June 2010-Struggle to Freedom:Remembering the Medu Art Ensemble

Spiral Q Puppet Theater Presents:
Struggle to Freedom: Remembering the Medu Art Ensemble
Spiral Q invites you to join us in rememberance of the Medu Art Ensemble with Medu Survivor Judy Seidman and South African multiinstrumentalist Mogauwane Mahloele.

Monday, June 14, 6:30 – 8:30 PM
Church of the Advocate
1801 West Diamond Street
Philadelphia, 19121

Free

On June 14, 1985 the South African Defense Force raided a small community in Gaborone, Botswana assassinating twelve Medu Art Ensemble artists and community members whose community influence and political involvement posed a tremendous threat to the brutally inhuman and oppressive system of apartheid.

The Medu Art Ensemble was an exiled arts and culture organization that brandished songs, poems, photos, and performance art to unite South Africans and international allies against one of the most oppressive and inhuman regimes of our times. In 1982, Medu organized the Culture and Resistance Festival which brought together artists throughout South Africa and catalyzed many of them to commit their work to the anti-apartheid struggle. After the assassinations in 1985, Medu's work as a collective ceased.

Twenty-five years later, Spiral Q remembers the Medu Art Ensemble with a multimedia performance and special presentation from Judy Seidman- printmaker, cultural worker, educator and Medu survivor- who comes from South Africa for the occasion. Also joining the conversation is Philadelphia based Mogauwane Mahloele, a South African musician, artist, and activist who remembers Medu well and attended the Culture and Resistance Festival. Spiral Q invites all of Philadelphia to join us as we remember the Medu Art Ensemble and reflect on the role of art in shaping our communities. A small reception will follow the event.