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Welcome to the Graham F Smith Peace Trust E-newsletter.
In this Issue
In Other News
Eagerly awaiting the announcement of Peace Trust Award at the Fringe Awards and Closing Nights Party, Sunday 13 March
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Summer 2011 Issue No. 12
From the Chair
WELCOME
The Peace Trust has made a strong start to the New Year. At the Planning Day in January our strategic plan was reviewed and it was decided that, besides our customary work supporting artists and their work, the Peace Trust would publish Graham Smith’s memoir and launch its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2011.
The RAP program was launched in July 2006 by Reconciliation Australia to turn “good intentions into action by encouraging and supporting organisations to work within their sphere of influence in the national effort to close the 17-year gap in life expectancy between Indigenous and other Australians.” The RAP program was established to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the very successful 1967 referendum that removed two references in the Australian Constitution which discriminated against Aboriginal people. www.reconciliation.org.au/home/reconciliation-action-plans
The Peace Trust is making IT advances. Our website www.artspecetrust.org is being upgraded; the Management Committee, Board and volunteers are communicating via cloud computing and the Peace Trust is connected to facebook.com/artspeacetrust and twitter.com/artspeacetrust. Please join us.
The Fringe Festival is in full swing and we are keenly waiting to hear who will be the inaugural recipient of the Peace Award sponsored by the Peace Trust.
Last week I attended the thought provoking performance of “Skip Miller’s Hit Songs.” This was one of the 2010 arts projects sponsored by the Peace Trust. It is your memberships, donations and participation in fundraising events that enables you to be co-sponsors in such art projects through the Peace Trust . If you have yet not seen “Skip Miller’s Hit Songs” please take the time to see this outstanding Brink production.
Please help the Peace Trust continue its work by renewing your 2011 membership, giving a one-off or a regular donation, participating in the Peace Trust dinner and silent art auction and other activities such as the AGM on April 10.
Enjoy the newsletter. It brings you news about Peace Trust activities in 2011 and contributions which relate to the key concepts that guides the work of the Peace Trust. You can also help us by also sending our newsletter out to your networks.
We would love to see you at our AGM on April 10th.
Léonie Ebert,
Chair Management Committee
2011 Peace Trust AGM
The Board and Management Committee invite members* and supporters to the AGM:
Date: April 10
Time: 2.30pm
Venue: 213 Gover Street, North Adelaide.
RSVP Phone 8267 3915 for catering purposes.
Refreshments and socialising after the meeting.
* Please renew your membership by obtaining a membership form from http://artspeacetrust.org/support/membership.
Peace Trust Fundraising Dinner 2011 & Art Auction
We are delighted to have Steffen Lehmann, Professor of Sustainable Design & Behaviour, UNiSA as our Guest Speaker at the Peace Trust Dinner this year.
Professor Lehmann holds the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Development for Asia and the Pacific, the Professorial Chair in the School of Architecture and Built Environment at the University of Newcastle (NSW), and is founding director of the ‘S Lab Space Laboratory’ for Architectural Research and Design (Sydney-Berlin). Since 2006 Lehmann has been the editor of the US-based Journal of Green Building and works as an advisor to various governments and municipalities. He holds three post-graduate degrees; after graduating from the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London (1989) he worked with James Stirling in London and with Arata Isozaki in Tokyo. He has been a juror for international design competitions, such as Leipziger Platz in Berlin, Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi and Harmony Point in Ho-Chi-Minh City. During the 1990s, he was instrumental in the urban
re-development of Berlin’s city centre and has built large-scale buildings in Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz, Hackescher Markt and Pariser Platz. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steffen_Lehmann)
When: June 25th 7pm for 7:30pm
Where: Italian Function Centre, 262 Carrington St, Adelaide
Costs: $90 General public, $80 GFSPT Members, $75 concession / pensioner
Please book & pay for dinner tickets by June 15
Dinner booking forms and information for artists wishing to contribute to the Silent Auction will be posted on www.artspeacetrust.org soon.
Image Source http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steffen_Lehmann
Donationsto Peace Trust Can Win You ...
200 donations are being sought. The value of each donation is $50. Six lucky donors will each receive an artwork donated to the Peace Trust by:
Giles Bettison (glass), Guy DeTot (sculpture), Karen Genoff (sculpture),
Ian Hamilton (painting), Milton Moon (ceramic), Rowena Williams (painting)
Contact Viesturs Cielens at 08 8362 1444 or vcd@internode.on.net for more information or to register your donation.
Call For Grants – Call for Submissions 2011
Applications are invited from individuals and organisations for arts projects that address the aims of the Trust - promoting peace, justice, and care for the environment.
In 2011, the Peace Trust will offer one major grant of up to $10,000 with applications for minor grants of up to $1,500 considered throughout the year. Each year the Peace Trust considers applications from individuals and community organisations for arts projects (visual and performing) that can demonstrate aims compatible with the Peace Trust’s vision – ‘Working for Peace through the Arts’ and accord with one or more of the objects of the Trust. Funds will be used to support artists to create/present new work. The deadline for 2011 is Monday, 17th May
The Trust appoints an independent committee of arts practitioners to review grant applications and make recommendations on funding. The successful major project will be announced at the annual dinner in June. Application forms can be downloaded from the Peace Trust website www.artspeace trust.org
Lindy Nielson
Chairperson Project Selections Committee
Volunteers Always Wanted
The Management Committee would love to hear from anyone who wishes to volunteer for one or more of the following positions:
1. Kaurna Walking Trail Guides (training provided)
2. Executive Officer (part-time position)
3. Artists for Peace Network Coordinator
4. Newsletter Coordinator
5. Hon. Secretary Management Committee
Artist's Work
We are focussing on Picasso and his painting Guernica in remembrance of the 75th Anniversary of the bombing of Guernica, Spain.
An international project, ‘Guernica: Source of Inspiration to Art and Culture 2010 – 2012’ will be launched by the people of Guernica. The project seeks to compile artistic and cultural expressions that have been influenced by the bombing of Guernica, as Picasso was. The project will be explained at www.guernica2012.org when the website is up and running. If you know of any project, artistic or cultural creation which is inspired by the bombing of Guernica, please contact guernica2012@gmail.com.
Here is a summary of the event and Picasso’s response to it:-
Warplanes bombed Guernica in the Basque Country of Spain on the 26th April, 1935, on the orders of Franco’s Spanish Nationalist Force. Journalist George Steer wrote “... a powerful fleet of aeroplanes consisting of three types of German types, Junkers and Heinkel bombers, did not cease unloading on the town bombs weighing from 1,000 lbs. downwards and, it is calculated, more than 3,000 two-pounder aluminium incendiary projectiles. The fighters, meanwhile, plunged low from above the centre of the town to machinegun those of the civilian population who had taken refuge in the fields.”
Picasso had been commissioned by the Republican government to paint a mural for the Exposition Internationale des Arts et Techniques dans la Vie Moderne (1937) Paris International Exposition in the 1937 World's Fair in Paris. He chose his subject after reading Steer’s newspaper article.
Although the painting did not attract mcuh attention at the Exposition it went on display across the world to become the anti-war icon it now is.
The mural formed the centrepiece of a Picasso retrospective at MoMA, New York, which opened six weeks after the Nazi invasion of Poland. While Picasso was in Nazi-occupied Paris he was often harassed by the Gestapo, and on one occasion an officer, pointing to a photo of the painting, asked ‘Did you do that?’ to which he replied ‘No, you did!’. After travelling the globe the painting returned to New York, and the room housing it became a focus for protest during the Vietnam War.
The work is as inspirational as ever, and continues to inspire young and old. For instance broadcaster and philosopher Paul Bottelberghs, one of the founders of Ambrosia’s Table which built the ‘Platform for Media Knowledge’ with the Flemish Ministry of Education and Training, organised a project called ‘Guernica’s Children’. They ran a contest about peace in which the winning school class would participate in the initiative ‘Kids’ Guernica’, an international artistic movement initiated by Art Japan Network, in which children around the world are asked to create a painting about peace and cooperation.
See http://poieinkaiprattein.org/kids-guernica/ & http://www.media-in-education.net/files/Media-and-Learning_News_2011-02.pdf
Image Description: Guernica by Pablo Picasso. 1937. Source: http://www.picassotradicionyvanguardia.com/08R.php. Copyright is likely held by Picasso's estate, but this is not certain due to the unusual history surrounding this painting's donation to the people of Spain.
Australia's Human Rights Record Examined By UN Human Rights Council
Australia has been called on to enact a Human Rights Act, recognise same-sex marriage, abolish mandatory immigration detention and entrench Indigenous rights in the Constitution following a major international review before the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.
Countries from around the world made recommendations to further fundamental values of freedom, fairness, dignity and equality. Many recommended that Australia adopt a national Human Rights Act. According to Ben Schokman (a Senior Human Rights Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Resource Centre, Australia) “The lack of a national human rights law is a significant gap in Australia’s framework for the protection of rights.”
New Zealand called on Australia to establish independent inspectorates to monitor places and conditions of detention and deaths in custody. Numerous countries raised Australia’s policy of mandatory, indefinite immigration detention, and recommended that Australia only detain non-citizens in exceptional circumstances and for a maximum of six months. A number of developing countries called on Australia to do more to combat poverty, highlighting that Australia’s overseas development assistance of 0.3% of GDP is well below the internationally agreed target of 0.7%.
A significant number of countries raised issues as to disadvantage, discrimination and exclusion experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. “Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples experience unconscionable exclusion and disadvantage in all areas of life,” said Les Malezer of the Foundation for Aboriginal and Islander Research Action.
Gender equality was a recurring theme, with recommendations that Australia adopt targets of 40% female representation on boards – current rates are about 10%..
Following the review, Mr Schokman said that he was very pleased that the issues and recommendations raised closely reflected many of those identified by the Australian NGO Coalition in submissions to the UN and meetings and briefings with foreign diplomats in Geneva.
Further details see
http://www.hrlrc.org.au/content/universal-periodic-review-ngo-delegation-updates
http://www.hrlrc.org.au/content/australia-appears-before-un-human-rights-council
Elders' Statement for National Apology Day
RELEASED TO COMMEMORATE THIRD ANNIVERSARY.
Seven NT elders released the following statement on 7 February 2011 to the people of Australia. They did this to show that, contrary to popular belief promulgated by Minister Macklin in interviews and press statements, there are many communities across the Territory that are worried by the NT Intervention.
“We are the people of the land. The land is our mother. For more than 40,000 years we have been caring for this land. We are its natural farmers.
Now, after so many years of dispossession, we find once again we are being thrust towards a new dispossession. Our pain and our fear are real. Our people are again being shamed.
Under the Intervention we lost our rights as human beings, as Australians citizens, as the First People of the land. We feel very deeply the threat to our languages, our culture and our heritage. Through harsh changes we have had removed from us all control over our communities and our lives. Our lands have been compulsorily taken from us. We have been left with nothing. The legislation under which we now live does not comply with international law. It is discriminatory.
We are no longer equal to other Australians. We are no longer equal to you. As people in our own land, we are shocked by the failure of democratic processes, of the failure to consult with us and of the total disregard for us as human beings. We demand the return of our rights, our freedom to live our traditional lives, support to develop our economic enterprises to develop jobs and to work towards a better future for all our peoples. So extreme have been the actions against our people that we must appeal to all people of Australia to walk with us in true equality. Speak out and help to put an end to the nightmare that Northern Territory Aboriginal people are experiencing on a daily basis.”
Signed by: Rosalie Kunoth-Monks OAM, Utopia, Rev. Dr Djiniyini Gondarra OAM, Galiwin'ku
Harry Nelson, Yuendumu, Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-Bauman, AM, Nauiyyu
Djapirri Mununggirritj, Yirrkala., Dhanggal Gurruwiwi, Yirrkala, George Gaymarani Pascoe, Millingimbi
For more information see website – www.concernedaustralians.com.au.
[Image source http://www.treatyrepublic.net/content/elders-statement-7th-february-2011]
Attitudes to OHS&W – A Comment on the Daniel Madeley Case
Apprentice Daniel Madeley was killed in a horrific workplace accident. In a report released yesterday State Coroner Mark Johns said: "It is extremely disturbing that SafeWork SA failed to carry out an audit following Mr Madeley's death for nearly six years, and only then at the same time as an inquest was started.
"I simply cannot understand how such a workplace existed in South Australia in 2004." He said the death of Mr Madeley was "entirely preventable". Mr Johns also called for "major reform" to the current system of criminal prosecution for fatal industrial accidents.
In 2009, Diemould was fined $72,000 in the Industrial Court – a third of what it would have cost to replace the defective equipment.
Asbestos companies are responsible for the deaths and suffering of tens of thousands. No one from these companies has been prosecuted for failing to implement the best OHS&W practices. It seems the suffering of workers is just collateral damage in the quest for profit.
When asked about the Don't Risk Second Rate Safety campaign former ACTU president and General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, Sharan Burrow, said that OHS&W bored her.
Every year, according to the International Labour Organisation: * more than two million die as a result of work-related accidents * workers suffer approximately 270 million occupational accidents * hazardous substances kill 440,000 workers – asbestos claims 100,000 lives * more people die at work than fighting wars
All workers have a right to a safe working environment.
Source: An article by Andrew (Andy) Alcock
Image source http://adelaideadvertiser.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx.
Environmental Sustainability
PROTECTING THE KIMBERLY COAST
The WA government released their environmental impact report for the proposed Kimberley gas hub at James Price Point. It doesn't have environmental approval from Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke and it can't go ahead without it.
The gas hub environmental report is now open for public comment. According to Dr. Jill St John, Marine Coordinator, The Wilderness Society (WA) Inc the report is riddled with serious flaws and is missing vital information. It's just not good enough for our pristine Kimberley coast, one of the natural wonders of the world. Can you help set the record straight?
The Wilderness Society urges us to take action by signing its submission, which you can find at
http://www.lists.wilderness.org.au/lt.php?id=Nh4ICwMOCAIAAlBFAA9WVE4AWgJdBVc%3D. Thousands of people have already signed the submission on this website, but thousands more are needed to make this the biggest response the government has ever received!
Other News
UN PLAN FOR GENDER EQUALITY AND THE EMPOWERMENT OF WOMEN IN 2011
UN Women was established last year, with the merger of four former UN agencies and offices: the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), the Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW), the Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues, and the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (UN-INSTRAW).
The new agency is set to receive a large boost in funding and was formally launched on 24 February during the 55th session of the Commission on the Status of Women, the global policy-making body dedicated exclusively to gender equality and the advancement of women.
The Executive Director of UN Women, Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile, said UN Women would focus on five core principles: enhancing implementation of international accords by national partners; backing intergovernmental processes to strengthen the global framework on gender equality; advocating gender equality and women’s empowerment; promoting coherence with the UN on the issue; and, acting as a global broker of knowledge and experience.
See http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37364&Cr=women&Cr1 for more details.
VALE DR MARGARET KING-BOYSE
Margaret , who passed away on 30 January, had a life-long commitment to East Timor. Her PhD thesis was about the peoples of East Timor, she published ‘Eden to Paradise’ on the anthropology of the people of East Timor and in 1975 she espoused the cause of the people she had written so much about.
In 1991 after the Santa Cruz Massacre in Dili, Margaret spoke out publicly against Indonesia's brutal occupation and in 1994 published a sequel to her original book. Its title was Eden to Paradise ; and, Paradise Lost.
In 2002, after an absence of 40 years, Margaret returned to what is now known as Timor Leste and edited the book Healing Timor Leste: A Consultation of Specialists. AND ALCOCK, AUSTRALIA East Timor Friendship Association (SA) Inc.
Peace Trust Calendar 2011
Dates for your Diary
- Adelaide Fringe Awards and Closing Night Party Sunday 13 March
- AGM APRIL 10
- Annual Dinner, Saturday 25TH June
- Launch – Graham Smith's Memoir TBA
- Launch – Reconciliation Action Plan TBA
Newsletter Deadlines
- Winter Newsletter Deadline -20th May
- Spring Newsletter Deadline -19 August
Contributions to newsletters no more than 300 words are always welcome.
Other Dates of Interest
- SA Refugee Week 19TH -25TH June
- Clean up Australia Day March 6th
- International women’s Day 8th March
- National Sorry Day May 26th
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