[Gipfelsoli Newsletter] March 22nd, Heiligendamm

[International Newsletter]

- HOLY DAMN IT
- Short info about g8 action day against militarism, war and torture
- R.A.F.: Resistance Art Festival
- Dear friends, dear anti-G8 and camp activists,
- Berlin Protesters Say More Than 10,000 Aim to Crash EU Party

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HOLY DAMN IT

About the urge of radical answers
Poster project to mobilize against the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm near Rostock,
Germany, June 6-8, 2007

Artists:
Artist Without Walls (IL/Palestine), bankleer (D), open circle (IND), Mansour
Ciss (SN), Markus Dorfmüller (D), Petra Gerschner (D), Marina Grzinic (Slo),
Oliver Ressler (A), Walter Seidl (A) und Allan Sekula (USA)
The art project HOLY DAMN IT has to be seen as an artistic intervention in the
process of a political debate about social alternatives in the international
protest and resistance movements against the G-8 summit in Heiligendamm near
Rostock in 2007.

Ten international artists and artist collectives will create one poster each.
The artistic contributions deal with the hegemonic conditions and current
issues about social movements against capitalist globalization: privatization,
exploitation of human beings and resources, war, torture, escalating military
mobilization from within as well as to the outside as a permanent state of
exception, sexist violence and patriarchal as well as racist models of
dominance. Moreover, the project deals with the power of global image
(re-)production within capitalism, the intended privatization of knowledge,
resources, education, social and ecological deprivation as well as the
repression of people with different views of an emancipation and
solidarity-oriented culture and society. Thus, the project focuses on a
different world, which is not only possible, but already lived through
interventions of self-organized initiatives and groups from below and within.

50 000 posters against G 8
Each poster of the ten artists and artist groups will be printed 5.000 times in
A 2 format, 4-c, and distributed: The posters will be handed out for free to
various groups mobilizing against the summit.
>From April to May 2007, there will be presentations of the project in various
cities, mostly in art institutions which operate strongly in-between art and
politics. There, the posters will be available to be taken home for free.
Depending on the institution, there will also be thematic events linked to the
project.

Moreover, there will be a limited edition of 200 copies (of all 10 posters)
signed by the artists, which can be sold at the presentations. The money should
be donated to victims who were arbitrarily violated by the police during summit
protests.

In addition, the poster-project will be presented in a joint magazine against
the mobilization. The magazine is organized by the leftist papers
Fantomas/Arranca/So oder So. The project will also be presented in the mass
paper of mobilization in spring 2007.

On the website of the project depicting all motifs of the series, information on
the project and the participating artists, texts, exhibition venues and dates
(from April).

Scheduled sites of presentation and cooperation
(11. Februar):
Berlin: Neue Gesellschaft für Bildende Kunst (NGBK)
Hamburg: Feld für Kunst / Rote Flora
Graz: Forum Stadtpark
Wien: Fluc
Bern: Kulturzentrum Reitschule
Zürich: Shedhalle

In some venues, there will also be a video lounge (video, book, and text
archive). For this, we'd need a DVD with videos, or catalogues until the end of
January.

[http://www.holy-damn-it.org]


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Short info about g8 action day against militarism, war and torture

dear friends and comrades,
we quickly want to inform you about the preparations for the g8 action day
against militarism, war and torture - about the blockade of the malitary
airport rostock-laage at the 5th of june 2007.
After the first meeting discussed and agreed on the call for an actionday, last
meeting focussed more on the concrete organization of the 5th of june. We want
to enable as many people as possible to come close to the airport. That´s why
we will officially announce places for political demonstrations to the police
that can be used as meeting-points [such 'legal' places can be useful to get to
an area in the first place, as the right to take part in political events is
especially protected - seen from a different angle certain preventive law and
order laws allow the police to send you away from interesting regions for
security reasons if there is no such point]. One of these points will be the
entrance to the military airport/air base. There will be given the latest
information, speeches and smaller concerts. To create movement, there is also
the idea of having protest marches between these places. As the police is
talking about "a spacious / wide-ranging cordon around the airport" we will
press for a talk of cooperation with the police soon to get to know more about
their plans.

We will set up the organizational frame for about 8 hours, from late morning to
early evening. We call for groups to think of manifold manifestations and
actions - to use this frame to block the airport and the arrival of the g8.
Even if we try to provide food and drink through mobile volxküchen, it wouldn´t
be a bad idea if everybody thinks about necessities like that as well. Up to now
transport of lots of people to the airport as well as financing of the
infrastructure are open questions.
you can find more detailed information on: g8andwar.de
Next federal meeting will take place at the 21st of april in berlin-kreuzberg,
bethanien, mariannenstrasse 2.
Before that you have the chance to meet us on the BUKO and the Rostock III
Conference for information and workshops on the actionday in Rostock-Laage.
The berlin coordination circle will meet again on the 27th of march already at 7
p.m. in bethanien.


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R.A.F.: Resistance Art Festival

Hello Artivists from all over the world!

Press said that the RAF might come back for G8, it's true!! It's the Resistance
Art Festival :P

We plan to organize an artistic Temporary Autonomous Zone near Heiligendamm
during the G8 summit in June from the 2nd (evening) till the end of the
blockades. We are several tekno sound systems and demonstration organizers from
all over Europe and we'll bring our gigs to Heiligendamm (Free4, Fuck Parade,
Ketwork32, LaHP, Systematek,...), we are all used to create Free Autonomous
Spaces...

Our aim are to offer people a place to rest and to find a new energy to go back
to the barricades and to mobilize all the people that wouldn't come without
this event (don't laugh it's true, a lot of people would come if they can find
also a festival there, it's a reason more to come for them). Our message is in
our art (music, video, juggling, painting,...) and we do intend to make noise
to be heard! We want people coming back from the barricades to be able to find
a place to free their minds and moods from all aggressiveness and to motivate
them back with our art...
Moreover the 8 bastards will speak about the copyrights and the distribution
networks of art (DRMs, licenses, peer2peer, copy protections,...) so we cannot
let them do without showing that Free Art is a reality, that we can do
autonomous spaces for free and offering even more than "just" art to the
people, and that we refuse their standardization of art and their capitalist
way of seeing art in general.. Our art is not to sell!!
We have our own hardware (speakers, amplifiers, trucks, videoprojectors,...) so
any artist can come and we'll be glad to accept any collaboration offered...
We are also in contacts with alternative artists from other scenes (rock,
rap,...) and trying to arrange concerts too...
We asked for a place but still did not get any answers but even if they don't
give us a place we'll take it, we are all used to that and ready to defend our
camp... But honestly we don't think they will give a fuck about people dancing
when they will have thousands of people trying to break their fucking fence at
the same time ;)
We have organized an illegal Teknival with 5000 people in Germany (Baden-Baden)
last year (and several ones all over Europe), just after the demonstration we
organized on the 15th April 2006 in Strasbourg in front of the European
Parliament, and some of our group also organized numerous illegal protests in
Berlin (and legal ones too), so we are quite aware of how it goes there in
Germany...
If anyone is interested in working with us in this project (the fact that you
got hardware or not is not a problem) please contact us: benlagren at gmail.com
(french and english) or liaphine at gmail.com (german and english)

Our site will be online next week: www.free4alter.org
Thanks

[R.A.F.]


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Dear friends, dear anti-G8 and camp activists,

Since fall 2006, a group from a quite heterogeneous spectrum has been organising
a camp at possibly several locations in the region of Rostock. This camp is
supposed to accommodate thousands of people and serve to all of us as basis for
the demonstrations, actions, the alternative summit and the cultural events
against the impositions by the G-8 from the end of May to mid-June.

At the moment, the work is being done with the most minimal financial as well as
personal equipment - only the fewest are already in a position right now to lead
the negotiations for camp space and to drive ahead the preparations on the
premises. Therefore, we want to place the work around the camp in Heiligendamm
on a broader basis.

We shall therefore be happy if - by way of your signature - you express the
common wish to support such a camp beyond the dividing lines between us.

Our demand to you all:
Please forward this appeal to other initiatives, groups and to friends and
acquaintances. Please let us know at the latest until the beginning of April
who would like to sign: andi at so36.net.

Since the camp is still on very shaky feet financially, an additional request:

If at all possible, please link your signature with a donation to the camp
organisation. This is not a must; however, it will represent an important
support of the construction work.

Account number/IBAN:
Bank address/BIC:

As a guideline for your support, we suggest the following gradation:

- large organisations 200 Euro
- middle-size organisations 100 Euro
- local initiatives 50 Euro
- individuals 10 Euro

Please send your signature and of course questions to: andi at so36.net

In the hope to be hearing from you soon, your work group Camping 07

G-8 summit in Heiligendamm: Support for camping accommodation right under the
eyes of the power elites

Another world is possible!

In the beginning of June 2007, the governments of the seven most important
industrial countries and Russia meet for the "G-8 Summit" in the Baltic resort
village of Heiligendamm. The "Group of the 8" (G-8) is an institution without
any legitimacy. Nonetheless, as the self-nominated informal world government,
it takes decisions concerning the whole of humanity. The politics of the G-8
stands for neoliberal globalisation and de-regulation. The world stamped by the
policies of the G-8 is a world of wars, of hunger, of social divisions,
environmental destruction and walls against migrants and refugees. Against this
kind of politics, we shall demonstrate by way of blockades and an alternative
summit in a creative and diverse way and show up alternatives. Together with
millions of people, the whole world over, we say: Another world is possible!
For this reason, at the end of May, tens of thousands of people will travel
into the region around Rostock and Heiligendamm. We demand that these people be
welcomed just as cordially in Mecklenburg Western Pomerania as the G-8
delegates. To that end, infrastructure (water, electricity, sanitary equipment)
must be created in order to offer the opportunity to be able to participate in
the activities in good shape. This will be guaranteed, as is the case at all
meetings of this kind, by the organisation of camp sites. We would wish these
sites to be in the range of view of the powerful in order to be able to
confront them with our alternatives before the eyes of the world public. The
location and the infrastructure of the camps are designed to carry out our
protest in the view of the rulers and to make our positions clear beyond the
immediate protest actions. The camps shall be a protected space for children,
migrants and all those, who shall give a face to these days together with us.
Everyone contributes by his/her responsible action to shaping this protected
space and to guaranteeing the security of all participants. We want to realise
this together and in mutual respect. Because the peaceful alternatives to war,
hunger and environmental destruction do not emerge at exclusive and cut-off
summit meetings behind fences, but from below on the basis of the global
movement of people and initiatives who commit for another, better world free of
violence.

Rostock, in March 2007


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Berlin Protesters Say More Than 10,000 Aim to Crash EU Party

March 20 (Bloomberg) -- German protest organizers say more than 10,000
demonstrators will parade through Berlin on March 25, voicing their anger at
European Union leaders gathered in the capital to celebrate the EU's 50th
anniversary.
Alliance Against the EU-Summit, comprising more than 40 groups and initiatives
ranging from labor unions to peace activists, intend to crash the EU party by
protesting against what they say is the EU's focus on market liberalization at
the expense of social justice, organizer Martin Mitterhauser told reporters in
Berlin today.
“The EU is not the Europe that we want,” Mitterhauser said, criticizing EU
policies that he said have led to social exploitation and lower wages. Those
protesting ``represent the interests of the majority of the population,'' he
said.
Leaders of the 27-member EU headed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, current
holder of the EU's rotating presidency, assemble in Berlin to celebrate a key
moment in the birth of the present day EU, the signing of the Treaty of Rome in
1957. Yet the meeting comes amid faltering popularity for the bloc.
Some 45 percent of Europe's citizens said life had become worse since their
countries joined the EU, according to a Financial Times/Harris poll published
yesterday. Just 25 percent said that life had improved.
War Critic
Mitterhauser criticized plans by Merkel to help revive the EU constitution,
which was rejected by French and Dutch voters in 2005. The participation of EU
member states in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was also decried at the
meeting.
Demonstrators will gather at Berlin's Alexanderplatz, the main square in the
east of the city, and march to the Brandenburg Gate, scene of a series of
official concerts during the celebrations, Mitterhauser said. Police
spokeswoman Kerstin Zeesmer confirmed that about 10,000 protesters are
expected.
The Alliance is also against an EU directive to scale back barriers in the
European services industry, which labor unions have said will let companies
skirt safety and wage regulations and impinge on collective bargaining rights.
Proponents say the initiative will spur growth in the European economy.
Merkel will oversee the summit celebrations, with the end result being a
``Berlin Declaration'' on the EU's achievements and goals signed by all 27
leaders.
Of greater interest to Berlin residents is likely to be a series of club events,
sponsored by the EU, taking place across the city throughout the two days of
celebrations.

[http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601100&sid=aFo17DmDXqjU]