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BP’s Christmas ruined as Turkey is delayed
Safety failures delay the opening of BP’s BTC pipeline by a year – This report was first published in Platform’s carbon web newsletter, issue 3. BP’s reputation faces a battering as completion of its flagship Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline (BTC) has been delayed by more than a year. The pipeline will not come on stream before April, due to…
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BP’s stranglehold on Azerbaijan
This interview was first published in Platform’s carbon web newsletter, issue 2. There are few independent and publicly critical voices emanating from Azerbaijan. With the current regime of President Ilham Aliyev – like that of his father Heydar before him – enforcing its hegemonic control through both brute force and a strong hold over…
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Nigeria Ten Years On
10 years on from Saro-Wiwa the Niger Delta remains one of the world‘s most unstable oil provinces, despite US-UK ambitions. – This report was first published in Platform’s Carbon web newsletter, issue 2. Ten years ago on 10th November, 9 men were hanged in a squalid courtyard at Port Harcourt Prison, Delta State, Nigeria.…
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The End of the Empire of Gog & Magog
Presentation at `Desire Lines` conference on Arts & Ecology, Dartington College, Totnes, Devon. Saturday 10th September 2005. James Marriott. THE END OF THE EMPIRE OF GOG & MAGOG (Slide showing on screen at start : Robin Territories at Dartington 1935 – 1945) First of may I say thank you to Alan (Bolden), Lara (Riley) and…
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New company, same old Shell
This report was first published in Platform’s carbon web newsletter, issue 1. Forty-two years since the official opening of the Shell Centre, Tuesday 28th June was perhaps the most significant day yet in the life of that prominent building on the South Bank. Those who photograph it from the London Eye will not notice…
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BP’s Caspian pipeline – an end or a beginning?
This report was first published in Platform’s carbon web newsletter, Issue 1. BP’s official inauguration of its BakuTbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline in May contained in a nutshell the controversy of the last ten years – and a glimpse of what can be expected over the next forty. As BP’s PR machine was telling positive stories…
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The Next Gulf – London, Washington and Oil Conflict in Nigeria.
“the writer cannot be a mere storyteller; he cannot be a mere teacher; he cannot merely X-ray society’s weaknesses, its ills, its perils. He or she must be actively involved shaping its present and its future.” Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995) The Next Gulf – London, Washington and Oil Conflict in Nigeria. Written By: Andy Rowell, James…
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Remember Saro-Wiwa: Short Film – Refining Memory
‘Reflective, compassionate and creatively invigorating’ Time Out, Critic’s Choice. As part of the Living Memorial project, we commissioned a short film from artist filmmakers Judy Price and Andrew Conio to serve as an ‘exhibition’ of the five short listed proposals for the Living Memorial. The film is called Refining Memory. Refining Memory was premiered at the Museum…
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Remember Saro-Wiwa: The Living Memorial Concept
“Artists should be at the centre of society keeping alive a utopian vision, because society will not improve if the people envisioning a better society are politicians.” Peter Sellars The role of the artist in society is critical to communicate the injustices experienced daily by people. Art provides political expression beyond rhetoric, propaganda, and action,…
