art students
II INTERNATIONAL meeting with
sahrawi refugees
October 20th – November 3rd 2012 Sahrawi Refugee Camps of Tindouf (Algeria)
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). 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 artistic 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.
APPLICATION FEE 975 EUR Includes transportation from Madrid (Spain) – Tindouf (Algiers), insurance and visa, internal transportation, application, formative workshops, diploma, accommodation and meals APPLICATION DEADLINE Until July 31st INFORMATION info@artifariti.org movilizacion@saharasevilla.org Tf. 0034 954 282 205
II INTERNATIONAL ART STUDENTS MEETING WITH SAHRAWI REFUGEES October 20th – November 3rd 2012 Sahrawi Refugee Camps of Tindouf (Algeria)
The Sahrawi refugee camps located in the Algerian town of Tindouf will host a laboratory of knowledge and experience on Artistic Practices and Human Rights for art students worldwide. The aim of this international meeting is to reflect on the role of art as a tool for social transformation, focusing in the specific case of the Saharawi conflict: the forced exile and occupation. ARTIFARITI is a space to activate art practice as a tool to demand human rights, the right of individuals and peoples to their land, their culture, their roots and their freedom. It is an annual gathering of public art which reflect on creation, politics and society, and it is a forum for artists interested in art’s capacity to challenge and transform reality. ARTIFARITI also aims to promote multiculturalism, fostering the exchange of experiences between local and foreign artists, contributing to the international awareness of Saharawi reality, leading to a reflection from the world of art and culture through direct knowledge, and enhance the development of the people through their cultural heritage. Students will participate in a training program in which art is applied as a critical and useful tool to different social problems, and they may carry out collective creative projects and collaborations with the international guest artists in ARTIFARITI. Upon completion they will receive a diploma from the University of Western Sahara.
PROGRAM October 20th: 10 am. Meeting at Barajas Airport, Madrid Madrid – Algiers – Tindouf flight Arrival at the refugee camps October 21st: Morning: Making contact with the host Sahrawi family and workspace. Evening: Welcome Meeting (reception with the cultural authorities, presentation of ARTifariti: International Meeting of Art and Human Rights in Western Sahara. Video presentation and Sahrawi music concert). October 22nd: Meeting between students, organization and guest artists. Presentation of the program, criteria and formation of working groups. October 23rd to 30th: The student group will make contact with the reality of the Saharawi people in the refugee camps as well as in the occupied territories, through Documentary Workshops. The workshops will be held either in the morning or the afternoon, according to the schedule of the Sahrawi institutions. Every two workshops will have a teaching award of one ECTS credit. The rest of the day the students are encouraged to reflect and work in groups to carry out a collective art proposal of free format and language, that will be presented at the closing of the program. (Each student must take in your suitcase, from your country of origin,
materials and equipment deemed necessary for their work). Throughout this period the students that team with the guest artists will be actively involved in their creative project. Workshops and activities: - Workshop of reflection on artistic practices and Human Rights - Workshop of Sahrawi Women (Visit to the Women’s School and the National Union of Sahrawi Women-UNMS. Work with a women’s group) - Workshop of Sahrawi Children (Work in primary schools with Sahrawi children) - Workshop on the project The Unknown: Portraits of Disappeared Sahrawi and conference on human rights violation in the occupied territories (Work with the Association of Relatives of Sahrawi Prisoners and Disappeared-AFAPREDESA) - Workshop Landmines / Wall: Weapons of Occupation (Work with the Center for Victims of Landmines “Martyr El Sheriff”, with experts in landmine clearing from the NGO Landmine Action, military logisticians and youth groups against the Moroccan Wall) - Workshop Sahrawi Red Crescent-MLRS on the status of Saharawi refugee population October 31st and November 1st: Presentation of art projects, exhibitions and collective dialogue November 2nd: Finissage Party Free day and trip back to Madrid
information
info@artifariti.org movilizacion@saharasevilla.org
more information artifariti.blogspot.com