The real thing

Speaking hands, hearing eyes

I had no plans for doing something special for christmas. December is non-profit fundraising month because it’s do-gooder time. That’s not Houtlust style. Every day of the year is do-gooder day.
But I just received this video from Schattensprache®. Silent night, holy night in sign-language.
That’s a good one for Christmas.

State of emergency

Nice artwork for État d’Urgence, a festival held in Montréal, Canada.
État d’Urgence is an interdisciplinary “manifestival” with and for street people organized since 1998 by the Action Terroriste Socialement Acceptable, or ATSA. The 2006 edition has as its themes nomadism, promiscuity, and the scar seen as a promise of rebuilding.

Hikikomori

From the website of Francesco Jodice: The film explores some aspects of japanese young peolple social behaviours.
Feeling of unease and lack of communication lead to different kind of reaction (skaters; harajuku-kids) or no-action (Otaku; Hikikomori) or annihilation (suicide pact).

Ordinary is special enough

On the night of September the 20th 2006 a sign appeared on a building in the center of Viterbo, an ancient city in central Italy, not far from Rome. Apparently put by the City Council it has already caused quite a stir. The sign is in fact an art piece by controversial artist duo Eva and Franco Mattes (aka 0100101110101101.org). Looking as official as any other street sign, it reads:

Opera Alzheimer: a brain opera

Poster © Frits van Hartingsveldt

In the Netherlands a new opera had it’s first night last week: ’Opera Alzheimer, a tragi-comic brainopera‘.
I haven’t seen it yet but I have heard some pieces and a interview with Bert Keizer, the writer of the libretto.
The opera is about the fate of people with alzheimer but also the sorrow of the family and friends.
Bert Keizer told that many spectators of the opera get very emotional, most of them where crying. Well I admit, me too. My father had alzheimer in the last twelve years of his life.

Fort Asperen Ark: Flood warning

From the Fort Asperen Ark website: “The ice cap is melting, sea levels are rising and American experts have advised the business community against investing in Dutch companies because this low-lying country (the Netherlands) will be flooded within eight years.”
These are the words of English director Peter Greenaway, who wonders whether the Netherlands should build arks to ensure its survival. Peter Greenaway and his team are transforming Fort Asperen into Mount Ararat, the high and safe Biblical landing place of Noah’s Ark during the Flood.

Urban forest project

The Urban Forest Project brings 185 banners created by the world’s most celebrated designers, artists, photographers and illustrators to New York’s Times Square. Each banner uses the form of the tree, or a metaphor for the tree, to make a powerful visual statement. Together they create a forest of thought-provoking images at one of the world’s busiest, most energetic, and emphatically urban intersections. 

Tribal rights

For a Yanomani, her land is much more than the soil she treads.
Help us to prevent her from being evicted from her land at www.survival.es.

These ads, which you have to enlarge for a better view, are from Survival.
Survival is the only international organisation supporting tribal peoples worldwide. It was founded in 1969 after an article by Norman Lewis in the UK’s Sunday Times highlighted the massacres, land thefts and genocide taking place in Brazilian Amazonia. Like many modern atrocities, the racist oppression of Brazil’s Indians took place in the name of ‘economic growth’. 

Comedy makes everything better

I said it here before, making a blog like this isn’t always fun seeing all the terrible things in life.
I’m glad I found these ads for the World of Comedy Film Festival (WCFF) held in Toronto, Canada in the second week of march this year. The festival is being presented by The Humour Group (THG), an independent not-for-profit organization in Toronto.

Open Caucus

Thomas Jockin sent in this interesting artwork. He is working for the nonprofit organisation ACP (Active Citizen Project). Their mission is to have the voices of the underrepresented heard by the larger public and public leaders held accountable by those voices.

Wailing

This ad makes me smile.
Ad is for Centro da Cultura Judaica, Brazil.
Agency Dentsu

Afro Reggae

Great print from the Brazilian collective Afro Reggae.

The Afro Reggae Cultural Group (GCAR) was initiated in January 1993 with a newspaper called the Afro Reggae News – whose objective was to create a means to diffuse information aimed at valorizing and spreading black culture, specifically for youth connected to rhythms such as reggae, soul, hip hop, etc.

In 1993 they inaugurated their first Culture Community Center in the favela of Vigário Geral, which began to develop their social projects aiming to have a direct intervention with the Afro-Brazilian population. Soon after, this same center was consolidated through its first programs that included; dance, percussion, recycling, soccer and capoeira, which later opened the door to new commissions.

Since the beginning and until the present day the objective that defined their institutional mission was clear: To offer a cultural and artistic formation for the youth living in the favelas (shantytowns/ slums) as a means for them to create their own citizenship and have access to alternatives to narco-trafficking and menial jobs, and to furthermore transform themselves and empower other youths along the way.

With the passing of time, the projects began to be perfected, an institution began to grow, and results began to appear. In 1997, Afro Reggae inaugurated the Afro Reggae Cultural Center Vigário Legal, which was an important step in their history. With a physically well-structured space in their community, the work could be developed with bettor quality and planning. In this process this initiative became an attributing socio-cultural practice in the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Visit the Afro Reggae website for more information, video’s and music.

Some photo’s of Afro Reggae at Flickr made by Tatiana Cardeal.

Centre per a la pau

Great artwork for the Centre per a la pau, a cultural project of the Red Cross department of Catalunya, Spain.
The artwork is made by Eider Suso. See his small but beautiful portfolio.

Hurricane poster project

A group of American graphic designers organize a project to sell posters in order to collect funds dedicated to Katrina for the Red Cross.
Graphic designers encouraged to use this medium to comment on the political or social climate which surrounded the event and the slow political reaction.
You can purchase the posters online at the dedicated website.
(via)