Peace Only Productions: The First Installment

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The First Installment

To our readers and fans, this is the first of many installments focusing on visual culture and its effects and impacts on populations in the developing world. While I was in the Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa in 2006 to 2008, I noticed that televisions were quickly becoming the wave of the future even in villages without electricity (the televisions are powered by rechargeable car batteries and/or small generators). Every night, billions of people in the developing world turn on their TVs and watch the one or two national channels available with programing ranging from sports and entertainment to news and public awareness bulletins. This is truly a new generation. A few years ago, to think that subsistence farmers miles off the grid would regularly watch and discuss TV shows would have been far fetched. Now however, we see that the developing world does have their foot in the door with digital media from Internet cafes where teenagers pay per hour to watch YouTube videos, to local NGOs providing "Moto-Movie Nights" where televisions and batteries are brought out on motorcycles to remote communities to screen relevant documentaries and informational videos. This is an incredible time for media artists from around the world to be able to help and contribute in every sector of development.

"Phenomenal progress in new communication techniques - the digitization of images, sound and data, the digital compression of data and the growing power of electronic components - is part of the technological upsurge that is set to overturn completely the existing conditions under which information and knowledge are produced and disseminated, according to the World Communication Report"
- The media and the challenge of the new technologies, authored by Professor Lotfi Maherzi of Algeria and published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Projects

She Works, She Lives! (Elle Travaille, Elle Vit! French, 2008) is a documentary that explores the role of women in Senegalese society and highlights the importance of girl’s education in particular. Each of the five Senegalese women interviewed for the film come from diverse backgrounds and followed distinct paths to get to where they are today. Some of them come from small villages while others come from urban environments, some from supportive families and others from less supportive families. But at some point in their lives, each of these five women realized that she had the potential to be more and to achieve more than what was expected of her. This documentary looks at the histories of these inspiring women, the feelings they have about their work and their upbringing, and their hopes for the future of women in Senegal.

The film is being distributed to Peace Corps volunteers and schools throughout Senegal along with a packet of supplemental educational materials to facilitate discussions regarding the role of women in Senegalese society. Additionally, we are holding public screenings in Dakar, and are currently working to show it on local television stations. Copies are available to interested NGO's for their outreach reference libraries. The goal of this project is to continue the dialogue in Senegal regarding women in the workplace. With the help of SeneGAD, and funding from the US Embassy of Dakar, this film will be able to permeate local communities, encouraging sustainable change in gender perspectives for Senegalese society at large.

Tree Nurseries in the Sahel
An instructional video for school-aged children, Tree Nurseries in the Sahel, gives students the knowledge to make and maintain their own tree nurseries in their communities. In collaboration with visual artist, Michelle Cheng, and original music from Jac et le Takeifa, Tree Nurseries in the Sahel, highlights the importance of planting trees in the Sahel, and the consequences of what will happen to our communities and livelihoods as the desert encroaches.
With support from Peace Corps Senegal and funding from the US Embassy of Dakar, the film is being distributed to Peace Corps volunteers, and to schools throughout Senegal. We are also distributing it to all Peace Corps offices in francophone West Africa. In addition to the film, we have created a packet of supplemental educational activities, exercises, discussion-generating ideas, and games to encourage teachers to facilitate discussion amongst their students regarding the importance of trees and environmental sustainability. We sincerely hope that this film will motivate students and their communities to work together to stop the expansion of the Sahel Desert.

Jac et le Takeifa Music Video
We are working with the Senegalese musical group, Jac et le Takeifa, to produce a music video about desertification in the Sahel. We hope that this video will be a catalyst to working with other artists on projects that address similarly significant social, environmental, and global issues.

Artists Worked With

AMADOU AND MARIAM:

'The fizziest afro-pop blues ever bottled'
-The Observer

'African rhythms, sweet soul harmonies and '60s Memphis guitar'
- Mojo Magazine

It's now 28 years since Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia met in Mali and started making music together. Mariam had grown up singing at weddings and traditional festivals while the teenaged Amadou had cut his teeth as a guitarist in Les Ambassadeurs, one of West Africa's hottest and most legendary bands. Both are blind and they met in 1977 at the Institute for the Blind in Bamako, where they were both studying Braille and found themselves performing together in the institute's Eclipse Orchestra. They married in 1980, the same year they played their first official concert together as a duo.

JAC ET LE TAKEIFA:

Jac et le Takeifa is a family band of Jac Keita, Cheikh Keita, Ibrahima Keita, Mama Keita, Cheikh Keita, Falou Keita, and Djibi Diallo. The play every year at the St. Louis Jazz Festival and recently released their first studio album. A daring and unique sound in Senegal, Jac et le Takeifa are rising international stars. Often mixing French, Spanish, English, and local languages, and adressing social issues affecting Senegal such as desertification and a lack of respect for the environment, they are one of the best new bands in country today.

JIMI MBAYE:

Jimi is one of Senegal's most popular musicians and has been a member of Youssou N'dour's Super Etoile de Dakar since 1979. Jimi has a unique guitar style which ranges from the sound of traditional instruments like the Kora to blazing rock guitar solos. He succeeded to transpose the traditionnal musical instruments like Khalam and Kora onto his guitar, creating a very particular style of his own. No one plays guitar like Jimi Mbaye. His style is unique. His voice breems with fever along his wonderful playing. Listen the albums (Dakar Heart and the latest Yaye Digalma) sold on iTunes. In 1998 he got the Indie Award for his album. According to many, he's one of the best guitar players in the world.

MICHELLE CHENG:

My name is Michelle, 24 years old, and I'm originally from the foggy Bay Area. I moved out of the haze to sunny L.A. to get a tan and also, more importantly attend UCLA. After graduating, I was lost and contemplated my future as whether or not I could possibly withstand working in an office for the rest of my life! I could not, but if I had to, it would have to be something I enjoyed. I decided I wanted to do something creative and functional while using my skills to help others. Thus began a new chapter of my life in the field of product design! Currently, I am putting together a entrance portfolio for Art Center of Design in Pasadena where, by next year, I will endure sleepless nights making models, perpetually covered in wood shop dust, and of course the occasional cut and burn. But this is what I love and I hope to carry it through to the end. In the meantime, I enjoy doing all my Peace Corp illustrations, hanging at coffee shops with my trusty Macbook, and going on hikes with elevations above LA smog.

OKE SENE:

Abdoulaye 'Oké' Sène was born in Medina in Dakar, Senegal. A long time student of the djembé and sabar as well as other traditional African percussion instruments. He got his start as a percussionist for the 'Ballet des Africaines de Sangomar' in Dakar. And later went on to teach drumming workshops. He has played and toured with various artists including Doudou N'Diaye Rose throughout Europe, Japan, and the United States. Currently he splits his time between Dakar, Senegal and The Hague, Netherlands.

Peace Only Productions

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The First Installment

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