Press Kit (August 30th/31st, 2012) - Goldmann Public Relations ...

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NEWTOPIA: The State of Human Rights Contemporary Arts Exhibition in Mechelen and Brussels 01.09. – 10.12.<strong>2012</strong> AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL Human rights are the cornerstone of our society and the heart of Amnesty International. NEWTOPIA has taken up the challenge of turning the spotlight on human rights in a thoroughly contemporary and powerful way. The first international exhibition of contemporary art on the theme of human rights is based on an unshakeable belief in the universality and indivisibility of human rights. NEWTOPIA not only intends to denounce violations of human rights; it also intends to show the positive results and strength of the human rights movement. NEWTOPIA aims to inspire visitors and to persuade them that each one of us can make a contribution to a world in which everyone can fully enjoy all their rights. It is precisely this combination of indignation about violations of human rights and hope and conviction that you can do something as an individual to change things. That is the driving force of more than three million Amnesty sympathisers all over the world, which is why Amnesty International wholeheartedly supports this exhibition. Art is self-expression, a vehicle through which the artist shares his or her ideas or feelings with the viewer in a spirit of freedom. When that spirit is menaced and human rights are violated, the artist often takes on the role of critical accuser. Artists protest with their individual weapons – pen, camera, paintbrush etc. Many artists are active in struggling against violations of human rights. They become true Human Rights Heroes, heroic activists on behalf of human rights. A number of these artists have paid a high price for their activism: they are silenced by threats, house arrest or imprisonment. The Iranian director Jafar Panahi, for example, the Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo, and the Burmese comic Zarganar – three artists on whose behalf Amnesty International campaigned in 2011. NEWTOPIA offers a platform to a number of contemporary artists and human rights heroes and gives them a voice in an open and positive atmosphere. An excellent initiative, from Amnesty's point of view. We are confident that the contemporary works of art chosen by curator Katerina Gregos for NEWTOPIA will both fascinate people and inspire them to give human rights the priority in society that they deserve. And will, above all, offer them a splendid series of works of art to enjoy. Enjoyment of art is a human right too! www.amnesty.org 93
NEWTOPIA: The State of Human Rights Contemporary Arts Exhibition in Mechelen and Brussels 01.09. – 10.12.<strong>2012</strong> NOVOTEL MECHELEN CENTRUM The Novotel Mechelen Centrum is a 3-star hotel located in the heart of Mechelen, in the trendy and lively fish market district just a stone's throw from the river Dijle. It has 122 spacious and comfortable rooms, a bar-grill (brasserie), and 5 conference rooms for meetings and seminars. The hotel is ideal for a city trip to Mechelen and is a keen supporter of various cultural events, such as City Visions in 2009 and now NEWTOPIA: The State of Human Rights. Novotel Mechelen is also an active member of the Accor Foundation, which strives to support and develop socially responsible activities initiated by the Group's employees. It sees its challenge as "Linking cultures and providing support for the development of individuals and their integration into their environment". This gives the Accor group's employees an opportunity to add social and human breadth and depth to their work. The Foundation offers support to projects that stimulate local know-how (e.g. by supporting socio-economic initiatives that focus on traditional crafts and techniques); projects that encourage professional and social integration (e.g. for young people in difficulties between the ages of 15 and 30); and projects that help populations in great difficulty and that respond to humanitarian disasters. Sharing these values and teaming up with various organisations on its projects for further solidarity is important for Novotel Mechelen, which looks forward to supporting the NEWTOPIA project. www.novotel.com/gb/hotel-3154-novotel-mechelen-centrum/index.shtml MO* and NEWTOPIA: art, human rights and information The core mission of MO* is to make globalisation comprehensible for a broad public in Flanders. The editorial staff, accordingly, must not try to paint an unrealistically rosy picture of the world: it must present a clear picture of the situation, so that people can see where the problems lie and what kind of challenges the present generation faces. MO* pursues its mission of information in a world in which – thanks to the communications revolution of the last twenty years – more information is being produced by even more people. "On the other hand, we can also see that control over the media is increasing," warned former Amnesty International Secretary General Irene Khan in an interview published by MO* in April 2010. "And I am not just talking about what governments do, but also about the concentration of media in the hands of a few commercial groups. That clearly threatens freedom of information and of expression. The pressure to make a profit, after all, helps to decide what is reported on and what is not." Reliable information and journalism driven by humanitarian concerns rather than by the whims of the day in profit-driven media: that is the primary and most important contribution that MO* makes to the struggle for human 94
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Press Kit (August 30th/31st, 2012) - Goldmann Public Relations ...

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