Thursday, October 6th, 2011

the long hand of the mukhabaraat

Those stalwarts of justice at Amnesty International sent me a text the other week: “We have a report coming out about Syrian regime intimidation of anti-government activists outside Syria…stories of horrific consequences for their families and friends at home. We’d like to help Syrians abroad say that they don’t have to be afraid to speak [...]

Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011

jonnie marbles’ sentence sends a clear signal

Comedian Jonathan May-Bowles was yesterday sentenced to six weeks in jail for throwing a shaving-foam pie at Rupert Murdoch whilst the media tycoon was giving evidence at the Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee.
Better known as “Jonnie Marbles”, May-Bowles was also ordered to pay £250 costs and a £15 victim fine after pleading guilty to [...]

Tuesday, August 2nd, 2011

“any information relating to anarchists should be reported to your local police”

London’s Metropolitan Police has called for large businesses and the public to report suspicious anarchist activities immediately. A weekly communiqué (see below) issued by the City of Westminster’s Counter Terrorist Focus Desk said:
“Anarchism is a political philosophy which considers the state undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, and instead promotes a stateless society, or anarchy. Any information [...]

Sunday, July 3rd, 2011

greenwash dream….

Filmed this recently…. One HDV camera and one mobile phone. It was for Stop Sweatshop Greenwash at Thanet Earth. It’s to the tune of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream”. Not a bad stab for a bunch of green and labour activists in green hair and a man with an inflatable guitar eh?

Tuesday, June 14th, 2011

Peter Kennard mumbles at me for Tank Magazine

Peter Kennard is an artist and teacher who has been creating photomontages for nearly half a century. Dubbed the “master of the medium” by the critic John Berger, Kennard’s ‘Broken Missile’ image for the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament is still deployed in protests today. Journalist and filmmaker Leah Borromeo is a former deputy foreign editor at [...]

Friday, May 13th, 2011

how ai weiwei politicised the art establishment

Chinese artist Ai Weiwei was detained on 03 April 2011 by the authorities at Beijing Capital Airport preparing to board a scheduled flight to Hong Kong. He has yet to be charged and the state has not yet confirmed his whereabouts.
A major survey show of his work has opened at London’s Lisson Gallery joining his [...]

Thursday, May 12th, 2011

juliano mer-khamis tribute at amnesty uk

On 20 April 2011, a tribute event was held in London in memory of director, actor and filmmaker Juliano Mer Khamis. Juliano was assassinated on 4 April 2011 in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, where he established the Freedom Theatre in 2006. The son of a Arna Mer, a Jewish woman, and Saliba Khamis, [...]

Tuesday, May 10th, 2011

shooting@earth: peter kennard and war boutique at black rat projects

here’s a short video featuring war boutique’s work at black rat projects. he and peter kennard set up a series of installations exploring the relationships between citizen, state and commerce and geopolitics as a power structure.

Friday, April 1st, 2011

jonnie marbles, soho square

First met Jonnie through a strange phone call.
“Hi Leah. Do you want to film a comedian who’d like to get himself kettled at the next anti-cuts demonstration?”
“Does this mean I’d have to be kettled with him?”
“Yes.”
“Ok,” I said, knowing I had a press card that could – at the very least – get ME out [...]

Monday, March 28th, 2011

Protesters can’t disown the ‘violent minority’

The day after any major demonstration always brings out the hungover “mostly peaceful, shame about the violent minority” mantra from the meeja-darling bloc. Whenever there’s an alternative popular movement that grips the national imagination, left-ish commentators and journalists fight whitened tooth and manicured nail for public alliance to this season’s worthy cause of resistance. Yet, [...]