On the 14th May, 4 activists, based at the ASBO Community Centre in Nottingham got on their bikes and set off for an epic journey to mainland Europe. The project 'Pedal Powered Clowns to Palestine' brings together performance, clowning, action and pedal power to raise awareness of the situation in Palestine as well as entertaining and supporting the Palestinian Community through play. In the last few months the group raised money through benefit events in Nottingham to fund their trip. The first leg of the journey will be by train to Hull and then onto the ferry to Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Once in Europe a few dates have been planned to work with other groups and visit some social centres. From then on the route will lead North into Germany to the G8 summit in early June. The idea is to join the G8 protests and add a creative element to the planned actions. At the end of June the group will set course for Palestine.
Audio: Indepth Interview with the Pedal Powered Clowns
Photo: Pedal Powered Activists from Nottingham set off for Palestine | Mayday Events at the ASBO Centre 1, Nottingham Day Events | Mayday Events at the ASBO Centre 2, Nottingham Night Events
Video: Short video taken by phone of the departure - video/quicktime 10M
Other articles: maydaymayday - have clowns will travel | mayday meltdown | ppc + scroat cinema presents.....
Links: Pedal Powered Clowns website | This Week In Palestine (audio) | UK Indymedia Palestine page
One of the trailers
Some photos were taken of the groups departure. Of course some of it was last minute but all set off with a feel of excitement. When we arrived at the train station some of the transport bobbies showed interest in the trailers, which I thought would never make it onto the train, but after some chat with the conductor they were all boarded on...
So their project is all about cycling, communicating, taking action and general clowning about. But, where are they going? What will they be doing? Why go to Palestine? Why is it important to go to the G8 summit in Germany? Listen to the interview to find out more... The beginning of the recording is slightly disturbed by one of the younger clowns... You can listen to the interview in stages by downloading the individual files or listen to the entire thing via the stream (38,4 minutes) via the stream: http://www.archive.org/download/pedal_powered_clowns/pedal_powered_clowns_64kb.m3u
What a terrible day for us all
05.06.2007 17:56
If i were palestinian having you cunts expressing solidarity with me would be a bitter insult.
Lets hope you don't make it out of germany.
Brett Hart