ARTifariti 2012: can an artist promote freedom?

The Reina Sofía Museum, in Madrid, hosts the presentation of ARTifariti 2012 with a roundtable on art, conflict and human rights.

Performance Gdeim Izik (students of the Art School of Mostaganem).
International Encounter of Art Students and Saharawi Refugees

After the Arab Spring, which was born in the Western Sahara, is it possible to have a proactive type of art, at the same time transformational, that provokes real social change?

The American philosopher Noam Chomsky suggested to the world that the waves of protest that originated in North Africa had really started in Western Sahara at the end of 2010. In fact, the organisational scheme that was imposed in the freedom squares and that Evru collected for the project "The book of the squares" for ARTifariti 2011, had previously designed in the  camp of dignity of El Aaiun, Gdeim Izik, brutally dismantled on November 8 by the Moroccan forces with terrible consequences. The same patterns were repeated, as if in a chain revolution, in Western Sahara, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen... The popular action managed to modify the course of history in many of this places. And among the people demonstrating in the squares, there were cyberactivists and artists who used the Internet to spread their messages and images of change.

Last June 29, in the space REDES of the Reina Sofía Museum, the seminar "Art, conflict and human rights. ARTifariti" took place. At the same time, and supported by a video edited by Jan Busowsky, ARTifariti 2012 was presented. The 6th edition of the International Art Encounters of the Western Sahara will be starting next October 20. Its commissioner, Isidro López-Aparicio, has launched a defying proposal: "The ideal project, the one we are looking for, will free the Saharawis from their exile in the refugee camps. While we wait for this one, every proposal that contributes to give them a voice, take the to the present time and help them to get out of the isolation the have been immersed into through the art will be welcome."

Apart from the invited group, made up of creators who in a certain way have already made their revolution, such as Isidoro Valcárcel Medina, Esther Ferrer, Gao Brothers, Santiago Sierra, Democracia, Gilles Fontolliet, Mohammad Shaqdih, Los Torreznos, Miquel Barceló, Antoni Muntadas, Andreas Kaufmann, Alain Ayers, Daniel G. Andujar, Left Hand Rotation, Tom Hall and the "bus of Art"; any artist could present a proposal.

Documentary by Jan Bosowsky and Isidro López-Aparicio

Can art really detonate these changes? This was the core of the debate that took place after the presentation with Isidro Valcárcel Medina, Pablo España, poet Bahía M. Awax and Isidro López Aparicio.

Since 2007, ARTifariti has been promoting contemporary artistic practices as tools of demonstration, transformation and activation of a specific social, cultural and geopolitical context. A yearly encounter whose central theme is the conflict that derived from the "decolonisation" of the Western Sahara and the continues violations of collective and individual human rights in this territory. ARTifariti is part of an international group of activities and projects that examine the relationship of art and human rights while promoting the art linked to a local community and outside the study room or the museum.

The project is framed in a multi directional and interdisciplinary structure that is thought to address creative spaces at different levels: international encounters of students, diverse actions, communication technology labs and seminars about contemporary arts and culture. Every year, international and local artists share projects that link art and social commitment in an open encounter that aims to enrich and ensure the continuity of the social network in which it is structured.

Isolation. Isidro López-Aparicio

Please note: information and pictures taken from ARTifariti's blog.

Sandblast's New Voices

On July 10th, Sandblast Team celebrated with the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, the V&A Museum of Childhood and the Praxis Community project the New Voices Festival in Bethnal Green. From I Love Migrants and Amnesty International to community gardening projects and dance clubs - everyone was there.

When we didn't simply enjoy the great array of performances and entertainment on the main stage, we experienced a great interest from visitors and passer-bys in 2011 Running the Sahara, Tiris' album "Sandtracks", and project-in-planning, Studio-Live.

As an extra treat, rap duo Poetic Pilgrimage got our heads bopping and hips swivel. Two women  wearing hijabs mesmerized the audience by performing a number of songs from their very progressive and uplifting hip hop mixtape. Charity director was intrigued and went to purchase their CD only to find out that Poetry Pilgrimage got together with Saharawi singer, Aziza Brahim, for one of the songs on the CD: Regresso.

Learn more about Poetic Pilgrimage by checking out their blog at http://poeticpilgrimagemusic.blogspot.com/.

New Website Tells the Saharawi Story through the Arts

“Arts and human rights charity Sandblast launches new website on its
5th anniversary to highlight mission with the Saharawi people.”

London, May 25th - To celebrate its 5th anniversary, arts and human rights charity Sandblast today announces the official launch of its new website www.sandblast-arts.org. The website was re-designed to complement the charity's vast multi-media resources on Saharawi life and culture and promote digital engagement with community members, artists, scholars and activists with the Saharawis.

Following several months of research on the uses of websites for small charities, the new design was developed with stakeholders, designers and creatives with the aim of creating a space that is easy to access and experience Saharawi art and culture, get information on the situation in Western Sahara and learn of Sandblast's work with the Saharawi refugees.

Cathrin Lemoine, Digital Communications Manager, Sandblast says:

"The new website is now optimized to make information on Saharawi culture and society easily and dynamically accessible to the public to raise awareness for the situation in Western Sahara. Sandblast facilitates art and capacity-building workshops in the refugee camps each year which just could not be showcased very well on the old website.” 

"Now we can engage and connect with artists from all over the world. Members of the public who want updates on ongoing projects will not only encounter facts and figures in endless reports, but also images and stories from those running the workshops and the Saharawis benefiting from them," enthuses Sandblast Director, Danielle Smith.

Through this virtual space, the charity hopes to encourage collaborations to develop ideas and projects with or in aid of the Saharawi people."

New features on the website include:

• access to a vast array of multimedia art by and about Saharawis;
• updates and high-quality material on ongoing projects in the refugee camps;
• archive of multi-media resources on the situation in Western Sahara.

The launch of the website represents a crucial phase in the charity's online presence as the primary UK hub of information on Saharawi culture and its mission to build an active community of collaborators working in different ways to promote the visibility and support of the Saharawi plight through the arts and other educational means. 

You can view the new Sandblast website at http://www.sandblast-arts.org. To win a Tiris Sandtracks mp3, the sound of the Saharawis, send your feedback to info@sandblast-arts.org.

Sandblast at the Arts4HumanRights Festival "DisPLACEment"

Charity director Danielle Smith spoke at the first Arts4HumanRights festival "DisPLACEment" in Southwark last week (May 13). Partnered with social worker Ioannis Athanasiou on the topic of Displaced Peoples and Creative Practices, Danielle spoke about the indigenous people of Western Sahara, the Saharawis, whose identity and culture has been threatened by the twin impact of protracted exile and Morocco's integrationist policies since their invasion in 1975

Addressing the audience at Art's Bar for the first time, Danielle read a Saharawi poem from the bilingual poetry book, 31 treinta y uno, a collaboration project between Sandblast and the editors Pablo San Martin and Ben Bollig at Leeds University (published in 2007).

Danielle's warm and sensual voice carries the poem line for line through the room, reaching not only the ears but the hearts of the audience. She has read them many times, to herself and to others. She knows the poem word for word, but more than that, she knows its meaning, its origin, the poet and his story behind the words. It touches the audience, draws them in and doesn't let them go.

When Danielle goes on to speak about the Saharawis and the major obstacles they face in fighting for their right for self-determination, her voice is not warm any more. Her voice is passionate instead. Unadulterated passion for the cause, for the promotion of the rich Saharawi culture, for making the Saharawi voices heard:

The indigenous people of Western Sahara were forcibly displaced when the Moroccan army invaded their homeland in 1975 claiming its sovereignty. When a 16-year long war enraged between Morocco and the POLISARIO Front, thousands of Saharawis escaped the war-ridden territory to seek refuge in Algeria. They have lived in temporary refugee camps since then. Having been denied their Heimat, the Saharawi refugees embraced creative practices, such as poetry, performance art and music as a way of expressing their culture. As a way of keeping their distinct identity alive, the refugees use the arts to actively defy the uprising bitterness of not being heard by the international community, of not being able to work and earn a living, of seeing a people's hope and aspirations drained by protracted exile.

When the talk comes to a close, the audience felt enlightened and thankful to being able to learn about the Saharawi refugees and Sandblast's work. A raging success in 2010, we are all looking forward to next year's Arts 4 Human Rights festival and hope for many more events to come in the next few months.

ARTS: Finally, Florie's product design projects

Spotted on MA Design Suite.com:

Florie Salno[t], Contribute to Saharawis empowerment through product design
December 4, 2009 

We are calling charity’s to get in touch. We are offering our exchange program as a  tool for research and generation of new ways and strategies within the creative industry but also the social layers of life and environment.

Contribute to Saharawis empowerment through product design.

Two years ago we invited Danielle Smith of Sandblast Arts charity (http://www.sandblast-arts.org) to visit us and launch a brief. This was part of our ‘export London’ mission. We are offering our program as a research and aid platform for non developed regions and sectors. This is coming from the belief in culture as a reviver and a generator.

A year later, Florie (one of our students working on this brief) together with Sandblast Arts travelled to the Sahara desert where the Saharawis refugees camps are…

‘To design a way to empower the Saharawis to produce some objects by utilizing the resources available in the camps.

The two aims:
-To enable the Saharawis to express themselves, their culture and identity which have been threatened by years of conflict with Morroco.
-Enable the Sahrarwis to generate an income.

For this project, I have developed:
-A technique to recycle plastic bottles
-Some tools
-Some samples of possible outcomes

Then, I gave shape to it by organising a workshop in the Saharawi refugee camp of Dakhla (Algerian desert), in April 2009.’

Read more from Florie Salno[t] and the Saharawis project outcome please visit http://floriesalnot-saharawis.blogspot.com/2009/04/personal-outcomes.html

HIGHLIGHT: Saharawi poetry

Saharawi poetry is a highly evolved and sophisticated artform. Poets are held in high esteem and confirm a culture that has been built on deeply rich oral traditions. Historically, and still in the present, poetry has been the primary vehicle for transmitting the culture, collective memories and values of the desert nomadic Saharawis. Their poetic tradition is expressed in both classical Arabic and Hassaniya, their spoken language, and covers a complex range of styles and genres to express themes such as landscape, love, battles, religious praise and more. Spanish colonialism and the elevated numbers of Saharawis who have studied in Cuba, since exile began, have given rise to new generations of Saharawis who opt for Spanish over Arabic to express themselves.

 

The following poems are an example of this culture. For more poetry, visit the website.

Chejdan Mahmud

watercolour

I am one of those
two faced believers,
who fill up on whores
and eat in the name of God.
They gallop in the clouds
as if fed up of earth
and paint sirens
with the false smoke of eternity.
That?s it. As I say:
some cling
onto de belief that a devotee
is a walking poem.

acuarela

Yo soy de aquellos creyentes
que tienen doble cara,
se sacian de las putas
y comen en nombre de Dios.
Galopan en las nubes
cuan hartos de la tierra
y pintan sirenas
con el humo falso de la eternidad.
Esto es todo. Ya lo digo:
hay alguien que se aferra
a creer que un fiel
es un poema andante.