Painting the Town Red, Yellow and Black ~ Guest Post by Martin Hughes, Publisher at Affirm Press [05.05.2010]
We published a book this month called Peace of Wall – Street Art from East Timor, featuring photographs and interviews collected by Chris Parkinson in his four years working for NGOs there. As our distributor pointed out – by way of explaining why they’ve ‘shipped’ fewer copies than could be delivered in a rickety handcart – this is the most niche book we’ve published. Regardless, we reckon it’s already been a success.
In a place like East Timor, yet to experience the ambiguous pleasures of mass media as President Jose Ramos-Horta says in his foreword, the walls are the medium for many. What’s painted on them reflects the country’s tumultuous history, precarious present and hopeful future.
Our motivation for publishing Peace of Wall is to engage a new audience in their plight, to invite people to consider this tiny and fragile country wedged – in more ways than one – between the giants of Indonesia and Australia. I love the idea of a city like Melbourne, so savvy in its appreciation of street art, learning about East Timor in this light, and people have responded really enthusiastically.
We’re bringing over three young artists – Etson, Alfeo and Zito – from Dili this week, to participate in a week-long programme of events we hope will create enduring links between street artists here and in East Timor. (Etson’s visa was delayed while he awaited clearance for TB, which in itself paints a fairly vivid picture of the differences between these neighbouring nations.) The cultures are so different that putting them together in one medium is bound to create some fizz. I’m looking forward to seeing what they make of each other’s work – the stylised scene in Melbourne compared to the more rudimentary, descriptive and political-charged art from East Timor.
The lads are part of the independent Arte Moris (Art is Life) School in Dili, and we’re delighted to have hooked them up with SIGNAL Youth Art Space, a fantastic new facility in Melbourne that will be a fulcrum for the two-way exchange of work and ideas in the future. They will also be teaming up with local street artists including HaHa and Vexta to lead workshops with teenagers at SIGNAL. The contrast between these cultures is bound to be an eye-opener, and we hope they’ll be impressed with the storytelling potential of graffiti.
They will be painting a wall in Hoiser Lane, the epicentre of Melbourne’s street art, and we hope it will fare better than did the work of that other cultural tourist, Banksy.
We also figured Peace of Wall had potential to positively impact on youth in East Timor itself – by letting them know their voice is being heard outside their country and promoting the book’s overarching theme of peace. A recent cover story in the Weekend Australian Magazine suggested that gang violence is threatening East Timor’s prospects for lasting peace and future prosperity, so the publication of this book could hardly be more timely.
We got word from President Jose Ramos-Horta, saying he reckons Peace of Wall is the best book he’s seen on East Timor – and he has personally kicked in US$5000 to have it produced in Tetun and distributed alongside the Australian edition in East Timor.
Meanwhile, we’ve been offered the conversation hour on ABC Darwin, but do you think we can get a single store in Darwin to stock the book? Oh well, if it were all about sales, I dare say there’d be no SPUNC, no blog and nobody reading this.
Open invitation to all SPUNCettes
Saturday 8 May at 5pm
Painting a wall in Hosier Lane, followed by the opening of Chris Parkinson’s Exhibition at the Until Never Gallery.
Tuesday 11 May at 7.30pm
official launch of Peace of Wall – Street Art from East Timor
Southpaw Bar, 189 Gertrude St, Fitzroy (with a live painting by the lads and music by East Timorese musician, Gil Santos)
Thursday 20 May
Restoration of East Timorese Independence Day.
For more information, drop Affirm Press at line at info[at]affirmpress.com.au.
Martin Hughes is the publisher at Affirm Press. He used to ‘work' for Lonely Planet as a writer, editor and photographer. He’s had various other jobs in media and publishing, including a three-year stint as the editor of The Big Issue magazine. He started Affirm Press in 2007 along with his boss, mentor and friend Graeme Wise.
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