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It
is an important time for artists to not be silent - to take all
of our heart and abilities and create new works that speak to these
times. For artists who are striving to create a culture of resistance
to all that is cruel and oppressive, finding one's voice has not
been easy. In the midst of terrible death and destruction, we are
all looking for truth. Instead, we find ourselves surrounded by
a managed stream of images and stories that feels suffocating in
its singular message.
A gathering
of artists met in the wake of September 11th, and talked about their
concerns - and the need for a space to be created for artists to
share their thoughts and questions - a discussion that would be
deepened by listening to those whose stories are not run on our
nightly news.
Truth
today is a precious thing. As artists, it is also what can give
us strength and vision. It is fundamentally what makes the culture
of resistance so powerful. We invite artists to this special event
to join in the discussion - to express your thoughts and raise all
of your questions - and in the process, together, lay the basis
for creating new and powerful work.
Speakers:
Dr. James Ingalls, from the Afghani Women's Mission, a support
group for RAWA (Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan).
He is currently working with Sonali Kolhatkar on book on terrorism
and women's rights in Afghanistan. His article on Afghanistan appearing
in the March 2001 issue of Z Magazine.
Shahid
Nadeem is currently in Los Angeles as a Feuchtwanger Fellow
and Getty Scholar. He has been the in-house playwright for Ajoka
Theatre, Pakistan's leading non-commercial theatre group, and is
the author of over 40 plays. His work, a "Granny for All Season"
was recently read at the UCLA Hammer Museum and the "Third
Knock" at Highways Performance Center.
Lida
Abdullah completed her MFA at the University of California,
Irvine. She has produced work in many media – video, performance,
film, photography, installation – in an attempt to explore
the convergences between artistic practice and politics, though
devoid of any rhetoric of (altruistic) globalization. She was born
in Kabul, Afghanistan, and before coming to the U.S., lived in Germany.
Larry
Everest is a journalist with the Revolutionary Worker. He has
written extensively on the Middle East with work appearing in the
Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle,
the San Jose Mercury News, the Baltimore Sun, New York Newsday and
Z Magazine. His work taken him to Iran, Palestine and Iraq, where
he filmed Iraq: War Against thePeople. He is the author of Behind
the Poison Cloud: Union Carbide's Bhopal Massacre.
Ami
Motevalli received her MFA from Claremont College. Her work
has appeared most recently in three shows at Track16, Capital Art,
Axiomatic Arcade, and Overflowing. She has used her art as a medium
to speak as someone acutely aware of the use of images to defile
a people. Ms. Motevalli appeared in the news earlier this year,
opposing another kind of terrorism. As a former art teacher at South
Central's Locke High School, she refused to agree to the practice
of discriminatory searches in her classroom.
This
event is free of charge but donations are welcome to cover our costs
For Reservations: 310 315-1459 (held until 2:00 p.m.) For Information
Call: 323 469-9227
***
An
article by John Pilger, an Australian documentary filmmaker is a
helpful resource to read:
"This War of Lies Goes On"
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