In April, the Olympia-Rafah Solidarity Mural Project held a two-day Social Justice Bloc Party, as part of the city wide Arts Walk events in collaboration with the Rachel Corrie Foundation. Our work strengthened relationships with local participating mural organizations, engaged participatory art making, brought new people to the mural and showcased a thematic visual art show focused on the impacts of war and resistance to an increasingly militarized world. The Bloc Party featured visual art from the latest Just Seeds Artist Cooperative/Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) portfolio, the Assembly of Revolutionary Artists of Oaxaca and Malachi Muncy’s Peace Paper Project, where he makes paper from old military uniforms. Click here for video. There were performances by the Old Growth Poetry Collective, Lennée Reid, Artesian Rumble Arkestra, Citizen’s Band, a participatory Theatre of the Oppressed performance, an acrobatic performance, an open mic and papermaking demonstrations led by an artist and member of IVAW. Hear mural project co-organizer Josh Elliot share some mural history in this video from Arts Walk.
Many participating mural organizations tabled including: The Rachel Corrie Foundation, Working Washington, POWER, Coffee Strong, Stonewall Youth, the Black Student Union, Center for Community Based Learning & Action, Works in Progress, and Students for Justice in Palestine. This provided opportunities for cross-movement collaborations towards collective liberation. For more images click here.
