Friday, November 30, 2012

Video: Artist Ai Weiwei's "Freedom of Speech Message" (Foreign Policy's "Top 100 Global Thinkers") + "The Sand Storm" starring Ai Weiwei + "Art and Cinema for Peace" speech + TED Talk + PBS Frontline doc "Who's Afraid of Ai Wewei?" + "Ai Weiwei The Fake Case"



"THE SAND STORM (沙尘暴) Starring Ai Weiwei and directed by Jason Wishnow. A feature dystopian science fiction film set in the not-too-distant future. It is a low-fi sci-fi short, made in China under the radar, starring the dissident artist Ai Weiwei in his acting debut (playing a smuggler in a world without water); photographed by Christopher Doyle (“In the Mood for Love,” “Chungking Express,” “Hero”, "Rabbit-Proof Fence", "The Quiet American", "Psycho"); written and directed by Jason Wishnow (the filmmaker behind “TED Talks”).
Post-production fund raising campaign on Kickstarter ends May 3rd, 2014.





Ai Weiwei Video: A message from Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, named one of Foreign Policy's Top 100 Global Thinkers. An excerpt of this message was shown at FP's Global Thinkers gala in Washington, DC on Nov. 29, 2012.


2013 Documentary "Ai Weiwei The Fake Case a film by Andreas Johnsen nominated for Best Documnetary


Ai Wei Wei's website including new videos plus NYTimes article on Ai's new 2013 video

"My work in the past few years ... relates to how to find a way to communicate in a very special circumstance" said Ai in a video he made November 29, 2012 exclusively for Global Thinkers gala at the Hirshhorn museum in Washington, which hosted the first ever North American retrospective of his work.


TED TALK about Ai Weiwei with Ai Wei Wei's statement to TED about his artistic work and his detainment in 2011


Ai Weiwei's Video message for Art and Cinema For Peace 
Chinese artist and human rights activist Ai Weiwei's rare video message to the Art & Cinema for Peace event in Basel, Switzerland on June 10th, 2012.


Alison Klayman's documentary "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry"


Music Video: Anish Kapoor and Friend's "Gangnam Style For Freedom - Ai Weiwei" 

Music Video Story: Art world goes Gangnam Style mad in solidarity with Ai Weiwei ~ Anish Kapoor gathers fellow artists to take part in parody video at his south London studio.












Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Article: "World Conservation Congress Strengthens Protection of Sacred Sites"







Full Story link ... In 2012 delegates attending the World Conservation Congress in Jeju, South Korea, voted overwhelmingly to approve a motion aimed at strengthening protection for sacred places. The congress is convened every four years by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and represents governments, NGOs and environmentalists focusing on global issues. Ten thousand people attended this year’s congress.

Video short documentary film "Tears of St Lawrence" a time lapse film by Timedrops Media


click here to watch Video
"The opening scene begins with the milky way, and the Perseids Meteor Shower in full force! We choose the name Tears of St. Lawrence for a particular reason. St. Lawrence was an early Christian deacon, Laurentius, who was tortured to death by the Romans in AD 258, and whose saint’s day of August 10 coincides with the Perseids build up. The main goal of shooting this film was to capture the Meteor’s while showing a beautifully lit night sky. The rest were really bonuses of being in the Garibaldi Range. The entire Film was shot within a 30 km stretch of the sea-to-sky highway starting in Squamish British Columbia, Canada (near Vancouver). The shot that we put the most effort into (the astrolapse over Garibaldi Lake) just happened to be the one night (out of 4) that was cloudy! It was a 8.5 km hike uphill that took about 6 hours with a 75 pound backpack and Dynamic Perception dolly. It was a tough haul to say the least! There was beautiful scenery on the hike and although it was cloudy for the majority of the shot, the ending still made it all worth while! The clouds burnt off at the perfect time to show Jupiter and the crescent moon rising above the mountain range!" - Team Teardrop

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Video short documentary film "Askwali" by explore featuring Lillian Hill, of the Hopi Tribe

Watch "Askwali" a short film documenting Lillian Hill, of the Hopi Tribe, reading a poem that speaks to her forefathers, and is a reflection we can all learn from.

Video short film "All Men Zen Den" by explore

Video short film "Hoop Dance - Zen Den" by explore

Video short film "Sahara Wonderland" ~ a zoomion time lapse film directed by Dennis Stauffer



Watch the short film Sahara Wonderland

"Sahara Wonderland shows a unique place of our planet, the birthplace of humanity. It shows the magic and the loneliness of the location and should convey a feeling for our planet and the environment." - zoomion 


Locations are within the Ahaggar National Park. The Hoggar Mountains, also known as the Ahaggar, are a highland region in central Sahara, or southern Algeria, along the Tropic of Cancer. They are located about 1,500 km south of the capital, Algiers and just west of Tamanghasset.



All Image Credits: Dennis Stauffer zoomion

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Sunday, November 18, 2012

Video TED TALK "A Realistic Vision for World Peace" by Jody William (Nobel Women's Initiative: Women Forging Peace)

Espanol  English     Jody William's TED TALK: A Realistic Vision for World Peace

The Nobel Women's Initiative, based in Ottawa Canada, was established in 2006 by sister Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Shirin Ebadi, Wangari Maathai, Rigoberta Menchú Tum, Betty Williams and Mairead Maguire. The six women -- representing North and South America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa -- decided to bring together their extraordinary experiences in a united effort for peace with justice and equality. Aung San Suu Kyi became an honorary member following her release from house arrest in 2011, and Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkol Karman joined the Initiative in 2012.

The Nobel Peace Prize Women
 “The said interest shall be divided into five equal parts, which shall be apportioned as follows: /- - -/ one part to the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations, the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.” (Excerpt from the will of Alfred Nobel)


Only 15 women in its more than 110 year history have been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize. The Nobel Peace Prize is a great honor, but it is also a great responsibility. It is this sense of responsibility that compelled us to create the Nobel Women's Initiative to help strengthen work being done in support of women's rights around the world - work often carried out in the shadows with little recognition. The Nobel Women’s Initiative uses the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize and of courageous women peace laureates to magnify the power and visibility of women working in countries around the world for peace, justice and equality.

We believe peace is much more than the absence of armed conflict.
Peace is the commitment to equality and justice; a democratic world free of physical, economic, cultural, political, religious, sexual and environmental violence and the constant threat of these forms of violence against women -- indeed against all of humanity.

Advocating For Peace, Justice and Equality.
The Nobel Women’s Initiative uses the prestige of the Nobel Peace Prize and courageous women Peace Laureates to increase the power and visibility of women's groups working globally for peace, justice and equality.

Advocacy Organized Around Three Main Pillars:

1) Women Forging Peace
The inclusion of women in peace making and supporting nonviolence and other alternatives to war and militarism.

2) Women Achieving Justice
Accountability for crimes committed against women and an end to widespread impunity.

3) Women Advancing Equality and Human Rights
Support for human rights defenders, those working for women's equality and those on the frontlines of civil society--including those addressing climate change.


Three Main Strategies of Advocacy:

1) Convening: We bring together key decision makers with women's rights activists. We promote collaboration between diverse women's groups, academics, policy makers and the media. We empower women leaders, and expand global movements for peace, justice and equality.

2) Shaping the Conversation: We articulate a broadly accessible analysis of the impact of conflict, violence and inequity on women. We emphasize solutions proposed by women’s movements. We share a vision of what a nonviolent, just and equal world looks like.

3) Spotlighting and Promoting: We create media and public awareness of the powerful work being done by women's activists and movements—and help bring women's messages to the world.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Video "Power Shift 2012 Talk" by Crystal Lameman (Beaver Lake Cree Nation and Peace River Alberta Tar Sands Campaigner for Indigenous Environmental Network in Alberta Canada)






“It should never be right that you have to decide between your morals, values, who you are as an indigenous person over feeding your family.” Meet Crystal Lameman 

Video "Power Shift 2012 Talk"
Crystal Lameman is a Beaver Lake Cree Nation activist and the Peace River tar sands campaigner for the Indigenous Environmental Network in Alberta. Crystal is committed to restore Indigenous Treaty rights and stopping the exploitation of the tar sands. Crystal is a supporter of R.A.V.E.N. Trust.
DONATE to the legal fund of Beaver Lake Cree Nation versus the Tar Sands



"Forward on Climate Change - Stop Keystone" Washington D.C., USA



Sunday, November 11, 2012

Video and Poster Download "Honor The Treaties"

Gratitude, Honors and Blessings to the Oglala Lakota Nation
FREE Download, Print and Post - Honor the Treaties artwork
(Poster artwork by Shepard Fairey and Ernesto Yerena)
(some posters artwork features Aaron Huey's photography on the Pine Ridge Reservation)

Video short film "Honor the Treaties"  Directed by Eric Becker

Video TED TALK "America's Native Prisoners of War" by Aaron Huey




Native American Oglala Lakota Nation, Pine Ridge Community

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Photography of Matika Wilbur ~ 562 A Photo Project Documenting Native America, and beyond ...

Matika Wilbur website of photo marvels and novels
Wilbur's honest, emotionally complex photographs provide a means of reconciling, reckoning, and continually revising this question. Wilbur's work contends with how Native peoples shape a sense of identity in the face of cultural dualities; how a hybrid sense of identity that honors one's cultural heritage and connects to contemporary, pop culture.

"I constantly question how do I as a young Tribal person fit into society. A society of capitalism, materialism, and stimulus packages ... yet at the same time honor the ways of my ancestors?"


TED Talk 2014: "Changing the way we see Native Americans"

TED Talk 2013: "Surviving Disappearance, Re-Imagining and Humanizing Native Peoples"





Project 562 in The Media
Video of her 2014 Kickstarter fund raising for her new book "Project 562" - A photo project documenting Native America. Phase 2 crowd funding campaign ends Feb 20, 2014.

NBC : Native American Travels Across U.S. Photographing Citizens of Tribal Nations

Seattle's Stranger : Shooting and Capturing: Matika Wilbur's Fierce Fight Against A Hundred Years of Native American Photography

Fusion : You've Never Seen Native America Like This

Indian Country Today : Photographer Matika Wilbur's Three Year, 562 Tribe Adventure










Matika Wilbur is a member of the Tulalip tribe. She was raised on the Swinomish Indian Reservation in Washington State, graduated from LA Conner high school, studied photography at the Rockey Mountain School of Photography in Montana and the Brooks Institute of Photography in California, She has exhibited extensively in region, national, and international venues such as the Royal British Columbian Museum of Fine Arts, the Nantes Museum of Fine Arts in France, the Seattle Art Museum, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, and the Kittredge Gallery at the University of Puget Sound.