Who are we?
Tuesday, March 30th, 2004The ECF is still embryonic and so “Who we are” is still being defined and probably will always be fluid.
The thread can be traced back to a group of freinds who met while working at Gift Fundraising Ltd. They started BeThePeace! with a Gas Mask Street Theatre Campaign, to voice to their views and engage the public in positive and peaceful thoughts and deeds during the build up to the (Second) Gulf War.
The ECF seed group comprised of Kazem Beaton, Shane Hughes, Danny Ladwa, Dan Savery and Gareth Strangemore-Jones. Their wish to produce events to raise funds for the ESF soon evolved into the ECF.
Much of the concept for the ECF came out of “Shane’s Mind Dumps” and was creatively changed, refined and added to by the rapidly-growing group at the now infamous weekly meetings. These meetings have since been attended by a diverse group of individuals, each adding to and feeding the group’s creativity. Some of the people.
The organisational structure is open for anyone to create and to participate. The decision-making process has been left ad hoc and loose partly because of the speed with which the ideas are developing, but also a conscious decision has been made to involve a broader spectrum of creative stakeholders before defining a creative organisational process.
Proposals can be E-mailed in or posted directly on the Wiki. There will be an open meeting on April 24 or May 22 to discuss these proposals.
The Creative Forums could flower into something big, beautiful, and potentially influential, but that depends on the diversity of the individuals nuturing it and on our ability to listen to and learn from to each other.
The ECF is truely a colourful experiment. JOIN US!
The European Creative Forum
In light of the ongoing successes of the World and European Social Forums, and the repeated calls for an increase in their cultural content, the European Creative Forum has been set up to promote art as a medium for expression that goes beyond the limitation of language.
The ECF will actively complement and extend the forums and discussions of the UK-ESF. It will provide a space for experimental testing ground that encourages, builds and strengthens artistic and cultural networks towards a collaboration of culture, creation, colour, fun and festivities during the UK-ESF.
The events will be free to attend, but donations on entry are encouraged. Funds raised will to be used to support and enable individuals and groups from across Europe to participate in the UK-ESF. This succession of events will address the links between culture and issues such as human rights, education, equality, poverty and others on the agenda of the UK-ESF utilising an array of artistic activities from music and mime; painting and poetry; dance and debate; theatre, talk and others such as cinema, seminars and workshops.
The ECF also intends to stage two carnival-style processions during the UK-ESF to complement and enhance its cultural programme. The European Creative Forum is: Pro People & Peace, Pro Democracy & Diversity, Pro Environment & Ecology, Pro Culture & Creativity. Positive creative expression knows no boundaries!
The European Social Forum
The European Social Forum has held two huge landmark gatherings in Florence (2002) and Paris (2003). This year’s UK-ESF is to be held in the Autumn in London building on the momentum of the growing public opinion, the continued success of the global justice movement and the amazing anti war marches. The UK-ESF will be a crucial event acting as a catalyst bringing together more organisations and movements of civil society, charities, NGO’s, individual activists, trade unions, peace groups, women’s movements, environmental movements and other groups and individuals than ever before in the UK.
The World Social Forum
Firmly committed to the belief that “Another World Is Possible”, The World Social Forum (WSF) is “an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and inter linking for effective action, by groups and movements of civil society that are opposed to neo-liberalism and to domination of the world by capital and any form of imperialism, and are committed to building a planetary society directed towards fruitful relationships among Mankind and between it and the Earth”. (From The World Social Forum’s Charter of Principals). Following the spectacular achievements of the WSF meetings in Porto Alegre in Brazil, the World Social Forum 2004 in Mumbai (India) was attended by 120,000 delegates from across the globe.