Photo Exhibition – Presentations – Performances – Talks – Workshops
28th April 2012 – 1st May 2012
Opening Cocktail on 28th April at 6pm. FREE ENTRANCE!
Photo Exhibition
German Photographer Joel Sames follows Street Culture activities around the globe. His photographs allow an inside view into the skateboarding, breakdance and Hip Hop scenes of Uganda, Afghanistan, India and Cambodia. Joel especially focuses on programs and organizations using the empowering qualities of those subcultures in the field of development and peace work. In Uganda, Joel has worked with and documented Breakdance Project Uganda for more than one month.
His photo series of Street Culture activities were shown at Common Ground Gallery Berlin, at False Ceiling Gallery Mumbai, at UnBox Festival Delhi, at Simply Special Inn Morjim Goa, and at Barefoot Gallery in Colombo.
Joel recently graduated as a postindustrial designer / interaction manager at the Academy of Arts and Design in Basel. His thesis analyzes the possibilities of Street Cultures as a tool in conflict transformation and to empower underprivileged children from difficult backgrounds. He held talks and presentations at events as the Frankfurt Book Fare, the Asian Pacific Weeks Berlin, the Archive of Youth Cultures, and the European University of Voluntary Service.
Breakdance Project Uganda
Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU) is a youth centered, grass roots organization that was started in February 2006. BPU uses breakdance and other elements of Hip Hop culture as a tool to engage and unite young people and provide them with skills and confidence to become active, socially conscious individuals. The project is open to everyone and offers free breakdancing classes each week in Kampala and Gulu. Other activities include community outreach, regular events and performances, school sponsorship programs and youth development workshops.
BPU’s goals:
Bridging the gap between people of different religions, tribal and social backgrounds
Building young peoples’ leadership skills and self esteem
Promoting social responsibility and action within communities
Increasing members’ access to formal and informal education, and generating employment opportunities
Connecting local and international artists to give people a platform to be heard.
Find more information on: www.bouncingcats.com
Opening Event – Saturday, 28th April
The opening event contains talks and videos about the projects in Uganda, Afghanistan, India, and Cambodia.
Abramz Tekya, the director and initiator of Breakdance Project Uganda will be present to give an insight in the NGO’s activities, goals, and philosophy.
Breakdancers, beatboxers, and Hip Hop poetry artists of BPU, including Abramz, Sylvester, and Moze Beatbox will perform. Also there will be a live skype breakdance session with members of the likewise project Tiny Drops in India.
In the afternoon BPU members will hold open workshops on breakdancing and other elements of Hip Hop culture.
FREE BREAKDANCE WORKSHOPS 4 pm – 6 pm
EXHIBITION OPENING 6 pm
PRESENTATIONS and VIDEOS 8 pm
BREAKDANCE, BEATBOX and MUSIC PERFORMACES 9:30 pm
by Members of BPU, Abramz, Sylvester, Moze Beatboxer etc.
Partners
The event is kindly supported by the Goethe-Zentrum Kampala and the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Kampala.
The event will represents the work of the following NGOs:
Skateistan – www.skateistan.org
The skateboarding school Skateistan is an Afghan NGO based in Kabul, Afghanistan. Currently, Skateistan offers approx. 400 children and teen-agers the opportunity to leave their daily lives for a few hours a day and to skate. Skateboarding is the only sport in Afghanistan where girls can participate in an urban space. Furthermore, Skateistan offers alternative education programs ranging from IT to health issues and the arts. Additionally it also engages street children in a „Back to School“ program. Skateistan was founded in 2007, when two Australians came to Afghanistan and brought along their skateboards. Wherever they skated in Kabul, they were surrounded by excited kids and teenagers immediately. They soon started to skate with a group of children on a regular basis and founded, motivated by the kid’s fast progress, the first Skateboard school in Kabul.
Tiny Toones – www.tinytoones.org
The Hip Hop centre Tiny Toones is an independent NGO in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and offers 500 children and teen-agers from poverty stricken districts a place to go to have fun and even offers a safe place to live and sleep for streetkids. All elements of Hip Hop are being taught at Tiny Toones, as well as educational programs that include English, Khmer, health and prevention programs. Tiny Toones has classrooms, computer rooms, a music recording studio, a room for DJing and rap, and a big dancefloor. The initiator of Tiny Toones is Tuy Sobil, alias KK, who was deported from the US to Cambodia. The kids fascination with Hip Hop culture, and the realization that these activities can be used to prevent drug abuse and crime, encouraged KK to expand the program.
Tiny Drops – www.tinydrops.org
The Tiny Drops Hip Hop Centre Project with NGO status was founded by Indian B-Boy Netarpal Singh Bandesha, alias Hera, who was deported to India shortly after 9/11. Inspired by the positive exp eriences made in the community centres in QueensHera, he worked as a voluntary streetworker, and designed creative programs with focus on dance. In 2010, he developed the idea of a Hip Hop School Centre for disadvantaged youths in the slums of Mumbai and Delhi. Similar to the Tiny Toones project, the mediums of Hip Hop, music and film are used to induce creative basic knowledge, democratic core values, and English.
What is Street Culture?
Street Cultures like skateboarding, breakdancing and street art have the fascinating potential to bring people of different backgrounds together, bridging the gap between their social and cultural differences, and thus creating an opportunity for exchange and cooperation. Hip Hop, skateboarding, and BMX are no longer only part of western culture, but have become global phenomena that are growing especially quickly in Asia. As a result, the number of projects and initiatives that use street cultures as a tool in international development work is growing steadily. Many of the people that are involved with these activities have recognized that sport and creative programs can be connected to „Empowerment“ and education in a very sensible way. This includes initiatives like „Back to School“ programs that focus on traditional forms of education, as well as more experimental forms of education that are largely creative arts based and focus on socially inclined topics, i.e. local communities are being empowered about topics like environment, health, diet, and racism. The networks of these various street cultures work in an informal way to overcome language, codes, and symbols. Consequently, heritage, religion, skin color, or social
status are pushed into the background. Through street cultures, intercultural bridges are being built, which can be used to reduce prejudice and promote conflict resolution.
Contact
For any questions please feel free to contact:
Joel Sames – 0793 243 650 – info@joelsames.com
Abramz Tekya – 0712 816 617 – tekyabra@yahoo.com
Caro Christgau – 0757 303792 – director@goethezentrumkampala.org
Ronex – 0752 537 828 – ronexarts@gmail.com
Downloads
Flyer: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/11105215/Round_the_Potholes_Kampala_Flyer.zip
For Press Images contact: info@joelsames.com
