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Post Ingrid

For my birthday Megan took me to see Ingrid Betancourt. Have to say it was a very moving experience. My history with Ingrid spans 7+ years. I remember being intrigued by this Presidential candidate in Columbia. So in 2002/2003 I read her book “Till Death Do Us Part” and not soon after she was sequestered. I remember handing the read book to my pal Winter and telling her about the passion this woman had about changing such a corrupt country. Before then – i’d say a couple years previous – my pal Peter and I would always discuss the politics of Latin America and the drug trade. Both of us coming from San Diego we had what one would call a “local” understanding about such issues.  And up came this woman who was going to change Columbia. Anyhow – soon after I handed the book to Winter the abduction occurred. I was seriously concerned – which essentially was curious right?! This filipina-american in the bay area having any engagement with a country she’s never visited. So ensued my self-motivated concern about her, her well-being and how she’d fare. Watching closely to anything having to do with her survival. Needless to say – I’m in the midst of her new book “Even Silence Has An End” which seems to be a very poignant account of her experience held in captivity. I have to admit seeing her on the stage, watching the strokes of her pen signing her book for me I wonder how she can transcend. Imagine 6 years in the jungle in such a harsh environment and coming back to civilization in such way must fuck with you in a major way. She clearly is broken…..and I’m sure the rounds that she’s doing will make a difference….at least in her disparate world. I highly recommend both books and well – if you’re lucky – to see her….A very mind-blowing experience…thank you megan….xx

not to be amazon but here are a few interesting links:

an article on IMOW’s site click here– make sure to click on the video.

and one not to be missed the Oprah interview – it’s in parts here’s the first one:
(realize the before and after)

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politico, random meanderings

Chatsilog..!!!

coming to Green Papaya the second week of November!  A collaborative piece done in four parts. Here’s a little description and a still. Have to say I’m super excited about this one….us manangs (+manong) have it goin’ on!

For “The Ephemera of Disposable Goods” series, Mail Order Brides/M.O.B. and
Carlos Villa offer the delights of CHATSILOG, a reflection on the desire to
connect across distance and time zones, a meditation on the shortcomings of
digitally-dependent communication and the false sense of security it provides,
and an effort at long-distance collaboration between 4 artists inhabiting 4
different places in the world, with the goal of producing a remote project in a
5th location.

Carlos Villa is an artist and professor at the San Francisco Art Institute. A
contemporary of, and much like, Manila’s own cultural treasure Roberto Chabet,
Carlos Villa has mentored and encouraged numerous California artists over the
years, all while continuing his own art practice. He brought the 3 members of
Mail Order Brides/M.O.B. together for a research project in 1994, and things
have never been the same since.

Mail Order Brides/M.O.B. (Eliza “Neneng” Barrios, Reanne “Immaculata” Estrada,
Jenifer “Baby” Wofford) inevitably formed into something of a three-headed
monster, and have been collaborating on performative photos, videos,
installations and public spectacles ever since. Since 2003 however, they’ve
been increasingly hampered by time-space considerations, with one member or another
either living out of immediate reach of the others.

The challenge of this collaboration is not a simple one. The artists reside in
disparate places (Prague, Los Angeles, two different neighborhoods in San
Francisco) and are tasked with creating a project for Green Papaya Art Projects
in Manila. Technology comes to the rescue: laptops with built-in cameras,
high-speed internet, iChat. But it turns out that technology isn’t perfect. And
neither are they. So they make do.

CHATSILOG is a bittersweet, comedic attempt to cohere fragmented interactions
into an illusory, temporary space that, for the duration of the project, the
artists can share and jointly occupy. M.O.B.’s participation in “The Ephemera
of Disposable Goods” series marks the group’s first exhibition in Manila. Sadly,
neither they nor Carlos Villa can attend in person to celebrate the occasion.

 

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Art, Asia, Green Papaya, M.O.B., Philippines

Somaly Mam Foundation Fundraisers

2010 East & West Coast Fundraisers
From Silicon Valley to NY Supporters Rally for Somaly

On October 26th SMF will be holding its annual fundraiser in New York City, and on November 11th Silicon Valley supporters will be hosting a West Coast fundraiser.

These events allow us to come together with our supporters and fellow activists to remember those who are still locked in the chains of slavery, and to celebrate the survivors whose strength provides our inspiration. Our New York Gala will also celebrate one of the many compassionate activists without whose dedication our work would not be possible: Andy Prozes, Chief Executive Officer of LexisNexis Group. We invite you to take part in these celebrations by purchasing a ticket to either the New York or San Francisco Galas.
click here for more east coast info.
click here for west coast info

Narrated by actress and humanitarian Lucy Liu, “The Road to Traffik” reveals the shocking world of sex trafficking that Somaly Mam, a former Cambodia sex slave, is heroically waging a crusade to expose and end.

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Asia, Cambodia

Ingrid Betancourt

She’ll be here in SF on my birthday! I remember reading her first book before she was kidnapped and am super intrigued to see her in person.

The International Museum of Women presents Ingrid Betancourt for our latest Extraordinary Voices, Extraordinary Change Speaker Series. Former Colombian Senator and activist Ingrid Betancourt tells the story of her six and a half years of captivity in the Colombian jungle. In 2002, while campaigning as a candidate in the Colombian presidential elections, Betancourt was abducted by the FARC and was released in a dramatic 2008 rescue. Join us as she discusses her much-anticipated memoir, Even Silence Has an End: My Six Years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle.

To learn more about Ingrid Betancourt’s political career, kidnapping and rescue, read this 2008 story from the museum’s Women, Power and Politics exhibition, Kidnapping a Candidate: Ingrid Betancourt’s Six-Year Ordeal.

Event details: Thursday, October 28, 2010 from 7:00-8:00pm, followed by book sale and signing with Book Passage. Schwab Center, 211 Main Street (at Howard), San Francisco, California. Seating is limited. Reserve your tickets now! An RSVP is required. For more information email events@imow.org or call 415-543-4669 ext. 27.

Ingrid Betancourt will appear in conversation with Jeanne Carstensen, managing editor of The Bay Citizen, a nonprofit news organization in San Francisco that covers civic issues and produces the Bay Area pages of the New York Times. Previously, as managing editor of Salon, Carstensen worked on The Abu Ghraib Files, the magazine’s online archive of detainee abuse photos from the notorious U.S. military prison in Iraq. She was senior arts and features editor at SFGate.com and was awarded a National Arts Journalism Fellowship at Columbia University in 2001. While living in Costa Rica for six years, Carstensen covered human rights issues for Feminist International Radio Endeavor, a women’s program broadcast globally over shortwave radio.

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politico