Verse 2 Converse 2 – Poetry reading by Krisantha Sri Bhaggiyadatta – Toronto April 28/13

An early afternoon of poetry
Krisantha Sri Bhaggiyadatta
11.30 a.m. – 2.30 p.m.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Ellington’s Cafe
805 St. Clair Ave W
(btw. Christie & Oakwood, near Arlington)

Playing on links between
Art and History
Sri Lanka and Canada
The Caribbean
Africa and Asia.

Krisantha will present
from his latest work
‘Transfixion in Twilight’.

His books of poetry include:
‘Cheqpoint in Heaven’ (2005)
‘Aay Wha’ Kinda Indian Arr U? (1997)
‘The 52nd State of Amnesia (1992)
‘The Only Minority is the Bourgeoisie’ (1985), and
‘Domestic Bliss’ (1981).
At this time, he is compiling
‘A Very Personal English History of the World’

Earlier, Krisantha presented his work at Alice Yard in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He has also read in Colombo, Beijing, New York, San Francisco, London, and Toronto. (Never in Vancouver?)

View Krisantha’s poem at Uddari
‘English Wars’ by Krisantha Sri Bhaggiyadatta

Contact Uddari
uddari@live.ca
facebook.com/pages/Uddari-Weblog/333586816691660
@UddariWeblog
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2nd Annual WIN Canada Literary Festival and Dr. Asha Bhargava Memorial Awards – Richmond March 23/13

Writers International Network Canada
The 2nd Annual Literary Festival
Richmond Cultural Centre/Library
7700 Minoru Gate Richmond, BC
Saturday, March 23, 2013
10.00 AM to 4.00 PM
Canada’s Best 2013 Awards & Dr. Asha Bhargava Memorial Awards

For more information call
Ashok Bhargava 604-327-6040, Alan Hill 604-276-4391, Mahendra Kwatra 778-386-2745

The main objective of this event is
to bring together writers of diverse backgrounds and genre
to develop better appreciation and fuller awareness of
the art of creative writing.
And to provide an opportunity to network
socialize and to recognize talent.
WIN also recognizes people who are
community builders and goodwill ambassadors.

Program
• Featured poets and open mic
• Music by Enrico
• Dances:
Bharat Natayam (Arno Komalika)
Kathara Canada (Carlie David, Mutya Macatumpag, Babette Santos, Jade Santos-Gutierrez, Michael Gutierrez, Sacha Levin)
Sampaguita Dancers (Levna Anorico, Helen Villarico, Cleo Tiamzon, Rosalinda Tabag, Aida Bhargava, Celyna Sia Scherst, Ligaya Garcia, Norma Yasay)
• Award Recipients –
Canada’s Best 2013 Distinguished Poets and Writers:
Dennis E. Bolen, Theresa Chevalier, Srinath P. Dwivedi,
Lucia Gorea, Candice James, Surjeet Kalsey,
Bonnie Nish, Ellen Taleon, Valerie B-Taylor
• International Awards:
Dr. Rita Malhotra and Lila Shahani
• Community Ambassadors
Duke Ashrafuzzaman, Jai P. Birdi, Kuldip Jhand, Sharma, Mankajee Shrestha
• Lunch and Refreshments provided
• Entry by donation
• Hosts:
Bernice Lever, Charlene Sayo, Lilija Valis

WIN – Writers International Network Canada is
founded by Ashok Bhargava
to discover, nourish, recognize, celebrate and promote writers and
assist them to connect with other writers.

http://writersinternationalnetwork.wordpress.com/

Ashok Bhargava
bhargava2000@yahoo.com

http://ashokbhargava.wordpress.com/


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Invitation – Multimedia Art Workshop by Young Artists – Chandigarh March 18-25/13

Lalit Kala Akademi
(National Academy of Art)
Regional Centre-Garhi, New Delhi
and
Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi
(State Academy of Art)
cordially invite you to
Multi Media Art-Workshop

Opening on 18 March 2013 – 11.30 am
At the Government Museum & Art Gallery
Sector 10 C, Chandigarh, India
by
Gagan Vij (New Delhi) Mentor
and nine young artists
Chetnaa Verma – New Media (New Delhi)
Manjot Kaur – Panting (Chandigarh)
Manmeet sandhu – Video (New Delhi)
Mansi Verma – Performance (New Delhi)
Nayan Kalita – Printmaking (Chandigarh)
Rajesh Ram – Installation (New Delhi)
Soumen Basu – Ceramics (New Delhi)
Suvajit Samanta – Sculpture (New Delhi)
Vijay Kumar – Digitographic (Chandigarh)

Artists at work 10.00 am to 6.00 pm
18 to 25 March 2013

N M Nawani, Incharge, Regional Centre, Garhi
Diwan Manna, Chairman, Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi
Rajan Shripad Fulari, Concept and Co-ordinator

www.lalitkala.gov.in
www.lalitkalachandigarh.com
chandigarhlka@gmail.com
RSVP: 011 26431849

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‘Bollywood extravaganza TOIFA comes to Vancouver — on the backs of South Asian women’ by Sunera Thobani

‘If the successful women from Canada did not have the time or inclination to mention the rape and murders of Aboriginal women, or the violence experienced by South Asian and other non-indigenous women, including white, in Canada, the speakers from India likewise had nothing to say about the rapes, murders and violence against women in India, especially in Kashmir, Gujarat, Punjab, against Dalit women and even in the capital, Delhi. Instead, the panel of speakers was followed with two fashion shows, one showcasing a BC designer, the other an Indian designer. These fashion shows, featuring models identical in body type, hair and make-up styles, showcased the objectification and sexualization of women’s bodies for which the fashion industry is notorious.’

After much fanfare, and with not a little bit of controversy, the Times of India Film Awards (TOIFA) arrived in Vancouver, British Columbia on Saturday March 2, 2013 with a kickoff event, ‘Celebrating Women.’

The success of the International Indian Film Awards (IIFA) last year in Toronto, Ontario seems to have cemented the link between the Indian film industry and mainstream Canadian politicians, by way of the elites in the Indo-Canadian community. This year Bollywood has been wooed by the governing B.C. Liberal Party inviting TOIFA to the province of British Columbia and putting up $11 million dollars for the pleasure.

Certainly Bollywood has been a staple in South Asian households across the diaspora for generations; today however, Bollywood is catering only to the elites and not to the diasporic community that put it on the map in North America. Now courted by Canadian politicians and Indo-Canadian multicultural elites, Bollywood comes to Canada on its own — highly exclusionary — terms.

‘Celebrating Women’ was organized to coincide with International Women’s Day. I use the word coincide advisedly, not commemorate or celebrate, for nothing about the event was recognizable as having anything to do with IWD. Indeed, the event could more appropriately be characterized as a hijacking of the issues — often life and death ones — which women all around the world, including in India and Canada, associate with IWD. For over a century now, women organize IWD to commemorate and renew their collective struggles for economic, social and political justice.

Tax dollars for Bollywood extravaganza 

First, some background is in order. The B.C. government’s decision to spend millions to bring TOIFA to Vancouver in advance of the upcoming May provincial election sparked off a controversy as soon as the public announcement was made. The Liberals were accused by mainstream commentators of pandering to the South Asian community by wasting precious tax dollars on a Bollywood extravaganza instead of supporting the local film industry.

Supporters of the event, including many from the South Asian community, noted that South Asian Canadians also pay taxes and pointed to the tax dollars that have been squandered in even greater measure on previous mega-events (the Olympics, Expo ’86, etc.). TOIFA, argued its proponents, would bring economic benefits to the province by boosting tourism from India, attracting Bollywood film production, and generating an all around feel good factor towards B.C. among the readership of the powerful Times of India media conglomerate.

Promoting trade and cultural links between Canada and India has been high on the Canadian political agenda — federally and provincially — for some time now, given the rise of India as a socio-economic power to be reckoned with and of Bollywood as a major player in the global media industry.

The neoliberal deregulation of the 1990s opened up the Indian economy to foreign investment to an unprecedented degree in the postcolonial era and the Canadian corporate elite started to pay attention. The rightward shift in Canada during the same decade (from a liberal-welfarist society to an aggressive neo-conservative free trade society) made India, with its burgeoning middle class, a very attractive prospect for Canadian business interests. The enthusiasm for India/Canada partnerships was also fueled by the coming of age of the Indo-Canadian community, well enough established by the end of the 20th century to make major inroads into the economic and political mainstream of the country in which they had long struggled to be accepted as equals. Indeed British Columbia, the site of the landing of the first South Asian migrants to Canada at the turn of the 20th century, has featured prominently in the strengthening of these partnerships.

History of South Asian migration to B.C. 

The first generation of South Asian migrants laid the foundation for such links from ‘below,’ so to speak, as the early community organized its settlement in Canada in conjunction with fighting British rule in India. Taking on the racism of both British imperialism and the Canadian state whose immigration policies sought to prohibit the permanent settlement of what were then classified ‘non-preferred races’ (i.e. ‘Orientals,’ ‘Hindoos’ and Blacks) was central to the social and political vision of these migrants. Maintaining relations with their families and communities back in India was thus vital to their politics, as were the community networks they forged in North America as they strived for economic survival. Their advancement was linked to their struggle to liberate India from colonial domination. Early South Asian women migrants were central to these struggles, for the immigration policies of the day sought to specifically deny them entry into a Canada committed to protecting itself as a white man’s country.

All that was to change rather rapidly with the post-World War II wave of national independence for British colonies, including India, and the liberalization of immigration and citizenship laws in 1970s Canada as the country experienced a labour shortage and could no longer rely on emigration from Europe and the other white settler colonies to meet its needs. India became a leading source of immigrants, and Canadian multiculturalism became the strategy of choice for the integration of South Asians into the Canadian political economy as ‘visible minorities’ and ‘cultural communities.’ By the early 21st century, Statistics Canada reported that ‘visible minorities’ account for 16.2% of the country’s population, with South Asians being the largest group (25 per cent) among them. In a mere century since the first South Asians arrived in British Columbia, they have become the largest non-white racial minority in the country. Given this historical context for the diasporic South Asian community in Canada, what can be made of how TOIFA/Bollywood chose to mark its arrival in B.C.?

Events like TOIFA play a critical role in the transnationalization of Bollywood from ‘above,’ a phenomenon that is a feature of neoliberal globalization. Nevertheless, ‘Celebrating Women’ in Vancouver has a particular ‘national’ location, with a particular ‘national’ specificity to women’s issues. Such ‘national’ considerations were evident in the choice of three women speakers from Canada and three from India — all presented as ‘successful women’ who were invited to share their ‘inspiring stories’ with the largely well heeled sector of the South Asian community in attendance. And the speakers certainly delivered, congratulating themselves on their own successes and sharing with the audience how inspired they were by themselves. Not a word from the speakers about their achievements being built on the collective organizing of the South Asian women who came before them, and the organizations and movements these women had built to fight for women’s rights. More disturbing, not a word either from the panel about the event being located on the lands of Indigenous peoples whose territories were stolen and who are continuing to fight for their sovereignty.

‘Ethnic vote’ scandal 

The B.C. politician on the panel pointedly noted that family and friends are important in helping women get ahead. But she neglected to mention how her right-wing government — headed by a woman premier — is responsible for implementing policies that are increasing the impoverishment of women and their families in the province of British Columbia and actually pushing women back by eroding many of the gains made in previous eras.

Nor did she mention the latest scandal to hit her Party with the leaking of a memo describing how the Party was in essence planning to buy the ‘ethnic’ vote — such as those of the women sitting on the panel with her – in the upcoming election through the funding of events just like this one. A following speaker acknowledged how important it is for women to speak up and then went on to thank men for allowing women to speak. Another explained how she refused to be treated as a princess by her family. Yet another talked about the neuroscience of philanthropy wherein scans apparently show the brain lighting up when one gives to community, cheerily telling the audience that philanthropy can now stand in for anti-depressants! And on and on they went, with all the speakers celebrating their own philanthropic commitments as a form of women’s empowerment, confusing charity with equality and justice for women.

Nothing to say about violence against women

Vancouver is home to some of the oldest and strongest South Asian women’s activist groups and networks in the country. Not one of these was acknowledged in TOIFA’s celebration of its successful women — who have presumably won their successes single-handedly! In a country that has seen the disappearance and murders of over 600 Aboriginal women, an alarming number of them from the streets of Vancouver, not one word was spoken about the status of Aboriginal women in Canada and the urgent need for the South Asian community to stand in solidarity with First Nations women. South Asians in Canada have become complicit in the ongoing colonial dispossession and violence against Indigenous peoples, and many activists in the community are trying to change this by supporting Indigenous struggles for sovereignty.

The only show of solidarity with Indigenous peoples in the entire evening came in the ‘entertainment’ section, with the ensemble Sticks ‘n Skins — featuring First Nations, South Asian, Japanese, African, and Cuban musical styles  – beginning their fabulous performance by acknowledging that the province of B.C. remains unceded Indigenous territory.

If the successful women from Canada did not have the time or inclination to mention the rape and murders of Aboriginal women, or the violence experienced by South Asian and other non-indigenous women, including white, in Canada, the speakers from India likewise had nothing to say about the rapes, murders and violence against women in India, especially in Kashmir, Gujarat, Punjab, against Dalit women and even in the capital, Delhi. Instead, the panel of speakers was followed with two fashion shows, one showcasing a BC designer, the other an Indian designer. These fashion shows, featuring models identical in body type, hair and make-up styles, showcased the objectification and sexualization of women’s bodies for which the fashion industry is notorious.

At any other event, such a performance would have been hard enough to stomach for any woman or man with a commitment to ending the oppression of women. But in the wake of the widespread women’s activism in India against rape, state violence and corruption, and with Aboriginal women in Canada leading the Idle No More movement that has galvanized international support for the struggle for Indigenous sovereignty and opposition against the draconian powers assumed by the Canadian state, TOIFA’s appropriation of IWD was especially galling.

Sunera Thobani is an activist and teaches Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of British Columbia.

From Rabble.ca

http://rabble.ca/news/2013/03/toifa-comes-vancouver-backs-south-asian-women#.UTo9kDacAdA.facebook

uddari@live.ca

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@UddariWeblog
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Indian poet Gulzar pulls out of Karachi Literature Festival

KARACHI: Leading Indian poet Gulzar, who won an Oscar for writing song lyrics for the smash hit movie “Slumdog Millionaire”, has pulled out of the Karachi Literary festival at the last minute, organisers said Wednesday.

Syed Ahmed Shah, one of the organisers of the Karachi Literature Festival, confirmed Gulzar had pulled out – just two days before the start of the event.

“We can’t say about the reasons and circumstances that led to his return home without attending the festival,” Shah told AFP.

Indian officials denied Pakistani media reports that they had advised the poet to return to India.

Vishal Bhardwaj, an Indian director traveling with Gulzar, said there was “nothing political” about the withdrawal.

The 76-year-old was simply “emotionally overwhelmed and stressed” after visiting his birthplace, in Pakistan, for the first time in 70 years, Bhardwaj insisted.

But a Pakistani film director, who met Gulzar during his visit, told AFP on condition of anonymity that he left the country “because of some security concerns”.

Gulzar was scheduled to read from his poetry as well as take part in discussion groups and Shah said his absence would disappoint millions of admirers in Pakistan.

“Pakistan had welcomed him with great warmth and zeal two days ago as he is hugely popular as well in our country,” Shah said.

“His arrival was a great confidence building measure between the two neighbours and had boosted morale of the people living across the border for a better future relationship.”

From The Daily Dawn, Karachi

http://dawn.com/2013/02/13/gulzar-pulls-out-of-karachi-literature-festival/

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Amrita Sher-Gil National Art Week – Chandigarh 18 – 24 Feb/13

Dedicated to Amrita Sher-Gil on her birth centenary year

Chandigarh Lalit Kala Akademi
Cordially invites you to

Amrita Sher-Gil National Art week
A week-long celebration of art
By Artists/critics/writers/historians/curators

Exhibition of
Photographs of Umrao Singh Sher-Gil
and
Re-take of Amrita by Vivan Sundaram

18 to 24 February, 2013

At the Government Museum & Art Gallery, Sector 10 C, Chandigarh

Kindly take your seats 15 minutes before the start of the events
Photography and Phone calls prohibited

Diwan Manna, Chairman

Slide lectures, exhibition, film screening and dialogues
Between artists/critics/historians/writers and curators

18 February 5.30 to 7.30 pm

Making of a Mural and other works: Slide Lecture by Anjolie Ela Menon – Artist
J. Swaminathan: Decades of Transit: Slide Lecture by S Kalidas – Art Commentator/ writer
Dialogue between Anjolie Ela Menon and S Kalidas
Opening of the Photography Exhibition:
Photographs of Umrao Singh Sher-Gil
and Re-take of Amrita by Vivan Sundaram
Exhibition of photographs will be opened on 18th February after the slide presentations
and remain open from 19 to 24 Feb 2013 between 11.30 am and 7.30 pm

19 February 5.30 to 7.30 pm

The Pseudo – Archive: Slide Lecture by Pushpamala N. – Artist
Loving the Arts : Lecture by Ashok Vajpeyi – poet/art critic/writer
Dialogue between Ashok Vajpeyi and Pushpamala N.

20 February 5.30 to 7.30 pm

The Politics of Contemplation: Slide Lecture by Sheba Chhachhi – Artist
At Home With My Maharaja: Entering the Palace-Museum in India: Slide Lecture by Kavita Singh – Art Historian/ curator/editor
Dialogue between Sheba Chhachhi and Kavita Singh

21 February 5.30 to 7.30 pm

Stay politically incorrect forever: Slide Lecture by Mithu Sen – Artist
Skoda Prize : Slide Lecture by Girish Shahane – writer on art, cultural politics and curator/ Director – Art of the Skoda Prize for Indian Contemporary Art
Dialogue Between Mithu Sen and Girish Shahane

22 February 5.30 to 7.30 pm

A Sensualist of the Eye: Slide Lecture by Navina Sundaram- filmmaker and tele-journalist
§ Screening of short film: Amrita Sher-Gil – A Family Album – Directed and written by Navina Sundaram
Go Away Closer: Slide Lecture by Dayanita Singh – Artist

23 February 5.30 to 7.30 pm

The Colour of Doubt: Slide Lecture by Anju Dodiya – Artist
Art and Problems of Representation in Media: Lecture by Sadanand Menon – cultural commentator
Dialogue between Anju Dodiya and Sadanand Menon

24 February seminar in three sessions:
presentations and discussions 10.00 am to 6.00 pm

Session One 10.00 am to 12.30 pm (including 30 minutes for tea)
Altering Perceptions: Contemporary Art in Historic Museums: Slide Lecture by Tasneem Mehta – Director & Managing Trustee, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Mumbai City Museum
§ Center Periphery Constellations: Slide Lecture by Alka Pande – Consultant Arts Advisor and Curator
From Timbuktu to Cincinnati- Works 2012: Slide Lecture by Atul Dodiya – Artist
Discussion: Locating the Self – Other: Moderator – Alka Pande, participants: Tasneem Mehta, Atul Dodiya and Alka Pande

12.30 to 1.30 pm lunch

Session Two 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm

Introduction of the art magazine Take on Art by Bhavna Kakar – Curator and Editor of Take on art magazine
The Body in Indian Art: Slide Lecture by Kishore Singh – Art Commentator
Kiran Nadar Museum of Art: Slide Lecture by Roobina Karode – Director Kiran Nader Museum of Art. New Delhi
Discussion: In search of the body – Moderator – Anju Dodiya, participants: Kishore Singh, Roobina Karode, Anju Dodiya

(3.30 pm to 4.00 pm Tea)

Session Three 4.00 to 6.00 pm
Recent Works: Slide Lecture by Vivan Sundaram – Artist
The Indian Modernists: Slide Lecture by Nanak Ganguly – curator and critic
Discussion: Museum, Biennale, Art Fair – Moderator – Sadanand Menon, participants: Vivan Sundaram, Nanak Ganguly, Sadanand Menon

dedicated to Amrita Sher-Gil on her birth centenary year

diwanmanna@usa.net

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Fauzia Rafique declines Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal

‘It is a great pleasure for me to be recognized for my literary and community development work, and i am grateful to everyone, most especially National Democratic Party MP Jinny Sims, for this wonderful support. Thank you.

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(A new commemorative medal was created to mark the 2012 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada. The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal is a tangible way for Canada to honour Her Majesty for her service to this country. At the same time, it serves to honour significant contributions and achievements by Canadians.)*

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‘At this time, it’s hard to rejoice in the Queen’s diamond jubilee celebrations when the protesting Indigenous Peoples of Canada continue to face indifference on the issues related to land, sustainability and the environment.

‘I must decline this medal to protest the delay afforded by the Monarchy and the Canadian government in attending to the concerns of Canada’s Indigenous communities. My focus is the first of the 13 points presented in January 2013 by Attawapiskat Chief Theresa Spence at the end of her six-week hunger strike. The one point that is central to the rest:

“An immediate meeting between the Crown, the federal and provincial governments, and all First Nations to discuss treaty and non-treaty-related relationships.” (
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/story/2013/01/23/attawapiskat-spence-hunger-strike.html
.)

‘My friend Author/Journalist Gurpreet Singh is ahead of me. View his statement here:

http://uddari.wordpress.com/2013/01/25/gurpreet-singh-refuses-queen-elizabeth-ii-diamond-jubilee-medal-by-charlie-smith/

(Medal description: The obverse depicts a crowned image of the Sovereign, in whose name the medal is bestowed. The reverse marks the sixtieth, or diamond, anniversary of the accession to the Throne of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The anniversary is expressed by the central diamond shape, by the background composed of a pattern of diamonds, and by the two dates. The Royal Cypher consists of the Royal Crown above the letters EIIR (i.e., Elizabeth II Regina, the latter word meaning Queen in Latin). The maple leaves refer to Canada, while the motto VIVAT REGINA means “Long live The Queen!”)
*
http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14019&lan=eng

‘In terms of ornaments, i’ll stick with this one for now.

‘This handmade trinket is based on an age-old design that uses recycled metal, natural colors and wax. It was bought in 2007 for Rupees 15 from a street vendor outside the court/shrine of Gay Punjabi Sufi Poet Bulleh Shah (1680–1757) in Kasur, Pakistan. Through his poems and his life, Bulleh Shah stood firm against religious bigotry and Mughal monarchy as he fought for social justice in the Punjab.’

Fauzia Rafique
February 5, 2013

In recognition of her writings and community work Fauzia was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in January 2013.

Contact Fauzia
gandholi.wordpress.com
frafique@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/fauzia.zohra.rafique

@RafiqueFauzia

uddari@live.ca

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Uddari-Weblog/333586816691660

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Fauzia Rafique gets Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal

Uddari’s Fauzia Rafique has been awarded a medal for outstanding services to the community. The awards are given by Jinny Sims, an MPA of the National Democratic Party (NDP), as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations of Queen Elizabeth 11.

A presentation ceremony will be held at 1:00 on February 10th, 2013 at the All India Banquet Hall at 201-13030 76 Ave, Surrey. 

The ceremony will begin at 1:30 and last for approximately one hour.

More information about this medal:

http://www.gg.ca/document.aspx?id=14019&lan=eng

Contact Jinny Sims
(MP, Newton-North Delta)
p: 604 598-2200
f: 604 598-2212
113-8532 Scott Rd., Surrey, BC, V3W 3N5

Contact Fauzia
frafique@gmail.com
gandholi.wordpress.com
@RafiqueFauzia
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Deanna Bowen: Invisible Empires – Exhibition on Klu klux Klan – Toronto Jan 16/13

Deanna Bowen: Invisible Empires
opening and performance
Wednesday, January 16th at 6:00 pm
@ the Art Gallery of York University

Deanna Bowen: Invisible Empires is a bold exhibition that presents a view on the Ku Klux Klan both during the American Civil Rights Movement era and its century-long history in Canada. Yes, in Canada.

This radical new project stems from Toronto artist Deanna Bowen’s inquiry into her own ancestry of Black pioneers who emigrated from Oklahoma to northern Alberta in the early twentieth century, a crossing mirrored by the Klan themselves. Her autobiographical approach and archival investigations, though, deviate in this exhibition. Documents no longer serve the purpose of memorializing a traumatic past experience by means of an empathetic act of witnessing in the present, working through the traumatic archives of memory. Instead Bowen “crosses the line” into enemy territory by working with an “archive” of Klan material. “Working through” takes on a whole new dimension when the archives that supposedly are memorialized are those of the KKK, and when these documents and scenarios are re-enacted in the present for us to witness, and re-live. Laying it on the line, she in fact creates the KKK’s archive, memorializing it to another purpose and implicating us as spectators. In this endeavor, she, furthermore, “crosses the line” in what is expected or “permitted” of a Black artist by, in effect, reversing her area of concern from Black Studies to White Studies. This pioneering new work painfully breaks open the polarizing positions of racist ideologies embedded in the Klan’s history, as well as the discourses that evolve out of them by placing us squarely at the centre of the debate today: a line to be crossed or a line to be drawn?

The performance: a commissioned performance re-creation of a twenty-minute October 24, 1965, CBC television interview between Calvin Craig, Grand Dragon of the Georgia Realm of the United Klans of America and the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan; his fellow Klansman George Sligh; Civil Rights activist Reverend James Bevel; and This Hour Has Seven Days host Robert Hoyt.

Deanna Bowen: Invisible Empires is produced with the generous financial support of Partners in Art.

The (Performance) Buses Are A’Comin’
Sorry Jim Crow, we’ve drawn the line. There’s no room for your kind on this bus! The Performance Bus departs OCADU (100 McCaul Street) on Wednesday, January 16 at 6 pm sharp, tracing a route through history into the present as Shelly Hamilton, Reena Katz, and Archer Pechawis take you on a ride to and from the opening reception of Deanna Bowen’s exhibition opening at AGYU. The Performance Bus returns downtown at 9 pm. This freedom ride is free.

AGYU Vitrines
Once you’ve crossed the line, there’s no turning back. This iteration of AGYU Vitrines is part of Deanna Bowen’s exhibition and intimately connected to its strategies of presenting KKK material without necessarily revealing a critical context. Here the banners of Klavern Number 10 of Red Bank, New Jersey, with their kitschy symbolism, are reproduced as backlit advertising in the public spaces of York University, beyond the symbolic and critical space of the gallery: perhaps a line that shouldn’t be crossed?

Do you have questions or require further information or images?
Please contact Emelie Chhangur, Assistant Director/Curator, AGYU,
+1.416.736.5169 or emelie@yorku.ca

The Art Gallery of York University is a university-affiliated public non-profit contemporary art gallery supported by York University, The Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the City of Toronto through the Toronto Arts Council and our membership.

The AGYU is located in the Accolade East Building, 4700 Keele Street Toronto. Gallery hours are: Monday to Friday, 10 am–4 pm; Wednesday, 10am–8 pm; Sunday from noon–5 pm; and closed Saturday. Admission to everything is free.

http://www.theAGYUisOutThere.org

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Candle light vigil for Damni/Nirbhaya – Surrey Jan 2/13

Salute to Nirbhaya: The Fearless!

Delhi Gangrape Incident

A candlelight vigil
is being held
to support the ongoing protest in India
against the brutal Delhi Gangrape
that took place
on 16 December 2012 in a bus in Delhi.

Join the vigil
Wednesday, January 2
5:00 pm
Holland Park
13428 Old Yale Road, Surrey

Several associations are expected to join.

Organizers
Sukhjit Dhillon, Kamlesh Ahir, Surjeet Kalsey, Hans, Jarnail Artist, Ajmer Rode

Related content on Uddari
Delhi Bus Gang-rape and Popular Protests
Outrage Spreads in India over Gang Rape

uddari@live.ca
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Welcome 2013!

Uddari wishes
our readers, supporters and contributors
the most wonderfully inspiring, peaceful and content
new year.

Thank you.

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New Year Card From
Sudhanshu Paliwal
Galerie Art Eterne
+91 9910333296

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uddari@live.ca
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Community Supper: Solidarity with Immigrants and Refugees – Vancouver Nov 26/12

Monday November 26, 2012
Doors at 6:00 pm
Grandview Calvary Baptist Church
1803 East 1st Ave (just east of Commercial Drive)
Dinner and Childcare provided.
By donation (no one turned away)

FB RSVP:

https://www.facebook.com/events/375379869211981/

As we all know, the conditions for migrants is rapidly deteriorating, with a number of policies by Minister of Deportation Jason Kenney including mandatory detention, fatal cuts to refugee health care, a moratorium on parent and grandparent sponsorships, the unilateral cancellation of 300,000 immigration applications, making it legal for migrant workers to be paid 15 percent less than the prevailing wage, and
more.

On Monday November 26th, those affected by these policies – such as the Figueroa family who are facing deportation to El Salvador after having resided in Canada for fifteen years and Hamoudi a Palestinian refugee from Gaza – will share their experiences.

This will be followed by several break out discussions including effective responses to these changes and
strengthening alliances across movements, such as the environmental justice and migrant justice movements.

More details can be found here

http://noii-van.resist.ca/?p=5326

Information from
Harsha Walia

https://twitter.com/HarshaWalia


https://www.facebook.com/NoOneIsIllegalNetwork

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uddari@live.ca
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Diwali Mushaira‏ – Surrey Nov 24/12

You are cordially invited
With friends and families
To join us
On a Poetry Evening: Mushaira
Organized by the Naad Foundation & Friends
Urdu and Punjabi Poetry
To celebrate
The beauty of love & peace
The essence of Diwali
The festival of lights

Saturday, November 24
5:30pm
Naad Center for Performing & Visual Arts
Unit 109 – 12414 82nd Avenue
Surrey, BC V3W 3E9

Its a free event and open to public.

Download PDF Poster

For more info, call
Amarjeet 778-883-2627
Or
Gagan 604-725-8700

Information from
Shahzad Nazir Khan
604-613-0735
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uddari@live.ca
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‘The Jolly Trinity’ by Fauzia Rafique

UN declares November 10 the Malala Day
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First, they brought us
our enemies
from Tora Bora
Afghanistan, the allah-crazed
soldiers to bomb our schools
Now, they bring us
our heroes
hijacking
one
courageous face
of our resistance
Hail angelina!
Resurrect madonna!
Wash dirty dollar
into
charitable currency
Drone fire aggression
into
noble democracy
War-lording action
into
exodus of decency
Our young heroes
into
brokering commodity
US-NATO-UN
the jolly trinity

From 

http://gandholi.wordpress.com/2012/11/10/the-jolly-trinity-by-fauzia-rafique/

facebook.com/fauzia.zohra.rafique
@RafiqueFauzia
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Boycott Israel’s The Cameri Theatre at Delhi International Arts Festival 2012

We support the Call to boycott Cameri Theatre in India Nov 4. Uddari

Don’t Let Israeli Apartheid Onstage!
Call to Boycott The Cameri Theatre at the Delhi International Arts Festival 2012

November 2, 2012

http://incacbi.in/call-boycott-cameri-theatre-delhi-international-arts-festival-2012

The organizers of the Delhi International Arts Festival (DIAF) — the Prasiddha Foundation, the Hindustan Times and the Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) — have invited The Cameri Theatre from Israel to perform at Siri Fort on November 4th as part of the Festival’s celebration of “the spirit of Delhi”.

The Cameri Theatre serves as an official propaganda tool for the State of Israel — a state that occupies Palestinian lands and practises apartheid policies on the Palestinian people. The Cameri theatre is complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine because it chooses to perform in the illegal settlement of Ariel. Ariel is one of the largest settlements in the occupied West Bank, located on expropriated agricultural Palestinian land. The construction of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land violates international law, and amounts to a war crime. Illegal Ariel contaminates Palestinian water and agricultural lands. Illegal Ariel is surrounded by walls and fences, and closely guarded by soldiers and armed security personnel. A theatrical performance in this illegal settlement is, by definition, a performance to an exclusively Israeli audience. Palestinians living even in the nearest village are physically excluded from attending. By performing in such circumstances, the Cameri profits from and legitimizes Israel’s illegal colonization policies, and becomes an accomplice to these crimes.

The Cameri often chooses to stage plays that convey “humane” messages to deflect criticism. But it is ready to perform these “humane” plays on stolen land – excluding the people of that stolen land suffering the occupier’s military rule. “Culture” and the “arts” do not operate in a non-political wonderland. The best of artists know this well. Renowned British theatre director Peter Brook, much admired in India as well, cancelled his theatre troupe’s participation at the International Festival for Plays of The Cameri Theatre in December 2012. Brook wrote that The Cameri Theatre’s support of “the brutal action of colonisation by playing in Ariel in the West Bank” led to his decision to decline performing in the Cameri Theatre’s festival.[1]

Many Israeli theatre artists, intellectuals and activists have been working hard to communicate to the world the kind of politics at work behind the “theatre arts” of The Cameri Theatre. Many Israeli actors and artists have, in protest, refused to perform in Ariel. Their boycott has grown to include academic institutions and cultural events. Support has come from highly acclaimed Israeli academics and authors, including Amos Oz and David Grossman. This protest was met by threats and denunciation from the Israeli prime minister and government, the Knesset, and the managers of Israeli theatres themselves, including The Cameri.

By hosting The Cameri Theatre’s performance in Delhi, the DIAF organisers are endorsing The Cameri Theatre’s complicity with Israeli occupation of Palestine and the state’s apartheid policies against Palestinians. Surely DIAF cannot equate The Cameri Theatre’s spirit with either the “spirit of Delhi” or the “spirit” of Indian citizens of conscience?

We condemn this plan to woo Israel and promote links between Indian and Israel by compromising cultural practitioners as well as citizens of conscience in both India and Israel. We have to make it clear to the State of Israel and institutions supported by it that Israel cannot be admitted into the global cultural arena as long as it does not recognize the Palestinian people’s right to freedom, equality and justice. At a time when the international movement to isolate Israel is gaining ground in response to the escalation of Israel’s colonial and racist policies, we should not showcase India in Israel or welcome groups such as The Cameri Theatre to India.

Israel’s apartheid policies cannot be whitewashed with “culture”, “art” or “festivals”.

We call upon all members of the theatre, film and arts world in India and the academic community to join us in protesting against these attempts. We appeal to all Indian citizens of conscience to boycott the Cameri Theatre’s performance in Delhi on November 4th.

Signatories:
Shyam Benegal (Film maker, Former Rajya Sabha Member)

Saeed Mirza (Film-maker)

Arundhati Roy (Writer)

Sadanand Menon (Arts editor, curator and writer)

Sanjna Kapoor (Theatre person)

Samik Bandyopadhayay (Theatre, art and film critic)

Maya Rao (Theatre person)

M.K. Raina (Theatre person)

N. K. Sharma (Theatre person)

Moloyashree Hashmi (Theatre person)

Rustom Bharucha (Theater person)

Sudhanva Deshpande (Theatre person)

Pralayan S (Theater person, Writer)

Sameera Iyengar (Theatre person)

Aneesh Pradhan (Musician, composer, author)

Bedabrata pain (film-maker and scientist)

Jana Natya Manch (JANAM)

SAHMAT (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust, Delhi)

Prayog (Theatre group, Delhi)

Act One (Theatre group, Delhi)

Kashmir Performance Collective (Theatre group, Kashmir)

Kashmir Bhagat Theater (Theatre group, Kashmir)

For InCACBI (The Indian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel):

N Pushpamala, Convenor (Artist)

Gargi Sen, Convenor (Film-maker)

Githa Hariharan, Convenor (Writer)

Ayesha Kidwai, Convenor (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Mohan Rao, Convenor (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Amar Kanwar (Film-maker)

Anand Patwardhan (Film-maker)

Saba Dewan (Film-maker)

K Satchidanandan (Writer)

Aijaz Ahmad (Literary Critic and Cultural Commentator)

Alok Rai (Literary Critic)

Geeta Kapoor (Art Critic)

Ram Rahman (Artist)

Sheba Chhachhi (Artist)

Vivan Sundaram (Artist)

KN Panikkar (Academic)

Mushirul Hasan (Director, National Archives of India)

Ritu Menon (Publisher)

Achin Vanaik (Delhi University)

Jayati Ghosh (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Kalpana Kannabiran (Hyderabad University)

Nandini Sundar (Delhi University)

Nivedita Menon (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Prabhat Patnaik (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Rajni Palriwala (Delhi University)

Sumit Sarkar (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Lawrence Liang (Alternative Law Forum)

T Jayraman (Tata Institute of Social Studies)

Tanika Sarkar (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Uma Chakravarthy (Delhi University)

Upendra Baxi (Former Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University)

Vina Mazumdar (Former Director Centre for Women’s Development Studies, Delhi)

Zoya Hasan (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Dhruv Sangari (Singer)

Kamal Mitra Chenoy (Jawaharlal Nehru University)

Prabir Purkayastha (Delhi Science Forum)

Gautam Navlakha (Journalist)

Harsh Mander (Activist)

Praful Bidwai (Journalist)

Seema Mustafa (Journalist)

Vrinda Grover (Lawyer)

and 150 others from InCACBI

( www.Incacbi.in ; facebook.com/IndianCACBI ; twitter.com/InCACBI ; InCACBI@gmail.com )
[1] http://refrainplayingisrael.blogspot.com/2012/09/peter-brooks-courageous-support-for.html

uddari@live.ca
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