Media on freeDimensional

Malaysian cartoonist Zunar awarded the International Press Freedom Award

Tue, 15 Sep 2015 00:00:00 +0000

The personal slogan of Zulkiflee Anwar Ulhaque, a Malaysian cartoonist who is better known by his penname “Zunar,” is: “How can I be neutral? Even my pen has a stand.”

Zunar is best known for his provocative cartoons that lampoon issues of high-level abuse of government power and corruption. His portraits are published both in books and on the Malaysiakini news website, one of the country’s few independent news publications. Malaysian police and authorities have claimed on several occasions that Zunar’s cartoons are “detrimental to public order” and run afoul of the country’s sedition law.

"Writing Exile" event - Tuesday, September 16 - 7PM

Fri, 12 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Words without Borders, in collaboration with freeDimensional and Verso Books, present a reading from WWB’s September issue, dedicated to writing exile. The reading aims to draw attention to the voices of writers forced from their homes, and will feature contributors and other special guests reading selections from the issue. To accompany the reading, freeDimensional will present an exhibition of work from contemporary visual artists who use creativity to fight injustice, and have experienced persecution and forced displacement as a result of their artistic practice.

Arab Documentary Photography Programme launched: deadline 15 April 2014

Tue, 18 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The Arab Fund for Art and Culture and the Prince Claus Fund in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in partnership with the Magnum Foundation in New York, USA, are launching the Arab Documentary Photography Programme (ADPP). The ADPP will run from 2014 to 2016, targeting creative documentary photographers in the Arab region. Up to 10 grantees will be selected to receive financial and professional support to complete their proposed photography projects.

Kumbia Queers @ Queens Museum - March 6, 6-8PM

Thu, 27 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Queens Museum - Open A.I.R. & fD present Kumbia Queers with Que Bajo: Redefining Cumbia, Love and Latinamericanidad

Mar 6 2014, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

An open conversation with the members of Kumbia Queers and Que Bajo regarding cumbia, gender and love in Latin America. Followed by an acoustic set by the Kumbia Queers.

Guests: Kumbia Queers (Argentina-Mexico), Gecko Jones (NYC-Colombia-Puerto Rico), and Uproot Andy (NYC-Canada)

Moderated by: Santo Padre (Mexico-NYC)

Shahid Nadeem's THE ACQUITTAL reading - Friday, February 22

Thu, 20 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Castillo Theatre presents a play reading of:

The Acquittal by Shahid Nadeem // reading directed by Dan Friedman

Saturday, February 22 at 5:00pm // Admission is free. Reservation required. To make your reservation call 212-941-1234 or email boxoffice@allstars.org

The Castillo Theatre invites you to a reading of The Acquittal by the award-winning playwright, Shahid Nadeem, (translated from Urdu by Tahira Naqvi). The reading is being directed by Castillo’s artistic director Dan Friedman and will be held on Saturday, February 22 at 5:00 p.m.

'The campaign "free Pussy Riot" is over'

Fri, 07 Feb 2014 00:00:00 +0000

Statement by the Anonymous members of Pussy Riot: Garadja, Fara, Shaiba, Cat, Seraphima and Schumacher

We, the anonymous members of Pussy Riot, would like to say many thanks to all the people who have supported us, those who demanded the release of our members, those who sympathised with us and sympathised with our ideology. We are very grateful to all of you; we deeply appreciate and respect everyone who has contributed to the Pussy Riot campaign.

Art and Activism on the World Stage @ Adelphi University

Mon, 02 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

The Levermore Global Scholars Program is partnering with freeDimensional to bring guest speaker Ademola Bello, an international artist, to campus.

Thursday, December 5, 2:00–3:00 p.m

Location: Campbell Lounge, Room 1

About the Artist:

Ademola Bello is a Nigerian playwright, journalist, and novelist who has used his plays and dramatic writing to give a voice to oppressed communities and speak truth to power around the world. He will share his international journey, experiences, and struggles to use the arts as a tool for social change.

Mexico City Consultation on Free Expression and Cultural Rights - November 13 & 14

Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

On November 13 & 14, fD in partnership with El Centro Cultural de Espana in Mexico is hosting a two day consultation meeting on free expression and cultural rights in Mexico and Central America. 45 representatives from the arts, culture and human rights sectors will attend the consultation to exchange experiences, issues and problems, and mechanisms of support as they relate to different forms of creative activism.

What: 2-day consultation / workshop with artists, culture workers and activists from Mexico and Central America

Constitutional Court Admonishes Prosecutors Over Abuse Of Insult Laws As Visual Artist Maseko Wins In Court

Fri, 01 Nov 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Press Release: 30 October 2013

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) is encouraged by the decisions passed on Wednesday 30 October 2013 by the Constitutional Court in two constitutional matters brought before it challenging the constitutionality of some offensive provisions of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.

In the case of Mr Tendai Danga, the Constitutional Court struck off the matter from the court roll after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) withdrew the charges preferred against the Bulawayo resident. Tendai Danga faced charges of undermining authority of or insulting President Robert Mugabe in contravention of Section 33 (2) (a) (ii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act (Chapter 9:23) in a matter that commenced more than two years ago.

Presentation: The Right to Freedom of Artistic Expression & Creation

Tue, 01 Oct 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Arts/Rights/Justice Working Group presents UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights Report on The Right to Freedom of Artistic Expression & Creation - October 2 - Brussels

The presentation of the UN Report, “The Right to Freedom of Artistic Expression and Creation” at the European Parliament in Brussels on 2nd October 2013, from 11:30-14:30 in the Paul Henri Spaak Building, Room P5B001. Presenting the report will be its author, Mme Farida Shaheed, UN Special Rapporteur in the field of Cultural Rights.

Women’s survival strategies in Chechnya: from self-care to caring for each other

Wed, 11 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Luiza encounters regular violence and intimidation in her work helping women survivors of state-sponsored violence. Living under the Chechen regime, activist women need a combination of self and community care.

by Keely Tongate

Luiza has seen many attempts to silence Chechen human rights activists.

There was the car with tell-tale tinted windows and no number plates that tried to run over her sister, after she gave a speech attacking Chechnya’s poor human rights record. The constant emergency trips to neighboring republics with her children, having faced by threats from gangs on the government payroll. The drive-by paintball shootings. These were thugs trying to keep activists in check, part of a wider effort to enforce women’s compliance with a strict Islamic dress code.

A 'new poetry' emerges from Syria's civil war

Sun, 08 Sep 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Ghada al-Atrash, a Syrian-Canadian writer and translator, has been studying Syrian poetry for decades.

Yet in all her years of work, she says she has never encountered works of poetry such as the ones emerging today from the depths of a Syria in the throes of an increasingly deadly civil war.

“Today there is literature coming out of Syria that we could have never even dreamed of just a few years ago,” Atrash says.

Call for Entries: CENSURADOS Film Festival - Lima, Peru

Fri, 23 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

“The story that is behind a censored film can help us to understand better our society”

CENSURADOS Film Festival will take place in Lima (Peru) on December 2013 with the aim to give voice to those fiction, documentary and animation films that have been censored in different countries for political, religious, sexual or environmental reasons, among others. The Festival wants to open a new space for directors and producers that their films have been prohibited and wants to know and talk about the story that is behind each censure. Since the beginning of cinema many films and scenes have been prohibited by different social, religious and political groups. Yet in 1894 we can find the first images censored in United States (“Carmencita”) that were prohibited by two local politicians because the scene shown the underskirt of the dancer. Others films such Clockwork Orange and The Great Dictator were also censored in the past and nowadays are some of the greatest films of cinema’s history. These are only some examples of how the censure has been very close to the history of the cinema and the documentary films.

Ukrainian Museum Director Destroys Critical Painting Ahead Of President's Visit

Fri, 02 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Natalia Zabolotna’s primary job as director of the Mystetskyi Arsenal art museum in Kyiv was to oversee the pieces under her roof.

But on July 25, the night before a visit by President Viktor Yanukovych and the opening of an exhibit meant to celebrate Ukrainian heritage, she took a can of black paint and doused a piece that she deemed “immoral.”

A day later, the destruction of artist Volodymyr Kuznetsov’s “Koliivschina: Judgment Day” has prompted the resignation of the museum’s deputy, helped fuel a street protest, and triggered alarm within the country’s artistic community.

The Gezi Park Experience

Thu, 20 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

by Pelin Tan

“An event is political if its material is collective, or if the event can only be attributed to a collective multiplicity.” —Alain Badiou

Before the Turkish government brutally invaded Taksim Square and Gezi Park with water cannons and tear gas last Saturday, protesters held forums to discuss sustainable action that would continue the resistance beyond the park’s occupation. The Gezi Park experience is about collaboration, solidarity despite differences, voluntary shared labor, an agonistic democratic platform, and friendship. Whatever form of protest the next demonstrations take, they must contain these core aspects of the “Gezi Park Experience,” with art and its dissemination playing a crucial role.

Zunar vs. the police and Malaysian government

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Statement from Malaysia political cartoonist, Zunar. Zunar vs the police and the Malaysian government (Unlawful Detention under The Sedition Act): An appeal at the Appellate Court on the 18th June 2013

The Appellate Court has set 18th of June to hear my appeal on the decision of the Kuala Lumpur High Court’s ruling regarding detention of me under the Sedition Act three years ago.

In his ruling on July last year, the Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge Justice Vazeer Alam Mydin Meera rules that the detention was lawful, even though in the other part of the judgment the court had instructed the police to return all my books and drawing and pay the damages.

Forced to Flee: Exiled Voices and Visions for Justice - 11 June 2013

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Forced to Flee: Exiled Voices and Visions of Justice

Tuesday, June 11 @ 12PM PST / 3PM EST

Greetings!

We are pleased to announce our upcoming conference call Forced to Flee: Exiled Voices and Visions for Justice, which we are presenting in collaboration with Arts & Democracy Project.

Emotions conveyed and evoked by art and culture can open hearts and minds, heal and transform, build community across difference, and promote peace, equality and justice, advancing positive social change. In Forced to Flee, we will hear refugee artists, artists forced into exile, cultural organizers and their allies talk about how they are using the power of art and culture to amplify the voices and visions of those forced to flee their countries of origin.

Attention! Turkish democracy needs you!

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

After a series of peaceful demonstrations for preserving a recreational area in Istanbul city centre, which is planned to be demolished for the construction of a shopping mall, Turkish police attacked the protesters at 05:00am on Friday morning violently with tear gas and water cannon, directly targeting their faces and bodies. Dozens of protesters are wounded and are being treated by doctors outside hospitals as they are not welcome there or are not able to reach the Emergency Rooms. Some are even reported dead.

2013 ART for HEALTH Benefit - May 24, 6:30-9:30PM @ Project Reach NYC

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Save the Date: Friday, May 24 6:30-9:30PM

Join us at Project Reach in Chinatown, New York City for an art exhibit, silent auction and performance to fund a mobile clinic this summer in rural villages in Cameroon.

Since 2009, the partnership between the U.S. charity organization Bush Medicine Partnership (Drexel University) and Hope International For Tikar People – a Cameroonian community based organization – have served more than 8000 people in the isolated communities in the rain forest of Cameroon.

fD selected as 2013 Grant Recipient by A Blade of Grass

Wed, 08 May 2013 00:00:00 +0000

A Blade of Grass, established in 2011 as the first grant-making organization solely dedicated to socially engaged art, today announced its second round of organizational grantees. The Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) and The Laundromat Project were selected to receive project support in the amount of $20,000 each, and freeDimensional has been selected to receive $20,000 in general operating support. A Blade of Grass will honor these grantees at a private reception in May.

'Winter of Discontent' screening @ 2013 Alwan Film Festival

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Winter of Discontent screening @ 2013 Alwan Film Festival Thursday May 2, 6:30 PM - Anthology Film Archives

Co-presented by freeDimensional

Ibrahim El-Batout, Egypt, 2012, 94 mins

Set against the momentous backdrop of the mass protests of Cairo’s Tahrir Square that began on January 25, 2011, this film takes us on a compellingly raw and moving journey into the lives of an activist, a journalist, and a state security officer. Winter of Discontent poetically explores the anguish of a victim of state terror in 2009, presaging and intertwining with the pivotal events in 2011 that changed the face of Egypt. As the stories of the characters unfold, we are propelled headlong into the heady, often surreal atmosphere of terror and uncertainty that characterized the last days of Mubarak’s rule.

SAVE THE DATE! APRIL 25 - fD Exhibition Fundraiser - FRAGILE STATES

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

freeDimensional in partnership with the Brian Morris Gallery invites you to attend a group exhibition launch and fundraiser, Fragile States, on April 25, from 6-9PM.

Fragile States is an exploration of the physical and psychological experiences of persecution and forced displacement. The artists featured in the exhibition share a common experience of having to leave their country of origin after facing threats, violent assault, imprisonment or torture as a result of using their creative practice to voice the concerns of their communities.

Belarus Free Theatre, Taking up the death penalty in ‘Trash Cuisine’

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Help Belarus Free Theatre tour an important piece of theatre, Trash Cuisine!

Click here to donate a few Pounds Sterling!

Trash Cuisine is a dynamic, affecting and innovative piece of theatre devised and developed from first degree research collected in Asia, Africa, U.S. and Europe by Belarus Free Theatre with the support of Amnesty International.

Hugely well received at its premiere in Stadsshouwberg, Amsterdam on 5 October 2012, supported by the European Cultural Foundation, Trash Cuisine explores issues behind imprisonment and torture with particular focus on the death penalty to create a challenging and nerve shredding performance.

A political refugee returns to his small village in West Africa to build a community radio station that educates and inspires

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Radio Taboo is a development project and documentary film about Issa Nyaphaga, a political journalist in exile returning to his small village in West Africa to build a community radio station to educate his community about subjects that are often too taboo to talk about. Issa was a journalist in Cameroon in the 1990s where he was jailed and tortured for his political cartoons. He is now heading back to his village in Cameroon to build a community radio station to educate villagers about Public health, environmental issues, women’s issues and rights of gay and HIV infected people. Nditam, his village, has no running water, no electricity, no schools or hospitals and no public news service. The film follows his struggle to raise funds, get the materials, gather manpower, build the station, train citizen journalists and make the station work for the betterment of his community. It will be an adventure to travel with Issa as he fights against all odds to create this amazing project. The radio station will run on renewable energy and will feature citizen journalists reporting on local issues to 1 million people in the remote rainforest of Cameroon.

Zunar in protest of draconian Malaysian printing act

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Zunar’s Press Release, 2nd January 2013

My latest cartoon book,“Lawak & Lawan” to protest Malaysian draconian printing act

My latest cartoon book, Lawak & Lawan (Fun & Fight) is produced to protest the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 (PPPA). Among cited in this Act under section, 11 (2) requires the name of the printer to be printed in each publication. Failure to comply can be punished with imprisonment not exceeding one year and a fine not exceeding RM5000 ( about USD1800) or both.

Eight charged with Victor Jara's 1973 murder in Chile

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 00:00:00 +0000

SANTIAGO, Chile — Eight retired army officers were charged on Friday with the murder of a popular songwriter and theater director, Víctor Jara, who was tortured and killed days after the 1973 military coup in a stadium that had been turned into a detention center.

Judge Miguel Vásquez charged two of the former officers, Pedro Barrientos and Hugo Sánchez, with committing the murder and six others as accomplices. Mr. Sánchez, a lieutenant colonel, was second in command at the stadium. Mr. Barrientos, a lieutenant from a Tejas Verdes army unit, currently lives in Deltona, a city southwest of Daytona Beach, Fla., and was interrogated by the F.B.I. earlier this year at the request of a Chilean court. Attempts to reach Mr. Barrientos for comment were unsuccessful; his two listed telephone numbers had been disconnected.

Bolivian journalist Fernando Vidal set alight on air

Wed, 31 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

A Bolivian radio journalist has been attacked while he was conducting a radio show in the southern city of Yacuiba.

Staff at Radio Popular said four masked men broke into the studio, poured petrol over presenter Fernando Vidal and set him alight.

Mr Vidal, 78, and another staff member are being treated for burns.

Relatives said Mr Vidal had been reporting on smuggling in the border area when the attack happened.

Celebrated Somali poet killed by gunmen

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Popular Somali poet, playwright and songwriter Warsame Shire Awale has been killed in the capital, Mogadishu.

He was shot by unknown gunmen near his home on Monday evening.

Mr. Awale wrote and acted in radio plays critical of the militant group, al-Shabab, who he accused of misleading people in the name of Islam.

According to information received by NUSOJ, Warsame Shire Awale, a renowned poet who worked for Radio Kulmiye, was attacked on the evening of 29 October 2012 near his house in the Waberi district. He was reportedly shot several times by unidentified gunmen and was immediately rushed to the Daru Shifa hospital, where he was declared dead.

MUSIC, TOLERANCE & DEFIANCE - October 19, 6:30 PM

Sun, 14 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

MUSIC, TOLERANCE & DEFIANCE: An evening with Shahin Najafi & Mohsen Namjoo

Shahin Najafi and Mohsen Namjoo are among the leading Iranian musical artists working today.

Najafi is visiting the U.S. for the first time since the fatwa and death threats against him in May 2012 resulting from the release of his satirical rap, “Naghi.” His speaking tour includes Berkeley, San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orlando. In 2009, Namjoo was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison for insulting religious sanctities by singing some Quranic verses to music in a private recording, which was later released without his authorization.

Nepali artist Manish Harijan faces death threats

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

UNESCO has expressed concern at the death threats to Manish Harijan, a Nepali painter whose works are on show at one of Kathmandu’s art galleries.

“The right to freedom of expression must also apply to artistic expression. Tension that may arise between artistic creation and religious and ethical values should be openly discussed instead of becoming subject of intimidation or even death threat to the artist”, a press statement issued by UNESCO on Wednesday quoted Axel Plathe, Head of the UNESCO Office in Kathmandu, as saying.

Host an Occupier Now !

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

fD Board members Martin Rosengaard and Todd Lester have partnered with the S17 Support Group to set up a hosting system in New York city for Occupy Wall Street’s one-year anniversary weekend: Host an Occupier.

The Anniversary of Occupy Wall Street is upon us. Organizing work is nearly complete as cities across the country and the world prepare to celebrate the progress of our first year in the fight for economic justice. A “Festival des Indignées” is being planned in Paris. An “Open Knowledge Festival” kicks off in Helsinki, Finland.

Uganda jails British producer David Cecil over play about homosexuality

Sun, 16 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Activists on Friday slammed Uganda for arresting a British theatre producer who staged a play about a gay man in defiance of a ban by the country’s media authorities.

Producer David Cecil was charged in court Thursday with two counts including one of “disobeying legal orders” and sent to prison pending a bail hearing next week. He faces up to two years in jail if found guilty, his lawyer said.

Urgent Call to Action: Free Zakaria Zubeidi !

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

On the 9th of September Zakaria Zubeidi announced that he will embark on a death fast, a complete food and fluid strike, in response to the continuous postponement of his release from Palestinian Authority prison. This effectively means that unless the Palestinian Authority releases Zakaria he will most probably not make it through the week.

Zubeidi, co-founder of The Freedom Theatre and former leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, has been imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority for close to four months. No charges have been made against him, no evidence presented and throughout his imprisonment his rights have been severely violated, as described by among others Human Rights Watch (http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/07/27/israelpalestinian-authority-theater-group-hit-both-sides).

As fighting rages, four political satirists find themselves swept up in the debates that divide Syria's revolutionaries.

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Witness:

In November 2011, as armed conflict raged in Syria, a young acting troupe called Masasit Mati launched a ground-breaking, finger-puppet show: Top Goon: Diaries of a Little Dictator, which mocks the Syrian regime in ways never seen in public before.

Living in exile, the four actors in Masasit Mati broadcast their show online, attracting a growing audience and positive reviews around the world.

But Top Goon’s success puts the actors themselves in danger and the widening split in Syria between those who favour a peaceful resolution and those prepared to use armed force mirrors that within the troupe itself.

Call for the release of filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia by the Syrian authorities

Thu, 30 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Syrian filmmaker and producer Orwa Nyrabia was arrested in Damascus International Airport while traveling to Cairo at noon on Thursday, August 23rd, 2012. Nyrabia’s family still have no information about the reasons for his detention and his whereabouts are still unknown. freeDimensional joins the Nyrabia family and the international community calling for the immediate release of our friend and colleague Orwa Nyrabia.

Nyrabia graduated from the Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus in 1999. He participated at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004 for his lead-role in the film “The Gate of the Sun” by Yousry Nasrallah which was based on the Lebanese Elias Khoury’s novel.

Malaysian High Court rules against political cartoonist Zunar

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 00:00:00 +0000

A statement by Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar in response to the court ruling regarding his detention - 1 st August 2012

I am extremely disappointed with the Malaysian High Court’s ruling that my detention under the Sedition Act in September 2010 was according to the law.

On the 24th of September 2010, I was arrested and jailed for two days just a few hours before the launching of my new comic book, Cartoon-O-Phobia.

Statement by Malaysian Political Cartoonist, Zunar: "MALAYSIA BANS CARTOONS DURING THE ELECTION, BUT I WILL DEFY THE RULING!"

Sun, 10 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

STATEMENT:

I would like to refer to the ruling made by the Election Commission of Malaysia which bans the use of cartoons in the campaigns for the up-coming General Election. (General election’s date in Malaysia can only be decided by the Prime Minister, but must be called before the current term ends in March 2013).

The banning of cartoons during the election is comical and ludicrous. This is because cartooning is a legally-practiced medium in Malaysia and therefore the Commission does not have the right to forbid its use. Moreover, this is contradicting to the freedom of expression as provided to all citizens in Malaysian Constitution.

Burmese artists detained in Mandalay

Tue, 05 Jun 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Seven Burmese performance artists will face charges in a Mandalay court on Thursday after they allegedly broke an obscure law last week by performing in public with five foreigners who were subsequently deported.

Officials from Mandalay’s Police Station No. 2 charged the seven artists on Tuesday with violating Section 11 of the 1964 Library, Museum and Exhibition Monitoring Act for performing near the north side of Mandalay’s moat on May 24.

1ST BREAK OUT : Exhibition by Kyaw Thu - 25-27 May - New York City

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

First Breakout – Artistic Expressions from the Heart – Exhibition by Kyaw Thu

“I have been denied all rights to artistic creation in Myanmar since September 2007, when I offered alms and water to monks walking in peaceful protest and reciting prayers of love during the Saffron Revolution, all the way to my current visit to the United States. I would like to call it the first breakout, the first artistic expressions from the heart, to be able to publicly exhibit the heartfelt works I have painted during my visit to America.” - Kyaw Thu (film actor, director, producer, painter, undertaker)

freeDimensional @ the ICORN General Assembly - Stockholm, Sweden. 9-11 May 2012

Mon, 07 May 2012 00:00:00 +0000

fD Director, Sidd Joag joins more than 100 delegates, guest writers and observers from as many as 32 different countries heading to Stockholm Wednesday 9-Friday 11 May, to take part in the 2012 International Cities Of Refuge Network General Assembly. Established as an independent, international organisation since 2010, more than 30 ICORN member cities from all over Europe and beyond will be represented when it all breaks loose at Kulturhuset in Stockholm.

CROSSFIRE - Photographs by Shahidul Alam @ QMA - Sunday, April 15

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Forum & Opening Reception for Partnership Gallery Exhibition in Collaboration with Drik Picture Library, Dhaka.

Bangladeshi photographer and human rights activist Shahidul Alam’s Crossfire exhibition will open in the Partnership Gallery at the Queens Museum of Art on 15th April, 2012 and run until May 6th, 2012. The exhibition aims to gather international support for a campaign to end extra-judicial killings in Bangladesh by state forces, usually called “crossfire.”

In 2004, responding to a perceived law and order “crisis” the Bangladesh government created a new, armed enforcement agency, called Rapid Action Battalion (RAB). The agency was formed by taking officers from the Bangladesh Police, Army, Navy and Air Force. Over time, the agency’s budget and power grew until today it is one of the largest and most feared groups inside Bangladesh. From the very early days, RAB became notorious for killing people it was trying to capture, often during gun battles, which the government always claims is due to “crossfire.”

Art For Health @ Project Reach NYC - 31 March 2012

Sat, 31 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Art for Health is a charity event that is hosted every spring to support innovative medical projects in Cameroon, Africa. Through art exhibitions, performance, live music, body painting, as well as slam and spoken word poetry, the artist’s creative energy is channeled towards supporting health projects for indigenous communities in Sub-Saharan Africa as well as towards promoting the message of social justice and free expression for people world-wide.

Since 2009, Hope International for Tikar People, founded by Cameroonian native and activist Issa Nyaphaga and the Bush Medicine Partnership, founded by students from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia have been working together to improve the quality of life in the Tikar villages in Eastern Cameroon as well as other marginalized communities with no access to medical care. Thus far, the partnership has served the urgent health needs of over 8,000 people in the isolated tribal communities of Cameroon.

Chaw Ei Thein featured in NYFA's Immigrant Artist Project Newsletter

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Chaw Ei Thein (2011 Mentee Alum, Burma), is a painter and performance artist whose work stems from her contrasting experiences of growing up in a politically oppressive Burma and then shifting to a very different landscape in the United States. Chaw Ei’s emotionally charged work of addressing these conflicts in her native country has earned her critical acclaim, awards, and residencies in the U.S. and abroad. However, it has also forced her to live in political exile in which returning to her native country could mean reprisal from the Burmese government. Between her experiences in the U.S. and her desire to return home, Chaw Ei balances multiple tensions in her work. She shares how she deals with her experience and how she has found her Mentorship with Alexandra Pacula in the NYFA Mentoring Program helpful to her artistic career and personal pursuits. The Mentoring Program collaborated with freeDimensional to pair Chaw Ei with her Mentor.

Press alert: Music Freedom Day - Saturday 3 March

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Press alert: Music Freedom Day - a global manifestation for freedom of expression for musicians on Saturday 3 March

In 48 hours, on this Saturday, the annual Music Freedom Day is marked with events, seminars, exhibitions, film shows, radio programmes and news paper articles on freedom of expression for musicians and composers all over the world.

List and programmes of events Events are currently being prepared in 19 countries: Activities on Music Freedom Day 2012

Malaysia deports Saudi journalist accused of insulting prophet in a tweet

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The Malaysian government has defended its deportation of a Saudi journalist accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad in a tweet

Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein said the deportation to Saudi Arabia was legal and that Malaysia cannot be seen as a safe haven.

Hamza Kashgari, 23, was sent back to Saudi Arabia on Sunday.

Mr Kashgari’s controversial tweet last week sparked more than 30,000 responses and several death threats. Insulting the prophet is considered blasphemous in Islam and can be punishable by death in Saudi Arabia.

Urgent Petition: Justice for Victor Leiva !

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Dear friends,

On the 2nd February 2011 our friend Víctor Leiva, known as “el Mono”, left the cultural center where he was taking dance classes. Moments later a firearm cut his life short.

Víctor was 24 years old when he was murdered. He was an http://www.gooakley.com/ artist and human rights defender, focusing particularly on the rights of young people, with whom he also worked.

This deplorable act of violence was condemned by civil society and national and international human rights organizations. A letter sent to Guatemala’s Public Prosecutor on the 2nd August 2011, marking six months since his death and requesting the prompt investigation of his murder, was signed by 44 organizations and over 400 individuals from 26 countries.

Malaysia: Political satirist takes government to court over ‘Cartoon-O-Phobia’

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

****Kuala Lumpur 18.01.12: Celebrated Malaysian political cartoonist Zunar (née Zulkifli Anwar Ulhaque) appeared at the Kuala Lumpur High Court today for the first hearing of a civil suit brought by himself against the government and the police, in which he challenges them for his wrongful arrest and detention in September 2010.

Represented by the group Lawyers for Liberty, Zunar is seeking the return of confiscated property as well as aggravated losses and damages incurred in the incident which took place on 24 September 2010. That night, hours before the launch of http://www.troakley.com/ Zunar’s latest compilation of political cartoons titled ‘Cartoon-O-Phobia’, the police raided the artist’s office in Kuala Lumpur, seized all copies of the book and arrested him for sedition.

Jenin Freedom Theatre Director Zakaria Zubeidi back on Israel's wanted list

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Zakaria Zbeidi, the former commander of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin who was pardoned by Israel two years ago, has been added to Israel’s wanted list again.

In recent days, Palestinian security services informed Zbeidi that upon Israel’s request, he must remain in the Palestinian Authority’s detention facilities during all hours of the day and night, otherwise Israel will arrest him.

Zbeidi confirmed the report to Haaretz, yet cheap oakley said he did not know why the pardon was rescinded. Last week, Palestinian security forces arrested one of Zbeidi’s brothers, along with one of the workers at Jenin’s Freedom Theater, which Zbeidi directs.

Vaclav Havel, Dissident Playwright Who Led Czechoslovakia, Dead at 75

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Vaclav Havel, the writer and dissident whose eloquent dissections of Communist rule helped to destroy it in revolutions that brought down the Berlin Wall and swept Havel himself into power, died on Sunday. He was 75.

A shy yet resilient, unfailingly polite but dogged man Oakley Sunglasses cheap who articulated the power of the powerless, Mr. Havel spent five years in and out of Communist prisons, lived for two decades under close secret-police surveillance and endured the suppression of his plays and essays. He served 14 years as president, wrote 19 plays, inspired a film and a rap song and remained one of his generation’s most seductively nonconformist writers.

Stop the persecution of Bahraini artists and intellectuals!

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

fD joins Trans Europe Halles, Freemuse and the International Coalition of Arts, Human Rights and Social Justice in denouncing the continued persecution of Bahraini artists and intellectuals. Since the popular uprisings began this past spring, several hundred culture workers have faced threats, harassment, loss of job, torture and imprisonment.

Several weeks ago we submitted a letter in support of Bahraini culture workers to the Ministry of Culture, to which we have received no response. In our letter, we expressed concern “that some artists and intellectuals in Bahrain may be in danger of losing their capacity to foster healthy and http://www.usofacomputers.com productive international exchange between Bahrain and other countries, due to recent infringement of human and cultural rights in Bahrain.” We further admonished that in light of Manama being named 2012 Arab Capital of Culture, continued persecution of artists and intellectuals would garner significant, negative international attention.

VI. Festival Against Censorship honors fD stakeholder ZUNAR with the 2011 "Courage to Fight Censorship" award

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

BILBAO, Spain. November 10, 2011 -

ZUNAR a.k.a. Zulkiflee Anwar Haque, who has been drawing editorial cartoons for the past 20 years in Malaysia, was awarded the “Courage To Fight Censorship” Award at the VI. Festival Against Censorship.

ZUNAR uses his drawing pen as a weapon to fight state corruption and abuse of power. He has turned the spotlight on local public-interest issues such as the politically explosive (literally!) and unsolved murder of a Mongolian woman, the political conspiracy against the former-deputy-prime-minister- turned-Opposition-Leader Anwar Ibrahim, the domineering wife of the present prime minister, and the shady Scorpene submarine purchases that are now being investigated in France.

fD participates in VI. Festival Against Censorship - November 7-11

Fri, 04 Nov 2011 00:00:00 +0000

fD program coordinator Sidd Joag joins a roundtable discussion at the VI. Festival Against Censorship in Bilbao, Spain. Now in its 6th year, the Festival is organized by the Basque production company Serrano in collaboration with FREEMUSE and in 2010 honored fD with its annual No Censorship award.

Highlights of this year’s Festival program include fD stakeholders: Malaysian cartoonist ZUNAR, and Zimbabwean artist Owen Maseko.

“Zunar has been drawing editorial cartoons for the past 20 years in malaysia. Zunar uses his drawing pen as a weapon to fight state corruption and abuse of power. seven of his books are banned by the malaysian government.”

'Cultures of Resistance' - Artists on Art and Activism

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

fD program coordinator and visual artist Sidd Joag joins a panel with poet Suheir Hammad, filmmaker Iara Lee and Paul D. Miller a.k.a D.J. Spooky, to explore the role of the artist in a global society, including that of the diasporic artist. The panel will be moderated by http://www.raybandasoleit.com/ NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Arts and Public Policy Chair Randy Martin. 7-9PM @ NYU Casa Italiana Zerilli-Marimò

As part of the program, fD and Residency Unlimited will facilitate a working session on a new residency and resource mapping initiative for artists-in-exile in New York City, including invited guests and open to the public. 3-5PM. @ NYU Institute for Public Knowledge

Iranian actress, Marzieh Vafamehr, sentenced to 90 lashes and one year in jail

Tue, 11 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0000

According to an opposition website [www.kalameh.com] and as reported on 10 October 2011 by the Associated Press, Iranian actress Marzieh Vafamehr, wife of film director and screenwriter Nasser Taghvai, has been sentenced to one year in jail and 90 lashes for Ray Ban outlet appearing in a movie critical of the Islamic republic’s hard-line policies.

Vafamehr was arrested the first week of July 2011 in Tehran and was held in detention until 25 July 2011 when she was released on bail.

fD participates in Creative Time's 'Living as Form' exhibition - Friday, September 30 @ Essex Street Market

Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

On Friday, September 30, from 4pm to 8pm, performance artist and painter Chaw Ei Thein and radio journalist Lawman Lynch will create “social space” in Creative Time’s ‘Living as Form’ exhibition at the Essex Street Market. [www.creativetime.org/livingasform]

Transit Lounge/Waiting Room captures the experiences of fD’s New York stakeholders (artists displaced from their home countries as a result of their artistic activism) through http://www.gooakley.com/ performance, visual art, and video interviews. Transit Lounge/Waiting Room will highlight the situation in Burma, in particular the continual attacks on free expression. It explores the experience of displacement and acclimatization to a new environment when an artist is forced to depart their home country.

Hadi al-Medhi, Iraqi journalist and theater director, killed on September 8

Mon, 12 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Hadi al-Medhi, one of the main organizers of a mass demonstration on September 9, was found assassinated in his home one day prior. Hadi, an outspoken critic of government corruption and the denial of basic rights, had experienced threats, kidnapping and torture earlier this year. On February 25, after participating in the ‘Day of Rage’ protests in Tahrir Square in Baghdad, Hadi along with three of his friends were beaten and kidnapped by nearly 15 soldiers. He told Amnesty International that he was taken to a detention center located in a former building of the defense cheap oakley ministry, where he was beaten, electrocuted and threatened with rape. He was released in the early morning hours of February 26.

Ai Weiwei released; colleagues still detained

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

BEIJING — China said Thursday that dissident artist Ai Weiwei, who was released from jail a day earlier, remained under investigation and would be prohibited from leaving Beijing for at least the next year as a condition of his bail. “Ai Weiwei is still under investigation,” Hong Lei, the foreign ministry spokesman, told a regularly scheduled news briefing. “He is not allowed to leave his area of residence.” Lei said the “area of residence” referred to Beijing, and that Ai was not being placed under house arrest.

Fund Creative Resistance!

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

You can have an immediate impact on the safety and freedom of those who are using art to change the world. With your year-end donation, support cheap oakley freeDimensional’s Creative Resistance Fund, which provides small distress grants to people in danger due to their use of creativity to fight injustice. Click here to contribute.

Freeing Belarus through Theatre {World Policy Blog #4}

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The Iron Curtain may have come down, but what remains is still in Belarus. Under Alexander Lukashenko’s stringent regime, the capacity for individual expression is strictly limited. Creative endeavors like plays—regardless of its politics—are censored by the government. The Belarus Free Theatre, founded in 2005, stages modern performances addressing social issues. While the company sells out internationally, they are still forced underground at home—where plays are government-sanctioned—staging covert performances in private residences. Many involved in the Belarus Free Gafas Ray Ban outlet Theatre, including co-founders Natalia Koliada, a human rights activist, and Nikolai Khalezin, a playwright, have suffered for their involvement. They have had several stints in prison and are under constant harassment by the authorities.

Chaw ei Thein Fights Burma's Junta with Performance and Paintings {World Policy Blog #3}

Tue, 02 Nov 2010 00:00:00 +0000

In one of the busiest street markets in Yangon, Myanmar (Burma), Chaw Ei Thein and a friend, the artist Htein Lin, created a performance to comment on the inflated prices under the current Burmese government. They sold small items like candy and ribbons for miniscule amounts of money. They were arrested, and would have been jailed if the police were too busy to see the arrest through. Their performative acts, criticizing a government where civil rights and freedom of speech is limited, led to Thein’s exile from her country.

Issa Nyaphaga - The Art of Exile {World Policy Blog #2}

Mon, 25 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Issa Nyaphaga is known as the ragman of painting. He creates art out of garbage – anything from mud and sand to feathers and human hair. Nyaphaga gives disposed items a sort of renewal.

But his artwork represents much darker story of rebirth. Nyaphaga was raised in a small village in the equatorial forests of Cameroon. After high school, he worked as a political cartoonist for the newspaper, Le Messager Popoli. In 1994, Cameroon’s regime jailed and tortured Nyaphaga for oppositional ideas expressed in his controversial cartoons. Two years later, Nyaphaga escaped Cameroon to seek asylum in France.

Abazar Hamid - Supporting Culture in the Face of Injustice {World Policy Blog #1}

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Abazar Hamid has a song hoping for peace in Darfur and a song with visions of a new Sudan—two subjects that the government won’t allow on the radio. Only his most innocuous tunes about love are allowed in public. All Hamid wants to do is reverse the deadly effects Hakama, the traditional Arab singers more locally known as the Janjaweed women, have on communities and on the conflict in Sudan. While Hamid sings about peace and love, Hakama singers go on about killing, raping and pillaging ethnic Africans.

fD partners with networks to archive Mobility Stories

Tue, 19 Oct 2010 00:00:00 +0000

How does artist travel relate to other forms of human mobility? At a time when tensions are high across borders and cultures (and hurdles to mobility increase), citizens, communities and governments are listening to artists and cultural programmers as vanguard voices on complex issues and look to the solutions they propose with renewed interest … even urgency!

Vox Pop - Artists & Mobility: A matter of wealth from freeDimensional on Vimeo.

freeDimensional joins Res Artis and The Upgrade! to collect Mobility Stories from artists and cultural programmers. We asked participants at the 2010 Res Artis General Meeting (Montreal) and Soft Borders the 4thUpgrade! International Conference (Sao Paulo) to share their success stories, unsuccessful attempts, lessons learned and Magliette Calcio A Poco Prezzo tactics as they attempt to invite and host artists from across borders. Using the first round of interviews, we created a channel entitled Crossing Borders - The state of artist mobility that we encourage anyone who needs anecdotal experience for the purpose of lobbying to use freely! You are also welcome to add more content; just contact us with any questions or input. See the Soft Borders programme here and a new link at On The Move.

Media on freeDimensional

Malaysian cartoonist Zunar awarded the International Press Freedom Award

"Writing Exile" event - Tuesday, September 16 - 7PM

Arab Documentary Photography Programme launched: deadline 15 April 2014

Kumbia Queers @ Queens Museum - March 6, 6-8PM

Queens Museum - Open A.I.R. & fD present Kumbia Queers with Que Bajo: Redefining Cumbia, Love and Latinamericanidad

Mar 6 2014, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Shahid Nadeem's THE ACQUITTAL reading - Friday, February 22

'The campaign "free Pussy Riot" is over'

Art and Activism on the World Stage @ Adelphi University

Mexico City Consultation on Free Expression and Cultural Rights - November 13 & 14

Constitutional Court Admonishes Prosecutors Over Abuse Of Insult Laws As Visual Artist Maseko Wins In Court

Presentation: The Right to Freedom of Artistic Expression & Creation

Women’s survival strategies in Chechnya: from self-care to caring for each other

A 'new poetry' emerges from Syria's civil war

More literal and visceral, Syrian poetry is being spread on social media and chanted in the streets.

Call for Entries: CENSURADOS Film Festival - Lima, Peru

“The story that is behind a censored film can help us to understand better our society”

Ukrainian Museum Director Destroys Critical Painting Ahead Of President's Visit

The Gezi Park Experience

by Pelin Tan

Zunar vs. the police and Malaysian government

Forced to Flee: Exiled Voices and Visions for Justice - 11 June 2013

Forced to Flee: Exiled Voices and Visions of Justice

Attention! Turkish democracy needs you!

2013 ART for HEALTH Benefit - May 24, 6:30-9:30PM @ Project Reach NYC

Save the Date: Friday, May 24 6:30-9:30PM

fD selected as 2013 Grant Recipient by A Blade of Grass

'Winter of Discontent' screening @ 2013 Alwan Film Festival

Co-presented by freeDimensional

Ibrahim El-Batout, Egypt, 2012, 94 mins

SAVE THE DATE! APRIL 25 - fD Exhibition Fundraiser - FRAGILE STATES

Belarus Free Theatre, Taking up the death penalty in ‘Trash Cuisine’

Help Belarus Free Theatre tour an important piece of theatre, Trash Cuisine!

A political refugee returns to his small village in West Africa to build a community radio station that educates and inspires

Zunar in protest of draconian Malaysian printing act

Eight charged with Victor Jara's 1973 murder in Chile

Bolivian journalist Fernando Vidal set alight on air

Celebrated Somali poet killed by gunmen

MUSIC, TOLERANCE & DEFIANCE - October 19, 6:30 PM

Nepali artist Manish Harijan faces death threats

Host an Occupier Now !

Uganda jails British producer David Cecil over play about homosexuality

Urgent Call to Action: Free Zakaria Zubeidi !

As fighting rages, four political satirists find themselves swept up in the debates that divide Syria's revolutionaries.

Call for the release of filmmaker Orwa Nyrabia by the Syrian authorities

Malaysian High Court rules against political cartoonist Zunar

Statement by Malaysian Political Cartoonist, Zunar: "MALAYSIA BANS CARTOONS DURING THE ELECTION, BUT I WILL DEFY THE RULING!"

Burmese artists detained in Mandalay

1ST BREAK OUT : Exhibition by Kyaw Thu - 25-27 May - New York City

freeDimensional @ the ICORN General Assembly - Stockholm, Sweden. 9-11 May 2012

CROSSFIRE - Photographs by Shahidul Alam @ QMA - Sunday, April 15

Art For Health @ Project Reach NYC - 31 March 2012

Chaw Ei Thein featured in NYFA's Immigrant Artist Project Newsletter

Press alert: Music Freedom Day - Saturday 3 March

Malaysia deports Saudi journalist accused of insulting prophet in a tweet

Urgent Petition: Justice for Victor Leiva !

Malaysia: Political satirist takes government to court over ‘Cartoon-O-Phobia’

Jenin Freedom Theatre Director Zakaria Zubeidi back on Israel's wanted list

Vaclav Havel, Dissident Playwright Who Led Czechoslovakia, Dead at 75

Stop the persecution of Bahraini artists and intellectuals!

VI. Festival Against Censorship honors fD stakeholder ZUNAR with the 2011 "Courage to Fight Censorship" award

fD participates in VI. Festival Against Censorship - November 7-11

'Cultures of Resistance' - Artists on Art and Activism

Iranian actress, Marzieh Vafamehr, sentenced to 90 lashes and one year in jail

fD participates in Creative Time's 'Living as Form' exhibition - Friday, September 30 @ Essex Street Market

Hadi al-Medhi, Iraqi journalist and theater director, killed on September 8

Ai Weiwei released; colleagues still detained

Fund Creative Resistance!

Freeing Belarus through Theatre {World Policy Blog #4}

Chaw ei Thein Fights Burma's Junta with Performance and Paintings {World Policy Blog #3}

Issa Nyaphaga - The Art of Exile {World Policy Blog #2}

Abazar Hamid - Supporting Culture in the Face of Injustice {World Policy Blog #1}

fD partners with networks to archive Mobility Stories