peace

Does each gesture really make a difference? Can music and dance be weapons of peace?

In 2003, on the eve of the Iraq war, director Iara Lee embarked on a journey to better understand a world increasingly embroiled in conflict and, as she saw it, heading for self-destruction. After several years, travelling over five continents, Iara encountered growing numbers of people who committed their lives to promoting change. This is their story. From IRAN, where graffiti and rap became tools in fighting government repression, to BURMA, where monks acting in the tradition of Gandhi take on a dictatorship, moving on to BRAZIL, where musicians reach out to slum kids and transform guns into guitars, and ending in PALESTINIAN refugee camps in LEBANON, where photography, music, and film have given a voice to those rarely heard, CULTURES OF RESISTANCE explores how art and creativity can be ammunition in the battle for peace and justice.

Help us welcome the "Peace Pilgrimage for a Nuclear Free Future" as the walkers pass through Troy on their journey from Boston to Albany. Bring a dish and join us for supper at the Missing Street Ministry (across from Freedom Square, corner of 5th and 6th Avenues and 101st Street, a few doors north of The Sanctuary for Independent Media)!

They will walk a total of 300 miles, beginning each day at 8 am and typically walking 15-18 miles per day. The walkers will be spending their night in Troy at the Missing Link Street Ministry.

Nearly two million people around the world have watched the Sanctuary TV production "WikiLeaks' Collateral Murder: U.S. Soldier Ethan McCord's Eyewitness Story," based on the material allegedly released by Pfc Bradley Manning, now imprisoned at Quantico.  Our video also can be seen at the WikiLeaks "Collateral Murder" and Bradley Manning Support Network websites.

What a week!

The Sanctuary for Independent Media, teamed with members of the Hudson Mohawk Indymedia Center collective, has spent the better part of the last 7 days planning, executing, and post-producing media for the United National Peace Conference, a major meetup for the antiwar and progressive communities that took place in Albany from July 23 to 25.

After attending a pretty damn cool panel on the future of Indymedia at last month's Allied Media Conference, we were looking for an excuse to test out a new crowdsourced-media web platform developed by the good folks at IndyPGH for their coverage of the G20 resistance in September 2009. Although we weren't closely involved in the planning of the UNPC's media strategy, a couple of weeks ago we found ourselves essentially in charge in that regard — and we decided to step up to the challenge.

Wow, the Sanctuary has a new and amazing mural! 

Peter Kuper's "Pissed Off Peace Dove," painted by artists Peter Kuper and Miles (seen immediately at completion, in front of our new dove.)

Now we have WW3 energy 365 days of the year...

and a perfect mascot watching over all of the Sanctuary folks hanging in the cafe.

Thanks, Peter, Miles,

and all of the wonderful WW3 artists who visited this weekend!

Reception for Exhibit of Iraqi Refugee Children’s Murals at Albany Public Library Murals painted by Iraqi children and teenagers are currently on exhibit on the second floor of the Albany Public Library through March 27.

The public is invited to a reception at the library for the young artists on Monday, March 23 from 5 to 6 p.m.

In September 2008, young Iraqi refugees recently arrived in the Capital District participated in a one day mural painting workshop with American artist/teacher Claudia Lefko and Iraqi artist Thamir Dawood at the Sanctuary for Independent Media. They created five 36” x 50” murals on canvas depicting their thoughts and feeling about having to leave their beloved home country in a time of war and upheaval. Click here to check out "Don't Forget Us: Iraqi Children," a short video documenting the Sept. 08 mural workshop!

The young Iraqis who painted the murals are part of a community of about 75 Iraqi refugees who have been resettled in the Albany Capital District over the past two years. They come here mostly from Jordan, Syria and Turkey, where they fled to escape the violence of the war in Iraq. There are currently an estimated two million Iraqi refugees living in countries neighboring Iraq in the biggest refugee crisis in recent history.

“How Will They Know Us? Building a Culture of Peace”

Friday, March 27 and Saturday, March 28

Iraqi and American youth shared visions of a peaceful, just coexistence in this mural workshop. Guided by Claudia Lefko, director of the Iraqi Children’s Art Exchange, these murals will be exhibited in Egypt next year for the “UNESCO Decade of Peace and Non-violence Among Children of the World.”

Photo by Tyler Boudreau

“A Conversation About UPSTATE GIRLS”

Thursday, April 2

Teenage girls from throughout the Capital Region shared stories about the challenges in their lives, gathering with representatives of the institutions with which they are entwined—including the legal, educational, healthcare and penal systems—in response to award-winning photojournalist Brenda Ann Kenneally’s compelling work.

Funded in part by Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.