42º 17' 05,25'' N | 2º 17' 57,17'' E | ELEV. 1015m
NY,NY
joan duran / 10 november 2010
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katie usher / 22 october 2014
www.imagefactorybelize.com
www.bzeyuc.com
www.MID51.com
www.duaapaapa.com
www.katienumi.com
www.five-o-one-artprojects.com
www.yassermusa.com
www.bzeyuc.com
www.MID51.com
www.duaapaapa.com
www.katienumi.com
www.five-o-one-artprojects.com
www.yassermusa.com
yasser musa / 11 july 2014
HON. WILFRED PETER ELRINGTON
ATTORNEY GENERAL and MINISTER of FOREIGN AFFAIRS of BELIZE
5 AUGUST 2014
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMES TO THE AID OF HIS WANTED BROTHER
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMES TO THE AID OF HIS WANTED BROTHER
The fugitive status of Errol Elrington has come under much scrutiny lately. The doctor is wanted in the US for racketeering and medical fraud. He is accused of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid almost half a million US dollars. And he ran to Belize just ahead of an arrest warrant. Now if he was a normal Belizean we’d probably be reporting his arrest by local authorities at the behest of the US. But he’s the brother of Wilfred Elrington, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Attorney General. News Five previously interviewed the doctor’s other brother, attorney Hubert Elrington. He made it clear that the family will stand together. And so they are – in fact so much so that Minister of Foreign Affairs Wilfred Elrington has openly attacked the US – lambasting their judicial system and going so far as to claim that the highest powers in the US have been known to fabricate things.
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when the system, the government, the society has just let everything fester in attics and back rooms and collect dust. the buildup in our cultural veins has created BAFFU.
that is to say, that we are beyond a cultural state of emergency, so far gone, that we decided to BAFFU, try to hit the spinning top, maybe we catch, maybe we miss, but at least we'll try.
that is to say, that we are beyond a cultural state of emergency, so far gone, that we decided to BAFFU, try to hit the spinning top, maybe we catch, maybe we miss, but at least we'll try.
not everyone will respond well to this clot, but what can a stroke do, an aneurism, a cardiac attack if we are already moribund? already numb?
katie usher / 11 july 2014
Les biblioteques catalanes són un motor cultural del territori. I són el motor de la cultura d’ara, oberta, internacional i plural. És per això que el fet de donar difusió a una proposta com LANDINGS ens pertoca i ens ajuda a obrir la mirada al pensament, l’art contemporani, la poesia o la fotografia treballada des de on ells anomenen la ZONA dels HURACANS – Yucatán, Amèrica Central i el Carib.
LANDINGS vol ajudar a remoure consciències i treballa des d’una base col·laborativa i jove. Els seus llibres es despleguen a moltes biblioteques catalanes i contribueixen a expandir mirades.
Seguirem atents a les propostes de l’equip de joves creadors capitanejat per el infatigable artista Joan Duran mentre agraïm la seva aposta i confiança en les biblioteques públiques.
CARME FENOLL CLARABUCH
CAP DEL SERVEI DE BIBLIOTEQUES / GENERALITAT DE CATALUNYA / BARCELONA juliol 2014
biblioteques.gencat.cat
Seguirem atents a les propostes de l’equip de joves creadors capitanejat per el infatigable artista Joan Duran mentre agraïm la seva aposta i confiança en les biblioteques públiques.
CARME FENOLL CLARABUCH
CAP DEL SERVEI DE BIBLIOTEQUES / GENERALITAT DE CATALUNYA / BARCELONA juliol 2014
biblioteques.gencat.cat
BIBLIOTECA L'ESCORXADOR / SANT CELONI
| ZONA DELS HURACANS.pdf |
...bueno, joan, qué te puedo decir —que no sepas ya— sobre MID y el extraño clima cultural que aquí se vive en medio del calor y el mestizaje. mestizaje no sólo étnico sino perversamente político y económico que ahora le rinde tributo a los coletazos del capitalismo tardío que nos llega de EEUU como el...
de spielberg. no tenemos una identidad propia, lo que nos venden las instituciones es una versión a todo color y paisajista sobre los mayas, la supuesta tranquilidad de los meridanos y el menú altamente calórico de la comida yucateca. pero si dejas todo eso a un lado, si ves a fondo, si te sumerges en el alcantarillado de la vida local, te das cuenta que toda esa POSTAL es una impostura. biombo chino desfasado de lo que realmente HAY = violencia doméstica, sometimiento de la mujer autóctona, prostitución, alcoholismo, drogas y suicidio. claro, no es privativo de MID, forma parte de un proceso de descomposición institucional en todos los niveles: la sociedad, la familia, la educación, el gobierno, la salud y, por supuesto, la CULTURA de MEX.
viernes 27 de junio de 2014 entro a la sucursal del centro de editorial DANTE y veo el remate de un libro de poesía que me publicó hace ya más de 10 años. ¿cuál es el sentido de seguir escribiendo poesía? objetivamente no tiene ninguna importancia dentro de un contexto de absoluto desinterés por la experiencia estética profunda, por lo que tú llamas vitamina espiritual. lo mismo que las cajas de leche deslactosada, tenemos arte sin lactosa, completamente inofensivo, que muy difícilmente satisface nuestras necesidades intelectuales/espirituales más profundas. todo se vuelve decorado o venta de garaje.
una política cultural que pervierte todo lo que toca es como una especie de esquizofrénico rey midas [MIDAS fue un rey de FRIGIA –hoy parte de TURQUÍA– que gobernó desde 740 AC a 696 AC y según la mitología griega, todo lo que tocaba se convertía en oro]
una política cultural que pervierte todo lo que toca es como una especie de esquizofrénico rey midas [MIDAS fue un rey de FRIGIA –hoy parte de TURQUÍA– que gobernó desde 740 AC a 696 AC y según la mitología griega, todo lo que tocaba se convertía en oro]
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óleo de SANDRO BOTTICELLI basado en una obra perdida del pintor APELES del siglo IV AC donde MIDAS juzga a un hombre
¿desde cuándo el arte se volvió una mercancía y el artista un mercader árabe en la ruta de la seda?
óleo de SANDRO BOTTICELLI basado en una obra perdida del pintor APELES del siglo IV AC donde MIDAS juzga a un hombre
¿desde cuándo el arte se volvió una mercancía y el artista un mercader árabe en la ruta de la seda?
¿quieres hacer literatura? pues necesitas un camello. y mucha agua para los tiempos difíciles. y, si acaso, unas cuantas bolas de excremento para prender por las noches una fogata. en medio del desierto, no hay oasis. obviamente, tantas dificultades no son más que estímulos para continuar escribiendo.
mi supuesta locura y enfermedad mental sólo es una forma de sacudir el status quo. con los collages que hago desde hace años y cierta predilección por todo lo que se sale de la norma, quizá estaba reaccionando de forma saludable a la represión de un medio que te da con una mano lo que te quita con la otra. si hablas de tranquilidad en MID, el lado opuesto es una inquietante violencia generalizada. si hablas de difusión cultural y levantas una piedra, verás que hay alacranes aguardando el momento para lanzar su veneno. si nos referimos a los méritos literarios, te queda siempre la sensación de que las letras yucatecas no tienen ninguna repercusión real fuera de la comarca. somos unos cangrejos en una cubeta roja intentando jalar hacia abajo al que intenta salir de ella. el arte de boicotear en el poder.
en la ciudad de méxico también hay mafias, y muchas. pequeños grupos con grandes intereses, constelaciones insanas de escritores-planetas y escritores-satélites que siguen una órbita enloquecida por ver quién rota más rápido. fui al DF por salud mental, porque MID ya se estaba volviendo una carga demasiado pesada desde un punto de vista creativo, intelectual, social, de ideas. regresé porque el DF es aún peor, los vagabundos que cagan en los puentes peatonales y las personas que los ignoran son parte del mismo fenómeno. y en todo momento me replanteaba si vale o no vale la pena continuar escribiendo y lanzando botellas al mar entre la basura que ya existe. la respuesta es NO, no vale la pena. luego me respondía que SÍ, porque se trata de un esfuerzo de locos estimulante precisamente por su dificultad. es un esfuerzo inútil, y se acabó. la poesía es un acto de fe y muchas de las cosas importantes lo son.
el siguiente paso: [es quizás] trabajar la literatura integralmente. problema: los escritores no hacen interdisciplina, escriben desde su torre de marfil como si fueran borges [jorge luis BORGES, escritor, nace en 1899 en buenos aires, argentina y fallece en 1986 en ginebra, suiza] → → → → → → → → → → → → → → →
sin darse cuenta que la poesía o la literatura o la estética están en la calle. y la gente moldea el lenguaje a su manera. primero está el habla popular, y luego la RAE
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sin darse cuenta que la poesía o la literatura o la estética están en la calle. y la gente moldea el lenguaje a su manera. primero está el habla popular, y luego la RAE
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viene a explicarte que no se dice hijueputa, sino hijo de puta, pero que antes cervantes [miguel de CERVANTES saavedra, escritor, nace en 1547 en alcalá de henares, españa y fallece en 1616 en madrid, españa] decía hideputa, pero todas esas evoluciones y perversiones y vómitos del lenguaje vinieron del pueblo.
← óleo atribuido a JUAN DE JÁUREGUI c.1600
o deberían reflejar lo que está ocurriendo en la calle, y por eso la literatura no puede ser un ejercicio de autosuperación individual, sino una forma de hacer TEAM con la gente.
y de paso, soltar algunos dardos venenosos, pero con buena puntería.
christian nuñez / 1 july 2014
y de paso, soltar algunos dardos venenosos, pero con buena puntería.
christian nuñez / 1 july 2014
For the past few months I’ve been interacting with a bunch of baffuists, young artists on a spectacular journey of self-discovery.
At their first meeting in April it was clear to me that this group was filled with things never before revealed in the arts in BELIZE. They are scuba divers, poets, drummers, dreamers, ranters, organizers and much more.
Earlier this week they stormed the BLISS with a show called BRAINWASH. Many of them told me the show went well except for a woman who spoke a pile of officialdom shit about them not taking their responsibility as artists seriously.
But becoming BAFFU is a state of mind still in flux, still unfolding, still developing. At this first instance I see three leaders BRIHEDA HAYLOCK the organizer and logistics master, KYRAAN THE ASSASSIN GABOUREL the soft spoken guru of spoken words and reason and KATE USHER an unapologetic grenade without a pin.
I see the birth of BAFFU in March 2011 with the conceptual exhibition EL FLECO + VIXENS, BITCHES AND WHORES by KATE USHER where she lay bare her young life for all to read as a DNA composite of her daily hot mess meltdown on the Facebook. She boldly told the media then:
we are seriously misunderstood women. why am i black with my hair perm and she is white and she has dreads and i have these kanye west shades on? these shades are like four years old; this was 2007 we’re now in 2011. why am i still there, why are we still stuck in to the past, why must we still paint? i know people will come here and say oh katie, you do art; i want see your painting gial. i do not paint. i am so sorry. in fact, no i don’t apologize, i take it back.
The BAFFU concept grew even bigger one year later in March 2012 with the exhibition SOCIETY KILLED THE TEENAGER by BRIHEDA HAYLOCK + RUHIEL TREJO. Who can forget TREJO’s QUEEN BARROW, perhaps one of the most precise visual art political statements since MUCK FUSA by an unknown artist in 2008. What struck me most about that show was BRIHEDA’s appearance on the OYE morning show where she delivered a soft-spoken truth about her society with such elegant articulation and clarity. She even called the Prime Minister a dick on national TV for good measure.
But it was TREJO’s development of the central idea that this Facebook life is just what the Black Uhuru calls Plastic Smile.
BACK TO BAFFU
At their first meeting in April it was clear to me that this group was filled with things never before revealed in the arts in BELIZE. They are scuba divers, poets, drummers, dreamers, ranters, organizers and much more.
Earlier this week they stormed the BLISS with a show called BRAINWASH. Many of them told me the show went well except for a woman who spoke a pile of officialdom shit about them not taking their responsibility as artists seriously.
But becoming BAFFU is a state of mind still in flux, still unfolding, still developing. At this first instance I see three leaders BRIHEDA HAYLOCK the organizer and logistics master, KYRAAN THE ASSASSIN GABOUREL the soft spoken guru of spoken words and reason and KATE USHER an unapologetic grenade without a pin.
I see the birth of BAFFU in March 2011 with the conceptual exhibition EL FLECO + VIXENS, BITCHES AND WHORES by KATE USHER where she lay bare her young life for all to read as a DNA composite of her daily hot mess meltdown on the Facebook. She boldly told the media then:
we are seriously misunderstood women. why am i black with my hair perm and she is white and she has dreads and i have these kanye west shades on? these shades are like four years old; this was 2007 we’re now in 2011. why am i still there, why are we still stuck in to the past, why must we still paint? i know people will come here and say oh katie, you do art; i want see your painting gial. i do not paint. i am so sorry. in fact, no i don’t apologize, i take it back.
The BAFFU concept grew even bigger one year later in March 2012 with the exhibition SOCIETY KILLED THE TEENAGER by BRIHEDA HAYLOCK + RUHIEL TREJO. Who can forget TREJO’s QUEEN BARROW, perhaps one of the most precise visual art political statements since MUCK FUSA by an unknown artist in 2008. What struck me most about that show was BRIHEDA’s appearance on the OYE morning show where she delivered a soft-spoken truth about her society with such elegant articulation and clarity. She even called the Prime Minister a dick on national TV for good measure.
But it was TREJO’s development of the central idea that this Facebook life is just what the Black Uhuru calls Plastic Smile.
BACK TO BAFFU
young artists and writers. At that meeting they took a group picture all of them giving the bird to the mighty Bliss and its operational indifference across the river.
At 12:01 am on 13 June a 100-page e-magazine, a first of its kind, was sent into the electronic stratosphere. By 10:31 that same morning TULIO CACERES lay dead at the mouth of Pinks Alley. From my kitchen window I could see the crowd assembly around the yellow police tape.
At 11:00 am I convened a meeting with BRIHEDA + GILVANO to discuss the BAFFU opening night. We decided to suspend all operations. We used the word cancel instead of postpone because we acted fast and decisively. The artists and others met at the IMAGE FACTORY after 3:00 pm and decided to push the launch to Saturday 21 June at 4 pm.
BAFFU is born and it is Belize
Earlier this week we had to watch the Prime Minister stumble to explain why he keeps up the farce having his son as Belize’s music Ambassador. Just this week a delegation representing THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE was told by a high-ranking government official to go fuck themselves. Just last week KEEGAN LORD took to the Belize City streets a like-a-lone-wolf to speak up for all artists and musicians and cultural workers.
The BAFFU group operates in a new cultural landscape. Artists, musicians, writers, poets, thinkers and cultural activists must always keep NOHMUL in mind so that we know the psychological space we are in.
To the young baffuists born on the bank of the Haulover, big respect!!
At 12:01 am on 13 June a 100-page e-magazine, a first of its kind, was sent into the electronic stratosphere. By 10:31 that same morning TULIO CACERES lay dead at the mouth of Pinks Alley. From my kitchen window I could see the crowd assembly around the yellow police tape.
At 11:00 am I convened a meeting with BRIHEDA + GILVANO to discuss the BAFFU opening night. We decided to suspend all operations. We used the word cancel instead of postpone because we acted fast and decisively. The artists and others met at the IMAGE FACTORY after 3:00 pm and decided to push the launch to Saturday 21 June at 4 pm.
BAFFU is born and it is Belize
Earlier this week we had to watch the Prime Minister stumble to explain why he keeps up the farce having his son as Belize’s music Ambassador. Just this week a delegation representing THE GARIFUNA COLLECTIVE was told by a high-ranking government official to go fuck themselves. Just last week KEEGAN LORD took to the Belize City streets a like-a-lone-wolf to speak up for all artists and musicians and cultural workers.
The BAFFU group operates in a new cultural landscape. Artists, musicians, writers, poets, thinkers and cultural activists must always keep NOHMUL in mind so that we know the psychological space we are in.
To the young baffuists born on the bank of the Haulover, big respect!!
yasser musa / 14 june 2014
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Después del chat que tuviéramos con Víctor, 2 semanas antes de la primera vuelta electoral, en el cual me comentaba la idea de comerse la papeleta, el cual yo alabé e incité a realizar porque me parecía una idea mordaz y muy acorde a la situación y muy pensada por Vic, que iba con su línea de protesta perenne con al realidad. Desde ese chat, nada es igual, ni para mi, ni para Vic, ni para todo el país. También recuerdo que Vic tenía miedo, lo cual era lógico, porque es el miedo el que hace las cosas más importantes.
En esa ocasión Víctor se hechó para atrás, y yo el dije tampoco pasa nada men. Pero creo que era la selección natural, la misma vida había no bloqueado a Vic sino lo había elegido y le dijo aún no tata. La vida ya sabía que habría segunda vuelta y que era en la segunda vuelta que la acción de Víctor tendría el eco que debería tener.
Para la segunda vuelta todo estaba dicho, yo saqué credenciales en el TSE [Tribunal Supremo Electoral], para poder estar en primera fila para todo lo que fuera a pasar, no solo por lo de Víctor, sino por un proyecto conjunto que tenemos en la mesa con Javier Ramírez. Ese domingo Javier llegó a mi casa, los dos sabíamos y estábamos solo a la espera de que Víctor llamara y dijera OK, démole, yo registraría la acción eso por una cosa, por lo demás no quería perderme el performance del que yo mismo dijera meses atrás sería el Mesías del performance en El Salvador.
Eran las 2 pm de ese domingo, al llegar a la escuela en Tecla [Santa Tecla], Víctor estaba aún dentro de su carro, esperándonos, nervioso, me dejó sus cosas: cartera, celular, llaves de carro, etc., las metí en mi mochila, la frase fue: por si la chota me agarra. Cuando lo pienso siento unos nervios como los que debieron sentir el Che o Fidel, en su afán en su momento, a mi no me molestaría si Víctor iba preso, porque era esa afrenta con la verdad, de alguna manera, hubiera querido que la policía se llevará a Víctor, quizás eso hubiera cambiado de mejor manera la s cosas de cómo las cambió hasta ahora.
El Víctor de pelo largo entró primero, lo seguimos con la cámara hasta el aula donde estaba la junta receptora. Hasta que lo hizo, luego salimos, el sabor de hacerlo era agridulce, sabíamos que habíamos ganado algo pero nos aviamos el que ni cuando el tiempo se había hecho un puño de alambre y entre risas aún no sabíamos lo que Víctor había realmente hecho…
…después del ajolote y de todo que lo citarán, yo me fui a Mérida al cuartel de la 51, a trabajar en proyectos postlandings: FLIP COIN VIDEOS, con Joan y Moi-Moi, desde ahí seguíamos la pista a cada rato mientras trabajamos y supimos que la audiencia se daba ese viernes a las 9 am, no pasó a más y quedamos contentos, yo dejé la 51 al día siguiente, el lunes estaba regresando a San Salvador, al solo tocar frontera con Guatemala, a las 5:30 pm aproximadamente le llamé a Víctor, le dije veámonos estoy en la frontera pero ya llego, al cabo de 3 horas aprox. 8 pm Víctor llegó por mi a la estación de Tica Bus, nos fuimos a la casa, cenamos, hablamos, Víctor se quedó a dormir ahí, al día siguiente cada quién seguía una vida digamos normal. Pero no lo era, no lo fue ni lo será, Víctor lucía nervioso pero no como en aquel chat primero, ni siquiera como minutos antes de la acción aquel domingo. El nervioso ahora de ese tipo era yo, porque sabía que tenía enfrente a un cabrón que había superado su propio miedo y esa es la diferencia entre la gloria y la realidad, la diferencia entre solo creer y hacer, la diferencia entre solo vivir o solo contar. Yo me asomé a vivir de primera mano - todo. Ver dormido a Víctor en el colchón en la sala, como una especie de fugitivo era reconfortante. Satisfactorio y animante, es el hombre que vence el miedo el que sobrevive… si y el que hereda, también.
david herrera / 25 mayo 2014
Eran las 2 pm de ese domingo, al llegar a la escuela en Tecla [Santa Tecla], Víctor estaba aún dentro de su carro, esperándonos, nervioso, me dejó sus cosas: cartera, celular, llaves de carro, etc., las metí en mi mochila, la frase fue: por si la chota me agarra. Cuando lo pienso siento unos nervios como los que debieron sentir el Che o Fidel, en su afán en su momento, a mi no me molestaría si Víctor iba preso, porque era esa afrenta con la verdad, de alguna manera, hubiera querido que la policía se llevará a Víctor, quizás eso hubiera cambiado de mejor manera la s cosas de cómo las cambió hasta ahora.
El Víctor de pelo largo entró primero, lo seguimos con la cámara hasta el aula donde estaba la junta receptora. Hasta que lo hizo, luego salimos, el sabor de hacerlo era agridulce, sabíamos que habíamos ganado algo pero nos aviamos el que ni cuando el tiempo se había hecho un puño de alambre y entre risas aún no sabíamos lo que Víctor había realmente hecho…
…después del ajolote y de todo que lo citarán, yo me fui a Mérida al cuartel de la 51, a trabajar en proyectos postlandings: FLIP COIN VIDEOS, con Joan y Moi-Moi, desde ahí seguíamos la pista a cada rato mientras trabajamos y supimos que la audiencia se daba ese viernes a las 9 am, no pasó a más y quedamos contentos, yo dejé la 51 al día siguiente, el lunes estaba regresando a San Salvador, al solo tocar frontera con Guatemala, a las 5:30 pm aproximadamente le llamé a Víctor, le dije veámonos estoy en la frontera pero ya llego, al cabo de 3 horas aprox. 8 pm Víctor llegó por mi a la estación de Tica Bus, nos fuimos a la casa, cenamos, hablamos, Víctor se quedó a dormir ahí, al día siguiente cada quién seguía una vida digamos normal. Pero no lo era, no lo fue ni lo será, Víctor lucía nervioso pero no como en aquel chat primero, ni siquiera como minutos antes de la acción aquel domingo. El nervioso ahora de ese tipo era yo, porque sabía que tenía enfrente a un cabrón que había superado su propio miedo y esa es la diferencia entre la gloria y la realidad, la diferencia entre solo creer y hacer, la diferencia entre solo vivir o solo contar. Yo me asomé a vivir de primera mano - todo. Ver dormido a Víctor en el colchón en la sala, como una especie de fugitivo era reconfortante. Satisfactorio y animante, es el hombre que vence el miedo el que sobrevive… si y el que hereda, también.
david herrera / 25 mayo 2014
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Everywhere citizens are now voting, in democracies and authoritarian states. What do they gain from that?
On 9 March, the day of the presidential elections in El Salvador, the artist Víctor Rodríguez entered the polling station in the capital city San Salvador, filled out the ballot paper, ate half of it and stuffed the other half into the ballot-box. He explained this action in front of the present media camera to be his comment on the candidates (a former guerrilla leader and a right-wing extremist) on poverty and abuse of power in his country.
On 9 March, the day of the presidential elections in El Salvador, the artist Víctor Rodríguez entered the polling station in the capital city San Salvador, filled out the ballot paper, ate half of it and stuffed the other half into the ballot-box. He explained this action in front of the present media camera to be his comment on the candidates (a former guerrilla leader and a right-wing extremist) on poverty and abuse of power in his country.
What Rodríguez did not know: his protest is of transnational symbolic meaning. 2014 is a global super election year. The greatest democracies of the world, India and Indonesia, have either just finished voting or are in the midst of it. The same applies to the most recent receivers of international democracy exports like Iraq and Afghanistan. On the weekend after the next [24/25 of May] the Europeans will decide on their EU Parliament, as will Egyptians and Ukrainians on their new presidents. In October Brazil will follow and in November the U.S.A. will vote for a new congress.
The circumstances of these elections could not be more divers. Some elections are held in the state of war, some are burdened by manipulations, and others hardly attain any attention of the citizen at all. But after two decades of so many euphoric premiers of democracy in Eastern Europe and Africa they all have one thing in common: an atmosphere of doubting if democracy will guarantee them more than the right to vote, but a life in stability and social dignity as well.
The circumstances of these elections could not be more divers. Some elections are held in the state of war, some are burdened by manipulations, and others hardly attain any attention of the citizen at all. But after two decades of so many euphoric premiers of democracy in Eastern Europe and Africa they all have one thing in common: an atmosphere of doubting if democracy will guarantee them more than the right to vote, but a life in stability and social dignity as well.
This is not meant to introduce a swan song. This is just to prepare for some levelheaded insights.
andrea böhm / 15 may 2014
andrea böhm / 15 may 2014
y a s s e r m u s a :
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...I hold here, this is not a cocaine brick.
audience: [laughs]
ym: this is a book called landings, and I will open it slowly, ‘cause this is why I spent nine hours.
It says on the cover, landings new art + ideas from the caribbean and central america 2000 / 2010 …and what this book represents... is a kind of… coming together for the first time...of artists and writers and thinkers without, the obligation, without the frustration, without the kissing of ass of any government of any… ah, institution, of any museum, of any... thing, that calls themselves, ah, what we call in this book the mafia, of art.
audience: [laughs]
ym: this is a book called landings, and I will open it slowly, ‘cause this is why I spent nine hours.
It says on the cover, landings new art + ideas from the caribbean and central america 2000 / 2010 …and what this book represents... is a kind of… coming together for the first time...of artists and writers and thinkers without, the obligation, without the frustration, without the kissing of ass of any government of any… ah, institution, of any museum, of any... thing, that calls themselves, ah, what we call in this book the mafia, of art.
yasser musa: I hold here, this is not a cocaine brick.
audience: [laughs]
ym: This is a book called landings, and I will open it slowly, ‘cause this is why I spent nine hours.
It says on the cover, landings new art + ideas from the caribbean and central america. 2000 / 2010 …and what this book represents... is a kind of… coming together for the first time...of artists and writers and thinkers without, the obligation, without the frustration, without the kissing of ass of any government of any… ah, institution, of any museum, of any... thing, that calls themselves, ah, what we call in this book the mafia, of art.
...and, we said, that we have to get this thing done, on our terms. And so, you can look it up. I am sure that you can buy one of these online. And I encourage you to do so. This is not a marketing exercise but, four hundred and sixty four pages, of the thoughts, of the ideas, of the feelings, of the expression of young artists from the Caribbean and Central America. Let’s not forget that!
What we call the hurricane zone, and why, my paper, was supposed to be called today I Wake Up in the Yucatan. I tell my students in Belize, because I introduced, I am part of a team that introduced for the first time, after a forty year negotiation with the Catholic Church, the teaching of African and Maya history in our curriculum.
This is big, news. This is art news. You might ask, well how the hell can that be art. The work of artists is not, to make art. That is just the product. The work of artists, to me, is the engagement, is the process, of trying to undermine systems that have gotten us to the point of becoming the third most violent place on Earth.
So this image, while it doesn’t look violent, is a brick. It looks like I’m into bricks. Of ice, it’s a project I did, called the Ice Project. And I took it, this block of ice, I properly put it in a, a sarcophagus of a cloth. Like the shroud of Turin, I guess. And I put it in an icebox and I went to the Barrier Reef. This is the famous Barrier Reef, you see of Belize in the brochures. And I set it there, and just yesterday, my good friend Joan Duran reminded me of how it looks so much like a stella.
But… the metaphor, I… it’s a new, I reinvented what this thing means. I used to say something until yesterday. I’m saying a new thing now. This thing now means, it is a, actually, this ice will just melt away… nothing! into a kind of nothingness.
ym: [to presenter] how do I move now?
presenter: up…
ym: [to presenter] oh, sorry… but the reason, I’m in, so fascinated with these books…
[to presenter] how much time I have left?
presenter: you have about six… four minutes
ym: wow! alright! let’s go! This book didn’t just happen like a genie out of a bottle. It took from the red to the orange. landings. I will end my, eh, conversation on this concept of landings.
We, provoked… a push called landings. The name of all these, ah, books, from the red to the orange, and each book represents the red one. It’s the first landings! Two thousand four in Conkal, which is right north, a small town north of this, ah, city. Conkal, Mexico. Ah, and we exhibited our work in a former Franciscan, eh, monastery. And then, we went on... and exhibited in other places, including, eh, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, and Havana, and Washington and Taipei. Yes, Taipei. That sounds frightening, but it is. And we ended up with the orange in Belize City, with a forum, not as big as this, but with all the seventy plus team members that we corralled, that we encouraged and harnessed over the six, seven year time span and we invited them to Belize City, to the Image Factory, an art foundation that I’ve been working, ah, managing for the past twenty years.
We had a summit of all summits, I thought. It’s, we recorded it, and I still have all the recordings, thirteen hours, so the nine that I spent getting here is nothing.
Thirteen hours of talking, I’ve not reviewed it, but that could be put in a, well, who... who the hell would want to, eh.., listen to that. I’m thinking right now.
But the point is, that, unless we take matters into our own hands, and when we mix... our work, we can not be brutally honest, unless we confront the history, ah... of our environment, and that’s why I said ‘I… I wake up in the Yucatan’ because although we are now bordered as a country called Belize, essentially, we are all connected in this Hurricane Zone. And the hurricane does not refer only to the climatological hurricane, but to the man-made hurricane that has, not, not has, that continues to hit us. Yes it comes as an eye, electronically, through the media, calm and beautiful, just look at, eh, Christine Ma... Malvo and Christinane Amanpour. They are beautiful people. From CNN and Aljazeera. But they’re, they really are, the storm is hitting us. And so, artists. This is how I’ll end.
[to the presenter] I have a minute?
presenter: yes…
ym: artists, and thinkers, and writers and poets have a responsibility for social engagement. Because it, not. It is not, a luxury to be an artist, it is a responsibility that you have to your society.
thank you!
audience: [applause]
ym: thanks!
audience: [laughs]
ym: This is a book called landings, and I will open it slowly, ‘cause this is why I spent nine hours.
It says on the cover, landings new art + ideas from the caribbean and central america. 2000 / 2010 …and what this book represents... is a kind of… coming together for the first time...of artists and writers and thinkers without, the obligation, without the frustration, without the kissing of ass of any government of any… ah, institution, of any museum, of any... thing, that calls themselves, ah, what we call in this book the mafia, of art.
...and, we said, that we have to get this thing done, on our terms. And so, you can look it up. I am sure that you can buy one of these online. And I encourage you to do so. This is not a marketing exercise but, four hundred and sixty four pages, of the thoughts, of the ideas, of the feelings, of the expression of young artists from the Caribbean and Central America. Let’s not forget that!
What we call the hurricane zone, and why, my paper, was supposed to be called today I Wake Up in the Yucatan. I tell my students in Belize, because I introduced, I am part of a team that introduced for the first time, after a forty year negotiation with the Catholic Church, the teaching of African and Maya history in our curriculum.
This is big, news. This is art news. You might ask, well how the hell can that be art. The work of artists is not, to make art. That is just the product. The work of artists, to me, is the engagement, is the process, of trying to undermine systems that have gotten us to the point of becoming the third most violent place on Earth.
So this image, while it doesn’t look violent, is a brick. It looks like I’m into bricks. Of ice, it’s a project I did, called the Ice Project. And I took it, this block of ice, I properly put it in a, a sarcophagus of a cloth. Like the shroud of Turin, I guess. And I put it in an icebox and I went to the Barrier Reef. This is the famous Barrier Reef, you see of Belize in the brochures. And I set it there, and just yesterday, my good friend Joan Duran reminded me of how it looks so much like a stella.
But… the metaphor, I… it’s a new, I reinvented what this thing means. I used to say something until yesterday. I’m saying a new thing now. This thing now means, it is a, actually, this ice will just melt away… nothing! into a kind of nothingness.
ym: [to presenter] how do I move now?
presenter: up…
ym: [to presenter] oh, sorry… but the reason, I’m in, so fascinated with these books…
[to presenter] how much time I have left?
presenter: you have about six… four minutes
ym: wow! alright! let’s go! This book didn’t just happen like a genie out of a bottle. It took from the red to the orange. landings. I will end my, eh, conversation on this concept of landings.
We, provoked… a push called landings. The name of all these, ah, books, from the red to the orange, and each book represents the red one. It’s the first landings! Two thousand four in Conkal, which is right north, a small town north of this, ah, city. Conkal, Mexico. Ah, and we exhibited our work in a former Franciscan, eh, monastery. And then, we went on... and exhibited in other places, including, eh, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic, and Havana, and Washington and Taipei. Yes, Taipei. That sounds frightening, but it is. And we ended up with the orange in Belize City, with a forum, not as big as this, but with all the seventy plus team members that we corralled, that we encouraged and harnessed over the six, seven year time span and we invited them to Belize City, to the Image Factory, an art foundation that I’ve been working, ah, managing for the past twenty years.
We had a summit of all summits, I thought. It’s, we recorded it, and I still have all the recordings, thirteen hours, so the nine that I spent getting here is nothing.
Thirteen hours of talking, I’ve not reviewed it, but that could be put in a, well, who... who the hell would want to, eh.., listen to that. I’m thinking right now.
But the point is, that, unless we take matters into our own hands, and when we mix... our work, we can not be brutally honest, unless we confront the history, ah... of our environment, and that’s why I said ‘I… I wake up in the Yucatan’ because although we are now bordered as a country called Belize, essentially, we are all connected in this Hurricane Zone. And the hurricane does not refer only to the climatological hurricane, but to the man-made hurricane that has, not, not has, that continues to hit us. Yes it comes as an eye, electronically, through the media, calm and beautiful, just look at, eh, Christine Ma... Malvo and Christinane Amanpour. They are beautiful people. From CNN and Aljazeera. But they’re, they really are, the storm is hitting us. And so, artists. This is how I’ll end.
[to the presenter] I have a minute?
presenter: yes…
ym: artists, and thinkers, and writers and poets have a responsibility for social engagement. Because it, not. It is not, a luxury to be an artist, it is a responsibility that you have to your society.
thank you!
audience: [applause]
ym: thanks!
