Last Friday the rampART was used by locals to celebrate EID which marks
the end of Ramadan. In Islam, believers are called upon to cease all
consumption of food and drink between the hours of daylight for 30
consecutive days.
Meanwhile, todays date, October 16th, is celebrated by the Food and
Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations as World Food Day. This was
the date in 1948 when the right to food was first formerly recognised by
the global community as a basic human right.
Sixty years on, there is massive malnutrition around the world. Millions
of children in India die each year with a shocking 47 percent of children
under 5 suffering from malnutrition and regularly going to bed hungry. One
in eleven children born in the country are currently dying before reaching
their sixth birthday, with half of these deaths attributable to
malnutrition.
Closer to home, every European eats ten kilograms a year of artificially
irrigated greenhouse vegetables from southern Spain, with water shortages
the result. In Vienna the amount of unsold bread sent back to be disposed
of each day is enough to supply Austria’s second-largest city, Graz.
Around
350,000 hectares of agricultural land in Latin America is dedicated to
the cultivation of soybeans to feed Austria’s livestock alone, meanwhile a
quarter of the local population starves.
> FOOD NOT BOMBS
The FnB group in Whitechapel started off in spring 2007. Every week, we’re
going skipping food, mainly vegetables, in several locations, notably some
wholesale markets. Hard to imagine how huge is the amount of wasted food
over there! When we get lucky, we get also bread and sweets (not always
vegan though!) from other places.
On the saturday morning, we use the rampART kitchen to cook some nice
vegan meals: usually mash, stir fry, miso stew, cakes etc. We even had
some very
successful fries!
The food is then given away in a small local park. Hungry people can be
local families, homelesses, activist friends, random people passing by
etc. Maybe 50 or 60 people can be fed every saturday. There is also
usually a sound system and a free shop (mainly clothes).
Hopefully, another Food not Bombs group will be starting in Brixton soon,
spreading the movement all over london as it is spreading all over the
planet!
> THURS 8PM
The above sets the scene to the two films featured at our cinema this
week….
1. OUR DAILY BREAD
http://www.ourdailybread.at/
A wide-screen tableau of a feast which isn’t always easy to digest – and
in which we all take part. Welcome to the world of industrial food
production and high-tech farming! To the rhythm of conveyor belts and
immense machines, the film looks without commenting into the places where
food is produced in Europe: monumental spaces, surreal landscapes and
bizarre sounds – a cool, industrial environment which leaves little space
for individualism. People, animals, crops and machines play a supporting
role in the logistics of this system which provides our society’s standard
of living.
2. We Feed the World
http://www.we-feed-the-world.at/
Austrian filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer traces the origins of the food we eat.
His journey takes him to France, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Brazil and
back to Austria.
This is a film about food and globalisation, fishermen and farmers,
long-distance lorry drivers and high-powered corporate executives, the
flow of goods and cash flow–a film about scarcity amid plenty. With its
unforgettable images, the film provides insight into the production of our
food and answers the question what world hunger has to do with us .
> SAT 20TH
Ritual Celebration of Queers as Sexual Social Spiritual Beings
an evening of celebration through ritual, eating, dancing, singing,
laughing, music and merry making
Time for a ritual celebration!
STILL THE DEBATE IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND ABOUT US CARRIES ON,
FUNDAMENTALIST CHRISTIAN AND MUSLIM GROUPS CONDEMN OUR VERY
EXISTENCE. EVEN LEADING BUDDHISTS DO NOT RECOGNISE US AS NATURAL AND
SPIRITUAL. THIS EVENING IS OFFERED AS A CHANCE FOR QUEERS TO STAND UP
AND DECLARE FOR OURSELVES
- WE ARE SEXUAL, and our sex is natural, joyful and can be
transcendent, healing and holy
- WE ARE SOCIAL, we create communities built on love, trust and respect
AND WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS: we do not need the approval of religious
authorities to be who we are and to grow into our true spiritual nature
WHETHER WE ARE LOVERS OF NATURE, WORSHIPPERS OF DEITIES, DEVOTEES OF SEX
AND ALTERED STATES – WE ARE CELEBRANTS OF LIFE AND WE ARE BORN TO LOVE,
TO MAKE LOVE AND TO RISE INTO LOVE ETERNAL.
This invitation goes out to all spiritually minded queers. Here there
will be no competition between faiths, no arguments about gods or lack
of them. Here you will find respect for each other’s paths, support
where it is needed and communion with like-minded free-
thinking fabulous faeries
gathering from 7pm till 12pm
ritual start 8pm, finishing with a few moments silence followed by music,
singing, dancing, open mic
donation at door, refreshments available
london’s queer spirit circle has been offering space for over three
years for sharing, ritual and celebration to gays, lesbians, trans and
all queer folk who see themselves on a path of spiritual growth that is
innately connected to their sexuality. We are queers whose spirituality
does not require justification or acceptance by
religious authorities. The Circle is a meeting place for beings on
independent spiritual paths and those exploring religion – this is a
melting pot of queer spirituality from which the simple yet
astounding magic of our natural selves emerges.
the queerdome is a constellation of individuals travelling in their
sexuallity. we’ve been roaming the country at various festivals
(Sunrise, Buddhafield, Big Green Gathering) over the last few summers
offering a safe rendezvous for lesbian, gay, trans, bi, intersex, faerie
and other folk curious or queer of any age and gender; we welcome all
who are drawn to our hearth. creating a space where we can share deeply,
sit in silence or explore through workshops,
healing sessions, enjoy queer company, find support and information and
take tea. QUEER DOME seeks to honour and respect the land, all nature
and all peoples, it is a place for connection and love from which we can
contribute to the fun, magic, sexuality and spirit of the whole planet.
help keep the queerdome on the roam by contributing your energies.
> OCT 27TH
Anarchist Bookfair after party at rampART
Offering something of a break in tradition, the noborders/rampART
benefit party after the anarchist book fair is an alternative to hanging
out in the pub. Open from 6pm it’s a chance to hang out with friends
while supporting grassroots campaigns and a rare opportunity to listen
to conscious hip-hop and rap with acts from the USA,
Greece, Scarborough, Manchester, Bristol and London.
Films, music and drinks from 6pm. Acts from 9pm
DJ Rubbish + boogieknight + figure of speech + literal X + the edger +
Drowning Dog + Malatesta
Suggested donation £5
proceeds to NoBorders and rampART
> NEWS IN BRIEF
Thefts of materials from the roof have somewhat set back work making the
area a nicer and more useful space, but we’ll get there eventually.
There is something of a civil war going on between the squatted houses in
the street at the moment with a number of people being violently evicted
by others in their household.
The warehouse building opposite the rampART has been emptied and
developers are beginning to convert it into flats which eying up our side
of the street.
–
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15 Rampart Street, London E1 2LA (near Whitechapel, off Commercial Rd)
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