World Art and Activism Caravan 2006 Newswire Archive

These are the videos made during the Art and activism Caravan, which was touring South-Eastern Europe this summer. For more information and full coverage of the project, see the AA Caravan Indymedia page.

The Srebrenica massacre was the July 1995 killing of up to an estimated 8,106 Bosniak males, ranging in age from teenagers to the elderly, in the region of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina by a Serb Army of Republika Srpska under general Ratko Mladić including Serbian state special forces "Scorpions". The Srebrenica massacre is the largest mass murder in Europe since World War II and considered by many as one of the most horrific events in recent European history. It is also the first legally established case of genocide in Europe after the Holocaust. (source: Wikipedia).

11 years on, a large crowd gathered in the city centre of Belgrade to remember the victims killed in the Srebrenica massacre. Last year the same vigil was attacked by nationalist groups, some of who trew teargas in the crowd. The police guarded the protest heavily this time. We took some photos...

Links: Wikipedia on the Srebrenica massacre | Preliminary list of 8106 Bosniaks killed in Srebrenica - (PDF version) - Issued by Federal Commission for Missing Persons on June 5, 2005 | The Association Women of Srebrenica - Official Website | Srebrenica Genocide Blog - Independent Blog Regarding Srebrenica Massacre | "Cry from the Grave" documentary film detailing the account of the massacre | Chemical Warfare in Bosnia? The Strange Experiences of the Srebrenica Survivors (a Human Rights Watch report) | BOSFAM - Non-Governmental group supporting displaced women in Bosnia

Plav

Plav is a small town in the north east of Montenegro. The 10.000 inhabitants form a mixed community of Montenegrians, Serbs and Albanians. 80% is muslim, 14% orthodox, 2% catholic. Among the Montenegrians there are both muslims and orthodox, among the Albanians both muslims and katholics. Part of the population are refugees from the Bosnian war (1992-1995) and the Kosovo war (1998-1999). The town is very isolated, surrounded by mountains and six hours away from the capital Podgorica. In autumn last year, a small group of people set up an NGO, Plagus_M, with the aim to activate the local community and the youth culture.

Interview with Merlinda Djesevic from Plagus_M:

Today over 40 people gathered at the Ministry for Internal Affairs in the centre of Tirana, the capital of Albania. The issue is Tirana's drinking water, which is not clean, unreliable as it comes out of the tap only a few hours a day and that sewage systems continue to pollute the water sources.

Rebellious clowns handed out some of Tirana's finest tabwater, which was refused by most passers by... The Water Daughters were dressed in costumes showcasting the problems and got passers by involved by asking them what they would do to contribute to cleaner water. The messages were pinned onto a washing line hung across the Ministry building. A large banner in front of the building stated: 'Are you killing time or is time killing you?' aimed at most Albanians very laid back attitude towards these problems. Supposedly the Minister was on holiday when asked for by the demonstrators...

National TV channels, newspapers as well as various media activists covered the action. The action was the final outcome of the week of workshops as part of the Art and Activism Caravan, which is currently touring the Balkans. For more information and full coverage see:  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/actions/2006/aa

The following article is written by Johan (Belgium) one of the rebel clown trainers in the caravan and reports on the visit of the caravan and some of the events that took place in Tirana (Albania) between June 21 and 26.

The Art and Activism Caravan inspired a group of Polytecnic students into creating a radical samba band. The newly formed band successfuly played at the big student march at Propylaia where 20,000 people opposed to the commercialisation of education. (June 8th)

A Diary of Events of the Student Protest 8/6/6 Athens, against iminent privatisation laws

For the past 5 weeks students have started squating universities with the number of occupations increasing day by day. The students are also organizing major demos throughout greece. At polytechnic university there is an international art and activism caravan which presents alternative ways of protesting, they are supporting the student mobilizations.