I recorded an interview with El Fadel Arbab, about what it was like to grow up in the Darfur region of the Sudan. El Fadel had to flee his village at age 12 after his home was attacked & burned. He survived on his own for 4 years and eventually made his way to the U.S. with his mother & some siblings. In 2010 he became a U.S. citizen. El Fadel now speaks around the country about the plight of his people.
For this series of drawings I began by looking up the word "Sudan" in the dictionary. I soon started to discover many other words on the same page as “Sudan” that seemed to fit into this story. I then decided to make each word into an acronym of my own design to further guide the word’s meaning toward my purpose. I then wove parts of my interview with El Fadel into the acronym's words. Additionally I included the history of Chevron oil, which was the first oil company to discover oil in the Sudan and which has since left the Sudan; a speech given by the late John Garang upon the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement between North and South Sudan in 2005; text from the Darfur Peace Agreement and finally statistics on weapons used by the Sudan military.
Kenny Cole
October 2011
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The Meg Perry Center started in 2007 (closed in 2014) out of a collaboration to start a center for peace, justice, sustainability and community in Portland, ME. Peace Action Maine and other organizers have organized many events, visual art exhibitions, music shows, workshops and talks there. As of November 2011 the Meg Perry Center was home to Peace Action Maine, the Fur Cultural Revival, and Occupy Maine. The Meg Perry Center was a beacon in the Portland ME community and was truly a center for peace, justice and community. It was also an incubator and a source of inspiration for new organizations and organizers in a richly diverse community.
To get up to date information regarding the Sudan visit: Act For Sudan
In Sudan, the Voice of the Antonov Sows Terror:
"The bombing is completely ineffective militarily because the chances of hitting anything are so small. Virtually non-existent. There really isn't a strategy other than to scare everybody," Donatella Rovera, Sudan researcher at London-based Amnesty International human rights group told Reuters.
(http://goo.gl/6cIbY)