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Who shook the Shakers? The influences behind the upcoming arts, race, media and power course
This February sees a new session start for the Shake! course on arts, media, race and power. Over five days young people will have space to imagine what justice looks like, experiment with new ideas, learn new tools, such as practical hands-on techniques in spoken word, online media, film/video and music technology. There will also…
28 Jan 2013 admin -
Remember Oluwale – launch tonight, Leeds
Platform hails allies in Leeds who are tonight launching a key campaign and creative project ‘Remember Oluwale’. This marks the appalling treatment and early death in suspicious circumstances of Nigerian-born, Leeds-based man David Oluwale. It looks at the contemporary legacies, and how we can change the future. Platform makes common cause with David’s life and…
23 Jan 2013 jane -
The new year in direct action on big oil
Some say the third Monday in January is the most depressing day of the year – dubbed Blue Monday. Well there’s nothing to lift your spirits like moving tales of people power in action. Last Friday I was asked to present on direct action as a strategy for campaigning on the oil industry. I realised…
21 Jan 2013 admin -
Fundraising gets edgy – report back from the Edge Fund launch
Two days before the launch of the Edge Fund last December, there was a panic to find a bigger venue at Tonybee Hall because so many people wanted to go. The organizers seemed surprised and happy as no doubt their experience of launch parties is to book a small room to make it looked packed.…
21 Jan 2013 admin -
Another storm for Shell highlights risks in financing Arctic oil & gas exploitation
On Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year when in southern Alaska there’s only a dull half-light for a handful of hours, Shell’s immense drilling rig Kulluk was dragged out to sea from Dutch Harbour, bound for the port of Seattle. This 28,000 tonne machine was being pulled past the Aleutian Islands though worsening…
16 Jan 2013 james -
Crowd-sourcing record breaker mobilises around ethical fundraising
Comic Hannah Hart doubled her crowd-sourcing goal of raising $50,000 in just 24 hours. One of the secrets to her success will be that she’s really funny. A second is that her online community, formed initially around videos of ‘My Drunk Kitchen’ that Hart was making for a friend, was seeking live shows and interaction…
9 Jan 2013 admin -
DIY 9 report is out – live art routes into oil’s impacts
DIY 9: 2012 was hugely successful. 240 artists took part in 14 different projects – one of which Platform worked on with Nicole Garneau. Platform is grateful to Live Art Development agency for convening the entire project, which led on to several fruitful creative connections and collaborations for us. By artists, for artists, you can…
7 Jan 2013 admin -
Want to understand the routes of corporate power? Read ‘The corporation that changed the world’
Whether it’s Google, Amazon, Starbucks using legal loopholes to avoid corporation tax; Apple’s subcontractors’ deathly abuse of workers in China; the ongoing call for justice from Bhopal over Union Carbide; Shell, BP’s activities in numerous vulnerable oil-affected communities; the bailout of RBS and Lloyds/TSB as ‘too big to fail’; or G4S taking over running sections of…
21 Dec 2012 jane -
EU enabling violent repression in Egypt – NGOs call for moratorium on lending
As the new Egyptian regime run by the Muslim Brotherhood is attempting an aggressive power grab and launching street violence on revolutionaries and opposition groups across the country, a coalition of Egyptian and European organisations are questioning European public banks’ political and financial backing of a constitutional coup and crackdown. In an open letter to…
20 Dec 2012 admin
