Spring News // Letter 2022
Dears friends, readers, art lovers and fellow writers,
I hope this message finds you all well, despite the terrible world events. Every morning (and many times over night), I wake up struggling to believe that this war continues...
The very little I could do was to write about it and the state of journalism:
A few words on media bias in the coverage of world affairs:
http://melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-ides-of-march-on-ukraine-west-and.html
I hope to write more on this soon... if I'm granted a better platform to do so.
And I dedicated my TMR music column to people who have been through conflicts and displacements...
Music in wartime - Kyiv / Beirut on my mind:
https://themarkaz.org/music-in-the-middle-east-bring-back-peace/
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Before this horrible war exploded, my goal for 2022 was to finally travel again, to see the world again, and reconnect. Whether by train, by bus, or even walking, as usual. How sad it is for me to finally get on roads again, after the long imprisonment caused by Covid & Brexit, just when so many others are on the road for all the wrong reasons.
Nevertheless, in January, I went back to Paris and to Marseille, after years without being able to.
Marseille: A city dear to my heart, so much that I decided to be back there as soon as possible!
In March, I also spent a couple of days in London.
I really long for further travels too... In Italy, West Africa, the Caribbean and in Lebanon especially.
For now, this spring, I'll only be able to travel again to France. At the beginning of the summer, I'll finally see Liverpool. If I'm lucky, I’ll then go to Berlin for the Art Biennial, and Italy later on...
In the meantime, I have been travelling by proxy, writing about artists from further away in the world, especially artists interested in activism.
Here are some of the accessible articles:
Salah El Mur - from Sudan:
https://wepresent.wetransfer.com/story/salah-elmur-sudan-painting/
Haya Zaatry - from Palestine:
https://themarkaz.org/nazareths-liwan-features-palestinian-singer-haya-zaatry/
On the late Rachid Taha - from France/Algeria:
https://themarkaz.org/rachid-taha-and-the-sway-of-chaabi-rai-on-franco-arab-rock/
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I've also been reporting on (and against) the Nationality & Borders Bill, debated in the UK since 2021, about to affect refugees:
http://melissa-on-the-road.blogspot.com/2022/02/protesting-dangerous-nationality-and.html
Invited as a guest on an American podcast series about similar issues, centred on fighting racism and neocolonial bias... we discussed issues around Algeria's struggle for equality and France's history of colonialism. Here are the two coming episodes of their new season:
Discriminology Podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/discriminology/id1521770510
Meanwhile, in Bristol, I was also part of the 'Final Frontier' Festival, to discuss the links between arts and resistance:
https://www.trinitybristol.org.uk/activities/art-of-resistance/events/the-final-frontier
And I was really happy to read that some people somewhere found me inspiring enough to recommend my name for this list, despite the grim international climate that is still affecting me very much...
I will give two more talks in the spring:
on 27 April at Arnolfini - about my writing residency:
https://arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/melissachemam-anneharbin/
You can book here:
And on 14 May in St Pauls, as part of the Bristol Transformed festival:
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Hopefully, I’ll have time to write much more soon.
This year has been very labour intensive, especially with teaching 5 modules in journalism and creative media production.
I also hope to produce a few more podcasts…
For now: Thanks for your attention as usual!
If you're in London, Paris, Marseille, Liverpool, Berlin, Venice, around the summer, let's meet up on the road, discuss culture, arts, resistance, change and peace-building!
With my very best wishes,
Melissa Chemam
Writer, Journalist, Researcher
Lecturer in Media & Journalism
Writer in residence at Arnolfini Art Gallery
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