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"ARTISTS FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY"
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"_Art must show the world as changeable. And help to change it". _Ernst
Fischer
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This year, La Via Campesina is celebrating 25 years of peasant-led
efforts and campaign in our communities to bring food sovereignty to
reality - healthy diets, healthy soils, healthy seeds, agroecology etc -
and continue to resist the capitalist model.
This vision, of relating to nature and with one another harmoniously,
practiced for thousands of years was put into words by La Via Campesina
and allies at the 1996 World Food Summit [1] in Rome. We defined "Food
Sovereignty" as the right of people to autonomously produce healthy,
nutritious, climatically, and culturally appropriate food, using local
resources and through agroecological means, primarily to address the
local food needs of their communities. Throughout the past 25 years, the
formation of Food Sovereignty has contributed to strengthening a model
of society that prioritizes life.
Food sovereignty, among the multitude of ideas that it encompasses, is
also about defending the billion diversities that exist on this planet,
and is a celebration of our many unique practices, tastes, cultures and
customs. An important pillar in this struggle for food sovereignty is
the role played by popular rural cultures, of peasants, fisher-folk,
family farmers and Indigenous Peoples. Art and popular communication [2]
are vital tools of expression, exchange and resistance in peasant and
indigenous cultures worldwide.
It is in this context that La Via Campesina launches its international
call to action, "ARTISTS FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY", as we build up our
efforts towards _OCTOBER 16, 2021 – THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR
PEOPLES' FOOD SOVEREIGNTY AND AGAINST TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS_.
"ARTISTS FOR FOOD SOVEREIGNTY" attempts to gather audio-visual
expressions of the historical struggles and resistance led by peasants,
food artisans, indigenous peoples, fishers, shepherds, the landless,
women, agricultural wage earners, migrants, and youth worldwide, to
defend our way of life and livelihoods.
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> THROUGH THIS INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR SOLIDARITY ACTION, LA VIA CAMPESINA IS ENCOURAGING PROGRESSIVE ARTISTS AROUND THE WORLD TO SEND US DIVERSE MATERIALS IN THE FORM OF MUSIC, VIDEO CLIPS, POETRY, PAINTINGS, PHOTOGRAPHS, ILLUSTRATIONS, DOCUMENTARIES AND PODCASTS.
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ARTISTS AND MULTIMEDIA PRODUCERS COULD TAKE INSPIRATION FROM ANY OF THE
THEMES LISTED BELOW:
1. Specific experiences of Food Sovereignty- Peasant Cooperatives, Rural
fairs, Seeds, Agroecological Schools, Community Radio, etc.
2. Challenges and Threats posed by Industrial Agricultural politics and
its impact on agrarian reform, land grabbing, climate change and
criminalisation of social movements.
3. The dispute between the peasant agroecological model of production
and the industrial model of agribusinesses.
4. The urgency of a new society that is built on the principles of
global solidarity, internationalism and social justice
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[3]
In 2016, the musical group Che Sudaka dedicated the song "Cuando será"
(When it will be) to La Vía Campesina in their fight for Food
Sovereignty.
> "_You that cultivate fields_, _You that cultivate dreams_ _You with your friends_, _Collect the food_ _For you, I present this song_, _So that you feel inspiration_ _That you know you are not alone_, _There are many fighting against time_."
[4]
Additionally, several supporters, activists, friends and allies of LVC
have been inspired by our fight. They have captured this art in
paintings, poems and murals, songs and various other forms of
expression. Last year, during the COVID 19 pandemic, Francisco Daniel, a
friend of Movement Without Land, painted the main image of our campaign
#TimetoTransform.
We want to unite these beautiful artistic expressions in favour of Food
Sovereignty and share them with you all in a VIRTUAL GALLERY DURING
OCTOBER 2021 AS PART OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE ACTION – FOR FOOD
SOVEREIGNTY, AGAINST MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES. We have set out to gather
all the materials from August until September of 2021.
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These materials also will contribute to the spread, communication and
political formation of La Via Campesina, uniting collective forces for a
transformation and liberation project. It is an attempt to break away
from the alienation caused by a mass-media culture. These art forms are
symbolic of our resistance against the corporate-political nexus and
their economic, cultural, and political oppression of the rural areas.
This call for artistic expression centres around the theme of Food
Sovereignty. The text below serves as a close guide to how we understand
Food Sovereignty within the movement. Artists are free to interpret this
vision of Food Sovereignty and base it in their socio-cultural and
political context.
_WHAT IS FOOD SOVEREIGNTY? _
_Food Sovereignty "is the people's right to healthy food and culturally
suitable products through sustainable and environmentally friendly
methods. It is also the right of the people to define their agricultural
food systems. Food sovereignty is intrinsically linked to the debate
over what we envision for rural areas and what type of development
should be applied. It is about defining what kind of food to produce and
why? To prioritise production for local markets, in line with a culture
of local and regional consumption. It defends the interests and the
inclusion of future generations. It offers a strategy to resist and
dismantle the current regime of corporate food trade and points at the
nutritional, rural, pastoralist and fishing systems determined by local
producers. Food Sovereignty prioritises the local and national economies
and markets, empowers rural and family agriculture, traditional
fisheries and shepherding and the production, distribution and
consumption of food based on environmental, social and economic
sustainability. Food Sovereignty promotes transparent trade that
guarantees a fair income to everyone and the rights for the consumers to
food and nutrition. It assures that the rights to collectively own and
manage our lands, water, seeds, livestock and biodiversity so that these
means of production remain in the hands of those who produce the food.
Food Sovereignty involves new social relationships free from oppression
and inequality between men and women, differences, peoples, racial
groups, social classes and generations. "_
Let this be a moment to transform our resistance through music, poems,
documentaries and inspiring images that expose the urgency of Food
Sovereignty as a solution against hunger, climate change and
authoritarianism.
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* INFORMATION: title of the work, full name, country, organisation
(optional), social media profiles (optional)
* LANGUAGE: mainly in Spanish, English, French but local languages are
welcome with the respective translation (Reduce the text for best
accessibility)
* FORMATS: Video, audio, Word, Jpg or PDFs, without borders,
backgrounds or watermarks.
* DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: 16 September 2021
* EMAIL: Email all the materials with the subject _"Llamado Artistas
por la Soberanía Alimentaria"_ to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org with a copy
(CC) to Viviana.rojas(a)viacampesina.org.
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La Via Campesina will select and curate from the compiled material and
exhibit them in a virtual gallery that will be available on the website
of LVC. The curated work will also be distributed as a digital
catalogue, acknowledging the contribution of each artist.
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2021/06/1996-Rom-en.…
[2]
https://viacampesina.org/en/nyeleni-newsletter-communicating-for-food-sover…
[3] https://youtu.be/JwB0PXM8NMg
[4] https://vimeo.com/440624449
[5] http://www.facebook.com/ViaCampesinaOfficial
[6] http://www.twitter.com/via_campesina
[7] http://www.instagram.com/la_via_campesina_official
[8] http://viacampesina.org/en