THE ART INTIFADA The ART Intifada does not only depict what we are doing as artists, in fact

it brings the pains and the sufferings of the Saharawi people in front of the world through the artistic expression of color, shape and thought. Art is revolutionizing the revolution, there is no limit of what can art do. In November 2010, Saharawi civilians went out of the city of Laioun, now occupied by Morocco. They organized a peaceful protest in Gdaim Izik the place where the Saharawi families set up tents numbering thousands. The Gdaim Izik camp may not have lived long, for the Moroccan army crashed it down very soon, but it marked two significant factors in the conflict. First, the presence of an unquestionable will within the Saharawi people to reach their goal of independence. Its difficult to restrain these people when they have freely wandered the vast desert for centuries. They are free people by nature. Second, the means with which they fight for this goal. These means are peaceful in the sense that they are very Saharawi too. The tent; a shelter and a refuge for the Saharawi nomadic people of yesterday, now has a role to play in todays Saharawi life too; the same object that protected them from the hardships of nature, today stands firm beside them. It became a symbol of protest as visible in the protest arena as the Saharawi people themselves. The tent has changed from a passive object only to be dwelled or to be sought as a cover from the sun and the wind to a very active object of its own. Now it participates and takes action just as actively as the people who live in it. Therefore, The ART Intifada is truly igniting the scene. The tent, the camel, the Melhfa and the Darraa along with their different colors, shapes and representations are all part of the Intifada. The presence of these traditions, as forms of art, is the ART Intifada. Mohamed Sulaiman Sahrawi artist designer of the poster of "ARTifariti 2013"


Seville, July 2013

Dear Professors, Artist and Friends, From the 2nd to the 9th of November 2013, we will celebrate the VII Edition of the International Encounters of Art and Human Rights in Western Sahara (Project ARTifariti) in the Sahrawi refugee camp of Boujdour, Tindouf (Algeria). This year we are especially pleased to announce the inauguration of the Sahrawi Art School, founded under the auspices of the new Tifariti University SADR. This academic institution represents the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and the AAPSS to provide the Sahrawi refugee community with an Arts Education platform that will facilitate jobs training, a means of personal expression, a sense of personal fulfillment, a way of strengthening the collective identity of the young generations and useful tools for working towards Human Rights advocacy. The program, designed by teams from Universities, Museums and Cultural Organizations, is firmly committed to raising international awareness and support for Western Sahara. The celebration of the VII Edition of ARTifariti will be comprised of international artists, curators and professors whose discussions will focus on how this school (created from and for the Sahrawi community and the specific conditions of the refugee camps) can impact and affect our collective future. In recognition of your commitment to Arts Education, we would be honored to include you as a participant at ARTifariti, to celebrate the inauguration of the Saharawi Art School and to engage in the panel discussions about its curriculum. Attached please find a document that outlines the itinerary and travel specifics. In anticipation of your response, we extend you the gratitude of all the Saharawi people for your efforts on behalf of our cause. Yours truly,

Fernando Peraita President of the Association of Friendship with the Sahrawi People of Seville AAPSS

Association for Friendship with the Saharawi people of Seville - AAPSS Virgen de la Antigua 4 Bajo Drcha. 41011 Sevilla (Spain) Tel. 0034 954 28 22 05 - 0034 954 27 41 04 Fax. 0034 954 28 20 46 aapss@saharasevilla.org - saharasevilla.org / info@artifariti.org - artifariti.org


ARTIFARITI 2013 / The Art Intifada

VII International Encounters of Art and Human Rights in Western Sahara Sahrawi Art School (Wilaya of Boujdour-Sahrawi Refugee Camps, Algeria) November 2nd to 9th 2013 "ARTifariti has won the attention of elusive eyes, uninterested in the political demands of a people who they unsuccessfully try to silence. With a language that appeals to the senses, that is universally understandable, it speaks from the commitment and solidarity of the Saharawi cause. Its authors, Sahrawi artists and from the rest of the world, participate in this new form of Art Intifada that expresses the pain and the claims of the Saharawi people." Aminatou Haidar (ARTifariti 2012)
ARTifariti was founded in 2007 as a collective action against the Moroccan Wall of Shame that fractures Western Sahara in two, separating Sahrawi families between occupation and exile. These encounters are a tool to reclaim the rights of individuals and peoples to their land, their culture, their roots and their freedom. The initial format consists in an international meeting of creators intended to give a new meaning to the territory of Tifariti -a town bombed with napalm and white phosphorous on the day of the ceasefire- as a space of struggle for the realization of human rights through artistic practices. In the past six years, ARTifariti has become a place of reunion for artists and professionals committed to social transformation for the development of a life worth living from their different conceptions. The focus of these meetings has been the approach, reflection and denounciation of the violation of the rights of the Saharawi people, articulated around their fundamental right to selfdetermination. This edition completes a stage that is embodied in the creation of the Sahrawi Art School, with its first headquarters in the wilaya of Boujdour, in the Sahrawi refugee camps. The School will be a new space of encounter in which to rethink, recreate and re-signify ARTifariti as an artistic process of struggle for dignity in the context of Western Sahara. An art space for the encounter of citizens, because "being a citizen means confronting all the time political decisions, since all decisions relating to the world are political. To be commited to the fate of the world is to be political, and to do it responsibly and consciously means to be a full citizen" (Clarke, 1999). The seventh edition of ARTifariti will be a space for reflection through the analytical look at the works of artists who have participated in the last six editions of the meetings. It will also be a space for celebrating the birth of the Sahrawi Art Scool, an open and participative learning space for the Sahrawi comunnity in the camps and a common platform for future actions in the Art Intifada we are collectively fighting. ARTifariti is a project of the Ministry of Culture of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic SADR and the Association of Friendship with the Saharawi people of Seville AAPSS.


PROGRAM: Day 2: Flight from Madrid to Tindouf Day 3: Opening Day Welcome Event 2007-2012 Retrospective Exhibition Opening ARTifariti (Morning) IV Tuizza ARTifariti "Knowing Saharawi reality ": Encounters with refugees (Afternoon) Second Day Film Exhibition "Art and Human Rights" "Western: Sahara" by Left Hand Rotation (ARTifariti 2012) + Short (Evening) Day 4: "Reflecting on Art and Human Rights" ARTifariti Tuizza IV: "Artistic practices for social transformation" Second Day Film Exhibition "Art and Human Rights": "Bad Moon" by Carmen Sigler (ARTifariti 2010) (Morning) ARTifariti Tuizza IV: "The Intifada media through alternative networks" Artistic actions (Afternoon) Second Day Film Exhibition "Art and Human Rights" Documentaries in the occupied territories (Evening) Day 5: "Official Opening of the Sahrawi Art School" ARTifariti Tuizza IV: "Building the Sahrawi Art School " Artistic actions (Morning) Official Opening of the Sahrawi Art School (Afternoon) Saharawi Music Concert (Evening) Day 6: "Building the Sahrawi Art School" Meeting invited university faculties and institutions: Signature of the Manifesto of the "Platform to Support the Sahrawi Art School" (morning) ARTifariti Tuizza IV: "Artistic practices for social transformation" Artistic actions (Afternoon) Poetry recital (Evening)


Day 7: " Making Room for the Sahrawi refugee youth" Visit of the camp of Laayoune Collective Action in the Pottery Workshop in Laayoune (Morning) ARTifariti Tuizza IV: " The culture industry as an alternative occupational for the Sahrawi refugee youth" Artistic actions (Afternoon) Sahara Libre Wear Fashion Show (Evening) Day 8: Closing Day Exhibition of the artistic interventions (Morning) Living with host families (Afternoon) Closing Official Dinner (Evening) SUBMISSION OF PROPOSALS: Those interested in making a communication on past projects or experiences under way, centered on these editions theme The Art Intifada should send their proposal in advance to the ARTifariti organization (info@artifariti.org), which will evaluate it for presentation during the meetings. The text summary of the proposals, with a maximum of 500 characters, must be submitted by September 25, 2013 for evaluation by the organization to info@artifariti.org. REGISTRATION: The VII edition of ARTifariti, posed as a meeting place for the retrospective analysis and future construction around the new School of Art Sahrawi, is open to the participation of artists, students and professionals involved in artistic practices and human rights. The inscriptions of the seventh edition of ARTifariti, held from 2 to November 9, 2013, are now open. ARTIFARITI REGISTRATION: Price 750 Includes: Registration in the VII International Art and Human Rights Encounters Regular flight Madrid-Algiers-Tindouf (Departure from Barajas Airport) Visa and insurance All meals and lodging with a Sahrawi family

To register you need to send a request (with your name, passport number, current address, contact details -phone and email-, profession, reasons for applying) together with: - A copy of your passport (valid up to six months) - Visa application form completed and signed in duplicate (Download online: http://www.emb-argelia.es/docs/Form_Visado.pdf) - Two recent passport photos

MORE INFORMATION: ARTifariti Contact Monica di Marco: info@artifariti.org www.artifariti.org http://artifariti.blogspot.com.es/ Association for Friendship with the Saharawi people of Seville - AAPSS Tel. 0034 954 28 22 05 - 0034 954 27 41 04 Fax. 0034 954 28 20 46 C / Virgen de la Antigua 4 on Right. 41011 Sevilla (Spain) aapss@saharasevilla.org

 HISTORY The Sahrawi Art School has its origins in the workshops developed since 2007 in the International Encounters of Art and Human Rights in Western Sahara (ARTIfariti). They awoke the enthusiasm of the young Sahrawi refugees in the camps near Tindouf (Algeria), who find themselves locked up in exile without alternatives for training, work or leisure. These creative activities generated an offer for an already existing demand that had an impact in two growing problems among the refugee population: the lack of working and personal expectations, especially in the more vulnerable sectors (women and youngsters) and also on the limited capacity of expression of their problems and hopes due to the conditions of isolation in the refugee camps. The artistic practices turned out to be very attractive for the refugee youth, generating dynamics of collaboration and self-directed participation. The students were motivated by the enjoyable aspects. The creative side promoted the freedom to express their frustrations and wishes. The use of the local references, apart from favouring the conservation of the Sahrawi Cultural Heritage, facilitated the appropriation of these techniques and the identification with them. The political and social impact of these practices gave an extra value that fitted perfectly with the interests of the students and their struggle. Working together on their projects increased the self-esteem of the participants. The practical implementation of the different disciplines, such as the ceramic and the silk-screen printing workshops, or the creation of the clothing label SAHARA LIBRE WEAR, opened the door to a professional source of employment that was not existent in the camps before. Its support to the strengthening of the Sahrawi cultural sector is contributing so that the society continues to evolve and grow). Collaboration, motivation, expression, identity, challenge, personal and collective growth, work and social transformation have been key contributions, all useful to build the future of these formative programmes that have preceded the Sahrawi Art School. Because of these experiences, the Ministry of Culture of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) promoted the creation of this school with the support of the Association for Friendship with the Sahrawi people of Seville (AAPSS) (both organizing entities of ARTifariti) and the sponsorship since 2011 of the Andalucian Agency for International Cooperation and Development (AACID).

 OBJECTIVES There are three main objectives of the Sahrawi Art School: enhance the role of artistic practices as a tool to claim the rights of the people and communities to their land, their culture, their roots and their freedom in the context of the Sahrawi conflict. Generate opportunities for personal and collective development of the Sahrawi youth by promoting the creation of their own cultural industry. Contribute to the protection of the Sahrawi Cultural Heritage. THE PROCCESS Since the decision by the Sahrawi Ministry of Culture of creating this school, supported by AAPSS and the University of Tifariti, an open and participative process was initiated for the physical and academic development of this formative project. Regarding the location of the Sahrawi Art School, the wilaya of Bojador was finally selected, where the school of Film and Music already exists, with the idea of creating a thematic educational complex similar in relation to its contexts to a University campus. Its location is being constructed next to the Music school in order to generate synergies between both centres, sharing administrative spaces, computer classroom, library and residential areas. For the construction of the buildings, which are also planned as a formative process, low cost technologies and energies for human development are being used Regarding the curriculum design, it is being developed in several stages by Sahrawi and foreigner teachers, artists and experts linked to the organization of ARTifariti, creating a programme that synthesise experiences and adapts them to the context of the Sahrawi camps, the first art school located in such a settlement. The curriculum proposed is experiential, open and flexible in order to allow the incorporation of changes and improvements that the own educational process may generate. SYLLABUS The first course syllabus of the Sahrawi Art School, experimental and open, consists of two cycles: the first (composed of two courses) with a theoretical-practical nature in the real-world. And a second cycle for implementing the completed speciality (promoting the creation of work cooperatives in accordance to these specialities related to applied arts, as in the case of the clothing label SAHARA LIBRE WEAR or the Ceramic workshops of El Aioun and Dajla). The first students of the school will start their studies in the academic year 2013-2014, doing the designed first year. FIRST COURSE: Introduction to the fundamentals, proceedings and artistic techniques (Drawing, Painting, Volumetric, Arab Calligraphy), Creativity, History of Art (including Political Art, Public Art, Artistic Practices and Human Rights) and Sahrawi Culture, and also general basic skills (computing, technologies and languages). SECOND COURSE: Specialization in Applied Arts (etching/engraving, hydraulic mosaic, ceramics, silkscreen printing)

 INTERNATIONAL PLATFORM OF SUPPORT FOR THE SAHRAWI ART SCHOOL Sustainability is one of the handicaps of the projects that are developed in the Sahrawi refugee camps. The situation of extended exile impedes the normal development of the Sahrawi society and the generation of their own resources. Food and basic social services for the refugee population depend fundamentally on humanitarian aid and, on an individual level, on the remittances that the population in the diaspora generates, as well as by some financial support received from host families through the programme Holidays in Peace. For this reason, and because one of the objectives of the Sahrawi Art School is the impact of the artistic practices in social transformation in the context of the Sahrawi conflict, an international platform of support for this school is proposed. Its objective is to generate connections among international academic and artistic institutions that promote the exchange of staff, teachers and students, celebration of workshops in the zone of conflict and abroad, creation of shared degrees, institutional support, collaborations of human and material resources and other practices of interest for the institutions that form this platform of support for the sustainability of the Sahrawi Art School and its international impact. The Platform will be formally established in the framework of the VII International Encounters of Art and Human Rights in Western Sahara, ARTIfariti 2013, for which purpose we are promoting the participation of different University Faculties to the event and signing general protocols of collaboration. We believe in the Sahrawi Art School as a collective effort to provide the Sahrawi refugee community with an Arts Education platform that wil facilitate jobs training, a means for personal expression, a sense of personal fulfillment, a way to strengthening the collective identity of the young generations and useful tools for working toward Human Rights advocacy. We also believe it is a collective effort to find new creative strategies that point to a solution for the Western Sahara conflict.