The
Other Voices International Project
Mission Statement
In our lives, where boundaries
are more deeply defined by radicalism and traditions of suspicion
fear and hate than they have ever been
by actual geographical borders, we can no longer pretend we are the
innocent. Out of the acts gracing and disgracing the pages of history,
September 11th has done more to change the world and the way we all
live in it - because life versus death elsewhere can no longer be the
basis of a belief of living in a safe world. This monumental tragedy
has left behind nothing that can be put into words, but a simple sense
of having seen that gut wrenching event make thoughtless nations even
more thoughtless and arrogant....
The cataclysmic tragedy of 9/11 has endangered our daily lives, not
because of the reality of terrorism, but because of the political
culture it catalysed: a war against a notion of terrorism justifying
carte
blanche military actions worldwide, expediated by a complicit apparatus
controlling the content and diffusion of information. What is new
is the speed at which and the extent to which ordinary people have
access
to information. How the content and context of this phenomenon is
ideologically controlled, irrespective of the source, is just one aspect
of the manner
in which contemporary political and commercial interests propel international
politics, with little thought for its impact on the lives of ordinary
people. Apathy as well as ignorance still remains the desired opium
of the masses.
All but smothered by the din of instant gratification, proliferating
from millions of instantaneous universes, each saturated with information,
advertising and entertainment; it is art, possibly more than any
other human endeavour during the second half of the twentieth century,
that
has lost its voice to the modern rallying cry of a Universality not
permitted an identity. Even worse, it has ignored the potential soullessness
of a society which can justify the existence of the blameless torturer.
Beneath this political sky against which our suns dawn and set each
day, the exquisite multi-textured nature of the human spirit can
no longer afford to allow itself to be drowned by such sweeping political
sentiment.
The soul has become an endangered species and Art must regain its
voice to save humanity from extinction.... To help you and I rediscover
some
semblance of our humanity, these OTHER VOICES INTERNATIONAL POETRY
PROJECT writers creatively share the adventures, desires and dreams
of the human heart and spirit, wherever it resides. Through this
singular poetic voice we can claim unity in our diversity and strive
to live
in honour of human dignity.
June 2004 |