[In 7 days’ time it will be 10th November – the 20th anniversary of the executions of Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 Ogoni colleagues. This blog is a response to a powerful poetry event at Peckham Platform last Friday, inspired by the work and life of Ken Saro-Wiwa. Come to the events on Nov 10th –…
Long-term struggles need new creative energy to stay nourished. So today we launch a stunning new print artwork – a collaboration between the internationally acclaimed political artist Alfredo Jaar and designer Jon Daniel. Platform commissioned it mark the 20th anniversary of the executions of writer and campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 Ogoni colleagues. Below, see how you can…
This month marked the 4th anniversary of a historic UNEP report calling for extensive action for the clean-up in the Niger Delta. I caught up with reactions from our partners in Nigeria and jumped on Arise TV to share our responses to the meetings that took place and to ramp up pressure on Shell to follow through…
2015 is the 20th anniversary of the executions of Nigerian writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and 8 other Ogoni men. They were murdered by the Nigerian military government for protesting against Shell’s devastation of their Niger Delta land, once the breadbasket of Africa. Action Saro-Wiwa is contributing to two events coming up in August to push for justice…
We are not idealists. We know that art alone does not make the revolution. But we are not fools. We know that revolution is impossible without the art. Frente Popular, Dario Santillan Platform was invited to take part in the recent ‘Footprint Modulation: art, climate and displacement‘. This was a multi-site exhibition and season of…
The frontlines of fossil fuel extraction take many forms. In the Niger Delta Shell’s oil spills have destroyed people’s homeland, in Canada Tar Sands extraction threatens indigenous communities and in Azerbaijan people are imprisoned, beaten and sometimes killed for speaking out against the BP funded oil regime. On the 12 June the European Games begin…
‘Without roses it cannot be done’. Joseph Beuys’ statement asserts the vital role of beauty in activism. Embodying that vision is the banner that was unveiled in front of the Shell Shareholder Presentation at the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster London on Thursday 21st May. Made by Suzanne Dhaliwal and Amanda Cid of UK Tar Sands…
We are in the dim light and red velvet of the Circustheatre in Den Haag for the Shell AGM. Up on the podium are the assembled bishops of the company. Eight in the back row all non-executives. Five in the front row: the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Executive, the Chairman and two non-excutives. Behind…
Thursday May 21st, 2015. Today, under the shadow of Big Ben, a delegation of indigenous women was joined by campaigners to protest Shell’s plans to drill in the Arctic. Mae Hank and Faith Gemmill-Fredson travelled to Shell’s Annual General meetings in the Netherlands and London directly after taking action in Seattle last Saturday on a…
Recently there has been a flurry of Nigerian media headlines stating that oil drilling in Ogoniland could soon re-start. I have tried to dig deeper to assess what is currently known and what questions remain. Has Shell sold assets in Ogoniland? So far, there have been no news stories outside of Nigeria about Shell’s plans…