VI INTERNATIONAL ART ENCOUNTERS IN THE WESTERN SAHARA October 20th – November 3rd 2012 Sahrawi Refugee Camps of Tindouf (Algeria) CALL OF PROJECT
The Western Sahara conflict is rooted in the failed process of decolonization of this territory. In 1975 Spain, the colonial power until then, yielded to the expansionist interests of the neighboring countries of Western Sahara delivering the territory to Morocco and Mauritania despite successive United Nations resolutions that recognized the right to self-determination for the people of this African country. This led to the outbreak of an armed conflict between the Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front) and the states of Morocco and Mauritania (the latter retired from the conflict in 1979).
Guidelines ARTifariti 2012 VI International Art Encounters in the Western Sahara October 20th – November 3rd 2012 Sahrawi Refugee Camps of Tindouf (Algeria)
www.artifariti.org artifariti.blogspot.com info@artifariti.org MORE INFORMATION: manawesa.org www.sahara-libre.com westernsahararesourcecenter.blogspot.de digitalshrines.com/Tifariti.html hollycampws.tumblr.com whats-cooking.sahara-libre.com saharasevilla.org/index.php?go=txt_english.php www.statehoodandfreedom.org/en
Since 1991, a cease-fire gave way to successive peace plans sponsored by the UN and the African Union. They have failed to implement the agreements and have lengthened over 35 years the suffering of the Saharawi people, that lives divided on either side of the two thousand mile Moroccan wall, which is also the world’s largest continuous minefield. The wall -invisible to the world as this conflict is, traverses the Saharan territory from the north to the Atlantic coast, forcing the separation of families and individuals. Towards the coast, the Sahrawi population living in their territory under Moroccan occupation and suffering the persistent violations of their human rights (repression, rape, torture, arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances, summary trials...), marginalization and the plundering of their natural resources. On the other hand, in the refugee camps in Tindouf, in the unhospitable desert of the Algerian Hammada, some 200.000 Sahrawi live on international aid. ARTIFARITI takes place in the second half October in the Tindouf camps, where international artists create socially concious art projects. ARTifariti is a working context in which ar tistic practices play a provocative, reflective and transformative role. The focus is the Sahara conflict, but from here expands into other territories, questioning any situation where individual and collective human rights are violated.
The central axis of this project is the existence of a 2,700 km wall, seeded by three million mines, that divides in two Western Sahara, the last colony in Africa, and splits the Sahrawi population between occupation and exile since 35 years ago. This encounter is organized by the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic麓s (SADR) Ministry of Culture and the Association of Friendship with the Sahrawi People in Seville (Asociaci贸n de Amistad con el Pueblo Saharaui de Sevilla AAPSS). ARTifariti is an appointment with artistic practices as a tool to vindicate Human Rights; the right of the people to their land, their culture, their roots and their freedom. It is an annual encounter of public art to reflect on creation, politics and society, and a point of contact for artists interested in the capacity of art to question and transform reality. ARTifariti also aims to promote intercultural relations, fomenting the interchange of experiences and skills between local artists and artists from other parts of the world in order to contribute to the international widespread coverage of the Sahrawi reality. It provides a reflection point from the world of Art and Culture through direct knowledge and promotes the development of the Saharawi people through their Cultural Heritage.
UP: Sahara Libre Wear, Music Workshop by Pililli and Radici Solidali HOME: Repasos by Viviana Silva (ARTifariti 2011) BACK: Performance about Gdeim Izik by Algerian students (ARTifariti 2011) PAGE 2 (FROM LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM): "Tales of sand, ash and wind" by Adolfo Serra and Iratxe L贸pez, "Dinar of the Sahrawi People" by Mel Chin, "Together in suffering, unite for freedom" by Kimiko Nonomura, Saharawi women telling stories, Mural by Sidali Mebarki, Henna work by Dahba Mohamed, Workshop "Faces" of Bettina Semmer, "Et si..." by Joe Okitawonya, Sahara Libre Wear (ARTifariti 2011)
This Edition is curated by Isidro L贸pez-Aparicio. His deep knowledge of the project, alongside with his broad experience in International Cooperation and Peace and Conflict Research, allows him to clearly and responsibly propose a trans-disciplinary space with the intention of helping to redefine and provide useful resources that conform spaces where the Saharawi people find ways of expressing and manifesting themselves; bearing in mind the specificities of the context, putting ourselves to their service and giving greater opportunity from the respect and compromise to the participative sphere where people talk and generate themselves. In this respect this edition has significant variables compared to other years, such us the fact that this edition is will be developed in the Refugee Camps, where the exiled Saharawi population lives and therefore, allowing a more social and less scenic approach. It will encourage moving away from romantic approaches and, from a standpoint of implication and commitment, perform with efficiency a project which is complex, active and challenging, as it is needed by the severe situation of the Saharawi people. It's crucial the participation in the curatorial work of Walid Aidoud, Mohamed Baecha, Lebsen Lebsir, Pensart, Karin Sergoua and Emilia Telese. 1. The object of this call is the selection of artistic projects within the activities to be carried out in ARTfariti. They will be conducted between the 20th of October and the 3rd of November in the Saharawi Refugee Camps, activating from the contemporary art, the natural, cultural, social and geopolitical reality of its people.
This artistic encounter has unique characteristics. An specific context that implies having approach, different from the ones that we might be used to. It is developed in an area of conflict and therefore a maximum efficiency in the project is needed in other to become a useful tool in the defence of Human Rights and the fight for self determination of the Saharawi people, and not just a mere place of encounter. This call is framed within a multidirectional and interdisciplinary structure conceived to deal with integrate… many spaces of creation and circulation, working on different levels: An international encounter of university students, actions (theoretical, formative, spreading info), seminars on art and culture of peace, lab on communication technologies, educational workshops, politics and legality… African artist that joint the encounter from Algiers, parallel calls, presentations on the encounter, and the Saharawi people´s involvement, organization, development and production/ execution all the time throughout the project… It is a space to listen, reflect, unite energies… in a horizontal structure where the main protagonist is the Saharawi society who imbricate and imbued of their life (in the Refugee Camps as in the Liberated and Occupied Zones) those who arrive to their culture… This encounter has been open to a wide number of well know artists with the possibility to participate generating a “cross-funding” of united good will in this necessary commitment. This helps to decentralize and open up to the fullest this encounter in order to enrich the social network that structures it. Being aware that only the social pressure with the political recognition and the international law will allow to exit the “status quo” and move towards the Saharawi self determination, we cannot ignore the injustices and the violations of Human Rights in this conflict, neither the social, political and economical consequences that diminish the dignity and freedom of the individuals. This encounter starts from the recognition of the situation in order to create new dynamics, processes and tools that generate the maximum pressure, involvement and demand on a social, political and juridical spheres. We start from the need to create spaces for expression and giving public voice to the Saharawi people, spaces to question the situation of oppression and to release them from the isolation, impacting on the western world aiming to influence the political and juristic decisions. Art can act as a mediator that interacts between the actors and the interests in the conflict, allowing us to understand the relations between peace and violence, between imperfect peace and structural violence. The urgency that the situation demands make us be generous in the forms, projects and processes in order to give back the freedom to the Saharawi people.
2. This is an international call. Artists from any nationality, whether individual or collective, are eligible to apply. Collectives have to appoint one representative who will travel to the Refugee Camps to execute the work. 3. The call for projects or artistic processes is open for proposals of every artistic discipline, although its execution will be subject to the conditions of the context. In this respect it can be highlighted that the Refugee Camps are situated in the middle of the desert and have a subsistence economy. The place that we will be hosted (27 f, Saba'a wa-Ishrin) is the only Camp that has a basic access to electricity, allowing televisions, satellite connexion, using computing and digital material, mobile signal, local radio and TV station… There are also very basic services of taxis and buses, alongside with simple grocery shops, electronics, mechanical garages and a bit of everything. In the wilayas there are also clinics and schools. Almost 40 years of isolation in the Refugee Camps have lead the Saharawi people to generate services for survival, demonstrating their capacities of organization for self-determination. As native recourses we can find materials such as: sand, mud bricks, limestone, dry logs, animal bones, recycled materials, construction steel, constructions blocs, fabrics from the jaimas, tinted melfas, war remnants, etc. And immaterial resources such as the ones that conform the Saharawi Cultural Heritage, political situation, linguistic sphere, their historical memories... There can be also proposals that do not involve specific manufactures or previously made produced processes or transported with the limitations of size and the safety they entail. 4. Selection Criteria: The ideal project will be the one that liberate the Saharawi people from the exile in the Refugee Camps. In the meantime, any proposal that helps giving voice to them, bringing limelight of actuality and helps releasing them from their isolation through the art will be welcome. Therefore, the projects will be valued on: - Their relevance to the conceptual focus of this encounter, contemplating point 1 of the Guidelines and the context where they are develop. - Its artistic and technical viability, taking into account the social, geographical and economical reality of the Saharawi people. - The artistic quality of the project. - The artist or collective professional background (not only specific to the arts but also in social and involvement collaborations, abilities of problem solving, adaptation and social abilities) that justifies their capacity to bring the project forward. - Their midfulness of the culture, expressions, conducts, forms... of the Saharawi people in the private and public life.
- Their potential permanent nature that contribute to the enrichment of the Saharawi People´s culture and to increase their hope. - Their commitment to the study of the Saharawi situation in the historical, social, cultural, political and juridical context … - Suggest proposals that involve both sides of the wall. In the Occupied Territories or the Liberated, in the exterior or the interior exile. - Their involvement with collectives of other contexts unconnected to the Saharawi people in previous or later works. - Their manifestation of continuity and future commitment with the Saharawi cause. - Their dissemination and visibility with a wide media repercussion and political efficient impact for the resolution of the conflict. - Their recognition of Western Sahara in international networks. 5. A jury formed by professionals from the art world will select a total of tree projects based on the criteria of the call’s Guideline. The names of the members of the jury will be published in ARTifariti´s Blog (www. artifariti.blogspot.com) one month before the selection of the projects. 6. The Ministry of Culture of SADR and AAPSS, organisers of the Encounter, will supply the materials and necessary tools for the development of the projects. The flights to the Refugee Camps from Madrid, internal transport, artist lodging and subsistence during the duration of the encounter will be provided by the organization. Invitation letters can be provided to the artists who need to find other support for financing their trips to Madrid from their place of residence. References of this external sponsorships can be included in the catalogue of the encounters as individual collaborators of the given artist. 7. Artworks will become part of the Cultural Patrimony of the Saharawi People and artists will transfer the property rights of their work to the
Ministry of Culture of SADR, as well as the publication and reproduction rights in any kind of media (guided by the Creative Commons Recognition - Non Comertial/by-nc). These cessions with the aim of contributing to the spirit and reasons that govern the present call, are formalized with the acceptance of the Guidelines. In the case that the execution of the work obligatorily demands some process of finishing after the conclusion of ARTifariti, their authors commit themselves to deliver it fully completed within a month at the AAPSS offices, in order to be transported to form part of the Saharawi Cultural Patrimony. 8. The development and content of the Encounters, as well as the artworks executed, will be shown through mass media and through the printing of a specific catalogue. For their elaboration, the selected artists commit themselves to transfer to the organization within the maximum term of a month, their reflection on their creative experience and their work in a text (one page maximum), as well as other graphic documentation materials related to their creation (including photographs, web pages or actions through the net). 9. Touring exhibitions will be organized, inside and outside Saharawi territories in order to maximise the spread of the Encounter and therefore, artists will allow the recording and documentation of the creative processes and all the activities that take place during the encounter. 10. Artists who will later develop presentations, exhibitions, catalogues or another printed or audio-visual material, as well as actions or any works derived from the artworks selected and developed in these encounter, will include the logo and mention specifically (in the different artistic distribution and promotion means) that the work was carried
out for ARTifariti and, being transferred to the Ministry of Culture of the SADR, as part of the Cultural Patrimony of the Saharawi People; In the same way the shall notify the AAPSS and deliver such material in order to make it part to the virtual and physical sites of the project. 11. Presentation of works: Artists who wish to participate in the VI Edition of ARTifariti must present a Project that includes the following documentation: - Author’s name, address, phone number, e-mail and curriculum (max. 2.000 characters). - Title and illustrated description of the project (max. 4.000 characters) - Relation of the technical, material and assembly needs, including the work’s dimensions (if so) and estimated budget. - Press and catalogue dossiers, if the artist considers it would aid the evaluation of his/her work and endorsement of the project proposal. Projects should be send in PDF format to info@artifariti. org (preferably in a single document that includes all) or by mail to the following address (notifying it by email): ARTifariti 2012 Asociación de Amistad con el Pueblo Saharaui de Sevilla (AAPSS) Calle Virgen de la Antigua, 4 – Bajo Derecha. 41011 Sevilla - España 12. Deadline for proposals: All proposals should reach not later than 01st of July 2012. The verdict of the jury will be public from 15th of July 2011. The organization will then make contact with the selected artists with the purpose of completing the details of their participation according to the previously specified Guidelines. Artists will carry out their works in the Refugee Camps during the days established for the Encounter, outdoors or in spaces equipped for their creative work. Artists participating in this call thereby agree with the rules and conditions set above. LEFT: Collective work of Saharawi artist (ARTifariti 2011) SAHARA LIBRE WEAR ARTifariti 2011
PROGRAM Day 20th Oct. 11h. Meet at Barajas Airport Flight Madrid- Argel- Tindouf Arrival to the Refugee Camps of Tindouf Day 21st Oct. Morning: First contact with the host Saharawi family and the space Afternoon: Welcoming encounter (Reception of cultural authorities, conference about ARTifariti: International Encounters of Art and Human Rights of Sahara, projections and concert of Saharawi music Day 22nd Oct. Meeting between students, organization and invited artists. Presentation of the program, criteria and division in working groups Days 23rd to 30th Oct. Contac with the reality that the Saharawi people lives (both in the refugge camps and in the occupied territories) through Documentary Workshops. Workshops will be developed in the morning or afternoon, depeding on the timetable of the Saharawi institutions. During these days the creation processes and projects will be
carried out Programmed Workshops and Actions: - Workshop to reflect about the Artistic Practices and Human Rights - Workshop about the Saharawi Women (visit to the Women´s School and the National Union of Saharawi Women-UNMS. Work with a women group - Workshop about the Saharawi Infancy (work in the schools with Saharawi Children) - Workshop about the project “The Unknowns: Portraits of Disappeared Saharawis” and conference about the violation on Human Rights in the Occupied Territories (Work with the Association of Imprisoned and Disappeared Saharawis AFAPREDESA - Workshop about the Mines/Wall: Weapons of Occupation (Work with the centre of Landmine Victims “Mártir El Sherif”, with experts in landmine deactivation from Landmine Action, military logistics and groups of youth that work against the wall…) - Workshop with the Saharawi Red Cross about the situation of the Refugee Saharawi population Day 31st Oct and 1st Nov. Days for the presentation of the artistic proposals carried out, exhibitions, reflections, sharing and future commitments
Day 2nd Nov. Closing Celebration Free time and trip back to Spain Day 3rd Nov. Arrival to Madrid around 12 h. aprox Note: The structure of the program is subject to the Saharawi conditions and context
Saharawi Water by Terry Berkovich (ARTifariti 2011) DOWN: "Son of the desert". Rap Workshop by Yslem
WESTERN SAHARA The Western Sahara conflict has its origin in the unfortunate process of decolonization of the territory. In 1975 Spain, the colonial power until then, yielded to the expansionist interests of the neighboring powers giving away the territory to Morocco and Mauritania in spite of successive United Nations resolutions that recognize the right to self�determination for the people of this African country. This caused the outbreak of an armed conflict between the Popular Front for the Saguia el Hamra and Rio de Oro (Polisario Front) and the states of Morocco and Mauritania, the latter retired from the conflict in 1979. Since 1990, a cease�fire gave way to successive peace plans (1991, 1997 and 2003) sponsored by the UN and the African Union, which have failed to implement the agreements and that has taken over three decades (more than 34 years) of suffering of the Saharawi people, that lives divided on both sides of the Moroccan Wall of Shame. On the Saharan side, the Moroccan army has planted a minefield stretching more than two thousand miles along the wall, drawing a death line with six million mines.
Documentation and Historical Advisory: www.lefrig.org
The wall, built with Moroccan posts every few miles, equipped with sophisticated military technology, splits the Sahrawi territory from North to the Atlantic coast, forcing the separation of families and individuals. On one side, the Sahrawi population lives in a territory under occupation, suffering persistent violations of human rights and the plundering of their natural resources. On the other side, about 180,000 refugees live in camps in Tindouf in the Algerian Hamada.
TIFARITI The liberated city of Tifariti (place of major battles and the bombing of the Sahrawi people with napalm and white phosphorus on the same day of enforcement of the UN cease‐fire) is located in the portion of Western Sahara controlled by the Polisario Front. At a short distance from the Moroccan defensive wall, this town has been in recent years the home of demonstrations and initiatives in support of the Saharawi people's rights and Human Rights in the Sahara. Among these initiatives is ARTifariti, a project that uses artistic expression as a way to bring in new voices, images and arguments for the resolution of the conflict. During colonial times, Tifariti was a small town with a Spanish military post, an airstrip and a small residential neighborhood of dome‐shaped houses bearing the name of the construction company, Colominas, as in the neighborhood of the same name in El Aaiún. In addition to be the enclave of the most important events of the SADR, Tifariti has a hospital, a school and the Parliament building is under construction, there is the Solidarity Neighborhood, a dam that can guarantee water supply to a stable population and there is work carried on to improve the orchard. Tifariti is located on a plateau of stony desert, where the Hammada begins inwards, with little vegetation, but beneath the surface there are some natural water deposits. The landscape of the entire region is of great beauty, with a milder climate than elsewhere in the desert, drawn by small hills and rocks of impressive size, shape and beauty. In times of rain, the ground is covered with flowers and truffles. During this season, the tents of nomad sheepherd’s of goats and camels settle around Tifariti. The area has significant archaeological sites, which some
experts have named as the "Saharan Neolithic" because of its unique characteristics. The most famous is the Erqueyez site, about 40 km. away. From caves dug into a cliff above a rocky plateau, the view is breathtaking. In this landscape, looking at the drawings of lions, deer, giraffes... and watching the dry wadi, the taljas, one can imagine a true African savannah. 1884 Beginning of the Spanish colonial presence. 1960 UN Resolution 1514 granting the Saharawi people the right to self‐determination and independence. 1970 Spain abides UN resolutions and initiate the decolonization of the territory. Zemla massacre and disappearance of Basiri at the hands of the Spanish army. 1973 Foundation of the Polisario Front. 1975 Resolution of the Court of The Hague: [...] Western Sahara sovereignty has no ties with Morocco and Mauritania. The right of self determination should be applied [...]. "Green March" and the beginning of the Moroccan military invasion. Signing of the secret Madrid Accords. Exodus of civilians under bombings and establishment of Saharawi refugee camps in Tindouf (Algeria). 1976 The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is founded in Bir Lehlu. The Saharawi Popular Liberation Army, the Mauritanian army and the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces wage war in the territory of Western Sahara until the signing of the cease‐fire in 1991. Humanitarian aid begins to arrive to the camps from various countries such as Algeria, Cuba, Sweden, Libya and Spain. In several Spanish cities occur demonstrations against the occupation of the Sahara. Creation of the first associations of solidarity.
1979 Signing of peace agreement between SADR and Mauritania. Morocco occupies the Río del Oro (southern territories) violating the Madrid Accords. Hard fighting in the desert war. The Peoples Court (formerly "Bertrand Russel") declares in Brussels its support to the right to independence of the Sahrawi after considering its case. First summer holiday camps for Sahrawi children in Spain. Food campaign “Gofio For The Sahara." 1991 Peace Plan approved by the United Nations (Resolution 690‐1991) that begins with the cessation of hostilities, and will end with the announcement of the results of the referendum for self‐determination. 1997 Signing of the Houston Agreements between Morocco and the Polisario Front with the mediation of James Baker. 2005 A new peaceful Intifada starts in the occupied cities of Western Sahara. One of the demonstrators is the Saharawi human rights defender Aminetu Haidar, who is beaten on the street and imprisoned again. 2010 A few months after the hunger strike of Aminetu Haidar, the world witnesses continuing violations of Human Rights in the Sahara occupied by the Moroccan government, through the testimony of Sahrawi victims, photographic and audio reports and the reports of international Human Rights organizations. Still the UN again denies MINURSO (United Nations International Mission for the Western Sahara Referendum for Self‐determination) the competence for the Protection of Human Rights. The Organization of the United Nations still fails to inforce their own resolutions and leaves, once again, the Saharawi people helpless under the occupation and repression of the Moroccan regime.
UP: Smara wilaya (Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ) DOWN: 27 de Febrero wilaya (Sahrawi refugee camps in Tindouf ) Panoramic: Jose Fernรกndez Ruiz CUADERNOS EL LUALI
artifariti.org artifariti.blogspot.com manawesa.org info@artifariti.org Performance about Gdeim Izik of Algerian art students