Nonkilling Arts Research Committee Letter: Vol. 2, N. 1 (Jan-Feb 2018)

Bimestrially sent from our site: Nonkilling.org.

"Nonkilling art explores the spirit and practice of how to prevent, respond to, and to improve individual, social, and global well-being beyond killing." —Glenn D. Paige

Dear NKARC members and friends,

Happy New Year!

Hope you had safe and peaceful holidays.

As you would have noted, we are starting the new year with this Letter on the CGNK web page. In five years since the first letter, we have come a long way in laying a good foundation for a space to explore various dimensions of Nonkilling arts. Volume 1 of the Letter from April 2012 till present comprised over 60 epistles.

There are two aspects to Nonkilling -- one which relates to science as well stated in the CGNK mandate the "measurable goal" of working toward a killing-free world. The other pertains to imagination and creativity, philosophical and introspective - Nonkilling as Alpha to Omega of our existence and its essence, a precondition for everything. There is a famous quote of novelist Joseph Conrad: "only in men's imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art, as of life." No wonder the wise have always believed that as it is in the mind of men wars begin, so it will be in the minds of men the defense of peace will be created.

Late Glenn D. Paige always ahead of his time, in one of his emails, wrote about five scenarios of Nonkilling Arts as a possible analytic. I enclose below excerpts from that ingenious piece, an innovative tool you may want to consider for finding nonkilling insights in creative arts. He writes:

"Since various arts are not random but follow certain patterns—such as four movements of symphonies or popular songs; styles of poetry, painting, and literature; the expectable plots of mystery thrillers; good guy vs. bad guy movies; and romantic outcomes of musical theatre-- why not envision a template for various forms of nonkilling arts? It might be helpful as an anticipatory framework from which infinite nonkilling creativity can depart. One approach could be to carry forward the four-part template for nonviolent political action articulated by Gene Sharp in The Politics of Nonviolent Action (1973); namely CONVERSION, ACCOMODATION, COERCION and DISINTEGRATION. These seem to be adapted from his study of Gandhian theory and action...." Glenn added “NONKILLING REINTEGRATION/ TRANSFORMATION” as the fifth scenario for that template ( “Out of chaos we pluck this flower” unifying NONKILLING TRANSFORMATION).

Adapted for Nonkilling arts, he thought the NKARC may seek to identify existing works and contribute to creation of new works of art that demonstrate one or more of the five scenarios. He then went on to provide examples in present and past artistic creations fitting into some or all of those above five categories to demonstrate how such an analytic may provide nonkilling insights into creative arts. I hope we will have benefit of such pioneering thought for those who study or plan to study relationships between imagination and society. (Paige’s seminal template of July 12, 2012 was mentioned in NKARC October 2012 Letter).

This first Letter of the year on the web is result of diligent efforts of our colleague webmaster Manuel (Touda Association) and CGNK’s Joám Evans Pim, they plan to put entire Volume 1 collection also on CGNK website soon. This will provide select works identified as of Nonkilling artistic form for further research and explorations.

For this letter, contributions and pointers received have been mainly on the topic of Gender violence, echoed recently in prose, poetry, song, drama, and visual arts. Amazing how these echoes of concern become global seeking justice and prevention of violent acts. The letter also covers other insightful works that you have indicated to me.

1. Nonkilling song and poetry

Song:

When justice and rights of the oppressed and weak are quashed by oppressors in the garb of history, tradition and religion, choosing Nonkilling Path is not an easy one yet have been pursued by many despite having been alone on the march. During India's Independence struggle in the last century, one of the favourite poems of Mahatma Gandhi, the nonviolent peace champion, was Ekla Chalo, Walk Alone, penned in Bangla by the Nobel Poet Laureate Rabindra Nath Tagore in 1905. It exhorts the listener to continue his or her journey with determination, despite abandonment or lack of support from others. Mahatma Gandhi, was deeply influenced by this song. (For more see Wikipedia Ekela Chalo. I enclose below two beautiful contemporary renditions of this inspirational Bangla song. See also below English versions. Click on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VcaiUOmjDQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPqdlR_X1Vk

 The English translation from the original is by Rabindranath Tagore himself:

"If they answer not to your call, walk alone
If they are afraid and cower mutely facing the wall,
O thou unlucky one,
open your mind and speak out alone.
If they turn away, and desert you when crossing the wilderness,
O thou unlucky one,
trample the thorns under thy tread,
and along the blood-lined track travel alone.
If they shut doors and do not hold up the light when the night is troubled with storm,
O thou unlucky one,
with the thunder flame of pain ignite your own heart,
and let it burn to show you the path, keep on walking alone."

Poetry:

Liberation

By Suzanne Doerge

Some young tree gave of itself
to become this fissured fence post.
Some bit of earth gave of itself
to yield the metal that became the wire.
Some determined settler hammered
these rusted nails to keep the cattle in.
Some dream was lived on this land,
now gone wild,
becoming what it used to be.
All other fence posts lay in decay.
Weeds unite to topple this last one over,
as saplings rise up to push loose the wires.
For years, they have conspired
for the liberation of this field,
bolstered by the rain, the sun,
and winters that always come.
And yet, this one post remains.
It doesn’t really matter now,
after so many seasons,
of confinement and rebellion,
the post, the field
have remembered they are one.

Salima

by Ada Aharoni

Salima, my Palestinian sister,
come, let's build a miraculous bridge
from your fig tree and your vineyard to mine
over the boiling suffering
wars and the Intifada.

Salima, my dear friend,
when will we laugh again
like two women
instead of crying bitterly on
the gravestones
of our fallen sons?

You and me, my friend,
on this miraculous bridge,
from your olive grove to mine
from my orange grove to yours
in the scent of jasmines in bloom,
holding us by the hand
whispering secrets about our loves,
our children, our parents, our projects,
and our ardent desire
a bright blue sky and a night
irradiated with stars, pearls of peace.

I do not want to be your oppressor,
you do not want to be my oppressor
neither your jailer nor my jailer -
we do not want to scare ourselves
under our vines and fig trees
in a torn metal horizon
by bruising and bloodshed
of our children,
by stones, bullets and missiles.

My dear Arab sister,
let's hurry to build
this bridge solid and free
near which each of us
will be able to sit with your baby,
under his vine and under his fig tree

And no one can scare us,
And no one will be able to trouble us.

2. Theatre and Nonkilling

(a) Theatre, Women and Violence
In a commentary about a new play, entitled, Daughter by Adam Lazarus, the Globe and Mail art critic Martha Schabas makes a larger point about "How we make excuses for violence against women on stage", she writes: "There's a little game that I like to play – maybe you could call it a thought experiment – when I'm having trouble making sense of the relationship between art and life. It's not an especially sophisticated game; it's actually embarrassingly unoriginal. But I fall back on it in exasperated default when I can't think my way into a distressing contradiction with any more depth....The "holding a mirror" argument is something you hear a lot when violence is depicted in art and it's one that I'm officially sick of hearing. In her book The Art of Cruelty, American writer Maggie Nelson argues that all depictions of cinematic rape are not only gratuitous, but they're also coercive in the sense that there's a metaphor between the lack of consent in watching rape on film and the lack of consent in being a victim of it in life.... But the problem with "reality-check" art is even bigger in my mind. For the most part, in order for it to work, it demands a kind of manufactured forgetfulness, a self-rewarding amnesia, that I think is as dishonest and damaging as the shoulder-shrugging fatalism that allows us to keep producing misogynist ballet. "

For full article, click on: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/how-we-make-excuses-for-violence-against-women-on-stage/article37114673/

(b) Tribes by Nina Raine
Nonviolent communications is key for working toward a nonkilling world. With excoriating dialogue and sharp compassionate insights, British playwright Nina Raine's powerful 2010 play is about belonging, identity and communications in a family. It's the 'deaf' in the family who often shows us of our inablility/disability to comprehend what may be lacking in and around us. For more on this intelligent play, click on: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribes_(play)

3. Nonkilling Visual Arts

(a) Betty Boxx is New York based self-described "street rat artist. I was touched by her expressive powerful mural, "Rise Up in the Dirt" which was part of an international effort to call attention to war and conflict around the world. The hyper realistic hand in dirt doesn't need any explanation. For Boxx’s diverse portfolio of murals that range from a bloodied face from a gun culture to pensive young child Alice's wonderland..... click on Boxx FBP for sample of her socially aware work: https://www.facebook.com/bkfoxx/

(b) “Why this Violence on Women?” is a powerful painting by young NKARC artist Mrinalini Pandey from India.

(c) Deborah Nehmad's Wasted and other exhibits coming to NYC in January 2018 ( Jan 11 - Feb 10, 2018). NKARC friend Deborah's previous exhibit WASTED at Honolulu Art Gallery  was covered in a previous Letter. The forthcoming exhibit  is her second show at the Kim Foster Gallery in New York City:
 
https://kimfostergallery.com/deborah-g-nehmad/
http://www.deborahnehmad.com

See more on Deborah's thought provoking art mentioned in the release below:

KIM FOSTER GALLERY
529 - 20th Street NYC 10011 | 212.229.0044

"TWIT"
http://kimfostergallery.com/deborah-g-nehmad/

The new works by Deborah G. Nehmad address two of the most disquieting issues confronting America today, the President's verbal incontinence and gun violence.

TWIT is an installation surrounding the viewer with over 300 of Trump's divisive tweets, issued both before and after he became President, stamped on handmade orange/yellow paper "twits". Contradictory twits will lock beaks. Tweets criticizing the previous President are amazingly prescient descriptors of Trump's actions and behavior in office.

In the second 12 months following the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, 137 children aged 10 and under either shot themselves or another child or were shot by an adult. The 12 visually compelling needlepoints comprising "what's wrong with this country? - the next 12 months" break down these statistics on a monthly basis which can be read with a QR code reader downloaded to a smart phone.

what's wrong with this country? -the next 12 months
1/15/14 - 2/14/15

In "old glory?", Nehmad hand stitches the number of average yearly deaths from gun violence in America from 2014 - 2016 as the stripes of an American flag - 7 stripes comprised of black x's representing suicides, 6 stripes of red crosses representing homicides. The 51 " stars" are presented as black and white targets burned with holes representing the number of deaths in mass murders over the past 25 years for each individual state and the District of Columbia. While stunning from a distance, the patterns of holes and stitches convey a powerful, poignant symbolism, functioning as catalogues of tragedy.

For more information, contact: info@kimfostergallery.com or https://kimfostergallery.com/deborah-g-nehmad/

4. New Books by NKARC colleagues

(1) “Portraits: Peacemakers, Warmongers and People Between” is a new book of peace poetry by colleague David Krieger. It begins with an examination of what it means to be human in our time, and includes portraits of Albert Einstein, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Robert McNamara, and Emperor Hirohito, among others. Archbishop Desmond Tutu writes about the book, “Poetry that awakens our deepest humanity. Each poem leaves me wanting another.” The well-wrought poems are both poignant and powerful, talking of our shared humanity and its survival. The book is available at Amazon and Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

(2) "Walking Alone: a pilgrim's guide to the inner journey!” by Mony Dojeiji
It’s second book by the author of ‘Walking for Peace’ that dealt with her  5000  km peace march from Rome to Jerusalem in her quest for a city of peace. Her new book is about how to walk alone, not only on pilgrimage, but in life. She writes:
“What I have learned is that key to walking alone is having the courage to look beyond the physical, and to delve into the workings of our inner world – mind, emotions, spirit – so that we can better understand ourselves, and walk in confidence and curiosity of the world rather than in fear of it.”

In this personal guide, she offers insights and reflections based on her experiences, and how one can begin that journey towards self-knowing.  The book is available as an e-book and at Amazon.

(3) 150 Canadian Stories of Peace- Am Anthology (published by Ottawa peace activists: Gordon Breedyk, Mony Dojeiji, Koozma J. Tarasoff, and Evelyn Voigt)
‎In preface to this unique book celebrating 150th anniversary of founding of Canada, the editors of the anthology state: “It has been said that you cannot hate people once you’ve heard their stories. Whether or not that’s true what cannot be denied is that stories give us the sacred space to reflect on who we are as individuals and on the fabric of the society we wish to weave. Stories have the power not only to inspire and unite, but to heal divisions and transform hearts and minds. They unite us in our search for a common humanity, crossing boundaries, and going straight to the deepest place of truth that dwells within us.” All peace stories have been kept one to two pages length.  E-copy can be downloaded for free from the site:  https://www.150canadianpeacestories.com/the-stories . Hard copy of the anthology is available at Amazon books.

(4) Powerpoint presentations received with thought provoking cartoons and illustrations for two books from NKARC colleague Prof. Leslie Sponsel from Hawai’i:

• (i) Karen Armstrong's book Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence. Les writes: “I used the first 22 slides in class, and then posted the whole PowerPoint on my Anthropology of War and Peace course website.

• (ii) For the last meeting of my class on the Anthropology of War and Peace I constructed a PowerPoint about the magnificent book Addicted to War: Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism.” The previous edition of the book is also available free online at: http://www.addictedtowar.com

See: http://nonkilling.org/center/2017/10/27/nonkilling-anthropology-course-at-university-of-hawaii/
http://nonkilling.org/center/download/addicted-to-war-why-the-u-s-cant-kick-militarism-presentation/

5. Reflections

(a) Hugh Mann: In the spirit of sleuthing truth and perusing confusion, offers the following poetic rhyming on SCIENCE & PHILOSOPHY:
"Mixing metrics with ethics, truth fuses science with philosophy. Science quantifies and classifies truth, while philosophy qualifies and clarifies truth. Without this crucial fusion, we wallow in confusion."

(b) January 22nd will be the first anniversary of the passing away of our dear colleague  Glenn D. Paige. Here's an excerpt from insightful reflection on Nonklling from one of his friends Buddhist Lama Doboom Tulkuon who sent the following on his memorial service:

“Nonkilling refers basically to the absence of killing but motivation to kill and creating situation conducive to killing humans and any form of life are closely linked to killing. Important question is, if you are not engaged in the act of killing, don't have motivation of killing and also you are not creating a situation conducive to killing but simply watching someone kill another sentient being, is it ethically correct? ... Self-centeredness is the root cause of any aggression. From self-centeredness comes sensual desire and from that comes hatred which in turn lead to aggressive act, or indifferent attitude towards others. So, there fore, I can even go so far as to say that people having indifferent attitude towards others are potential killers."

(c) William Morris, a pioneer English socialist artist from Victorian era, famous as textile designer, poet, pamphleteer (b1834- d.1896) was founder of the arts and crafts movement in Britain. Born In Walthamstow, in North East London, championing the rights of arts and crafts people, one of his famous quotes is: "I do not want art for a few any more than education for a few, or freedom for a few." In his long essay on  Arts and Socialism he talks about his conception of “art of the people” centred on the value of work done by ordinary folks. He writes:

"Indeed if it were but ridding ourselves, the well-to-do people, of this mountain of rubbish that would be something worth doing: things which everybody knows are of no use; the very capitalists know well that there is no genuine healthy demand for them, and they are compelled to foist them off on the public by stirring up a strange feverish desire for petty excitement, the outward token of which is known by the conventional name of fashion—a strange monster born of the vacancy of the lives of rich people, and the eagerness of competitive Commerce to make the most of the huge crowd of workmen whom it breeds as unregarded instruments for what is called the making of money."

A.L.Morton on William Morris’s essay Art and Socialism notes that the essay’s "outstanding feature is perhaps the stress laid on work as a necessity of human life, not merely as a means of obtaining a livelihood. Morris insists that only Socialism can restore work to its proper, central position." This was not much different of the thinking promoted by John Ruskin around that time in his Letters to the workmen and labourers of Great Britain. A contemporary of Ruskin, Morris championed the notion of social utility of art (than art for art sake), he could foresee that such trends will lead to both crisis of capitalism and imperialism, ending in two world wars and dehumanizing aspects of  industrialism, modernism and post modernization.

For complete William Morris 19th C non-elitist perspective on Arts and Socialism, click on: https://www.marxists.org/archive/morris/works/1884/as/as.htm

(d) Reacting to an interesting piece about Morality of  Just wars, colleague Clay Edwards sent the following:

"My immediate reaction is that "morality" speaks to life and the promotion of life as our value. "Framing" makes me think of Plato's notion of forms where I wonder if we divide and separate a single existence as multiple existences and roll them back together as a unity of parts. We then argue over the value of their continued separate existences, some more valuable than others and fight over the essence of existence itself, in a war of gods and giants. We manufacture and retail controversies and drown in flattery, struggling to talk about morality and talking ourselves out of morality.

The American military is not alone in this "separatist" behavior. Rome too had endless wars to the point it had to divide its empire into two because it just could not be managed. Alexander the Great created an accomplished army that got tired of the grind of "successful military operations on an ever expanding theater of operations. Hitler talked himself and his military and the world into a war that encircled the earth. The US military is all over the world without a clear strategic purpose, all made worse by Donald Trump's insistence on making deals without a political or moral compass, with petty jealousy of Obama and the Bush family. He wants a big military and argued to expand the number of nukes possessed by the US to the old Cold War levels. At the same time he talks of working with Xi Ping and Putin. All of this is layered on the existence of British and French worldwide colonial activities and the empire building of the Islamic revolution against Rome and Byzantium and their ambitions. This is why I believe this just killing associated with war deals in barbarism with a veneer of civilization. It is built on perceptions of unjust killings and leads the United States on a fool’s errand...

We get carried away by this fools errand, exploring a dark place that cannot be explored for the sheer darkness of the place. That in my view or frame goes a blundering humanity, foolishly looking for advantage over itself by separating existences."

(d) 'What I have learned from peace activism in the world' by Koozma Tarasoff
Tarasoff writes: "For over 60 years I have worked to promote a world without wars, and I am still trying." That is the beginning of my article 'What I have learned from peace  activism in the world', published in Ahimsa Nonviolence (India), vol. XIII, No. 2, May-August 2017. See Spirit Wrestlers website.

6. Nonkilling Journalism

(a) “ Today Petra Kelly would have turned 70” by Joám Evans Pim:
Petra Kelly was a German politician and activist born in 1947. She died in tragic circumstances in October 1992. Three months before her death, the Center for Global Nonviolence Planning Project (CGNK’s predecessor) published a selection of five speeches and four essays covering the period
from August 1987 to July 1991, under the title Nonviolence Speaks to Power. Joám writes:
“Petra Kelly, unwilling to compromise and focused on a radical, border-crossing approach to politics, was a pioneer for ecology, human rights and nonviolent political thought. She helped give substance to Green politics, through her own concept of “ecopeace”, which combines ecology, pacifism, feminism and nonviolence. Even though she was inspired by certain movements and ideas, her holistic thought cannot be categorized."

For more on Joam’s article, click on:
http://nonkilling.org/center/2017/11/29/today-petra-kelly-would-have-turned-70/

(b) Two linked articles from Bob Koehler on sexual assault against women:

• "Trapped in ‘a Man’s World’" by Robert Koehler, and

• "Empowering the Vulnerable" by Robert Koehler.

Bob Koehler writes:
“Forty years later, I find myself coming to grips with the fact that women’s rights have been only partially implemented and the social change they have wrought remains superficial. Women have more employment and  career opportunities now, but still in the context of institutions conceived and built by men. In that sense, it’s still a patriarchy, a “man’s world” — a world at war with itself both internally and externally.

 But maybe this is what has begun to change. The #metoo movement — the massive outing of sexual harassers on social and other media — is  accomplishing something far more valuable than the tarnishing of the reputations of powerful and important men. It’s empowering the vulnerable.  And this is what matters.”

(c)  Article on Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire’s speech on Nuclear Disarmament and Unjust Wars at the Vatican
http://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/national/article/Nobel-laureate-Mairead-Maguire-Concept-of-just-wars-must-be-thrown-out-27f66bff-efaf-4479-8df4-4aa0aab698fb-ds

(d) "Progress Toward Nuclear Weapons Abolition" By David Krieger.
The article reviews the work of Nuclear Age Peace Foundation over past 35 years and NAPF’s contributions along with other civil society organizations on this year’s (2017) three key nuclear disarmament accomplishments: 122 nations adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations; the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) won the Nobel Peace Prize; and Pope Francis hosted a major disarmament conference at the Vatican. For full article, click on:
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/11/23/progress-toward-nuclear-weapons-abolition/

Last Word

Two inspirational offerings from NKARC colleague Prof. Francisco Gomes de Matos:

Terror Killings in a place of prayer

Terror-killings in urban and non-urban areas have taken place very
frequently,
These are no doubt most abominable of crimes and killings happening
recently,

To cite such a tragic act when by terrorists
a most inhuman goal was intended,

And in the holiest of places in mosque more
than 300 lives were brutally ended!

Let us ask everyone how can such terror-killings be stopped or
prevented?

Indeed it is the The Nonkilling Approach that should be globally
presented!

As the ever-inspiring Nonkilling pioneer Glenn Paige cogently advocated:
Human beings of all ages/beliefs as Nonkilling agents should be educated!


And

Oh, JERUSALEM, Oh, JERUSALEM

In tumultuous politics of the city and the region, Prof. Gomes put forth this Nonkilling historical dimension for a spiritual Jerusalem. Ultimately, that's what has retained Jerusalem over centuries in our consciousness as the City of Peace.   

Oh, JERUSALEM
by Francisco Gomes de Matos, a peace linguist and president of the
Board, ABA Global Education, Recife,Brazil

For a shared Peace you`ll always be an inspiration

In urban harmony you`ll always be an education

For diverse spirituality, you`ll always be illumination

In citizens´ dignity, you`ll always be an elevation

My deep gratitude to all who contributed or pointed to the material for
the letter.

Looking forward to your contributions, inspirations, and comments as
always.

Wishing all of us a peaceful world in 2018 !

Nonkillling Regards,
Bill

Bill (Balwant) Bhaneja
Coordinator
NonKilling Arts Research Committee (NKARC)
Center for Global Nonkilling (CGNK)
www.nonkilling.org

"Nonkilling Culture crosses all the lines." —Glenn D. Paige

Nonkilling is THE measure of Human progress

Stay in contact also on Social Networks

• Please feel free to contact NKARC Letter's coordinator at billbhaneja@nonkilling.org.

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