Austria) is remaining a workspace while showing work work from various artists and and artists groups. This process itself is seen as an artistic project and is maintained from this position. In a loose schedule the possibilities for involvement, development, communication, networking, documentation and exhibition are offered at this project-space. Because this is organized in an unrestricted context without any further obligations the presenting protagonists can concentrate on their events and the connected tasks. There are no specific opening-times or fixed days for appointments. Artistic events, actions or exhibitions are organized by the studio-operator in collaboration with other creative people and partners and get presented to an audience or the public based on individual wishes and needs. For questions or additional information please contact us. The "sternstudio" is open for suggestions and project-ideas from all over the world. The video presented her was recorded live on June 16th 2011. Duncan J.D. Smith likes to call himself an "urban explorer". In this exhibition he also explored a "non-urban" area.