Dear (Joburg) friends,
This month's Wednesday Session (26 October) will feature two exciting components, a Poetry Reading and a Video-Making Session:
- Poetry Reading
We'll kick-off by showcasing some resistance poetry. While we've selected some poems we would also encourage you to send through your suggestions or to bring along a poem (this can either be your own or one written by someone else). A section from one of our selected poems appears below this email and others will be uploaded here:
- Video making
All those attending can contribute short (shout-out) videos messages that will be sent to the several hundred international guests who will be attending the upcoming session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine. Technical people will be on hand so we can immediately transfer these messages to YouTube and elsewhere - in time for the Russell Tribunal! (As you may know, the third session of the Russell Tribunal on Palestine will take place in Cape Town between the 5th and 7th of November. It will be opened by our very own Archbishop Desmond Tutu; other participants and guests include Alice Walker, Stéphane Hessel, John Dugard, Ahmed Kathrada, Winnie Mandela, Zwelinzima Vavi and others. The tribunal will look into whether "Israeli policies are in breach of the prohibition on Apartheid under International Law". For more info on the tribunal, see www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com or www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpN0GEvl-vk)
WEDNESDAY SESSIONS
When: Last Wednesday of every month
Time: 19h00 for 19h30
Admission: Free
Where: Love and Revolution, Shop 4B, 7th Street, Melville
Hosts: SA Artists Against Apartheid and the BDS Working Group
ABOUT WEDNESDAY SESSIONS:
Wednesday Sessions Feature: various, innovative and entertaining evenings including poetry readings, film screenings, live performances, exhibitions, discussions, (juicy) debates and more.
Wednesday Sessions Are: an open space where artists (and others) can discuss, deconstruct, share, provoke, debate, politicize, network, collaborate, exhibit, showcase... or perform their own work. Write to us know if you would like to take us up on the offer to present/perform your own work! (info@southafricanartistsagainstapartheid.com)
Wednesday Sessions Aim To: question and highlight the role of art, artists in society and general members of society in assisting ordinary people move beyond extraordinary circumstances. How did ordinary people in the international community assist South Africans in overcoming apartheid? How can we now assist those Palestinians and progressive Israelis who are resisting Israeli Apartheid?
Come to Wednesday Sessions To Learn: about Art & Politics ... Art and Politics in South Africa... the Palestinian-Israeli issue ... Israeli Apartheid ... or how you too can join the cultural boycott of Israel.
Wednesday Sessions May Inspire: you and other attendees to be creative and productive... to make artistic work ... to go out and graffiti or organise a flashmob. We encourage and will assist in this :)
See you on Wednesday!
South African Artists Against Apartheid and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Working Group
Here on the slopes of hills, facing the dusk and the cannon of time
Close to the gardens of broken shadows,
We do what prisoners do,
And what the jobless do:
We cultivate hope.
[Extract from "Under Siege" by Mahmoud Darwish]
