Tripoli’s youth mark Human Rights Day with graffiti, hip hop concert
PRESS RELEASE
Artists, civil society, and public institutionsstand together amid tough times
For Immediate Release
9 December 2013
TRIPOLI – The World Organizationagainst Torture (OMCT) is hosting from 6-10 December an ambitious program of graffitiand and hip hop workshops with youth in Tripoli, Libya to mark Human RightsDay. Under the banners “No to torture” and “Nothing can justify torture” theseries is being launched in partnership with the National Council for CivilLiberties and Human Rights, the Cultural Council of the Union for theMediterranean, the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims(IRCT), and a dozen other local and international partners. The program hasseen three days of workshops in graffiti arts and hip hop music for youth,internally displaced persons, and victims of human rights violations. Inparallel, more than fifteen graffiti artists from across the region arecreating murals in four strategic cross-sections of the city, raising theirspray 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 atZawett Al Dahmani theatre with a public debate, film screenings, and a hip hopconcert.
Workshop (or “playshop”) participants from the 6-8 December includedyouth from the Scouts of Tripoli, the Faculty of Fine Arts, and IDP camps(notably from Tawergha). The youngsters were given tools, inspiration and spaceto 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 theEgyptian revolution’s most celebrated muralists – and artist Nadia Khiari – alsoknown as Willis from Tunis – whose sardonic cartoons give a frank take onTunisian politics. The music playshops were facilitated by Wissam Al Malek andHagagy Eshkoyat of popular Tripoli-based hip hop group Razor Records.
On Sunday, December 8, with the help of the InternationalRehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, OMCT held a special session fortorture victims and their families, helping them harness the creative processto reconcile emotional conflicts and assuage their trauma in the presence of apsychologist. Willis from Tunis was on site to share her experience with using artto express the suffering of her country.
Ammar Abo Bakr and Willis from Tunis are joined by local andinternational street artists, including Tripoli’s Ayman El Bohly and Tunis’Meen One, to create murals across the city on the theme of human rights. Fromacross Tripoli Court to Martyrs’ Square to the walls of a former detentioncenter, the fight against torture and ill-treatment are entering public spacethrough highly visible and creative street art that touches all passersby.Graffiti as a medium of expression has grown considerably over the course ofthe Arab revolutions, to convey social and political messages free ofcensorship found in the mainstream and to unleash artistic potential heretoforesuppressed.
The results of the workshops and street art will be unveiledon 10 December through a series of public events. These will include a publicdebate that will give voice to civil society and public institutions on ways tofight torture and ill-treatment in a transitional and insecure context. The daywill continue with a screening of short films, namely two films selected in theLibya Movie Awards and a film on the work of the International RehabilitationCouncil for Torture Victims (IRCT). The evening will conclude with a concert bythe hip hop group Razor Records and their guests, dedicated to the unity ofLibya and the rejection of violence. The concert will feature a specialperformance by the youth of the hip hop playshops.
The events held around Human Rights Day will unfold at the ZawettAl Dahmani theatre thanks to the municipality. Neglected for some time, thetheatre itself will be revived through these activities. The Ministry ofCulture, local authorities, young volunteers and artists, and others aremobilizing to provide a new site for associative and artistic expression in thecommunity.
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 isgenerously supported by the European Union.