Thursday 1 November 2012

Djamila Bouhired ( b.1935) Revolutionary and Icon.


In memory of the Algerian Revolution, 1st 1953, Djamila Bouhired is a leading Algerian heroine and revolutionary,
She fought in the war of national liberation 1954 -1982, and has worked as a vocal activist in the movement for womens rights in Independent Algeria. She joined the Algerian National Liberation Front ( FLN) while a student activist  to fight for Independence from France. She and other women played a critical role during the battle for Algeria, which began on September 1956. She assisted the FLN leader, Saaadi Yacef, in recruiting young muslims from the capital who could pass as Europeans. Dressed as Frenchwomen she and two other female militants placed concealed bombs in the European sections  of Algeria. Two exploded, causing civilian casualties, her bomb failed to detonate.These actions must be remembered in the context of the daily oppression that theAlgerians recieved at the time. This event and others unleashed the Battle of Algiers, which raged until 1957, when she was arrested, imprisoned and subjected to appalling torture. In July she was sentenced to death by the guillotine after a trial deemed a travesty of justice. However she became a cause celebre  because of international media coverage of the French army's systematic use of torture, and she was eventually released.
She continued to be actively involved in feminist politics, advocating fundamental transformations in the legal, political abnd social status of Algerias women roviding a new generation with a role model of an active anti-colonial fighter.

Further Reading

The Wretched of the Earth - Franz Fanon
(Penguin, 1967)

My Battle of Algiers - Ted Morgan
(Smithosian Books)

Wednesday 31 October 2012

Books are Magic


                                              The wheel has turned, the veil has thinned,
                                              from wood to paper, find ideas to save,
                                              pause in resolution as words reveal,
                                              follow paths already lit, before nights incision roars,
                                              magic hooks, offering garlands of depth,
                                              along the margins, along the cracks, and the edges
                                                                                                     of time,
                                              planting seeds of promise and change,
                                              blessed be........


Happy Samhein/halloween
heddwch/peace

Watch out , watch out!
their are tories about!
  
Look to the FUTURE


Tuesday 30 October 2012

"Not a Dreamland" Artists and Alternative Subcultures in Gaza


http://electronicintifada.net/content/video-images-and-sounds-gazas-vibrant-subculture-not-dreamland/11825

This short, produced by ActiveStills, features both established artists and performers such as hip-hop group Palestinian Unit, unconventional filmmaker brothers Arab and Tarzan, painters from the art collective iltika, break dancers from Camp Breakerz as well as less known youth who experiment with parkour, beat box, break dancing and roller skating. Interview extracts and striking images give context to the conditions under which these artists create, giving vivid insight into a vibrant side of Gaza that is rarely shown.

Monday 29 October 2012

Terry Callier (24/5/45 -28/10/12) Folk Jazz Mystic R.I.P

Amazing following yesterdays post about the death of David S. Ware, have found out today that another legend of the music world has passed away. Terry Callier was an American jazz, soul and folk guitarist, singer and songwriter from Chicago, Illinois, whose music simply defied categorisation. Despite releasing some truly amazing records in the late 60' early 70s he never found stardom, and was largely overlooked. After retiring from music in 1983  he re-emerged in the 90s  , rediscovered  by  his collaborations with the likes of Beth Orton, Massive Attack and later Paul Weller, he became associated with the burgeoning Acid Jazz Scene.
Long have his records given me comfort over the years, his truly beautiful and soulful voice was truly unique, his albums,  The New Folk Sounds of Terry Callier ( 1968)   and   What Color is Love from 1973 I have long believed have been timeless classics.
A truly elevated and conscious man, he sang of  the universal themes of love , truth, and peace, he was given by the United Nations, an award  for his outstanding Contribution for World Peace in 1998.
A true icon of our age,who had sadly  dissapeared from view in recent years. His voice will be sorely missed  but  I will continue to find solace in the the legacy that he has left behind. R.I.P

Terry Callier - What Time is Love?


Terry Callier - Time Peace


Terry Callier - Your going to Miss me Candyman


Terry Callier and Massive Attack - Live with me





Terry Callier - Brotherly Love





Sunday 28 October 2012

Autumn leaves - David S. Ware ( 7/11/49 -18/10/12) R.I.P



Found out only yesterday that David S. Ware, powerful jazz sazophonist had passed away, recently in a hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, after a long illness, at the age of 62. He was influenced by many of the greats, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler , Roland Kirk and Pharoah Sanders. He went on to develop his own voice, taking a transcendent approach to music, in a spiritual quest , that celebrated the universe of sound. His use of free improvisation took him far away from the jazz mainstream whilst maintaining a tonal breath of much clarity. Finding his own inner vision and language, he leaves behind a solid shelf of great music. He will be missed by fans and musicians alike.

Here is a link to his obituary in the Guardian Newspaper
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/oct/24/david-s-ware

Autumn Leaves - David S. Ware




David S.Ware- Peace Celestial





David S.Ware - Astral Earth






David S. Ware Quartet - Aquarian Sound




Here is a link to a short film about him  made by the David Lynch Foundation

A World of Sound

http://dlf.tv/2011/david-s-ware/



Saturday 27 October 2012

Now then, Now then.


If truth be told, not all bogey men wear masks,
watching the news, it's become apparent,
that there have been demons, who have lived among us,
who have been concealed, because of compliance, lies and denial.
Who in the not so distant past, caroused in dark corridors of power,
basked in limelights glare,sheltered by royalty, primeministers, the B.B.C,
now routinely condemned, by people pure as white.
It seems, there is no glory in the past,ugly skeletons, hidden in dark closets,
the hollow presence of yesterday,that stalked our streets,
where cobwebs grew in crawling terror,the air filled now with the weight of anger.
Fury reveals the harshest truth,deceit buried in conceit,
the guilty name, fixed forever in frozen emptiness.
Nothing of value remains, long may their be disdain,
and his vacuous memory, be always linked with scum.

Friday 26 October 2012

Gaza/Blaenannnerch




I am  looking forward to this new show, which is coming to my home town soon, after  playing at the Millenium Centre, London, Aberystwyth and Caernarfon. Exploring issues that are very close to my heart. Up the road from me lies the village of Blaenannerch, which is situated 3 miles from the coastal village of Aberporth on the West Wales Heritage Coastline. Formerly situated here was RAF Station Aberporth, which up until 1990 was used as a missile range that stretched out for some miles into Cardigan Bay. Since the RAF left, the camp at Blaennanerch ( now rebranded as ParcAberporth, and owned by the Welsh Assembly Government) has been used as an operational test and evaluation centre for unmanned aerial vehicles - otherwise known as drones.
My local Amnesty International group, along with Peace activists and many locals have consistently campaigned against the drones based up the road from me, condemning Drones as  for being  used as remote-controlled killing machines, that break international and humanitarian laws that foster a video game mentality in warfare, that we see as immoral and unethical. The constant noise emitted from the drones is said to be unbearable..
In what will undoubtedly be a powerful and thought provoking dance theatre, Gaza/Blaennanaerch   acclaimed contemporary dance  artist Eddie Ladd and theatre director Judith Roberts,  have used the drones at Aberporth/Blaennaerch,  as a starting point and their work looks at the links between Wales, Israel and Palestine, unearthing a series of little known connections between the two. Many of the drones, which are tested at ParcAberporth, that fly over the village of Blaennannerch, are designed in Israel and designed in conjunction with Israeli Aerospace Industries.This performance will explore the complexities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict  from a fresh perspective, whilst also tackling Wales's struggle with nationality and identity. Eddie Ladd herself is local to this area, having herself been bought up on a farm near Blaennanaerch.
The musical backdrop will be provided by Philip Glass's haunting String Quartet No 5,  performed by The Smith Quartet, who have been at the forefront of the world's contemporary music scene for over 20 years.

at Small World Theatre Cardigan/Aberteifi
31 Oct & 1 Nov
For booking and more infomation

http://www.whatevertheweatherwales.co.uk/en/events/Gaza-Blaenannerch.html

Theatre Byd Bychan
Small World Theatre
Tel No
01239615952

Links to earlier posts that touch on this subject

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/no-to-drones-at-aberporth-or-anywhere.html

http://teifidancer-teifidancer.blogspot.co.uk/2009/11/parc-aberporth-links-with-israel.html

Yesterday U.N Independent expert has called for boycott of businesses profiteering from Israeli Settlements, Elbit Systems company involved in ParcAberprth is one of the companies named.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43376&Cr=palestin&Cr1=

Sunday 21 October 2012

Exile ( After visiting Londinium )



City full of lost things
the gutter full of stars
nothing thrown away
imagination ploughed,
draws magnets on wild winds
beyond every headline
and mornings spin
trains take people
on journeys of discovery
some will never see.

All forms here
all divisions
stillness lingers
somewhere out of reach
old is the echoe
a prism with no ending
used people, some shut out
forever,between the dark places
and the streets paved with pain.

Lovers reach out
exhale,float on dreams
in a city built,on millions of breaths
the air seems to run faster
here in the heart of a city
running on filters of memory and survival.
the evening sleeps with its eyes open
gilded mirrors showing us the long distance home.