resistência, Vandria Borari, Brazil
''a resistência que vem da Floresta'' means the resistance comes from the Forest; Vandria Borari’s prelude to the song she was singing of her Borari communities when I met her in Switzerland during her stay and my exhibition in Basel. Vandria Borari is an artist who is the first indigenous lawyer coming from the Borari people in the Brazilian Amazon. She believes in preserving Amazonian traditions and defending the rainforest, living a life of service to maintain a culture that unites people with the land they inhabit.
@vandriaborari
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Ich bin Romani, Milena Petrovic, Serbia
Milena Petrovic was born in Jalovik, Serbia, in 1967. She is an Austrian citizen and of Roma descent. She studied acting in Zurich. Since then, she has worked on various film and theater stage projects, including at the Schauspielhaus Zurich and Maxim Theater Zurich. Milena Petrovic performed in the highly acclaimed plays Kreis Fear, Schweizerpass Superstar, KissKill KillKiss and Spielt Gott Fussball? She has been part of the Roma Jam Session Art Collective since its inception in 2013. Petrovic is speaking about her migratory history of her Roma descent, memory, and critical questioning of the Roma identity and society.
I’m not from here, ella ronen, israel
Ella Ronen is a musician, storyteller, mother, and feminist. She grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel, and has lived internationally since coming of age; her songs are played on several major radio stations (Swiss RTS1, Option Musique, Radio Swiss Pop, Israeli Kan88), and she tours internationally regularly. She has released albums in English (Mirror Maze, 2014 and Motherland, 2021) and Hebrew (Toska, 2018) and lives and raises her two children in Zurich, Switzerland. In both her art and activism, as co-founder of the Zurich-based feminist music collective MINO collective, Ella stands for equal rights, access, and visibility for women, mothers, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and other overlooked groups, in the music industry and beyond. * Ronen sang a song from her album Motherland. The part of the songs you hear in Whispering Benches, the Copyright, and royalties goes to her album. @ellaronen
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War-land-water, Farid Alizai, Afghanistan
Farid Alizai was born in Balochistan to Afghan immigrants. His parents fled to Balochistan in the 1970s and 80s when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Due to political unrest, Farid and his siblings had to flee Balochistan, and today Farid is an asylum seeker in Switzerland. Although he has no formal education, Farid speaks more than six languages, is a good cook, and is learning and working with his hands.
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Border Control, Lama Altakruri, Palestine
Lama Altakruri (b.Abu Dhabi 1982) is an artist based in Ramallah, Palestine. Lama was raised in Bahrain before moving to Palestine in 1994. Lama is an artist and educator. Lama has been traveling and immigrated to many places around the world. She has been speaking about what it means to be a Palestinian today and travel. @lamaaltakruri
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FAREWELL TO WHAT IS TO COME, LAMA ALTAKRURI
Where is Paradise? Ali, Afghanistan
Ali Reza is an Afghan national and a political asylum seeker in Switzerland. Due to extreme political unrest, Ali had to take refuge for years in different countries already as a kid, and finally, he migrated to Switzerland. Ali is speaking in his mother tongue, narrating his story in his own voice in his own words.
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Memories of Land mines! Azad Colemêrg, kurdistan
Azad Colemêrg comes from the Turkish part of Kurdistan, and he was a teacher there and taught history and geography at school. Due to the difficult situation in his home country, Azad now lives in Switzerland as a political asylum seeker. He is active as a performance artist and has performed at the ACT Performance Festival and the Johann Jacobs Museum, among others. Azad narrates his childhood memories of violent explosive land mines back in his homeland and the sound of helicopters in his mother tongue in Kurdish.
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Exotic brought the Capital to Europe! Françoise Vergès,
Françoise Vergès is a French political scientist, historian, film producer, independent curator, activist, and public educator. Her work focuses on postcolonial studies and decolonial feminism. Vergès was born in Paris and grew up in Réunion and Algeria before returning to Paris to study and become a journalist. Mrs. Verges's journey, books, and lectures inspired me so much, and last year, I had the opportunity to speak to her about her memories with Banana plants on La Réunion Island.
The Banana, Françoise Vergès
PLANT TRANSFORMING THE LAND, Françoise Vergès
PoETry ANTHOLOGY, Ayliz Baskin Huber, Turkey
Ayliz Baskin Huber said, “I belong to whom or where?”
- a deep listening session with Ayliz, a Turkish national who immigrated to many places in the world, and worked for human rights narrating what role language plays in identity politics in migration. Stay tuned to listen to her story, her journey, her memory of her family garden, the mosses in her parent's bedroom, and a beautiful poem recited by her from her grandfather's poetry anthology!