Water Issues

Water, Water Everywhere

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Film still from Shifting directed by Michael Varisco

The Museums of Los Gatos hosts a Film screening of select films from the traveling media exhibition: “Water, Water Everywhere: Paean to a Vanishing Resource“, curated by Jennifer Heath.

Thursday, September 27, 7-9pm

Location: The Art Museum | 4 Tait Avenue

All other films from Water, Water Everywhere will  be exhibited in conjunction with the current exhibition Shaped by Water: Past, Present and Future at the History Museum of Los Gatos from August 1-December 30, 2012. Visitors will have to opportunity to view films not featured in the screening throughout the duration of Shaped by Water.  These films will be  juxtaposed with historic film footage of Santa Clara Valley waterways.

Media Exhibition Description:

Water is the world’s most crucial commodity and the basis for all earthly life. Its preservation and protection may be our greatest environmental challenge.

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE is comprised of 30-second to 30-minute videos from 40 artists worldwide exploring water issues from the political to the personal and from ethics to aesthetics, with works that are documentary, experimental, educational, humorous, solemn, animated or acted. WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE is designed to be a platform for discussion and action to bring to light the world water crisis and the sanctity of water and its sources.

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

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Bolivian Animated Film “Abuela Grillo” Highlights Water Issues

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http://youtu.be/YMM7vM7aiNI

Abuela Grillo, an adorable – though equally tear-jerking – animated short-film, calls attention to Bolivia’s fraught history with water privatization.

The film is a collaboration between Bolivian animators and the Animation Workshop of Denmark. The Abuela Grillo character is based on a myth from the Bolivian lowlands, but the film tells the story of a historic moment in Bolivian water politics.

Water issues reached a boiling point in 2000 after water privatization legislation led to a significant spike in prices for Bolivian citizens. Demonstrations rocked Cochabamba in what is also known as the Cochabamba Water Wars. Though they began as peaceful protests, demonstrations quickly grew violent, leading to dozens of civilian and police injuries and casualties. Then President Hugo Banzer was forced to resign.

This animated film takes you on journey with Abuela Grillo (Grandmother Grasshopper), who walks through rural and urban landscapes with a raincloud constantly looming over her shoulder. She encounters various obstacles as the film weaves a sad – and deeply symbolic – tale of environmental exploitation and government corruption.

Reposted from the Center for Latin American and Caribean Studies at NYU blog.

Cultura21 is a transversal, translocal network, constituted of an international level grounded in several Cultura21 organizations around the world.

Cultura21′s international network, launched in April 2007, offers the online and offline platform for exchanges and mutual learning among its members.

The activities of Cultura21 at the international level are coordinated by a team representing the different Cultura21 organizations worldwide, and currently constituted of:

– Sacha Kagan (based in Lüneburg, Germany) and Rana Öztürk (based in Berlin, Germany)
– Oleg Koefoed and Kajsa Paludan (both based in Copenhagen, Denmark)
– Hans Dieleman (based in Mexico-City, Mexico)
– Francesca Cozzolino and David Knaute (both based in Paris, France)

Cultura21 is not only an informal network. Its strength and vitality relies upon the activities of several organizations around the world which are sharing the vision and mission of Cultura21

Go to Cultura21

Cirque du Soleil focus: WATER & CSR

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Cirque du Soleil is one of my favorite entertainment companies. I was so pleased to learn from Lyn Heward, their COO of Special Projects, that a strong environmental ethic guides their work, e.g. they installed a seven layer filtration system for their O show in Las Vegas.

Obviously, they are all about the arts. Not as obvious is the fact that Guy Laliberte, the Founder of Cirque du Soleil, is passionate about ensuring equal and clean access to water. He created the One Drop Foundation, and the foundation is breaking new ground by using theater and the arts to educate people in Central American about watershed management and water conservation practices.

“Making the most of what they have, five eclectic actors are touring the Nicaraguan countryside with a show designed to entertain and educate. This resourceful theatre troupe, HAYTA (Hay theatro del agua, “The Water Theatre”)—founded by the ONE DROP’s Water, Culture and Agriculture in Nicaragua Project combines local folklore and hard-hitting facts to push people to realize how much better life could be if water and other natural resources were used wisely.  In Texoxell y el Sueño de Clarita (“Texoxell and Clarita’s Dream”), our heroine meets several characters who use or misuse water. Performances are accompanied by educational and artistic workshops with the theme of collecting and using water more efficiently.”

Applying Cirque’s creative skills to water issues is an exciting marriage I’ll call CSR: Creative Social Responsibility.

Go to Eco-Catalysts