Cyril Christo

Cyril Christo
Born (1960-05-11) May 11, 1960 (age 64)
EducationColumbia University
Occupation(s)Writer, producer, poet, filmmaker, animal rights activist
Known forA Stitch for Time
Notable workLords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity
SpouseMarie Wilkinson
ChildrenLysander Christo
ParentChristo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon (aka Christo and Jeanne-Claude)

Cyril Christo (born 11 May 1960, Paris, France) is a writer, poet, photographer, filmmaker and animal rights activist residing in Santa Fe, New Mexico.[1] He has created or co-created a number of poetry and photography books that include Lost Africa: The Eyes of Origin, Walking Thunder: In the Footsteps of the African Elephant, and In Predatory Light: In Search of Lions, Tigers and Polar Bears.[2]

He is the son of Christo Vladimirov Javacheff and Jeanne-Claude Denat de Guillebon, who are known as the artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude. Since 1997 he frequently works on films and books with his wife, Marie Wilkinson, and occasionally too with his son Lysander.[3] The three of them worked with Jane Goodall on the book Lords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity.[4] Christo and Wilkinson's first book of black and white photography, Lost Africa: The Eyes of Origin, published by Assouline Publishing in 2005, focused on ecological and man-made troubles that face tribal communities in the Horn of Africa. Photographs from that project were also published.[5]

Early life and education

[edit]

Christo was born in France and has lived in the United States since the age of four, when his family moved there in 1964.[6] Christo studied at Cornell University and graduated from Columbia University in 1982.[7][8]

Film work

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Together with his wife Mary Wilkinson[9] he has been engaged since 1996 in wildlife documentary projects[10][11] and has published several photography books about Africa that call attention to endangered animals such as elephants, leopards, giraffes, and lions.[12] as well as appeals for more stricter measures to enforce the protection of whales and polar bears.

Their son Lysander (born 22 September 2005)[13][14] has participated in their projects in East Africa from an early age.[15][16] In 2007 they released a short documentary film titled Lysander's Song about the interactions between humans and elephants.[17][18]

Cyril Christo[19] is the co-producer of A Stitch for Time: The Boise Peace Quilt Project,[20] which was nominated in 1998 for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. The film documents activities of a group of quilt makers in Boise, Idaho, who received international attention for promoting peace by sending a quilt in 1981[21] to the Soviet Union as well as making the National Peace Quilt in 1986 for display in the United States Senate and later deposit at the Smithsonian Institution.[22] [23][24] [25]

The film Walking Thunder: Ode to the African Elephant about Lysander's encounter with elephants in East Africa[26] was screened at the 2019 Taos Environmental Film Festival.[27]

Book publications

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  • 1990: The Dream of the Earth. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston. (Book of Poems) ISBN 088946846X
  • 1990: The Iguana at the Millenium: Poems: 14. Edwin Mellen Press, Lewiston. (Book of Poems) ISBN 0889468451
  • 1993: Christo: The Reichstag and Urban Projects. (Contributor) ISBN 3791313231
  • 1997: Hiroshima, My Love (Epic poem on the theme of Hiroshima) ISBN 0773428194
  • 1998: Whispering Veils : Poems on Christo's Art. Hugh Lauter Levin Associates, New York. ISBN 0883630230
  • 1998: The Twilight Language, Canios Editions. ISBN 1886435057
  • 2004: Lost Africa: Eyes of Origin. Assouline, New York City. (with Marie Wilkinson ISBN 284323607X
  • 2004: Africa : la terre des origines. (in French) ISBN 2843236436
  • 2009: Walking Thunder: In the Footsteps of the African Elephant. Merrell, London. ISBN 1858945054
  • 2013: In Predatory Light: Lions and Tigers and Polar Bears. Merrell, London. (with Marie Wilkinson) ISBN 1858946107
  • 2022: Lords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity. (with Marie Wilkinson and Lysander Christo, prologue by Jane Goodall)[28] ISBN 3862069443
  • 2024: Wonder and the World: A Childhood Among the Species. Verlag Kettler. (with Marie Wilkinson and Lysander Christo) ISBN 3987410795

References

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  1. ^ "Christo & Wilkinson Blog". Christo and Wilkinson Photography. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  2. ^ [1]Wallis Annenberg Space for Photography, Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson
  3. ^ [2] Voices for Biodiversity, Cyril Christo
  4. ^ [3]Lords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity
  5. ^ [4] Artsy Mursi RoadBlock, Omo River Valley, Ethiopia 2001 archival pigment print
  6. ^ "Life and work". christo jeanne claude. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  7. ^ "Bookshelf | Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  8. ^ "Christo | Smithsonian American Art Museum". americanart.si.edu. Retrieved 15 June 2022.
  9. ^ Smith Brady, Lois (20 September 1998). "Cyril Christo, Marie Wilkinson". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  10. ^ Namasha (26 May 2011). "Artist Spotlight: Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson". African Rain Forest. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  11. ^ Urken, Ross Kenneth (28 January 2011). "Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson". Guest of a Guest. GofG Exclusive Interview. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  12. ^ [5]Lords of the Earth: The Entwined Destiny of Wildlife and Humanity
  13. ^ "Lysander Christo". voicesforbiodiversity.org. Retrieved 21 April 2019.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "[no title cited]". WhartonDC. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  15. ^ "2019 Film Festival". taos environmental film festival. 21 February 2019. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Christo & Wilkinson". Christo and Wilkinson Photography (blog). Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Lysander's Song". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  18. ^ "Cyril Christo and Marie Wilkinson's Lysander's Song: Documenting Kenya's disappearing elephants". Vanity Fair. 22 September 2011. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Cyril Christo". IMDB. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  20. ^ O'Connor, John J. (14 December 1988). "Bridging 2 cultures via satellite". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  21. ^ Bourhill, Colleen (1 December 1982). "Boise Freeze Movement" (PDF). The University News – Boise State University. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  22. ^ "The National Peace Quilt". University of Michigan Library Digital Collections. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  23. ^ "Peace and protest". World quilts: The American story. International Quilt Museum University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  24. ^ Kolbert, Elizabeth (10 October 1985). "Quilters making an appeal for peace". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  25. ^ "The Boise Peace Quilt Project". quilts. quilts, inc. Archived from the original on 11 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  26. ^ Cannon, John C. (21 May 2018). "Documenting the African elefant's ..." Mongabay. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  27. ^ "Taos Environmental Film Festival". Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  28. ^ "Ghosts in the Grass". Christo and Wilkinson Photography. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
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