|
Leading
International Poets Fight for Social Justice and Arms
Control at World Social Forum.
[ portuguese ]
South
African activist and writer Breyten Breytenbach is part
of the international delegation of poets and writers
attending the World Social Forum (WSF) to fight for
social justice and progressive change. The group worked
with Oxfam's Control Arms campaign and participated
in several readings. In addition, Rattapallax
magazine filmed indigenous people at the WSF reading
and performing their poetry for an online library and
future film on endangered languages. The World Social
Forum is a major assembly of progressive organizations
and was held in Porto Alegre, Brasil from 26 to 31,
January 2005. Rattapallax's reading was on Thursday,
Jan 27th, at 6:30pm at the Palco José Marti. [ more
photos ]
A
committed opponent of apartheid, Breyten Breytenbach
was a political prisoner serving two terms of solitary
confinement in South African prisons. He is the author
of The True Confessions of an Albino Terrorist and
other collections. Other participants include Palestine
poet Nathalie Handal, editor of the anthology,
The Poetry of Arab Women (PEN Oakland award winner);
and Rattapallax editor Ram Devineni. They
will be joined by Brasilian poets Fabrício Carpinejar,
author of Cinco Marias and Biografia de uma
árvore; Johnny Lorenz, Professor of English
at Montclair State University and a Fulbright Scholar;
Flávia Rocha, co-founder of Acedemia Internacional
de Cinema in Curitiba and an editor at Rattapallax;
and Marlon de Almeida.
 |
Oxfam,
Amnesty International, and IANS' Control Arms
campaign educates the public and lobbies governments
to take action against the illicit trade of small arms,
which fuel violent conflict, state repression, crime,
and domestic abuse. "We are providing the arms for the
next generation of people who are going to commit genocide.
Let's not fool ourselves. It needs to stop," comments
Breyten Breytenbach. He adds, "The ban of anti-personnel
mines was the first step and I think the control of
arms is the next. We hope writers, artists, and musicans
will join the global challenge to educate the public
on this issue." Download
press release (pdf)
DJ
Each tours Brazil in aid of Control Arms
In
an effort to raise the profile of the Control Arms Campaign
in Brazil, London-based DJ Each took the message across
the country throughout September 2004. Starting closer
to home with London's Brazilian community, DJ Each kicked
off at Rattapallax Poetry
& Music Party @ Blag Club in Notting Hill, garnering
extensive coverage in the bilingual British/Brazilian
'Jungle Drums' magazine in its 16th edition.
Following
this hugely successful launch, which saw many people
actively discussing the issues and queuing up to join
the Million Faces Petition, the tour moved onto Brazil.
A packed-out saturday night at 'Off Road Project' in
Bahia was the first port of call. Club Owner Marcia
Franco was so impressed with Each's electro-house grooves
and the clubbers' response to the Control Arms message,
she invited us back in February for another night of
campaign clubbing!
Next
up was a storming night at the famous 'Spin Club' in
Porte Alegre, alongside award-winning Brazilian electro
DJ Oscar Bueno. Local Fashion Designer / Promoter Marquinhos
Rocha did such an outstanding job building support for
the event that the overwhelming numbers of people queuing
to get in proved to be far in excess of what the club
could actually hold! Hearing of this, prominent Brazilian
fashion house 'Zapping', who had the club booked for
the next night, stepped in and invited us to share the
venue with them! The follow-up night was another huge
success, with as many people eager to learn about the
campaign and join the Petition, as there were getting
busy on the dancefloor.
'D-EDGE'
in Sao Paulo is widely regarded as among the finest
clubs in Brazil and as such, Each's & Control Arms campaign
finale received a lot of media attention, including
a two-page spread in the popular 'Beatz' magazine, in
its 12 edition. The line-up was again with Oscar Bueno
and this time, together with another Brazilian electro-music
star, Dj Magal and Freakplasma Band, under the promotion
of Dj Glaucia ++ & Simone Sutilli. Although officially
finished after this last big night, Each has been invited
by Oscar Bueno to extend the tour with a final FINAL
performance at D-EDGE top after-hours, 'Paradise'. More
info at http://www.oxfam.org.uk/generationwhy/campaigns/controlarms/events/dj_each/
|
