Malak Amidan is a Saharawi human rights activist and trade unionist and will share her experiences of life in her homeland where the Saharawi people have lived under Moroccan occupation for 37 years.
This will be the first time a Saharawi living in the occupied zones of Western Sahara visits Australia.

Melbourne 30 April – 6 May Canberra 7 – 10 May

Sydney 11 – 18 May

Malak will call for Australia to support:

-  The right of the Saharawi people to determine their own future through a free and fair UN referendum

-  The inclusion of human rights monitoring in the mandate of the UN mission in Western Sahara (MINURSO)

To interview Malak or for more information contact:
Ron Guy 0428 173 970 (Melb) and Lesley Osborne 0439 363 010 (Syd) or visit www.awsa.org.au 

 

Melbourne Museum
Until 7 October 2012
Did you come and see Tutankhamun last year? Perhaps you popped into Titanic? Or maybe you visited A Day in Pompeii?

Well, today we’re opening our next big exhibition, The Wonders of Ancient Mesopotamia, which features over 170 extraordinary archaeological treasures from the world renowned British Museum.

In developing this exhibition the team rediscovered the intriguing story of Mesopotamia – its extraordinary role in the development of human civilisation, its discoveries and inventions that shaped our modern world.

Did you know that the watch you are wearing, the written word you typed earlier, the laws you abide by and even the superheroes you aspire to, all had beginnings in ancient Mesopotamia?

We’re proud to be finally sharing Mesopotamia’s forgotten wonders with you and we hope you enjoy the exhibition!

Brett Dunlop
Manager, Melbourne Museum

P.S. You can buy tickets online or find out more at museumvictoria.com.au/mesopotamia

The Human Rights Arts & Film Festival

AN AFRICAN ELECTION

MELBOURNE
Saturday, 26 May 2012, 3:00 pm
ACMI Cinemas,Federation Square, Russell Ct  Melbourne VIC 3000 (03) 8663 2200

Australian Premiere

Jarreth Merz / USA/Ghana/Switzerland / 2010 / Doc. / 89 min / English and Akan with English subtitles

Sundance Film Festival 2011
International Documentary Festival Amsterdam 2010
Best Documentary, Pan African Film & Arts Festival

‘In the uncertain aftermath of the ‘Arab spring’, there is no more heartening message’ -Los Angeles Times

In 2008, Ghana held its fifth presidential election since democracy was reintroduced in 1992.  With sparks of violence and accusations of corruption tainting past elections, the eyes of the world turned to see if Ghana could sustain its experiment in democracy.  Given unprecedented access from campaign to ballot box, Merz invites audiences into this frenzied political race.  An African Election unwinds with the terse pacing of a political thriller, revealing the human frailty, spirit and faith that fuel the political machine.

http://anafricanelection.com/

THE HUMAN RIGHTS ARTS & FILM FESTIVAL

LAUNCHES FULL PROGRAM

 FESTIVAL OPENS WITH PAUL SIMON DOCO UNDER THE AFRICAN SKIES

15 – 27 May 2012

MELBOURNE, 16 April 2012 – The fifth Human Rights Arts and Film Festival (HRAFF) will open on Tuesday 15 May with the highly anticipated documentary Under African Skies by award winning filmmaker Joe Berlinger.

Twenty-five years have passed since Paul Simon broke a UN cultural ban and entered South Africa to make the album Graceland. The album would go on to be a global phenomenon, salvaging his career while also polarising audiences. To mark this anniversary, Simon returns to South Africa to reunite with the Graceland musicians, and clear the air with his greatest critic, Artists Against Apartheid founder Dali Tambo. Under African Skies pays homage to this time.

Tuesday, 15 May 2012, 6:30 pm
The Forum Theatre

Opening Night After Party at ACMI, The Cube following screening. Includes drinks, food and music by JABULA!

Joe Berlinger / USA / 2012 / Doc. / 102 min
Sundance Film Festival, 2012
SXSW, 2012

Thanks to Intrepid Travel everyone that purchases a ticket to Opening Night will go in to the running for a $5000 Asian holiday. Winner to be announced on the night.

Twenty-five years have passed since Paul Simon broke a UN cultural ban and entered South Africa to make the album Graceland. The album would go on to be a global phenomenon, salvaging his career while also polarising audiences.  To mark this anniversary, Simon returns to South Africa to reunite with the Graceland musicians, and clear the air with his greatest critic, Artists Against Apartheid founder Dali Tambo. Under African Skies pays homage to Simon’s genius whilst exposing his fragile naiveté. Raising pertinent questions about the role of art in politics and the complex power relations between those who are free and those who are not, the film attempts to answer the enduring question, was Graceland a blessing or a curse for the anti-apartheid movement?  From the director of Metallica: Some Kind of Monster and with an all star-cast, HRAFF is proud to present Under African Skies.

HRAFF Director Matthew Benetti said, “Fusing creative expression with human rights content through our program of films, art, music and forums, we hope to inform, fascinate and initiate debate. This year’s film program offers some incredible stories, including a president fighting for his nation’s existence and a legendary musician’s personal confrontation with his questionable past.”

ADELAIDE
Tuesday, 29 May 2012, 7:00 pm
Mercury Cinema, 13 Morphett Street  Adelaide SA 5000, (08)8410 0979

ALICE SPRINGS
Friday, 8 June 2012, 7:00 pm
Pop Cinema – Olive Pink Botanical Gardens

For more visit hraff.org

 

Christopher Rimmer – Spirits Speak – Without Pier Gallery, 417 Hampton Street, Hampton, Victoria. 15 – 30 June, 2012. (tra

Melbourne based, South African photographer, Christopher Rimmer traversed the length and breadth of his former homeland and returns with a stunning body of 30 detailed photographic works that intimately depict majestic wildlife and proud indigenous peoples.

The starkly beautiful landscape, the pride of the cattle herding Himba, Herero and Zimba people, and the stunning and diverse wildlife – lions, elephants, giraffes and zebras – are brought to life in Rimmer’s striking, large scale, monochrome prints. They provide an intimate insight into southern Africa’s soul and demonstrate why he was recently short-listed for British magazine B&W Photographer of the Year.

The exhibitions are visual documentation of the world Rimmer experienced in the African bush during his return to his former homeland in 2009.

Read Africanoz’s interview with Christopher Rimmer

April/May (Autumn Issue) 2011

 

 

By: Sean Bateman

 

Australian nurse and midwife, Val Browning, has always lived a life less ordinary.
After moving to Northern Ethiopia three decades ago, Val married into a nomadic pastoralist community in the remote region of the Afar Desert, and has since spent her lifetime dedicated to improving the health and literacy of the Afar people, in conditions most of us would consider unliveable.

On 50 degree days in the blistering heat, Val walks across the desert to deliver mobile health clinics, vaccination programs and child and maternal health services, as part of her work with the Afar Pastoralist Development Association (APDA).

Despite battling with the pressures of extreme isolation, poverty, famine and misunderstood traditional cultural practices, Val has made significant improvements to literacy levels and improved service provision to the estimated one in ten women who die every year in the Afar region as a result of pregnancy or birth related complications.

Val will be visiting Australia from the 16 April 2012 as part of Anglicord’s The Road Less Travelled project, which is supported by the Australia Africa Community Engagement Scheme (AACES) – an AusAID initiative. The project is aimed at supporting marginalised communities in Africa, to improve child and maternal health, food security, and water and sanitation levels.

Val will be joined by Florence Nderitu, a Kenyan nurse and midwife, and manager of the Mothers’ Union which provides safer birthing practices and improved child and maternal health outcomes in the Maasai communities of Naibor and Samburu. Florence has also spent many years providing support to individuals and communities afflicted by HIV/AIDS, and is Project Coordinator for the Kenyan arm of The Road Less Travelled project.

You will have the opportunity to hear their stories as they appear at a number of speaking engagements and media interviews during their stay in Australia.

Conversations with the Archbishop – ‘Is overseas aid worth it?’ Val Browning joins Dr Jonathan Crawford from Manna Gum in conversation with the Anglican Archbishop Phillip Freier. BMW Edge, Federation Square, Wed 18th April 2012, 7.30am -9.30am(free entry)

Make Poverty History: The road to 2015 – Photo exhibition launch and panel discussion
St.John’s Toorak, 80-86 Clendon Road, Toorak, Mon 23 April 2012, 5.30 pm -7.30pm
(RSVP on AVI website)

Life Matters ABC Radio National – Interview with Florence Nderitu, Thu 19 April 2012, 9.00am

3ZZZ Radio Women’s Hour – Interview with Florence Nderitu, Thu 26 April 2012, 10.00am

Florence and Val will also be taking part in speaking engagements at the Monash Medical Centre and Australian Volunteers International (AVI).

For further information on the road less travelled project in the Afar Desert region and the Maasai and Samburu communities in Kenya West, see our blog the ‘Road Less Travelled. www.aroadlesstravelled.net/blog

For more information on the Australian Volunteers International www.australianvolunteers.com

For all other information or interview requests please contact:
Fran Noonan, AVI Communications Coordinator
Phone: (03) 9279 1805
Mob: 0432 362 962
Email: fnoonan{at}australianvolunteers.com

The Rough Guide To Psychedelic Africa

Various

Rough Guide, RGNET1270, 2012

Far-out psychedelic-sounding rock mixed with a thick dollop of deep funk and soul was massively popular during the 1960s and 1970s in Africa. This Rough Guide features some hand-picked gems from the archive such as Victor Uwaifo and Balla Et Ses Balladins, and includes tracks by unstoppable psychedelic veterans Ebo Taylor and Orchestre Poly-Rythmo, who are still releasing top-quality mind-bending grooves today.

The Rough Guide To African Roots Revival

Various

Rough Guide, RGNET1269, 2012

This Rough Guide spotlights the front-runners of an explosive revival of African roots music. Listen to world-class artists, such as Staff Benda Bilili and the Bedouin Jerry Can Band, mix it up by infusing traditional sounds with the ultra modern, and by using ingenious homemade instruments, many of which are built from junk-yard materials. These are the sweet sounds of a movement which has not simply preserved, but truly reinvented musical genres with outstanding results.   http://www.worldmusic.net

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image presents First Look:

Mama Africa Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 May 2012

The Black Power Mix Tape 1967-1975 Thursday 3 to Wednesday 9 May 2012

Come Back, Africa Thursday 10 to Sunday 13 May 2012

As part of its First Look program, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) presents three films that explore the fight against racism through the efforts of celebrities and non-celebrities alike. From Mika Kaurismäki comes Mama Africa (3-6 May), a biopic about African singer and activist Miriam Makeba; from Göran Hugo Olsson comes the Sundance Film Festival hit, The Black Power Mix Tape 1967-1975 (3-9 May); and from Lionel Rogosin, a classic film about Apartheid in Come Back, Africa (10-13 May).

A tribute to the first lady of South African song, Mama Africa (2011) is the life story of Miriam Makeba, who rose to stardom in the dance halls of Sophiatown. Discovered by American filmmaker, Lionel Rogosin, she appeared in his award-winning film, Come Back, Africa, but was banned from returning to her homeland as a result of the film’s political content. Exiled to America, she collaborated with Harry Belafonte and became an overnight pop sensation, but never strayed far from politics.

Speaking about her lifelong struggle for racial equality, Makeba famously said: “I don’t sing politics, I merely speak the truth.” Mika Kaurismäki’s biopic triumphantly mirrors the power and electricity of this extraordinary woman, showcasing Makeba’s immense musical talent, while also providing context for her influence over cultural and political events throughout the 1950s and 60s.

From 1967 to 1975, a crew of Swedish filmmakers went searching for the real America, and found a nation at war with itself and its values. When director Göran Hugo Olsson discovered this footage 30 years later in the cellar of a Swedish television station, he commenced the painstaking task of assembling this footage to create a fascinating account of the times in The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 (2011).

Steering clear of the watered-down ‘pop’ take on the Black Power movement, the film includes long-form interviews with Black Panther activists Angela Davis and Stokely Carmichael (Miriam Makeba’s ex-husband) cut against news reports and fresh perspectives from a range of subjects including Harry Belafonte, Erykah Badu, and Talib Kweli. Bringing the clarity of an outsiders’ perspective to this inspired time capsule format, The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 is a ideal companion piece to Agnes Varda’s classic observational documentary, Black Panthers, and was awarded the World Cinema Documentary Editing Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Described by Martin Scorcese as “a heroic film,” Come Back, Africa (1959) tells the story of Zachariah who leaves his village to work in a series of low paid jobs in the city. Confronted by torment and derision at every turn, he looks for solace down at the illegal speakeasy in Sophiatown.

Directed by Lionel Rogosin after the success of his Oscar©-nominated film On the Bowery, Come Back, Africa stands as one of the most defiant cinematic statements on racial politics. Shot under clandestine conditions after Rogosin told the South African authorities he was filming a musical travelogue that would help drive tourism, the film was a damning depiction of life under Apartheid, and was subsequently banned in South Africa. The film also features a guest appearance by Miriam Makeba, which helped launch her international music career.

 The First Look season of Mama Africa screens 3 to 6 May at ACMI in Melbourne alongside The Black Power Mixtape 1967- 1975 from 3 to 9 May, followed by Come Back, Africa from 10 to 13 May. For program information please visit acmi.net.au

Dobet Gnahoré stands at the frontline of West African music as a complete artist – singer,
dancer, percussionist and songwriter. She merges African roots with the European influence
of her French guitarist, partner and co-writer Colin Laroche de Féline, capturing a rare
power in the delivery and purpose of her songs.

Performances:
SATURDAY 3/3/2012
3:00pm – 4:00pm
Stage 2 – ST2

www.womadelaide.com.au