Spontaneous Artivizm in Istanbul

From Syrian artist/photographer Khaled Akil's balcony in Istanbul last night.  All of Istanbul flashing their lights and banging pots and pans in solidarity.  To learn more and take action, go to Amnesty International's page on Turkey solidarity and learn what you can do to support the Turkish demand for freedom and democracy.

Akil knows more than most how precarious basic human rights and the freedom of expression are, having fled his beloved home city of Aleppo less than a year ago.  He talks about the pain of leaving his country behind in chaos here. 

Blu vs Drones

" Blu recently finished two murals in Niscemi, Italy, where residents are protesting the US Navy’s installation of communications satellites which will be integral to controlling the next generation of military drones.

The above piece is one of my favorites from Blu in quite a while. The drones slowly transform into crosses at a graveyard, and the multitudes of Niscemi stand up and resist against the military monster. Besides the ethical concerns about drones, residents are also worried about the electromagnetic waves that the communications satellites will emit. Check out the No MUOS website for more information about the protests."   --from Vandalog

Photography Artivizm and Solidarity with Supermax Prisoners.

Melvin Haywood, pictured above, spent eight years in solitary confinement at Tamms supermax until the Prisoner Review Board granted him parole from prison. Though the Department of Corrections held him in isolation for eight years, as a “C#,”one of the 270 Illinois prisoners floating in the system with indeterminate sentences, the notoriously tough parole board determined that he did not need to be in prison at all.

The Daily Beast and Creative Time Reports cover the inspiring story of arts activism and solidarity with supermax prisoners in solitary confinement.   The Tamms supermax prison in Illinois is one of the most notorious in the nation, condemned by Amnesty International for inhumane practices that led to high rates of attempted prisoner suicides and self mutilation.

In response, a group of artists known as the Tamms Poetry Committee came together to educate the public about the atrocities committed there and also to provide the prisoners with human connection and interaction in the form of poems and holiday cards.  One of the artists' initiatives was "photo requests from solitary."  Prisoners on solitary would request photos and professional photographers would then shoot the request and send the photo back.  The gallery of prisoners requests is surprising and poignant.

For “Photo Requests from Solitary” the men in Tamms were invited to request a photograph of anything in the world, real or imagined. The resulting requests were touching and often surprising. They included: the sacred mosque in Mecca, comic book heroes locked in epic battle, Egyptian artifacts, Tamms Year Ten volunteers and a brown and white horse rearing in weather cold enough to see his breath. Willie Sterling III asked for a photograph of a vigil at Bald Knob Cross on top of a hill in southern Illinois to pray for his deliverance from Tamms and to be granted parole. Tamms Year Ten caravanned down to the cross, held a litany of song and prayer and celebrated with a dinner. The next day, we drove family members to visit loved ones at the prison. Sterling was transferred from Tamms, and on July 27, 2012, he was paroled after 36 years in prison. Photo by Rachel Herman, May 6, 2011.

Occupy Billboards

See the beautiful description of this action by the clever folks at the California Department of Corrections.  According to the Just Seeds blog:

Founded in 1994, the CDC is a private correctional facility that protects the public through the secure management, discipline and rehabilitation of California's advertising. The department was initiated by individuals who felt that public correctional facilities were insufficiently managing the state's most criminal elements and that effective care and treatment would improve under the supervision of a private institution. 

For more information on the department’s operations and programs, contact the CDC Office of Communications at cdc@revolutionist.com.

On the Third Anniversary of the Gulf Spill, the Fight is Far from Over.

Human Cost, Tate Britain Performance – First anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico disaster from You and I Films on Vimeo.

Cartagena Street Art

The Afronauts, it's not about Zambia, it's about us.

A few blog posts describing the artivistic aspects of Christia de Middel's highly acclaimed photography book, The Afronauts. : here and here.