March 6th Street Theatre Action In Bristol

At lunchtime today a group of protestors from the Bristol Solidarity Campaign and Espacio Bristol Colombia performed a lively and menacing piece of street theatre outside Bristol University's Wills Memorial Hall at the Triangle in central Bristol, bringing public attention to the intimidation, torture, mass murder, disappearance and displacement of poor people, trades unionists and human rights activists in Colombia, committed by the state in direct collusion with transnational corporations.



Two actors set off down University Road and onto Whiteladies Road, one dressed as an AUC paramilitary in camouflage and balaclava, and the other as a business executive with his suit covered in transnational corporate logos. Between them they kicked and pushed a third actor (hooded and tied) down to the Wills Memorial building where the protest street theatre took place at a time when the Triangle is one of the busiest locations in central Bristol. The hooded victim was then pushed to the ground and abused by the paramilitary, encouraged by the business executive.

Police and security arrived on cue, and immediately started trying to intimidate and stop the protest under Section 5 of the Public Order Act. These threats were flimsy and transparent, as for example when the chief of university security said he felt 'offended' and 'disturbed' when he saw the hooded actor being 'kicked' by the paramilitary actor. He was then asked had he really never seen a play, a film or a TV drama where violence was enacted for effect, and did he not realise that theatre was 'pretend' and not 'real'? But he would not answer, as evidently he had been made aware of the stupidity of his own statement. So as it turned out the day was even more successful than had been planned, for the police/security presence and over-reaction just brought more onlookers, created more interest in the protest, and even drew members of the public to remonstrate with the police and their attitude. Even more bizarrely, the cops started offering the protestors PR and 'marketing' tips on how to promote their protest better.

Prize bobby of the day award however has to go to PC Putain de Merde, a 'French Gendarme' incongruously kitted out in a Brit police uniform who started to wax lyrically in full public about 'immigrants' and 'asylum seekers' and the 'threat' these people constituted to (his?) jobs and living standards. Oh for a videotape to hand. Touché, m'sieur.

2008 Forum a Success!

The day kicked off with people milling around stalls, picking up and studying programmes as musicians and workshop organisers prepared and set up their equipment. In the main lecture theatre, brief introductions were given by Matthew Brown and Ben Pearson from Bristol University. A group of contemporary Bolivian musicians (Tradición Andina) then led off with traditional Andean instruments, guitars and an electronic drum. Half way through this performance, the musicians were joined by costumed dancers in a colourful and energetic indigenous dance that expressed the life and history of the Andean peoples (see movies).

The plenaries were kept to a minimum this year, with Amancay Colque from the Bolivia Solidarity Campaign speaking on the current struggle in her country, Andy Higginbottom from the 'Frontline Latin America' newspaper giving a political and economic overview of the continent, and Venezuelan Consular to the UK Alvaro Sanchez talking about recent events and ongoing projects in Venezuela, followed by a short question and answer session (see movie).

Then followed three rounds of workshops, with 6-7 to choose from in each session, punctuated by a bargain Latin American style lunch provided by the Kebele Social Centre. The workshops ranged far and wide in topic and approach, (for example) discussing the impact of climate chaos on Latin America, on through an up to date account of the indigenous Mapuche people's struggle for self-determination, through a history/ practical demonstration of Capoeira dance and its key place in Afro-Brazilian culture, to the role of photography in public memory of the dictatorships in Chile and Argentina. And while all this was going on, Cinema Klandestino was running a continual stream of Latin American films in a separate room.



Finally the day's events came to a close with a World Café, a relaxing but dynamic experiment in collective discussion, facilitated by Claire Hall of Espacio and Hilary Cole of Cuba Solidarity, before a much needed break and the evening's after-party at the Kuumba (see the follow on sections 'World Café' and 'After Party' below for more).

Opening Ceremony & Plenary

These were streamed live on the day. We have displayed them here so you can view again or get a feel for next years Forum.

Part 1:



Part 2:

Video of the Afterparty

Of course the sound and video does not come close to witnessing these two incredible bands in the flesh but heres an approximation:

Colores de mi Tierra:



Orquesta Montpelier: