Authors’ Sala Reading
Conversations Across Borders–Woven Words
Interactive Performance & Reading
Ken Bichel, Tim Hazell & Kathleen Hudson
Fri, Jun 12, 5–7pm
St. Paul’s Church
Cardo 6
70 pesos


Weaving words and interactive art
By Cynthia Simmons

Ten years ago, writer and educator Kathleen Hudson, Ph.D., met interdisciplinary artist Tim Hazell during her annual pilgrimage to San Miguel with her English students from Schreiner University. Tim was playing guitar at a now defunct club, Café Azul, and Kathleen, who is also the founding director of the Texas Heritage Music Foundation, interviewed Tim for her syndicated music column, “On the Road.”

They became fast friends, each appreciating the other’s understanding of the power of art in life. Tim’s work in the psychology of creativity complemented Kathleen’s innovative approach to education. Kathleen invited Tim to work with her students. He became a guest speaker/performer for her classes in San Miguel and was an artist-in-residence at Schreiner, featured at their annual writing conference in 2007.

Their exchange of ideas led to a discussion about how conversations across borders, not just in the geographical sense—Kathleen’s life in Kerrville, Texas juxtaposed with Tim’s life in San Miguel—but across all frontiers, could be transformative. Kathleen says “Borders and frontiers interest me—between human beings as well as between countries. What is the difference? What about walls and fences? Personal boundaries?” Tim feels their interactive performance is a conversation on three different levels—geography, culture and the internal journeys artists make.

Tim, who prefers artistic collaborations to solo projects, was having a similar exchange with composer and pianist Ken Bichel, a musical chameleon who has recorded with artists ranging from Aretha Franklin to Luciano Pavarotti. Tim and Ken agree that regardless of category, it’s all music. Tim, an ethnomusicologist, hears musical elements from indigenous cultures in the compositions of contemporary chamber music. Ken feels that at its roots, music is simply a variation of melody, harmony and rhythm. 

They explored their ideas about this musical continuum in a music-and-theater collaboration, Kid’s Incredible Adventure. Kid’s incorporated an array of musical styles—rock, country, folk, Cajun, jazz, contemporary electronic, Mesoamerican and even classical—in this “hero’s journey” of a young man who wants to be a rock star.


Tim’s dialogue with Kathleen about conversations across borders expanded beyond the idea of a book to include performance art as a component. They decided that adding music, something they both love, was a natural extension. They asked Ken to join their collaboration. On June 12, the Authors’ Sala will premiere the group’s work-in-progress.

Conversations Across Borders–Woven Words incorporates each artist’s interests into this gumbo of words, painting and music. Some of the writing Kathleen contributes to the evening, and subsequent manuscript, is what she calls “word-weaving”—listening to any group read or talk and weaving together your own interpretation, using many of the words you’ve heard. Kathleen developed this technique for the final of one of her mythology classes and subsequently incorporated it into her writing classes.

When asked why she thought it was important to have a conversation between San Miguel, Mexico, and Kerrville, Texas, Kathleen said, “Dialogue is how we build community. And the world does need a sense of community right now.” She has been appalled at the ways some talk and write about Mexico—equating the country with murder, mayhem and madness—and wants to do her part in creating community between the US and its southern neighbor. US misunderstanding of Mexico stems, in part, from its youthfulness—the preference in the US for modern over ancient, money over culture.

Tim’s fascination with ancient cultures began years before his move to Mexico. He appears to have a subliminal attraction to “sankofa,” a word in the West African Akan language, which literally means “nothing is wrong with learning from hindsight.” Tim’s themes have Oriental and African influences, alternatives to the Renaissance perspective. People always comment that his paintings seem as if they were created by an indigenous painter, someone from another part of the world. His religious preference toward practices like totemism, shamanism and voodoo, that believe an infinite spiritual connection lies between everything, is expressed in his poetry and essays. Tim describes his written work as “a little academic” and feels it will be contrapuntal to Kathleen’s more informal writing style.


One ongoing conversation between Tim and Ken has to do with a music/visual art collaboration. The movements Tim makes while creating a Conté drawing, amplified by small microphones attached to the canvas, are timed to Ken’s conceptual work on different keyboards. They incorporate this idea into Conversations Across Borders. Tim responds to the music in a visual way, and words are interlaced into their visual/musical dialogue. When asked about his contribution to the partnership, Ken said, “There’s no traditional composing being done here. I will be improvising the musical accompaniment. I have no idea what’s going to happen!” Ken’s stylistic flexibility, a result of a fascination with and love for almost all musical genres, should provide the right musical note to intensify Kathleen and Tim’s work.

Prior to their interactive performance and reading, author and historian Marc Egnal discusses his latest book, Clash of Extremes: The Economic Origins of the Civil War. The Authors’ Sala is raising the price of admission for events to 70 pesos. As always, though, admission is on a sliding scale, and no one will ever be turned away for inability to pay. Next month, the Sala returns to Posada de San Francisco, Plaza Principal 2, at 5pm on Friday, July 10.