From geert at xs4all.nl Fri Oct 24 09:50:56 2008 From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink) Date: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 09:50:56 +0200 Subject: Third Commemoration of the 2005 Schiphol Fire in Amsterdam Message-ID: Announcement: Third Commemoration of the 2005 Schiphol Fire in Amsterdam Experience Ceremonial Community Art: WE ARE HERE http://m2m.streamtime.org Join the protest at Schiphol and tune into M2M Radio, the Migrant-to- Migrant web radio station of the survivors of the fire. The Schiphol fire that happened in the night of the 26th of October 2005 will be commemorated again three years later, at the same place and at the same time. At the memorial for the eleven dead migrants that stands at the fence of the detention centre at Schiphol Airport. Survivors and relatives of the dead are working together to create the commemoration and to be there. The united survivors initiated the event in collaboration with M2M Radio and The Blue House. On Saturday October 25 2008 the third commemoration of the Schiphol fire will start in the Blue House when the survivors and relatives of the deceased will be together in private session. The next day, Sunday 26th, we will move towards the Schiphol airport detention centre to honour the dead. We will show the world that WE ARE HERE TO MAKE A LIFE AGAIN TOGETHER AS ONE We have engaged eleven international artists to join the process of creating a ?Gesamtkunstwerk?, a ceremonial community art work at the fence of this prison where the temporary monument is located: 11 wooden pillars with the names of the 9 men and 2 women who died in the fire. Special Live Web Radio Station You can find us already on Friday evening October 24, 2008 in the Blue House from 19-23 hours where we kick off live with a web radio program called M2M, Migrant to Migration. (http://m2m.streamtime.org). Since February 2007 the Blue House/Het Blauwe Huis (IJburg, Amsterdam) hosts the M2M web radio station that is dedicated to the human practice of migration, not excluding birds, seeds and other works of art and nature. Every Friday evening we are broadcasting on the Internet. M2M practices the art of subliminal networking, e.g. resulting in the fast growing ring of migrating Senegalese artists and other humans who are participating in M2M Radio Teranga. M2M is a meeting point for intimate and public expression and a test laboratory for developers of open source software, an ideal environment for testing usability, connectivity and compatibility to satisfy the needs of artists, activists and other moving minds like you and me. M2M also broadcasts live on the web on Saturday, starting 1 p.m. (CET). On Sunday October 26, 2008 M2M will report (semi)live from Schiphol East where the public commemoration will be held, starting at 2 p.m. till midnight (it is then Wintertime!). Background In October 2005 eleven people died in the calamitous fire at Schiphol Airport detention centre. Their deaths are the immediate and tragic result of exceedingly restrictive Dutch immigration laws. Laws to exclude, hunt down, lock up and deport innocent people. About 298 people were being held at the Schiphol detention centre when the fire broke out: each and everyone a of them a victim of this terrible catastrophe. We call for solidarity with all of the victims. We demand that detention of aliens with the sole objective of expelling them from our country be ended forthwith. Migrants are world citizens like you and me! The survivors fight for their recovery and for their future. TO MAKE A LIFE AGAIN They live dispersed throughout the Netherlands and try to stay afoot in the jungle of poverty, paper work and abandonment. Some of them are living out on the street, still facing deportation or collapse. Some are lost in the dark. All the people and all politicians must be aware of the facts: - the politically responsible persons have not been held accountable in front of a judge or in parliament. - Ahmed Isa is still the only one prosecuted for the fire. - Politicians turn away from the fire, from the causes and the consequences. - The Dutch government continues to detain people that are ?not supposed to be here? - The Dutch authorities turn a deaf ear to critical reports of Amnesty International, The Council of Europe and the State Council on the Implementation of Criminal Law and Justice. The surviving victims and the relatives of the dead are still coping without adequate care. They are also kept waiting for compensation. The commemoration demonstrates that the survivors are still here and together struggle for their future. TOGETHER AS ONE The Commemoration Group is now formed by the United Survivors, M2M Radio and The Blue House, in collaboration with PRIME. It calls on all people to join the survivors in this commemoration, as a gesture of solidarity and respect. And as a protest against the politics on migration and the detention of migrants in particular. Spread the word. . Get connected. . Call us or mail: m2m at streamtime.org Tel. ++31 6 24148872 News and updates on M2M Radio: http://m2m.streamtime.org General campaign website: http://www.vertrokkengezichten.net Hosting partner http://www.blauwehuis.org For more news subscribe to the electronic mailinglist here: http://listcultures.org/mailman/listinfo/m2m-eng_listcultures.org (english) http://listcultures.org/mailman/admin/m2m-nl_listcultures.org (dutch) Financial contributors: the Amsterdam Fund for the Arts, Stichting Doen, X-Y Solidarity Fund, Maria Strootfonds. From geert at xs4all.nl Sun Oct 26 19:10:43 2008 From: geert at xs4all.nl (Geert Lovink) Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 19:10:43 +0100 Subject: program of october 26, 2008 Message-ID: <26D8E34C-E4EC-4BA1-868E-E5B5B428EE3A@xs4all.nl> For more detailed information on this program see the Dutch version: HYPERLINK "http://www.vertrokkengezichten.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=265&Itemid=61 " http://www.vertrokkengezichten.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=265&Itemid=61 3rd Commemoration of the Schiphol Fire Today's program Together. Remember the dead. Create new life. The survivors are welcomed with coffee in the blue room of the Nicolaaskerk in Amsterdam by Theo Beussink. Today we commemorate our eleven killed friends by visiting the eleven wooden columnars close to the fence of the Schiphol East prison complex. Address Schiphol East: Ten Pol 64 Oude Meer 64 1438 AJ Participants either come by car or take the train to NS Station Schiphol. The meeting point is at Delifrance on Schiphol Plaza where participants are pointed to transportation towards Schiphol East. Three party tents are set up to shelter from the rain. ?Theaterstraat? takes care of light and podium. Warm food and drinks are provided by ?Rampenplan.? The program starts at 2 pm. At 7 pm there is a sober gathering at the Hoofdvaartkerk in Hoofddorp where, among others, mayor Theo Weterings will speak. After this gathering a bus will go to Schiphol East to hand over earth. This bus drives back to Schiphol Plaza around half past ten at night. At 8 pm three Linden trees will be planted in the grass of the eleven people that did not survive. We will continue till we finish our rituals, our art, and our connections. We thank all the volunteers and artists that helped us organize this occasion. Mary-Ann and Noury have made a mobile collecting-box where people are able to donate financially or personal letters to the absent. Including Miloud Fritass, Ahmed Isa and all the others we were not able to trace as of yet. Additionally, we would like to solidarily greet the prisoners inside the prison complex and warn them that they are not safe there? We ask participants, spectators and the press to embrace this ceremonial art project with respect and to avoid unnecessary disorder. The authorities are informed and did not set conditions for this occasion. We ask the police and marechaussee only to approach the survivors without uniform. Politicians are invited to make apologies and to acknowledge this with a handshake. We would like to thank Jan Pronk and other members of the ?Comite van Aanbeveling? for their support an former mayor Ed van Thijn for his much appreciated advice. You can participate on the Internet as well. Sound and images are streamed from M2M Radio: HYPERLINK "http://m2m.streamtime.org" http://m2m.streamtime.org . The united survivors and M2M Radio would like to thank ?Het Blauwe Huis? for their hospitality. Miloud Fritass is not allowed to be be with us today. Tuesday Jo van der Spek and Co van Melle will visit him in the Lelystad prison.