CULTURE > Kiki Bokassa, Writer-Artist-Social Activist

 

“Ambition or duty, the vulnerability of life or the power of destiny provide some men the chance to lead others. This Higher Mission do not need to exercise only authority, yet so respected and astute, nor the use of constraint even the most efficient. It is a matter to know how to convince and to approach, to compose with persons, things and time. In the social order there is no power without Negotiation and Dialogue, inside or outside of any family, group and society.

 This Century put Humanity in front of some very complicated if not destructive events, dramatic events. In spite of the progress of science and technology, the expansion and pace of mass communication, wealth or diminution the world especially our Arab World encloses several factors of turbulences, tensions and Violence. The Threat of Disorder and Ruptures made urgent and more than any time the necessity to exercise the practice of Negotiation and the use of all kind of peaceful means to resolve and to end any misunderstanding or crisis.

The Future of our Arab World being the cradle of religions and civilizations must be in a profound Peaceful Education and through the Culture of Dialogue.  This Culture should be applied on all aspects of our social and political life, even more in our private life. It is the privileged task of the Arab Civil Society especially considering the failure of the Arab Establishment to sustain and to accomplish its obligations toward its Society.

 This Mission is not only a privilege but more a responsibility that needs to be apprehended by an active, motivated and highly educated Civil Society, a wide and specialized number of nongovernmental organizations collaborating all together not only to simulate but to implement in our Arab Political and Social Life the knowhow of dialogue.

 In our Arab World some characteristics should be perceived:

  * Enormous budgets are still dedicated for the military in almost all the Arab Regimes.

    * The Repression bodies are going stronger and stronger and managing all aspects of our life.

     * After the 70’s with the Oil Revolution, what characterized the Arab Political System was the slogan: “Get Richer”, a slogan that pilots’ considerable social and economical changes and Money take it over the Human, over the Politics.

     * At the latest 90’s the Successors leading our world wanted themselves as Renovators, they are welcome if they could capture the time and perceive the society needs. The reformatory discourse of those Leaders is not a Promise of Democratization and Modernization but it’s more about securing their elderly Systems using Modern means. They should know one major thing: it is all about the   “human being” the Citizen in the Arab World.

It is a lack of communication and understanding between the system and the citizen, between citizens themselves, an urgent and crucial need that requires an enlightening elaboration that should took place as a part of our Arab Educational System and in our daily life, it is all about how to Cultivates Value of Peace, of Justice, of Democracy, of Liberty and of Dialogue.

This task should be prevailed by developing in Young Arab People, as an unending Mission, the spirit and the custom of resolving conflicts through Peaceful and Realistic Approaches based on ethical values.              

The Future of the Arab World must be handled by our Arab Youth; Youth who should know how to bring into play a very wealthy Civilization with Modernization, Human with Knowledge and Science.

Youth who know how to use history to built a bright future, and who are ready to take over this Mission for generations to come in order to create a new image of a people who Love Life and know how to Live, a new image that passes over all global misconceptions about the Arab World as a World of Violence and Terrorism and that shows the Reality in its Intense Human Dimension, as a non Violent, Comprehensive and a World of Understanding and Dialogue.”

 

Marie-Ange J.B. Bokassa (alias Kiki) is an autodidact artist of Lebanese and Central-African backgrounds. Kiki has over the past years participated in several exhibitions in Lebanon and overseas. Her paintings are displayed in private collections from the Arabian Gulf to the American Midwest, through metropolis such as New York. She is also a writer and an active member in society, directly involved in a wide-range of humanitarian causes to which she devotes much of her time.  In 2005 she started engaging in several humanitarian efforts, including the creation of non lucrative children’s books and activities such as “Let me tell you a story” publication and “Paint for Peace” workshop. She also holds reading sessions under the umbrella of the Ministry of Culture, and works as an art educator periodically, by training children and volunteers in public schools and public spaces all over the country. Visit these websites for more on Kiki’s work: www.kikibokassaart.com, www.kikibokassa.com, www.letmetellyouastory.com  

CULTURE > Michel Elefteriades, The Beirut Music Hall

 

(Scroll down to read this post in French)

 “The Arab world is one of the world’s regions that  suffer the most from all sorts of problems. There are  two ways of approaching those; either though  repairing their effects or through attacking their  sources. And I am a fervent enemy of  TINA (Margaret Thatcher’s There Is No  Alternative). I believe human spirit should dare to  opt for innovation and to think out of the box.

 This is the reason why we need to find solutions for the two main problems that our Arab world is today facing; on one hand, the profound disparities between the rich and the poor and the feeling of powerlessness in front of Israel’s injustice, on the other. A global revolution that would redraft the ruling systems in the Arab world seems to me as the only chance for this region to develop as is the case in other societies.

This might seem like an unreachable Utopia, but as Oscar Wilde once said “progress only lies in the realization of utopias”. I do know this can also be painful, but giving birth always comes with labor. The ruling castes need to understand that their survival depends on how many concessions they are bound to give to their citizens, they need to realize they no longer can satisfy those with the few crumbs of the opulence and feasts they have been taking pleasure in for decades. Governments can no longer idly watch Israel’s policies in the region nor can they collaborate with it in worse cases.

Times we now live in have made from ethics an obsolete principle, especially when it comes to economy. I pledge for the return of economy in the meadow of Human Sciences. And I dare to speak of the ethics of resistance for resistance is the duty of every free spirit under occupation. Our duty is, before any other thing, to fight both forms of occupation that today alienate our Arab world; first, misery for it generates ignorance, violence and fanaticism and second Zionism for it is today destroying the image of Arab people and their self esteem, as well as their human and economic cultures and heritages.”

Michel Elefteriades is a music producer, talent manager and owner of Beirut’s Music Hall

En Francais:

“Le monde Arabe est une des régions du globe qui affronte le plus grand nombre de problèmes. Il existe deux manières d’approcher ces problèmes. La première consiste à colmater leurs effets, et la seconde à les résoudre à la source. Je suis un farouche ennemi de TINA (there is no alternative), la politique que prêchait Madame Thatcher. L’esprit humain doit oser l’innovation. Il doit oser sortir des sentiers battus.

C’est la raison pour laquelle il nous faut combattre deux grands problèmes auxquels fait face aujourd’hui le monde Arabe. D’une part le profond fossé qui sépare les riches des pauvres, et d’autre part le sentiment d’impuissance face à l’injustice Israélienne. Une révolution qui permettrait un remaniement profond des systèmes en place dans le monde Arabe est le seul et unique moyen de voir un jour prochain ce monde évoluer à l’instar des autres sociétés développées.

Ceci pourrait relever de l’utopie mais comme le disait Oscar Wilde : « Le progrès n’est-il pas que la réalisation des Utopies? ». Je sais bien que ceci pourrait être bien douloureux mais l’on n’enfante que dans la douleur. Les castes régnantes doivent comprendre que leur survie est au prix de concessions qu’elles doivent à leurs citoyens et qu’elles ne peuvent plus les contenter des restes du festin et des miettes de l’opulence dont elles jouissent depuis des décennies. Les gouvernements ne peuvent plus rester, au mieux mains croisées face à la politique Israélienne, et au pire collaborer avec cette dernière.

L’air du temps veut qu’il soit obsolète de parler d’éthique, surtout quand il s’agit d’économie. Je plaide pour un retour de l’économie dans le giron des sciences humaines. Et j’ose parler de l’éthique de la résistance qui est le devoir de tout homme libre face à l’occupation. Notre devoir, avant toute autre chose, est de combattre les deux occupations qui sévissent dans notre monde Arabe : la misère qui engendre ignorance, violence et fanatisme et le sionisme qui lui œuvre à la destruction de l’image des peuples Arabes, de leur confiance en soi et de leurs cultures et richesses économiques et humaines.”

 

Michel Elefteriades a.k.a. H.I.H. Michel I of Nowheristan was Born in 1970 in Beirut, Lebanon, from Byzantine Greek origins, and is the great grandnephew of Saint Chrysostomos Kalafates, Metropolitan of Smyrna, who was assassinated in 1922. He has lived in different countries and speaks more than sixlanguages. He was a political activist since the age of 15 in Beirut during the Lebanese civil war, and aleader from 1991 to 1994 of the M.U.R. (United Movements of Resistance) a clandestine liberationarmed group, during which he escaped two assassination attempts. He served political exile in Franceand Cuba from 1994 till 1997. Michel is a painter and holder of a diploma in fine arts, and an author of poems and of two novels (one of which was banned in the Arab world) and has also written and composed more than 120 songs. As a music producer and arranger, his creations count among the Arab world’s most successful musical experiments of the last ten years including Hanine Y Son Cubano; Wadih El Safi in duo with Jose Fernandez; Demis Roussos & the Oriental Roots Orchestra; and Tony Hanna & the Yugoslavian Gipsy Brass Band. He has participated as a key-speaker in number of international seminars and symposiums  and founded the “Mediterraneo Byblos International Festival” in 1999 which he directed till 2003. He is the founder and owner of Beirut’s “Music Hall”, an 800-seat theatre venue specialized in cultural showbiz. At the age of 33, he pulled the bases of a new nation he name Nowheristan. The ceremony of proclamation of the nation of Nowheristan received the United Nations’ support by the presence of UN Secretary General’s personal representative, Mr. Geir Pederson, and the Lebanese Minister of Culture Tarek Mitri. Numerous Arab and international scholars and intellectuals have joined the concept of Nowheristan and thousands of candidates from around the world have already requested applications for citizenship. H.I.H. is dedicating his time, talent and wealth to promote the great Empire as an alternative solution for the political, ideological and economic problems of today’s world.