07/05/2024
06/05/2024
Dalila Mahdjoub
Marseille celebrates contemporary arts in May!
Printemps de l’Art Contemporain
La 16e édition du festival Printemps de l’Art Contemporain, organisée par le réseau PAC, se tient du 2 au 19 mai 2024 dans 60 lieux d’art contemporain de Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Port de Bouc, Istres, Miramas, Rognes, Châteauneuf-le-Rouge et Rousset.
L'événement regroupe plus de 160 artistes de la scène émergente française et internationale, "invité·es à participer à ce rendez-vous incontournable de l’art contemporain en France".
J'ai participé au week-end d’ouverture à Marseille.
Depuis 2007, le réseau Provence Art Contemporain (PAC) fédère des structures engagées dans la création contemporaine, des lieux ancrés dans les centres urbains et les territoires ruraux, issus des secteurs public et privé.
Pendant le Printemps de l’Art Contemporain, les membres du réseau sont rejoints par des structures complices du festival " autour de la même volonté de défendre la création, les artistes, la mutualisation".
A Marseille, les quartiers Opéra, Préfecture, Cours Julien, Camas, Joliette, Belsunce, Longchamp, Belle de Mai, et d'autres, sont au rendez-vous pendant près de trois semaines.
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The 16th edition of the Spring Contemporary Art festival, organised by the "PAC" network, will be held from May 2 to 19, 2024 in 60 contemporary art venues in Marseille, Aix-en-Provence, Port de Bouc, Istres, Miramas, Rognes, Châteauneuf-le-Rouge and Rousset.
The event brings together more than 160 artists from the emerging French and international scene, "invited to participate in this unmissable event for contemporary art in France".
I went to the opening weekend in Marseille.
Since 2007, the Provence Contemporary Art (PAC) network has brought together structures engaged in contemporary creation, places anchored in urban centres and rural areas, from the public and private sectors.
During the Spring of Contemporary Art, the members of the network are joined by structures complicit in the festival "around the same desire to defend creation, artists, sharing".
In Marseille, the Opéra, Préfecture, Cours Julien, Camas, Joliette, Belsunce, Longchamp, Belle de Mai, and other districts are there for almost three weeks.
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Insight in pictures...
A performance by local artist of Caribbean roots, Yoan Sorin:
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Centre Photo:
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Dalila Mahdjoub
Ils ont fait de nous du cinéma دارو بينا سينيما
"Dessins, vidéo, sérigraphie, documents, dispositifs panoptiques, périscopes incandescents… autant de voies par lesquelles Dalila Mahdjoub décolonise le langage, avec ce geste simple de faire tomber les lettres du langage colonial. Lenteur, délicatesse redoutable, qui retourne la violence de l’histoire."
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The already iconic Hannah Black at Octo:
Marked by a Blank or Occupied by a Lie
Librairie Semiotext(e) Marseille
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The hyper-shaken 'Bamboula' exhibition by Moussa Saar
- At Château de Servières
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Des exploits, des chefs-d’œuvre
Mucem
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And more!
Insight into Marseille's Contemporary Art Festival (PAC) - May 2024
Corsica-born Senegalese-French artist Moussa Sarr opened his new exhibition at Château de Servières in Marseille as part of PAC, 'le Printemps de l'art contemporain' 2024:
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more soon
Gaza: The EU and France call on Israel not to attack Rafah
Monday 6 May 2024
As Israel has ordered evacuation from Rafah area in south Gaza, the EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell has called on the Israeli authorities to “renounce” the idea of a ground offensive on Rafah.
Josep Borrell Fontelles wrote on social media on Monday that "Israel's evacuation orders to civilians in Rafah portend the worst: more war and famine. It is unacceptable."
He added that "Israel must renounce to a ground offensive and implement UNSCR 2728. The EU, with the International Community, can and must act to prevent such scenario."
The French embassy in Israel has also issued a statement saying Emmanuel Macron spoke on Sunday with Netanyahu on the phone.
The president reiterated that France’s top priority is the release of all the captives as he encouraged Netanyahu to pursue a ceasefire, it said in a post on X.
Macron also reiterated his firm opposition to the planned Israeli offensive on Rafah and the urgent need to ensure a massive entry of humanitarian aid through all access points to the Gaza Strip, the embassy added.
On March 24, Macron had warned Netanyahu that any forced transfer of people from Rafah would constitute “a war crime”.
'Horrific suffering'
Israel'z offensive "could lead to the deadliest phase of this conflict, inflicting horrific suffering on approximately 1.4 million displaced civilians in the area", the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Jan Egeland, warned in a statement.
Natalie Roberts, the executive director of Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has also called on the UK government to explain why it has not condemned Israel’s planned offensive on Rafah.
Israeli forces have killed 34,735 Palestinians in its seven-month war on Gaza, according to the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave.
At least 78,108 people have been injured in the relentless Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7, the ministry said in a statement on Monday.
Even the Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid, has criticised the recent announcements, threats and irresponsible statements made by government ministers and the prime minister regarding the captives.
02/05/2024
... "more devoted to 'order' than to justice”
“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the White moderate who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In 1963
01/05/2024
UK: Local elections on 2 May 2024
London, May 1, 2024 (AFP)
- Britain's ruling Conservative party is expected to suffer heavy losses in crunch local elections this week that are likely to increase pressure on beleaguered Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The polls are the last major electoral test before a general election that Sunak's party, in power since 2010, seems destined to lose to the Labour opposition.
Sunak has said he wants to hold the nationwide vote in the second half of the year, but bruising defeats in Thursday's votes could force his hand earlier.
"These elections form a vital examination for the Sunak premiership -- road-testing its claim that the plan is working and the degree to which voters still lend that notion any degree of credibility," political scientist Richard Carr told AFP.
Incumbent governments tend to suffer losses in local contests and the Conservatives are forecast by pollsters to lose about half of the council seats they are defending.
Sunak's immediate political future is said to rest on whether two high-profile Tory regional mayors get re-elected in the West Midlands and Tees Valley areas of central and northeast England.
Wins for the Conservative mayors, Andy Street and Ben Houchen, would boost hopes among Tory MPs that Sunak can turn around their party's fortunes in time for the general election.
But speculation is rife in the UK parliament that a bad showing could lead some restive Conservative lawmakers to try to replace Sunak before the nationwide poll.
"If Andy Street and Ben Houchen both lose, any idea that Sunak can carry on is surely done," said Carr, a politics lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University.
"Whether that means he rolls the dice on a general election or gets toppled remains to be seen."
Factional infighting has plagued the Tories in recent years, serving up five prime ministers since the 2016 Brexit vote, including three in four months from July to October 2022.
A group of restive Conservative MPs have drawn up a "policy blitz" for a potential successor to Sunak in the event of massive losses this week, British media have reported.
- Another one? -
Some observers say it would be madness for the Conservatives to topple another leader when Sunak has provided some stability since succeeding Liz Truss in October 2022.
Others say the party's credibility is already shot so why not try one last desperate throw of the dice to try to stop a predicted Labour landslide.
Some 52 MPs would need to submit letters of no confidence in Sunak to trigger an internal party vote to replace him -- a tall ask.
"I still expect Sunak will lead the Conservatives into the general election," Richard Hayton, a politics professor at Leeds University, told AFP.
"But some MPs may seek to move against him, which will further damage his standing with the general public."
Sunak, 43, was an internal Tory appointment following Truss's disastrous 49 days premiership in which her unfunded tax cuts caused market turmoil and sank the pound.
Despite numerous leadership resets under Sunak, the Tories have continued to trail Labour, led by Keir Starmer, by double digits in most opinion polls.
An Ipsos poll earlier this month put Sunak's satisfaction rating at a joint all-time low of minus 59 percent.
More than 2,500 councillors are standing in England on Thursday, as well as London's Labour mayor Sadiq Khan who is seeking a record third term in office.
Most of the council seats up for re-election were last contested in 2021, when ex-Tory premier Boris Johnson was popular as he rolled out Covid-19 vaccines.
27/04/2024
27 April: South Africa's Freedom Day
South Africa celebrates 'Freedom Day', 30 years after the end of apartheid, with mixed feelings
In 2024, South
Africas are celebrating their first multiracial elections from 1994, and
the advent of democracy. But the legacy of Nelson Mandela's party seems
poorer than ever, and many call for change while young people seem to
have lost faith in elections.
People attend Freedom Day celebrations in Pretoria, South Africa [Themba Hadebe/AP]
On
27 April 1994, after a historic election, Nelson Mandela was elected
president, and the country turned the page on the apartheid years.
Freedom Day is now a public holiday in South Africa celebrated on 27 April, to
commemorate the first post-apartheid elections and the day the new constitution was introduced.
It
is also a moment to honour the "unsung heroes and heroines who fought
for freedom and paved the way for an equal, representative, non-racial
nation", the government says.
The day means a lot for South Africans, including for the ones living abroad.
"For me Freedom means Transformation", one the representative of the Democratic Alliance (DA) party in France, Mary Paccard, told me.
This year, 27 April marks the 30th anniversary of South Africa’s first democratic elections.
The government decided to take a whole month, in April, to "reflect on the progress made over our democratic journey thus far and consider how we can further strengthen our democracy."
From progress to decline
Since April 1994, Mandela's party, the ANC has remained in power.
The economy has continued to develop, and the country is now one of the most industrialised on the continent.
One of ANC's most striking successes is the introduction of a minimum wage.South Africa's social benefit system is among the most developed on the continent, and a lifeline for the poorest: almost 30 percent of the population benefits from it, not counting the post-Covid aid still distributed.
But, despite progress, South Africa remains one of the most unequal countries in the world, according to the Gini index.
The "rainbow nation" envisioned by Mandela is nowadays afflicted by poverty, inequality, corruption and crime.
Jobs are scarce, and many young people get sucked into crime.
Election year
For all these reasons, the ANC is losing momentum.
As South Africans are called for general elections on 29 May, the party could for the first time since coming to power 30 years ago lose its absolute majority in Parliament.
The same goes for the eight regions out of nine that the party governs in the country so far.
So, many observers expect a potential coalition government.
On 13 April, the organisation Defend Our Democracy organised a conference in Johannesburg to discuss the best way to approach possible future negotiations.
If the leaders of ANC still claim they can win a majority, other parties are getting organised.Meanwhile, one of the main challenges will be for parties to convince young voters to believe in democracy again, as their parents had with the end of apartheid.
26/04/2024
More reaction on the UK migrant deal: from Rwanda
My latest for RFI:
UK - RWANDA
Rwandan opposition deplores UK deportation deal as 'modern slavery'
A British law to send unwanted migrants to Rwanda, which passed this week after months of wrangling, has generated fierce criticism at home and abroad. In Rwanda, opponents of the longtime president say the country is unfit to host asylum seekers – while accusing the UK of outsourcing its responsibilities.
Issued on:
Read the story on RFI English from here: https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20240426-rwandan-opposition-deplores-uk-deportation-deal-as-modern-slavery
Staff stand at the reception at Hope Hostel, which is getting ready to host asylum seekers deported from the United Kingdom, in Kigali, Rwanda, on 24 April 2024. © AFP / GUILLEM SARTORIO
Read the story on RFI English from here: https://www.rfi.fr/en/africa/20240426-rwandan-opposition-deplores-uk-deportation-deal-as-modern-slavery
French university students also protest for Palestine
Students have blocked access to Paris’ Sciences Po university in a protest over the war in Gaza, demanding the institution condemn Israel’s actions.
The demonstration echoes student protests taking place in the US, where multiple arrests of students have been made on campuses.
Demonstrators hold posters reading "dismantle colonial borders" as students occupy a building of the Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po Paris) in support of Palestinians, in Paris on April 26, 2024. A few dozen students stay mobilized in support of Palestinians occupying a new building at Sciences Po Paris since April 25, 2024, evening, the day after police evacuated another of the school's sites, in the wake of actions at American universities.
Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP
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