Events, Updates, News and More
A big thank you to everyone who participated in the conversation on Afghanistan this past Sunday. For folks who couldn’t be there I spoke about the power of images (both negative and positive) to shape reality. We interrupted the negative monologue on Afghanistan and moved closer to other human beings through seeing the artists’ faces and hearing their stories. The audience created new images of solidarity and love to send overseas. HERE IS THE VIDEO OF THOSE GREETINGS!!!
On Sunday, October 24th, from 2:00 – 4:00 PM I’ll be giving a special presentation about my work in Afghanistan and my plans for the future. Come hear about the inspiring artists who are using theater for civic engagement and social change. Listen to the good news that isn’t shown on TV.
I am back in New York City, feeling energized and refreshed, after my month-long residency at the Blue Mountain Center in the gorgeous Adirondack Mountains. I took full advantage of an entire month of serenity and wide open space and have started a new play which deals with themes of national borders, identity and cultural repression, and family history in modern-day Iran. I will keep you up to date as it unfolds and develops. Here are some things I am working on during the month of October. I hope to see you around!
I posted a note abo ut Lisandro a few weeks ago. His family and community need our help to run a full page ad in a Guatemalan newspaper calling for a full investigation into the murder of an extraordinary artist and human being, Lisandro Guarax. Lisandro was an innovator of cultural work the likes of which had not been seen in living memory. Lisandro and his companions in Sotz’il are credited with energizing a new movement of Maya youth with pride in their culture and way of life, through investigating and developing ancestral expressions of Maya art.
Yes, I’ve only been home for one month and I am taking off again! This time I am going to the gorgeous Adirondack mountains, in upstate New York, for a month-long playwrighting residency. I am staying at the Blue Mountain Center and will be putting down my thoughts for a brand new play! Wish me luck and see you in October!
Telling Stories to Change the World is the title of a book I edited about amazing culture workers and artists around the world who are using their talents to make change in their communities. I received news today that one of those artists was assassinated for his leadership within the Maya community in Guatemala.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was deeply inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent civil disobedience movement that helped win India’s independence from England. Gandhi’s mantra, or guiding slogan, was “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. That meant not colluding and obeying oppressive and unjust laws. That meant speaking the truth even when it made others uncomfortable. It meant not being socially proper, but proper towards all human beings – having a strong sense of ethics and connection to all living things.
Here is an article about an Israeli/Palestinian group using Theater of the Oppressed for community building and cooperation. http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/aug/01/israel-palestinians-combatants-for-peace
Some video from the working class neighborhood that I drove through every day. You see people walking, working, living life. You’ll hear the car radio in the background. Sorry for the glare, I had to take this with the window up – didn’t want to hang out of the car with a camera! You may have to watch this a couple of times to see some of the details.
Before I left for Kabul my niece Leah and nephew Garrison (both 8 years-old) were very concerned and asked me why I wanted to go. I told them that we always hear bad news, but we don’t often hear the good news and I was going to work with people who were doing really good things. Mema, (my granny-in-law) sitting behind them, nodded and said, “that’s right”. Leah and Garrison seemed to accept that idea, though their little faces still registered concern. We all know that there is more out there – that the world is a good place – but we are constantly bombarded with information and images that replay the negative, the painful, and the depressing.
So, today I am really missing my friends and colleagues in Kabul after two aggravating incidents. Yesterday an entitled and aggressive man sat next to me on the subway and expected/demanded I move over so his companion could sit where I was sitting. I was confused and wanted to move away from him, so I moved. Then today, I am walking down the street and another man rams into me and shoves me over with his shoulder. (This is in Queens, too!)
Just a quick note before I head off to bed. I’ve been up since 6am and at the office since 7:30 preparing for our final presentation. We had an amazing performance today with much discussion and a brave intervention into the play! Forum theater has begun! (Yes, I did get video of it!)
Afterwards, we had a party for the participants and all our emotions came pouring out … well, Afghan style. Which meant we basically were all on the verge of tears and some small tears, but I was really about to lose it. The men and women said such kind and sincere things to me, about the work and about their experience.
I was so touched that many of them went so far as to buy me a gift. Everything from chocolates, to Afghan sweets, to a beautiful Afghan outfit, and outfits for my future children!
I have learned so much and am so moved by the heart and spirit of my new friends and colleagues. I can’t wait to see the work they do! And, yes, I am definitely changed.
Here’s a photo of the creation of the image of our future success!
In a place where one of our artists has his name tatooed on his forearm so his family can identify him in case he’s dismembered in a bomb blast, I am proud and honored to have shared ideas and practices of liberation with a few committed souls. I told them all, that we will meet again. I mean it.
“Oh please leave, please just leave!” I’ve been repeating this phrase in my head for the last couple of days. My workshop has been stopped thanks to a high level international conference on aid and development funding for Afghanistan. The office is shut, many roadways are completely closed, and everyone is waiting for Ban Ki Moon and the other international superstars and diplomats to get on their planes and fly out of Kabul.
What’s it like to be a theater artist living in Afghanistan? Over the last 3 days the group shared personal experiences of what it is like to make theater in their provinces. We used their stories and created a “problem tree” – a tool used in popular education to analyze a present problem, what supports this problem, all the way down to the root causes. The problems they presented are somewhat familiar to me: no respect, no resources, and no support. These become the leaves, or fruit of the tree.
I have spent two action-packed, exciting, theater-filled days with my new family of 15! We have 2 women and 13 men representing 3 different theater groups in 3 different cities and provinces. There are 4 men from Kandahar which is in the south of Afghanistan. It is close to the border of Pakistan and the “tribal regions”. It is one of the more conservative parts of the country. Then there are 4 men from Jalalabad,which is in the East. It is also very close to the Pakistani border and has a strong Pashto cultural influence and history. Finally, there are 3 men and 2 women from Mazar-e-Sharif which is in the very north of Afghanistan. It is close to the border of Uzbekistan.
It’s 9:00pm in Kabul and the sun is down. I hear a cat mewing from my bedroom window which faces the garden at the front of the house. It’s hot and very dry in Kabul today. As we drove to the house, sheets of fine sand drape over me, like the thin cotton scarf gently covering my head and shoulders. The dust seemed to have a life of its own, here – angry kicking up sudden clouds and surprising the passersby who were caught in the momentary tumult; there – calm, gentle trails caressing the buildings.
I am off to Kabul in 2 hours!! YIKES and YAY!! Right now I’m in an internet cafe in a fabulous Middle Eastern area of London. I am staring at all the women trying to figure out how they manage to make their head scarves look so elegant and stylish. I’ve practiced wrapping myself but only manage to look like a granny! Why didn’t I think of this back in NY where all my beautiful sisters could have given me pointers?!
Thanks for your words of support and encouragement. I couldn’t ask for a warmer, brighter safety blanket. While you all have my back, I’ve been learning how to address myself and others in any emergency situations like finding myself in a mine field, taking mortar and artillery shelling, getting shot, dealing with an amputated limb, or with an object impaled in someone’s body! Here is a video showing the various simulations we were put through.
I am now in Wales, about to start my “hostile environments” training course before I head off to Kabul on the 10th. I’ve spent the last 3 days in London getting to know the BBC Afghan team, seeing friends, and combatting a cold. I’ve posted a video update. It’s been quite a mental rollercoaster. One day I am feeling upbeat, looking forward to my trip, the next day I am thinking of all the awful violent images I see on the news, imagining myself in the center of such things. I was seriously questioning myself, my decision, and my impulse to continually and adamantly unveil hope and goodness from those settings and places our society has placed at the bottom of the heap. My fear was strong, my strength wavered.
