Despite the short delay, we would like to share with you the culmination of the Ezequiel Zamora brigade project in Bolivia. After three months of work we have accomplished our goal, the Community Production Group AltoTV has been created. Its debut short films have been uploaded in a website, and its presentation in the University of El Alto was a grand success due to the massive participation it generated.

All short films can be viewed in AltoTV Production Group’s new blog:

+++ www.altotvbolivia.blogspot.com (Spanish) – www.altotvgerman.blogspot.com (German) +++

In addition to this, we have uploaded the pictures of the work we’ve done in Cochabamba in collaboration with the Red Tinku.

We hope our compañeros and compañeras put a lot of forcefulness and hard work into the Community Production Group project. All the updates and new videos will be available in the group’s blogs.

Next year we will be organizing the upcoming brigade in Bolivia, with aims to continue with our support to AltoTV Production Group. A long term project is the creation of a community network in El Alto.

We would like to take this opportunity to announce the beginning of our next brigade in Venezuela starting August of this year. Close to 30 participants from Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Germany, and Venezuela will be joining us.

More info and upcoming news will soon be posted; you can also contact us at: interbrigadas@hotmail.de

We leave you with some pictures:

We have entered the final stage of our work in the UPEA. A part of our group has gone to Cochabamba to paint a series of murals in collaboration with some social-political organizations of the region. The participants of the audio-visual workshop have finished filming their videos and are very eager to begin with the postproduction.

So far, four of the videos are finished: a short documentary about the 25^th anniversary of the city of El Alto, The other side of Carnaval (that deals with the issue of alcohol abuse), Mercado 16 de Julio (a short documentary about the complexity of the city’s biggest fair), and a short film about garbage. Five other videos are yet to be edited; these are in the final stage of color correction and sound mixing. All videos will be premiered on March 19, during the presentation of the new production group AltoTV. This new production group is the result of the collaborative work of some sociology students, the participants of the audiovisual workshop, and members of other audiovisual groups, and its aim is to portray the struggles and social issues in the city of El Alto. The members of AltoTV hope that by means of their work they will stir their peers’ collective consciousness and creativity; both crucial during the changes that are taking place in Bolivia, and particularly, in a university as combative as the UPEA.

Before we divided the brigade and a group of us parted to Cochabamba, some of the sociology students organized a community meal (Athapi), and awarded us certificates in gratitude for our contribution to culture and arts in the UPEA.

A medical examination activity with the participation of the Bolivian Movement of Solidarity with Cuba and the Venezuelan Embassy was organized; here Cuban and Venezuelan physicians worked together for the first time, taking the first steps towards a synergic alliance between these two organizations.

Four weeks of workshops have gone by since our last post, and we are happy to tell you that thanks to the muralists from the Argentinean group “Paredón y Después” the appearance of the autonomous university has drastically changed. The workshop on mural painting concluded its project with four murals in the university’s central courtyard. The concept of these murals is a product of dialogue and exchange with the students; they represent the UPEA’s history of struggle, its cultural and symbolic context, and the vindication of the past by the new generations.

The UPEA was originally conceived as a technical school within the regional structure of the Major University of San Andrés (UMSA, in its Spanish acronym). And it was the students along with social movements who demanded an autonomous university and confronted the state authorities’ plans. The inhabitants of El Alto, mostly Aymara, demanded a university of their own, one that offered all the options of study, including human sciences. While the university’s buildings were still under construction the students occupied its grounds. Immediately, state forces tried to remove the students by means of harsh repression.

Our workshops on political exchange and basic aspects of technology are going very well. The participants of the basic aspects of technology workshop have created their first blogs, and the students of the audio-visual workshop will post their videos in a blog of their own. The audio-visual workshop has entered the postproduction phase, the groups have written their scripts and most of them are done filming too. Now they will edit their videos in the audio-visual studio; in two weeks or so, the finish products will be presented at the university. There is fiction and documentary audio-visual work that deals with different issues such as: the “Cleferos” (glue sniffers), the crime situation in El Alto, raising awareness about responsible water consumption, the influence of professional wrestling on children, the other side of Carnaval, garbage, amongst others.

The students are filming on schedule and with great enthusiasm despite the weather; they have been very responsible and have worked within the time table.

Some equipment was donated to the school of sociology in a symbolic ceremony in which the students committed to administer and maintain the donations. Contacts with social movements and audio-visual groups of the region are being established in order to encourage community use of these resources.

The celebrations of Carnaval across the entire country began on the second week of February. We traveled to Oruro where we had the opportunity to attend the biggest Carnaval of Bolivia. Following this, we visited the mines of Potosí.

From here on, the Brigade will be divided into two groups; one will remain at the UPEA where they’ll continue filming and editing the videos. The other group will travel to Cochabamba where they will paint some murals with the Red Tinku.

We leave you with some images of our experiences in Bolivia:

Last Monday we arrived to the Public University of El Alto (UPEA), that day we began with the workshops.

The students welcomed us with a traditional Aymara community meal (Ajthapi); in this meal it is customary that the food is served on cloths in a big table in the center of the room, then the compañer@s and brigadistas move around the table and use their hands to take the food.
We set up the audio-visual studio on the first day, the cameras and two computers were installed so we could begin with the theoretical/practical workshop. In order to spread the word about the arrival of the brigadistas, each group made promotional posters to announce the different workshops. These workshops are: mural painting, political exchange, film forums, and basic aspects of technology.
The University of El Alto is a university of the popular sectors of society; 10 years ago it was created due to the initiative of the students of El Alto and social movements. Students proclaimed the university’s autonomy as well as their self-management, and they had to fight against and endure State repression. The population of El Alto is mostly Aymara, and they were excluded from the sphere of politics for many years, this is why the university is so meaningful to them.
During the weekend, the brigadistas participated in some cultural events and a medical examination activity organized by Cuba in solidarity with Bolivia.
We leave you with some images of what the Brigade is up to:

We want to post and present you with these two things:

The international brigade in Bolivia “Ezequiel Zamora” will begin on January 10. We have planned many activities for this two-month stay; mainly, we’ll be working with socio-political and audio-visual (camera work, montage, production) workshops; most of this brigade is made up of Venezuelans that work in alternative media (like Ávilatv) and have considerable experience in audio-visual work.

We’d like to set up an audio-visual studio at the Public University of El Alto (UPEA, in its Spanish acronym) where we will be giving our workshops. The main idea is to set up and equip a space and offer our Bolivian compañeros and compañeras the opportunity to produce their own documentaries and reports. In addition to this, the Venezuelan band “De Melao Son” will be joining us in the brigade to offer a music workshop as well as concerts.

What interests us the most, is the exchange of experiences about the social and political changes of the Bolivian and Venezuelan processes. And our main goal is to learn from our Bolivian compañeros and compañeras. In order to achieve as much as possible from this exchange, we have prepared a comprehensive schedule for our first month in Bolivia: we will meet different social movements and political groups, visit Bolivian cultural and historical landmarks, and participate in a Quechua workshop to help us put the Bolivian political process into context.

The brigade’s schedule and call to participate will be posted soon. If you’re interested in joining the brigade email us at: interbrigadas@hotmail.de

Solidarity is the tenderness of the peoples

We’d also like to inform you that the documentary about the project “Insurrection of Color” is online now; it is an 18-minute short film about our work with the Venezuelan and Colombian compañer@s that visited us in Berlin last summer.

After a lengthy absence we have a new post for you. The last brigade Voileta Parra is back in Germany and now are only two Interbrigadists left in Venezuela.We are doing mainly two things. On one site we enlisted ourselves in courses of the Channel Avila TV and are now learning all about making films and documentaries.

On the other site we are preparing the following brigade to Bolivia.

In the end of January 20 Venezuelans will go with us to Bolivia. For the two months work we are planning to build up a film-studio in the region “EL Alto” and to give classes for the companeros to empower them to create an own channel.

If you are interested and want to participate give us a shout at interbrigadas@hotmail.de

Nevertheless a lot happened in the last month. We supported the basis campaign of the Barrio 23 de Enero in Caracas. On the 28^th of October different groups initiated a symbolic referendum against the American military bases in Colombia and the coup in Honduras.

This referendum was not carried by a national organisation. About 14.000 people took part on one day and voted clearly against the military bases and the coup.

We also participated in the colourful and vocal demonstration for the survival of the alternative culture project “Tiuna el Fuerte”.

People also demonstrated against the intended building of a shopping centre on a park area in the inner city of Caracas. The people of the Tiuna are demanding to make a cultural meeting point out of the park.

These are the pictures:

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After the two times we have been in this Barrio in April/May and in June and July 2008, this was our third time working there. The brigade provided classes in English, drawing, guitar, maths and felting. In spite of a slow start it was efficient work and our classrooms were crowded.

Especially the English classes were attractive so we had to open 3 different classes during the last weeks, because more and more young people came.

Of course we also took part in the events of the Mision Cultura and the municipal council and worked together with the Plan Vacacional (vacacional program). With the end of the school holidays we ended our classes.

With our Argentinian guest Sergio Condori we got colourful support from Buenos Aires.

The brigade Tamara Bunke got to know Sergio in Boliviva. He showed us a new way of creating a wall painting, which gives much more opportunities to participate.

His painting style is very much like it was in Chile in the 60s and 70s but much more plastic.

The work bases on collaboration, which means he always includes the group into the developing process by planning together and discussing the meaning of the image.

That’s why he usually doesn’t sign the murals because it is a collective project.

TOGETHER we arranged the occupied factory Vivex in Barcelona, a youth centre, different walls in barrios and much more, for example a transparency for a demonstration against the new military bases in Colombia. We also supported the students of the Technical Institute with their work concerning the new educational law.

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In June the Brigade Violeta Parra arrived in Caracas. Before we started giving classes in the Barrio “Setenta” we made a little tour through the city and visited the groups and collectives we are friends with. We also enjoyed a little bit of the Caribbean Sea the music of Venezuela and learned what has changed in almost a year.

Our Brigade is called after a Chilean singer, artist and sculptor and probably the most important figure of Chilean folk music.

She taught Victor Jara and formed his protest music.

Soon you will find out more about Violeta Parra if you click on “International Brigades”

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On the 19^th of July 2009 we opened the biggest wall painting in Berlin. The mural with a size of 600 m² was created in one month on the front of a Hotel at Berlin Gleisdreieck.

It was the largest wall we painted together with the artists.

Altogether 10 artists from Berlin and Latin America took part in painting this image.

The main work was done by the artists from South America, who created an impressive composition of symbols and images from Berlin and Latin America.

With a Hip Hop session and some expressions of thanks we opened the mural.

Our guests were at least as impressed of the picture as the hotel manager of the image of Karl Marx…

This is to thank all artists and supporters who made this project possible, because not only at the Gleisdreieck but also at more than two dozen other events we presented ourselves during the three months.

-Wildemar, Nico, Nadia and Edisson-until the next time….

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