2007-03-22
- HOLY DAMN IT
- Short info about g8 action day against militarism, war and torture
- R.A.F.: Resistance Art Festival
- Dear friends, dear anti-G8 and camp activists,
- Berlin Protesters Say More Than 10,000 Aim to Crash EU Party
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HOLY DAMN IT
About the urge of radical answers
Poster project to mobilize against the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm near Rostock, Germany, June 6-8, 2007
Artists:
Artist Without Walls (IL/Palestine), bankleer (D), open circle (IND), Mansour Ciss (SN), Markus Dorfmüller (D), Petra Gerschner (D), Marina Grzinic (Slo), Oliver Ressler (A), Walter Seidl (A) und Allan Sekula (USA)
The art project HOLY DAMN IT has to be seen as an artistic intervention in the process of a political debate about social alternatives in the international protest and resistance movements against the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm near Rostock in 2007.
Ten international artists and artist collectives will create one poster each. The artistic contributions deal with the hegemonic conditions and current issues about social movements against capitalist globalization: privatization, exploitation of human beings and resources, war, torture, escalating military mobilization from within as well as to the outside as a permanent state of exception, sexist violence and patriarchal as well as racist models of dominance. Moreover, the project deals with the power of global image (re-)production within capitalism, the intended privatization of knowledge, resources, education, social and ecological deprivation as well as the repression of people with different views of an emancipation and solidarity-oriented culture and society. Thus, the project focuses on a different world, which is not only possible, but already lived through interventions of self-organized initiatives and groups from below and within.
50 000 posters against G 8
Each poster of the ten artists and artist groups will be printed 5.000 times in A 2 format, 4-c, and distributed: The posters will be handed out for free to various groups mobilizing against the summit.
From April to May 2007, there will be presentations of the project in various cities, mostly in art institutions which operate strongly in-between art and politics. There, the posters will be available to be taken home for free. Depending on the institution, there will also be thematic events linked to the project.
Moreover, there will be a limited edition of 200 copies (of all 10 posters) signed by the artists, which can be sold at the presentations. The money should be donated to victims who were arbitrarily violated by the police during summit protests.
In addition, the poster-project will be presented in a joint magazine against the mobilization. The magazine is organized by the leftist papers Fantomas/Arranca/So oder So. The project will also be presented in the mass paper of mobilization in spring 2007.
On the website of the project depicting all motifs of the series, information on the project and the participating artists, texts, exhibition venues and dates (from April).
Scheduled sites of presentation and cooperation
(11. Februar):
Berlin: Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK)
Hamburg: Feld für Kunst / Rote Flora
Graz: Forum Stadtpark
Wien: Fluc
Bern: Kulturzentrum Reitschule
Zürich: Shedhalle
In some venues, there will also be a video lounge (video, book, and text archive). For this, we'd need a DVD with videos, or catalogues until the end of January.
[http://www.holy-damn-it.org]
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Short info about g8 action day against militarism, war and torture
dear friends and comrades,
we quickly want to inform you about the preparations for the g8 action day against militarism, war and torture - about the blockade of the malitary airport rostock-laage at the 5th of june 2007.
After the first meeting discussed and agreed on the call for an actionday, last meeting focussed more on the concrete organization of the 5th of june. We want to enable as many people as possible to come close to the airport. That´s why we will officially announce places for political demonstrations to the police that can be used as meeting-points [such 'legal' places can be useful to get to an area in the first place, as the right to take part in political events is especially protected - seen from a different angle certain preventive law and order laws allow the police to send you away from interesting regions for security reasons if there is no such point]. One of these points will be the entrance to the military airport/air base. There will be given the latest information, speeches and smaller concerts. To create movement, there is also the idea of having protest marches between these places. As the police is talking about "a spacious / wide-ranging cordon around the airport" we will press for a talk of cooperation with the police soon to get to know more about their plans.
We will set up the organizational frame for about 8 hours, from late morning to early evening. We call for groups to think of manifold manifestations and actions - to use this frame to block the airport and the arrival of the g8. Even if we try to provide food and drink through mobile volxküchen, it wouldn´t be a bad idea if everybody thinks about necessities like that as well. Up to now transport of lots of people to the airport as well as financing of the infrastructure are open questions.
you can find more detailed information on: g8andwar.de
Next federal meeting will take place at the 21st of april in berlin-kreuzberg, bethanien, mariannenstrasse 2.
Before that you have the chance to meet us on the BUKO and the Rostock III Conference for information and workshops on the actionday in Rostock-Laage.
The berlin coordination circle will meet again on the 27th of march already at 7 p.m. in bethanien.
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R.A.F.: Resistance Art Festival
Hello Artivists from all over the world!
Press said that the RAF might come back for G8, it's true!! It's the Resistance Art Festival :P
We plan to organize an artistic Temporary Autonomous Zone near Heiligendamm during the G8 summit in June from the 2nd (evening) till the end of the blockades. We are several tekno sound systems and demonstration organizers from all over Europe and we'll bring our gigs to Heiligendamm (Free4, Fuck Parade, Ketwork32, LaHP, Systematek,...), we are all used to create Free Autonomous Spaces...
Our aim are to offer people a place to rest and to find a new energy to go back to the barricades and to mobilize all the people that wouldn't come without this event (don't laugh it's true, a lot of people would come if they can find also a festival there, it's a reason more to come for them). Our message is in our art (music, video, juggling, painting,...) and we do intend to make noise to be heard! We want people coming back from the barricades to be able to find a place to free their minds and moods from all aggressiveness and to motivate them back with our art...
Moreover the 8 bastards will speak about the copyrights and the distribution networks of art (DRMs, licenses, peer2peer, copy protections,...) so we cannot let them do without showing that Free Art is a reality, that we can do autonomous spaces for free and offering even more than "just" art to the people, and that we refuse their standardization of art and their capitalist way of seeing art in general.. Our art is not to sell!!
We have our own hardware (speakers, amplifiers, trucks, videoprojectors,...) so any artist can come and we'll be glad to accept any collaboration offered...
We are also in contacts with alternative artists from other scenes (rock, rap,...) and trying to arrange concerts too...
We asked for a place but still did not get any answers but even if they don't give us a place we'll take it, we are all used to that and ready to defend our camp... But honestly we don't think they will give a fuck about people dancing when they will have thousands of people trying to break their fucking fence at the same time ;)
We have organized an illegal Teknival with 5000 people in Germany (Baden-Baden) last year (and several ones all over Europe), just after the demonstration we organized on the 15th April 2006 in Strasbourg in front of the European Parliament, and some of our group also organized numerous illegal protests in Berlin (and legal ones too), so we are quite aware of how it goes there in Germany...
If anyone is interested in working with us in this project (the fact that you got hardware or not is not a problem) please contact us: benlagren@gmail.com (french and english) or liaphine@gmail.com (german and english)
Our site will be online next week: www.free4alter.org
Thanks
[R.A.F.]
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Dear friends, dear anti-G8 and camp activists,
Since fall 2006, a group from a quite heterogeneous spectrum has been organising a camp at possibly several locations in the region of Rostock. This camp is supposed to accommodate thousands of people and serve to all of us as basis for the demonstrations, actions, the alternative summit and the cultural events against the impositions by the G-8 from the end of May to mid-June.
At the moment, the work is being done with the most minimal financial as well as personal equipment - only the fewest are already in a position right now to lead the negotiations for camp space and to drive ahead the preparations on the premises. Therefore, we want to place the work around the camp in Heiligendamm on a broader basis.
We shall therefore be happy if - by way of your signature - you express the common wish to support such a camp beyond the dividing lines between us.
Our demand to you all:
Please forward this appeal to other initiatives, groups and to friends and acquaintances. Please let us know at the latest until the beginning of April who would like to sign: andi@so36.net.
Since the camp is still on very shaky feet financially, an additional request:
If at all possible, please link your signature with a donation to the camp organisation. This is not a must; however, it will represent an important support of the construction work.
Account number/IBAN:
Bank address/BIC:
As a guideline for your support, we suggest the following gradation:
- large organisations 200 Euro
- middle-size organisations 100 Euro
- local initiatives 50 Euro
- individuals 10 Euro
Please send your signature and of course questions to: andi@so36.net
In the hope to be hearing from you soon, your work group Camping 07
G-8 summit in Heiligendamm: Support for camping accommodation right under the eyes of the power elites
Another world is possible!
In the beginning of June 2007, the governments of the seven most important industrial countries and Russia meet for the "G-8 Summit" in the Baltic resort village of Heiligendamm. The "Group of the 8" (G-8) is an institution without any legitimacy. Nonetheless, as the self-nominated informal world government, it takes decisions concerning the whole of humanity. The politics of the G-8 stands for neoliberal globalisation and de-regulation. The world stamped by the policies of the G-8 is a world of wars, of hunger, of social divisions, environmental destruction and walls against migrants and refugees. Against this kind of politics, we shall demonstrate by way of blockades and an alternative summit in a creative and diverse way and show up alternatives. Together with millions of people, the whole world over, we say: Another world is possible! For this reason, at the end of May, tens of thousands of people will travel into the region around Rostock and Heiligendamm. We demand that these people be welcomed just as cordially in Mecklenburg Western Pomerania as the G-8 delegates. To that end, infrastructure (water, electricity, sanitary equipment) must be created in order to offer the opportunity to be able to participate in the activities in good shape. This will be guaranteed, as is the case at all meetings of this kind, by the organisation of camp sites. We would wish these sites to be in the range of view of the powerful in order to be able to confront them with our alternatives before the eyes of the world public. The location and the infrastructure of the camps are designed to carry out our protest in the view of the rulers and to make our positions clear beyond the immediate protest actions. The camps shall be a protected space for children, migrants and all those, who shall give a face to these days together with us. Everyone contributes by his/her responsible action to shaping this protected space and to guaranteeing the security of all participants. We want to realise this together and in mutual respect. Because the peaceful alternatives to war, hunger and environmental destruction do not emerge at exclusive and cut-off summit meetings behind fences, but from below on the basis of the global movement of people and initiatives who commit for another, better world free of violence.
Rostock, in March 2007
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Berlin Protesters Say More Than 10,000 Aim to Crash EU Party
March 20 (Bloomberg) -- German protest organizers say more than 10,000 demonstrators will parade through Berlin on March 25, voicing their anger at European Union leaders gathered in the capital to celebrate the EU's 50th anniversary.
Alliance Against the EU-Summit, comprising more than 40 groups and initiatives ranging from labor unions to peace activists, intend to crash the EU party by protesting against what they say is the EU's focus on market liberalization at the expense of social justice, organizer Martin Mitterhauser told reporters in Berlin today.
“The EU is not the Europe that we want,” Mitterhauser said, criticizing EU policies that he said have led to social exploitation and lower wages. Those protesting ``represent the interests of the majority of the population,'' he said.
Leaders of the 27-member EU headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, current holder of the EU's rotating presidency, assemble in Berlin to celebrate a key moment in the birth of the present day EU, the signing of the Treaty of Rome in 1957. Yet the meeting comes amid faltering popularity for the bloc.
Some 45 percent of Europe's citizens said life had become worse since their countries joined the EU, according to a Financial Times/Harris poll published yesterday. Just 25 percent said that life had improved.
War Critic
Mitterhauser criticized plans by Merkel to help revive the EU constitution, which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. The participation of EU member states in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was also decried at the meeting.
Demonstrators will gather at Berlin's Alexanderplatz, the main square in the east of the city, and march to the Brandenburg Gate, scene of a series of official concerts during the celebrations, Mitterhauser said. Police spokeswoman Kerstin Zeesmer confirmed that about 10,000 protesters are expected.
The Alliance is also against an EU directive to scale back barriers in the European services industry, which labor unions have said will let companies skirt safety and wage regulations and impinge on collective bargaining rights. Proponents say the initiative will spur growth in the European economy.
Merkel will oversee the summit celebrations, with the end result being a ``Berlin Declaration'' on the EU's achievements and goals signed by all 27 leaders.
Of greater interest to Berlin residents is likely to be a series of club events, sponsored by the EU, taking place across the city throughout the two days of celebrations.
[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aFo17DmDXqjU]