Creative Resistance

The Umbrella Revolution

September 30, 2014 Vivienne Chow, www.creativeresistance.org Resist! Art, Creative Resistance, Democracy, Hong Kong, Protests

From CreativeResistance.org. Through tear gas and the sweltering sun, umbrellas have been an indispensable tool for Occupy Central protesters in the streets — becoming a new symbol of protest for a more democratic Hong Kong. As the civil disobedience movement entered a second day on Monday, logos for the “umbrella revolution” or “umbrella movement” began spreading on social media. Kacey Wong, an artist and assistant professor at Polytechnic University, shared images of an umbrella in fiery red-orange, from the Resident Evil films, in an attempt to inspire other artists to come up with designs.

Proposal For A Monument To Huey Newton

August 20, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Create! Arts, Black Panthers, California, Creative Resistance

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. This is a bronze sculpture of a wicker fan back chair that rests on a square steel base with a mirrored surface. The chair refers to a famous portrait of Huey Newton, one of the founders of the Black Panther Party. This picture shows Newton seated in a rattan chair that Sam Durant’s sculpture replicates. The title, “Monument for the Alameda County Courthouse” directly relates to the Oakland Museum’s proximity to this building across 12th Street where many of the Black Panther trials were conducted in the late 1960s. With this sculpture, the artist is proposing that there be a tangible recognition of the legacy of the Black power movement. This work is also interactive since it is intended to be used by the public. Viewers are encouraged to sit in the chair to metaphorically set themselves in and consider the history that the work alludes to. Visitors are allowed to sit in the chair.

Gallery: Water Writes Mural In Richmond, Ca

August 18, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Create! Arts, California, Creative Resistance, Mural, Water

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. A Giant two-block mural about oil trains and climate change, cherishing water, and building community solidarity was dedicated in Richmond, CA, on August 9, 2014, during the final day of Richmond’s”Our Power” Convention. “Water Writes” is the first major initiative of the Estria Foundation, an Oakland-based non-profit that raises social consciousness for critical human and environmental issues through public art projects. From the Estria Foundation website: The theme of water connects participating communities [in ten cities around the planet] and documents current local and international water crises. Through our collective creative process, we engage youth, artists, organizers, and environmental activists to create imagery which reflects the relationship between the people and the water of each area. Community members are invited to a public paint day and able to participate in bringing these ideas into reality. The final murals are accessible to view by the public and also to communities across the world through video documentation and the Internet. We hope to spark discussions and cross collaboration between the participating cities and water warriors across the world.

Gallery: Oakland-Palestine Solidarity Mural

August 14, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Organize! Arts, Creative Resistance, Israel, Palestine

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. Presented by Art Forces, the Estria Foundation and NorCal Friends of Sabeel, the Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural is a monumental work of public art located in Uptown Oakland on 26th Street between Telegraph and Broadway. The mural pays homage to the history of Bay Area public art and expresses solidarity with Palestinians as bombs continue to fall on Gaza. The Oakland Palestine Solidarity Mural adopts the image of the tree as a central motif and global visual signifier to link seemingly disparate issues and distant locations. Spanning 157 feet and reaching 22 feet high, the mural is comprised of nine separate panels, where each artist or team of artists has painted his or her own interpretation of a tree to address social and political issues. Read more here and here. These issues include the shared histories of colonization, environmental exploitation, internal exile of indigenous peoples, resilience and resistance to these injustices…

Peace Activists Roll Out Enormous Pink Scarves

August 14, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Organize! Anti-Nuclear, Arts, Creative Resistance, Peace

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. Protesters (Wool Against Weapons, Action AWE) have unveiled a seven-mile “peace scarf” as part of a protest in Berkshire against replacing the UK’s Trident nuclear weapons system. The scarf, which took thousands of hours to knit, was stretched from the Atomic Weapons Establishments in Aldermaston to Burghfield. It was created from hundreds of pieces of knitting made across the world and took about five hours to assemble. Campaigners have spent the past eight months making the scarf. Police closed several roads for about five minutes at 13:00 BST, to enable all of the pieces of material to be connected for the whole seven-mile distance. The sites in Aldermaston and Burghfield provide the warheads for the submarine-launched missile system. Symon Hill, from Action AWE, said: “It’s a creative way of making a point that is shared by millions of people around the world, which is concern about the impact of nuclear weapons if they’re used. “It costs £100bn to renew Trident at a time when we are experiencing cuts to public services and the welfare state that we need.” The scarf was assembled by hundreds of people on the morning of the protest using ribbons and safety pins.

Anti-Nuclear Activists Say MUSIC NOT M.A.D.NESS

August 9, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Create! Anti-Nuclear, Arts, Creative Resistance, Music, Protest

A Washington State group of anti-nuclear activists will host a weekend event commemorating the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, culminating in a direct action at the largest operational concentration of nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal. Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action, a grass roots organization based in Poulsbo, Washington will host its annual weekend event remembering the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 8th and 9th. Each year Ground Zero hosts this event to help people understand the threat of nuclear weapons and engage them in resistance to the Trident nuclear weapons system. This year’s theme is MUSIC NOT M.A.D.NESS. This year’s Hiroshima/Nagasaki remembrance celebrates the power of music to bring people together to work together for social change. The lineup includes Seattle band Chele’s Kitchen, Seattle musician Jim Page, and John Palmes from Juneau, Alaska. Music will feature prominently throughout the weekend, including during a vigil and nonviolent direct action at Bangor on Saturday.

Artist Sculpts Own Son Into Gaza Chaos: ‘If It Were Zack’

July 31, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Create! Arts, Children, Creative Resistance, Gaza, Violence, Wars and Militarism

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. The Israeli assault on Gaza December 27, 2008- January 18, 2009, or “Operation Cast Lead,” resulted in hundreds of innocent civilians being killed and thousands injured and left homeless. The number of children who were killed ranges between 300-350. At that time, in reaction to the horrifying stories of children dying, I made an artist book, In Memoriam. During the last few days of 2009, in solidarity with the Gaza Freedom March, I made the sculpture If It Were Zack. I am chilled by arguments rationalizing the brutal, violent killing of innocents. I cannot fathom the wretched abyss of hatred that feeds such an intellect. When I hold my son Zack, my heart breaks imagining these hundreds of children. When he laughs, I think,”That child once laughed, too, delighting his mother.” My grief in this time feels near intolerable–and this is just pain imagined. I don’t know what the answer is to the conflict between Israel and Palestine. But I do know that the military-minded adults on both sides of the Wall have to begin with the premise that there is no cause worth the torment of children–the children of Gaza live in fear, sleeplessness, boredom, frustration, anxiety, depression, hunger. And there is surely no cause worth the killing of children.

Palestinian Artists Call For Cultural Boycott Of Israel

July 30, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Resist! Arts, boycott, Creative Resistance, Israel, Palestine

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. A call has gone out from the representatives of the Palestinian cultural community to fellow artists worldwide to support the cultural and academic boycott of Israel. A statement published on the website of The Freedom Theatre in Jenin says: “We, cultural workers representing the majority of Palestinian performing art organizations, condemn the current Israeli attack and aggression on Gaza, and the indiscriminate killing and maiming of mainly civilians, among them many children and women.” It calls upon “fellow artists and cultural organisations” to campaign against the Israeli assault through petitions, protests and statements. It concludes: “Further to that, we urge you to act by supporting the Palestinian cultural and academic boycott of Israel (PACBI), thereby refusing to be complicit in the ongoing occupation and apartheid. Together, we can turn hopelessness into determination and the forces of division into unity. It is within our power.”

Palestine-Related Songs

July 14, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Educate! Arts, Creative Resistance, Music, Palestine

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. Among the many unspeakable things that are being done with US munitions and money in the world at this moment, there is the ongoing bombardment of Gaza. Once again, Israel’s armed forces are very actively trying to destroy the few buildings left intact from the last time they bombed it. There will be more protests all over the world against Israel’s ongoing atrocities. If you’re having arguments with family, friends or coworkers on this sometimes confusing and controversial subject, why not play them a song? It’ll work better. You can download my entire set of Palestine-related songs here. If you have the right cable, you can stream the songs on your phone (Soundcloud is very mobile-friendly), plug it into the sound system at your nearest protest, and play them as people are gathering. You can send that link to people with radio shows and suggest they play one. And of course you can share them on social media or whatever else you want with them. (There is no choking hazard. They’re only virtual.)

WAT Guantanamo Poster Campaign

July 9, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Resist! Arts, Creative Resistance, Guantanamo, Torture

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. For the last three years, Witness Against Torture has presented short runs of posters featuring quotes from former and current Guantánamo detainees. This week, we are releasing five new posters designed by WAT member Justin Norman. These artistic renderings of the plight of the detainees will hopefully engage people in a new way. We hope you like them. Furthermore, you can purchase printed images of these posters on our website. These purchases help in raising funds for our efforts to shut down the detention center that continues to hold them. Got Five Minutes? We need your help sharing these provocative images on Social Media. On social media people are most likely to share a photo or a meme rather than an article – this is the most effective way to get the men’s message into the social media world. In the past, these posters have been highly effective. The “Imagine” poster has been shared over a thousand times on Facebook, and another, the “Begg” poster, which has been used by a former detainee as his profile image.

15 Artful Ways To Improve Conferences

June 21, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Strategize! Arts, Community, Conferences, Creative Resistance

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. A few weeks ago I had the honor of joining a participatory art team working to integrate culture into CommonBound, a progressive conference on the new economy. Yes, you can assume I am a bit of a facilitation dork — getting excited about both a conference and the dubious field of culture integration. But stay with me. It’s true that in certain circles there is a lot of talk about integrating arts into social change work and harnessing culture in service of our activism. But it’s mostly included as an afterthought and nobody wants to pay for it. When the talking heads on the plenary are boring, someone will ask: “Can’t we just get someone to sing a song?” Of course, that’s a setup for failure, or at least a guarantee that the benefits of having arts and cultural approaches won’t be fully realized. However, if done well, integrating culture with common conference structures — or staff meetings, skill shares or organizing events — can become both metaphor and practice for the healthier, more fulfilling world we want.

Man Arrested, Vikings Invade British Museum

June 16, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Resist! Arts, BP, Creative Resistance, Protest, United Kingdom (UK)

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org Around 200 people – many dressed as Vikings – create mobile longship in Great Court of Museum in vocal performance protest Today, hundreds of people invaded the British Museum to stage a Viking “flash-horde”, complete with a 15-metre longship. The performance was organized by theatrical protest group “BP or nor BP?” in protest at BP’s sponsorship of the Museum’s popular Vikings exhibition. Around 200 people, many of them dressed as Vikings, gathered in the Great Court of the Museum at 3.15pm. Several actors were prevented from entering the building by security, but the vast majority of participants entered without a problem, despite bag searches by security leading to long queues outside the Museum. One man, who was carrying a cardboard Viking shield painted with a large BP logo, had his shield confiscated by security guards outside the Museum. Several witnesses describe how he handed the shield over calmly, but was then approached by several police officers who told him he was breaching the peace. He asked, calmly, what exactly he was doing to breach the peace; he was simply standing quietly in a queue. Two officers then grabbed him, pushed him against a wall and arrested him without explaining exactly what offence he had allegedly committed. An observer asked the arresting officer to give his name, but the officer refused. One witness described the event as “clearly an unlawful arrest”. The man was held for a few hours and released without charge. The group have held a large number of theatrical protests in the past, including six at the British Museum. None have ever resulted in arrests before.

Climate Scientists To Turn To Poetry And Art For Outreach

June 12, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.com Educate! Arts, Climate Change, Creative Resistance, Science

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. William Wordsworth found inspiration for his poetry in his environment, not least the “golden daffodils” he saw “beside the lake”. Then there was Winnie the Pooh who pondered a little more simply: “The more it snows (Tiddely-Pom)/ The more it goes (Tiddely-Pom)/ The more it goes on snowing.” Now scientists are being told to use art and poetry to win public support in the battle to curb climate change. Dame Julia Slingo, the chief scientist at the Met Office, has called for a radical overhaul of the way climate scientists go about their business, arguing that they need to make their reports less turgid and more engaging. “We have to look increasingly at what society requires of us… We increasingly recognise that to reach the general public we have to use all sorts of different channels of communication,” Dame Julia told a recent gathering of leading climate change scientists at the University of Exeter. “And it’s not through tables and graphs. Sometimes it is through art, through music, through poetry, and storytelling and that is increasingly something we have to think about – how we communicate in a more humanist way.

NSA vs USA

June 11, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Create! Creative Resistance, Music, NSA, Protest

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org Lyrics: Verse #1 (thought crimes, oppression by rotation) The NSA breaks the law every day it doesn’t matter who you are or what you say they monitor your phone calls and emails anyway Corrupt Congress and courts paving the way There’s a lesson you’ll learn someday… …watch what you say. They spy on your mind, record your calls for posterity Commit daily executive crimes with impunity. They’re the authorities, here to keep us safe… Until the boot ends up on your face. NSA CHORUS It’s the NSA versus the Constitution We the people are the ones our government is abusing

Calling ALL Knitters: Join The Rewoolution!

June 9, 2014 Creative Resistance, www.creativeresistance.org Resist! Arts, Creative Resistance, Nonviolence, Peace, Protest

This article is from our associated project, CreativeResistance.org. Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action’s NO To NEW TRIDENT campaign is joining knitting needles across the sea for some major guerilla woolfare. Here are the basics: You knit a pink scarf. It gets assembled, along with other people’s scarfs, into one long section. We ship the whole thing to the United Kingdom where it joins a 7-mile long scarf stretched between the UK’s nuclear weapons factories on August 9, 2014. Then, your scarf is sent to a conflict zone to become a humanitarian blanket. Read on to learn more and get involved.

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