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Challenging Climate Racism
Under the capitalist system, in order that England may live in comparative comfort, a hundred million Indians must live on the verge of starvation – an evil state of affairs, but you acquiesce in it every time you step into a taxi or eat a plate of strawberries and cream. The alternative is to throw…
9 Nov 2009 jane -
Totally fantastic day yesterday
TOTALLY EPIC DAY yesterday with African Writers Abroad, Virtual Migrants, and Remember Saro-Wiwa events. I was completely inspired by the energy flowing around all day – from the workshops in the Meeting Room to performances in Galleries 3 and 4. The place was buzzing. I had been having conniptions earlier in the week about getting…
8 Nov 2009 jane -
Imagination Feeds on Disobedience
Together with other PLATFORM collaborators I have been spending time in the gallery, talking with visitors about their responses to the C Words exhibition. Today, one such conversation elicited a comment which has stayed with me all day: “It’s interesting – but its not art is it.” “Why do you say that?” James responded. “Because…
7 Nov 2009 jane -
Oil extraction → debt → oil extraction → debt → …
A new report published today by World Development Movement and Jubilee Debt Campaign on climate debt makes the connection between overuse of the world’s resources and unjust financial debt and poverty in the Global South. The climate debt crisis: Why paying our dues is essential for tackling climate change describes how Western governments and their international financial institutions like the IMF and…
6 Nov 2009 admin -
The Journey Home
Today PLATFORM opened a discussion on what happens after 29th November, when the C Words season at Arnolfini comes to an end. Since before PLATFORM arrived in Bristol those of us involved at the hub of the C Words melee have been meeting weekly to discuss the enormous logistics of the project: two months and…
6 Nov 2009 jane -
Roaming Around the Lesser Debris of History
Today I sat, I took time watch Ursula Biemann’s film Black Sea Files. The film is showing as a video installation in gallery five at Arnolfini until Sunday 8th November. The film explores the lives of oil affected communities, from Baku in Azerbaijan, through Georgia to the Turkish Mediterranean port of Ceyhan, tracing the route of BP’s…
5 Nov 2009 jane -
The Responsibility of the Artist
For many people the C Words season raises questions about the responsibility of artists and creative practitioners in the context of the social and environmental challenges which our society faces. Last week’s Embedded conference sought – in part – to explore this issue. For some – Art sits outside a frame of responsibility – Art might be seen as…
2 Nov 2009 jane -
Turkmen environmentalist jailed as EU builds relationship with regime
Andrey Zatoka, environmentalist and civil society leader from Turkmenistan, was sentenced to five years in prison after being framed for assault in Dashovuz, Turkmenistan, on October 29, 2009. On October 20, 2009, Andrey Zatoka was arrested by the police in a Dashovuz bazaar, after he was attacked by an unknown man while buying groceries for…
2 Nov 2009 admin -
