Invisible/Visible

Making the Invisible Visible: Brothers and Sisters creative team Lisa Jelliffe and Kirsten Rutherford have teamed up with the anonymous German street art collective Mentalgassi, to create art installations for Amnesty International. We’ve called the installations ‘Making the invisible visible’. They highlight the case of Troy Davis, a man who has been on death row for 19 years in the USA, despite serious doubts about his conviction. The posters are displayed on fence railings. Front on, you see nothing but bars. Troy’s face only becomes visible from an angle. Please help save Troy from being executed: www.amnesty.org.uk/fence.

Advertising Agency: Brothers And Sisters, London, UK
Creatives: Mentalgassi, Kirsten Rutherford, Lisa Jelliffe
Production: Mentalgassi

I have posted here numerous times on various ad campaigns that Amnesty International has run. This one (which I first saw over at Ads Of the World) is quite slick - part of a campaign for Troy Davis who is on Death Row in Georgia (U.S.A.) and that is something you should read about. Davis is on death row despite the fact that prosecutors presented no physical evidence against him and nearly all of the 'witnesses' they did present have now recanted. The American criminal justice system, being blind, is failing him and, by extension all of us here in the States.

There is a video clip here that helps convey the dynamic aspect of this AI installation. I want to point out the similarity to another piece of art that was included in an exhibit a few years ago - Los Desaparecidos. I have in mind the piece 30,000 by Argentinian artist Nicolas Guagnini, the title of which refers to the number of people who were 'disappeared' by the Military junta in the late 1970s.

Like the AI installation, 30,000 has a dynamic aspect. The face, taken from a photograph of Guagnini's father, a journalist who was disappeared in 1977, appears, vanishes, and reappears as the viewer moves around or past the work. Where the AI installation uses black bars for effect, the ghostly black and white of 30,000 conveys the invisibility that is one legacy of dictatorship in Argentina. Need I belabor the analogy?

Liu Xiaobo - Nobel Peace Prize Winner

The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded today...to an empty chair. The chairman of the Nobel committee placed the prize and citation on the chair because it was supposed to be given to Liu Xiaobo, the Chinese writer and pro-democracy activist, but he is currently in prison in solitary confinement for his activities. His wife and his relatives were also prevented from attending. The last time the prize was awarded in this way was in 1936, when the German writer Carl von Ossietzky was barred by the Nazi authorities. The award was also dedicated to the "Lost souls of 4 June" - a direct reference to the Chinese crackdown in Tiananmen Square in 1989. This has obviously not impressed China, who boycotted the event and encouraged 18 others to do the same. The attention that has been brought to Mr Liu's plight and China's ongoing dubious record regarding political freedoms shows the value that the Peace Prize continues to have. President Obama, who received the award last year, agreed, saying that Mr Liu "was far more deserving of the award than I was." and calling for his immediate release.

PS: Here are profiles of Mr Liu from the BBC and here is a petition you can download from Amnesty International calling for his release.

28th May 1961

Today is the day when in 1961 Peter Benenson launched his campaign in the London Observer for the release of people who were imprisoned for the peaceful expression of their beliefs, what was to become Amnesty International. See here for the story and a short video from the Historical Association. Look at Amnesty's latest campaigns or join the school's Amnesty Society for more information.

Death Penalty report

Amnesty has published information regarding last year's use of the death penalty. Good news in Europe as it was the first year that there were no recorded executions but not good news elsewhere. The worst suspected offender was China where Amnesty were unable to have access to the figures but reports have indicated it was in the thousands. The USA executed 52 people last year, unsurprisingly the majority of whom were in Texas. Here is the report.

Amnesty and Stop the Traffik

There is now a new section of links on the blog marked "Political Action", noting campaigns and pressure groups that are trying to encourage political or social change for the better. There is a link to Amnesty International, particularly because of the excellent work the Amnesty Society has done within school to raise awareness of human rights issues. There is also a link to Stop the Traffik, a coalition of international groups working together to raise awareness of human trafficking and exploitation. Both of these organisations are certainly worthy of your attention - are there any other groups that you would like to see us linking to?

PS: Have a good RAG Week!