In June 2015, I participated in the Court & Spark Symposium dedicated to Joni Mitchell, organized by the University of Lincoln in Great Britain.
On this occasion, I published a small booklet bringing together the texts of "Only from the end of the 20th century ?!" and "Meeting with Joni Mitchell" in their 2011 original version, as well as some reproductions of a selection of my pictorial works inspired by Joni Mitchell's work.
I was able to give this little booklet to the symposium participants, feeling very happy to be able to communicate and share with people from all over the world, all of them being driven by the same passion : the art of Joni Mitchell.
Among them, Jim Robinson and Dennis Curley, two sympathetic and interesting American artists who projected to the participants of the symposium two videos inspired by Joni Mitchell, Joni Mitchell Is Scrooge and The Last Time I Saw Richard and Deirdre.
Jim Robinson is an academic, professor of psychology at St. Catherine University and University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in the USA. And also an author, actor, producer and director of Theater plays. Dennis Curley is a musician and singer, songwriter, director and producer for the theatrical scene as well. Both authors perform and operate through the company Table Salt Productions based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
I also had the pleasure of speaking with Gary L. Dick, a psychotherapist and researcher, as well as a professor of Social Affairs at the University of Cincinnati, in the United States. And also Vicky Hughes and Jay Higgins, two charming participants of this symposium who simply attended the conferences and did not present any abstract to the audience, and with whom I had moving and very sincere exchanges about Joni Mitchell.
I also had the opportunity to offer a copy of my small booklet to the guest of honor of the Symposium, the essayist, artist and journalist Malka Marom, during the signing of her great book Joni mitchell : In Her Own Words.