English  |  Français  |  Español
 
OMCT LogoOMCT logo
Make a donationRSSOMCT on FacebookOMCT on TwitterOMCT BlogHomeAbout OMCTActivitiesCATOMCT NetworkOMCT EuropeContactsMake a donation
  • Urgent campaigns
  • Assistance to victims
  • Human rights defenders
  • ESCR
  • Rights of the child
  • Violence against women
  • Monitoring protection mechanisms
 Save as PDF Print version
Events / Libya / 2013 / December

Libya: Tripoli’s youth mark Human Rights Day with graffiti, hip hop concert


PRESS RELEASE

 Artists, civil society, and public institutions stand together amid tough times

For Immediate Release

9 December 2013

TRIPOLI – The World Organization against Torture (OMCT) is hosting from 6-10 December an ambitious program of graffiti and and hip hop workshops with youth in Tripoli, Libya to mark Human Rights Day. Under the banners “No to torture” and “Nothing can justify torture” the series is being launched in partnership with the National Council for Civil Liberties and Human Rights, the Cultural Council of the Union for the Mediterranean, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), and a dozen other local and international partners. The program has seen three days of workshops in graffiti arts and hip hop music for youth, internally displaced persons, and victims of human rights violations. In parallel, more than fifteen graffiti artists from across the region are creating murals in four strategic cross-sections of the city, raising their spray cans to condemn extreme violence and share their hope for Libya’s future. On December 10, the activities will culminate in a day of public events at Zawett Al Dahmani theatre with a public debate, film screenings, and a hip hop concert.

Workshop (or “playshop”) participants from the 6-8 December included youth from the Scouts of Tripoli, the Faculty of Fine Arts, and IDP camps (notably from Tawergha). The youngsters were given tools, inspiration and space to reflect and speak out on the subject of human rights, whether by graffiti, music or dance. The playshops were facilitated by Ammar Abo Bakr – one of the Egyptian revolution’s most celebrated muralists – and artist Nadia Khiari – also known as Willis from Tunis – whose sardonic cartoons give a frank take on Tunisian politics. The music playshops were facilitated by Wissam Al Malek and Hagagy Eshkoyat of popular Tripoli-based hip hop group Razor Records.

 

On Sunday, December 8, with the help of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, OMCT held a special session for torture victims and their families, helping them harness the creative process to reconcile emotional conflicts and assuage their trauma in the presence of a psychologist. Willis from Tunis was on site to share her experience with using art to express the suffering of her country.

 

Ammar Abo Bakr and Willis from Tunis are joined by local and international street artists, including Tripoli’s Ayman El Bohly and Tunis’ Meen One, to create murals across the city on the theme of human rights. From across Tripoli Court to Martyrs’ Square to the walls of a former detention center, the fight against torture and ill-treatment are entering public space through highly visible and creative street art that touches all passersby. Graffiti as a medium of expression has grown considerably over the course of the Arab revolutions, to convey social and political messages free of censorship found in the mainstream and to unleash artistic potential heretofore suppressed.

 

The results of the workshops and street art will be unveiled on 10 December through a series of public events. These will include a public debate that will give voice to civil society and public institutions on ways to fight torture and ill-treatment in a transitional and insecure context. The day will continue with a screening of short films, namely two films selected in the Libya Movie Awards and a film on the work of the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT). The evening will conclude with a concert by the hip hop group Razor Records and their guests, dedicated to the unity of Libya and the rejection of violence. The concert will feature a special performance by the youth of the hip hop playshops.

 

The events held around Human Rights Day will unfold at the Zawett Al Dahmani theatre thanks to the municipality. Neglected for some time, the theatre itself will be revived through these activities. The Ministry of Culture, local authorities, young volunteers and artists, and others are mobilizing to provide a new site for associative and artistic expression in the community.


Follow the “No to torture” campaign for Human Rights Day at: https://www.facebook.com/events/516626188444365/

 

 

Media contacts

Karim SALEM – +218 928387663 – ks@omct.org

Aude THEPENIER — aude.thepenier@um-elysee.fr

Currun SINGH – cs@omct.org  


The joint OMCT-IRCT project in Libya is generously supported by the European Union.





Properties

Date: December 9, 2013
Type: Events
Country: Libya

Share this

Tweet

Languages

This page is available in:

English
French


You can also translate it on the fly:

Recently Viewed Articles

OMCT International Secretariat
PO Box 21, 8, rue du Vieux-Billard, CH-1211 Geneva 8, Switzerland
Tel: + 41 22 809 4939
Fax: + 41 22 809 4929
E-mail:
OMCT Europe
Rue Franklin 111
1000 Brussels
Tel. / Fax: +32 2 218 37 19
E-mail:
OMCT TUNIS
3, Rue Hassen Ibn Nooman
Cité Jardins | Tunis 1002
Tel: +216 71 791 114
Fax: +216 71 791 115
E-mail:
  • Blog
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Rss
  • Privacy Policy