Day: June 7, 2013

“They do not care”: Maldives outsources climate change pavilion at international art show

The Tourism Ministry outsourced the Maldives’ first national pavilion at the Venice Biennale art show to an Arab-European collective of curators, some of whom have alleged the Maldives government does not care about climate change or the arts.

The overarching theme of the Maldives’ pavilion, entitled “Portable Nation: Disappearance as a Work in Progress – Approaches to Ecological Romanticism”, is about how the survival of the nation, Maldivian people and cultural heritage are threatened by catastrophic climate change impacts, such as rising sea levels.

The pavilion is meant to raise awareness and be a call to action against climate change as well as explore questions of environmental impact, climate change and migration in the Maldives, as part of the art show taking place in Venice, Italy.

The art exhibitions also highlights Maldivians’ current efforts to archive and collect as much of their cultural heritage as possible, prior to the entire nation’s disappearance, due to rising sea levels, and the subsequent forced displacement of 350,000 people.

The Maldives pavilion was “almost abandoned” following the controversial transfer of power February 7, 2012, given that it was originally an initiative of former President Mohamed Nasheed and envisioned as a way to draw attention to climate change and the plight faced by the Maldives, according to an article published by the Inter Press Service (IPS).

Although Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adeeb commissioned the pavilion, President Mohamed Waheed Hassan Manik’s government “lost interest” in the initiative and allowed a joint Arab-European collective of artists, called the Chamber of Public Secrets (CPS), to curate the exhibitions, alleges the IPS.

Some of the Maldives pavilion curators have accused Waheed’s government of having no interest in the arts, the pavilion exhibitions, or climate change.

“They did not care. They did not mind. They don’t believe in the power of art to affect anything anyway,” associate curator Maren Richter told the IPS.

“The new government even denies the [climate change] problem and says that Nasheed was a liar. They say, ‘He built an airport and resorts, why would he do that if sea levels are rising?’,” added Richter.

CPS curator and Lebanese artist Khaled Ramadan echoed these sentiments in his documentary “Maldives To Be or Not”, which “explores Western preconceived notions about the Maldives and its ecology.”

The film focuses on the current socio-political challenges faced by Maldivians, which include climate change as well as “the corrupt tourism industry” and the struggle “to balance their life between modernity and traditions,” he explained to the publication BLOUIN ARTINFO.

Ramadan visited the Maldives in March 2013 as a “citizen of the Arab world who wanted to learn about what’s left of the shared history and how this amphibious nation is treating its contemporary culture in relation to its ecological strengths and weaknesses.”

“The environmental hazard about the Maldivian nature is an over politicised notion, and the nature has proven to be much more sustainable than the Maldivian culture,” wrote the Maldives Pavilion blog.

“Would our request to represent Maldives as outsiders have been accepted by Venice Biennale officials without official letter from the current Maldives government?” asked Ehsan Fardjadniya, an artist and activist based in Amsterdam participating in Maldives Pavilion.

The initial ideas for the Maldives pavilion were to unite a network of activists to discuss and act on climate change issues and the ongoing political turmoil in the country via a mobile pavilion representing the forced migration of these future climate refugees, Fardjadniya explained in an interview for the Maldives Pavilion blog.

“Right now, the project has found a venue and doesn’t seem to relate itself much or at all with the pressing issues in the Maldives,” said Fardjadniya. “On the contrary, we seem to be commissioned by the current government to represent the Maldives at 55th Venice Biennale.”

“I would rather be an outsider to this present situation and act against this cultural coup,” Fardjadniya declared.

The Maldives pavilion includes a variety of exhibitions created by international multi-media artists, individual contributors and group collaborations.

While the exhibitions were primarily created by artists of various nationalities, two Maldivians, Moomin Fouad and Mohamed Ali, contributed their film “Happy Birthday”. The film, about a kidnapping and disappearance, previously won 12 MFA Awards at the 2011 Maldives Film Festival.

The 55th Venice Biennale was launched on 29 May and will be open to visitors until 24 November.

The Biennale claims to be “one of the most prestigious cultural institutions in the world…promoting new artistic trends and organising international events in contemporary arts” since its formation in 1895.

Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture Ahmed Adeeb was not responding to calls at time of press.

Addendum: Following publication of this article Minivan News received the following statement from Abed Anouti, Producer at the Chamber of Public Secrets, in response to an enquiry made by Minivan News the previous day.

In compliance with CPS’s copyright request Minivan News has also taken down an image of the pavilion’s promotional poster, distributed by CPS and used to illustrate the story.

The article by Ferry Biedermann published at IPS is full of miss information. Mr. Ferry NEVER interviewed anyone from the Maldives Pavilion, his claims stand for his own account. He has no sound recording, email correspondence, footage or even photos from the curators of the pavilion to support his claims.

As we do with all journalists, we only presented to Mr. Ferry our PR which is published on our website. CPS always asks journalists to look at our PR statement at our website to learn more about the project. He didn’t use time to study the artworks at the pavilion, he is not an art writer or even cultural writer, he is another journalist who is looking for sensations.

Mr. Ferry Biedermann is not the only journalist who took advantage of our positive pavilion to score political or journalistic points to himself or his agency.

Minivan is another agency that is spreading rumors and misquotations. Neither the curators of the Maldives Pavilion nor the participating artists have given any interviews to Ferry Biedermann or Minivan.

CPS team and the invited artists worked hard for over a year on the issue of climate change to present a research based art exhibition in Venice, our focus is not only Maldives but environment in a global context.

So far professional art writers have been given the Maldives Pavilion the best reviews and we are among the most popular destinations of the Venice Biennale. Furthermore, the Maldives Pavilion was the only one to be interviewed by the Italian national TV on the day of the opening.

As a professional artists group, we approach the Maldives with positive thinking, we are not journalists who seek negative stories. We don’t wish to politicize art and refuse to be part of any political sensational publishing agencies like Minivan.

Just for the record all conversations and emails with non-professional art writers or art critics are published on our web to avoid misuse or misquotation of any of us like in the case with Mr. Ferry.

Finally, Minivan unethically used our graphic poster without our knowledge or permission. Therefore we urge you to remove it from your website due to copyright.

Abed Anouti,

CPS – Producer

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All candidates should accept outcome of a credible election: McKinnon

The opposition Maldivian Democratic Party has called for increased international assistance to help ensure a free and fair presidential election in September, alleging that the country’s political system is presently under considerable “stress”.

As the country’s sole political opposition, the MDP has criticised what it calls a “lack of decisive action” from the international community both in implementing findings from the Commonwealth-backed Commission of National Inquiry (CoNI) report, as well as providing election support.

The government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), which is also fielding a candidate in September’s election, meanwhile said it believed “a lot more has to be done” by the Elections Commission (EC) to ensure voting is free and fair.

The claims were made following Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Special Envoy Sir Donald McKinnon’s visit to the Maldives this week, as preparations get underway for the presidential vote scheduled for September 7, 2013.

In a statement released yesterday (June 5), McKinnon called for free, fair, peaceful and inclusive elections, while also highlighting the need for the public to ensure their details were correctly included on the recently gazetted electoral register.

Verification

Upon being published in the Government Gazzette last Thursday (May 30), the public has been given a 10 day window to check and clarify that people included on the list were correctly registered – or risk invalidating their right to vote.

With the conclusion of a four-day visit to the Maldives yesterday, McKinnon called on all Maldives nationals with the right to vote to take the time to verify their details were correct.

“Voter registers are at their best when the regulatory authority and the political parties work together to ensure their accuracy,” he said.

“It is also my hope that the nominated candidates of political parties will be able to contest the election, on a level playing field, so that the election outcome fully reflects the will of the voters. This will be important for the election’s credibility. I would also expect all candidates to accept the outcome of a credible election.”

Mckinnon’s statement also spoke on the importance of moving forward with recommendations raised in the CoNI report on holding “perpetrators of police brutality” during last year’s controversial transfer of power to account.

As part of his visit, McKinnon met with President Dr Mohamed Waheed to pledge the Commonwealth’s support for free and fair elections, while the government said it remained committed to fair polling and the need for unspecified political reform.

President’s Office Media Secretary Masood Imad was not responding to calls at time of press.

Calls for action

Speaking to Minivan News following the publication of McKinnon’s statement, MDP MP Hamid Abdul Ghafoor claimed that the party had continued to hope for stronger action from the Commonwealth during the last year to ensure implementation of the CoNI report’s findings.

The CoNI report rejected the MDP’s allegations that the government of former President Mohamed Nasheed was toppled by a “coup d’etat” on February 7, 2012, following a mutiny by sections of the country’s police and military.

The MDP eventually accepted the report last year “with reservations” concerning the alleged omission of key evidence submitted at the time.  The party claimed the decision was taken to move ahead with recommendations that members of the security forces be found investigated for “illegal acts” during the transfer be punished accordingly.

During a parliamentary inquiry by the Parliament’s Executive Oversight Committee (EOC) earlier this year, the Police Integrity Commission (PIC) claimed that actions by certain officers during the mutiny which led to the change in government were unlawful and amounted to crimes worthy of prosecution by the state.

PIC Vice President Haala Hameed said during the session that the PIC had identified 29 cases of police misconduct, out of which cases concerning six police officers had been sent to the prosecutor general (PG) for prosecution.

The PIC at the time claimed it had urged then-Home Minister Mohamed Jameel to suspend the officers immediately, however the request was not adhered to, and instead at least one of the accused was promoted.

The commission this week announced it had concluded its investigation into police conduct during the controversial transfer of power in February 2012.

Ghafoor alleged that there had since been very limited interest from the Commonwealth in following up on the CoNI recommendations, accusing senior police and military officials of preparing for September’s election in a similar manner to political parties competing in the vote.

He raised particular concern that Police Commissioner Abdulla Riyaz and Minister of Defence Colonel (Retired) Mohamed Nazim, who assumed their roles directly following the controversial transfer of power, remained in their positions ahead of the election.

Vote concerns

Although welcoming McKinnon’s comments stressing the importance of the public verifying their details were included correctly on the voter registry, Ghafoor claimed that the Commonwealth had identified only one of a number of potential electoral concerns ahead of September’s vote.

He therefore called for greater intentional assistance to ensure free and fair elections ahead of September’s polling.

“The entire political system in being put under stress now and we wait to see what assistance the Commonwealth will provide,” Ghafoor said. “Our Elections Commission is good, but they continue to be put under pressure.”

“There is a lack of decisive action, but the words are certainly there from the international community,” Hamid added.

Alongside the MDP, the government-aligned Progressive Party of Maldives and the Jumhoree Party are also expected to field candidates directly against President Waheed and a coalition of several parties backing him as their candidate during September’s election.

Speaking to Minivan News, PPM MP Ahmed Nihan said that while the party continued to work within the present coalition government under President Waheed, it held concerns about his alleged use of state funds for campaigning.

He said that despite claims made in local media by members of the president’s coalition that recent island visits had been for the benefit of the nation, the PPM viewed the trips as state-funded election campaigning by Dr Waheed’s party.

From the perspective of the EC, Nihan said that the party was also continuing to come across issues within the recently published election registry relating to incorrect information and the inclusion of voters now believed to be deceased.

He said that with an estimated third of the population also having moved from their home islands to the capital in recent years, correct registration would be another vital issue in the lead up to September.

Nihan claimed the EC therefore “has a lot of work to do” in the lead up to September to ensure its database of registered voters was both up-to-date and correct, adding that with the money spent by the state over the last three years, uncertainty remained over how smoothly voting would go.

“The government also has to try and provide the funds for the EC and also participate with international stakeholders to get the assistance to ensure elections are free and fair,” he said.

Minivan News was also awaiting a response to the MDP’s allegations at time of press from Moosa Rameez, a spokesperson for the JP, which is headed by local business magnate and MP Gasim Ibrahim.

The President’s Office has previously rejected accusations that the government was working to exert undue influence on voters through state resources, accusing both the MDP and PPM of making allegations without any evidence.

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