“ARTISTS NEED TO CREATE AT THE SAME SCALE THAT SOCIETY HAS THE CAPACITY TO DESTROY” — Sherrie Rabinowitz, 1984.
From Latifah Taormina:
That quote [above] jumped into my brain this morning as the TV reported the protests in Iran, Iraq, the and the US, as governments plotted more death and destruction and touted more and more reasons to kill assorted enemies, as the red smoke of a burning continent oozed over the Pacific to reach New Zealand, and as invites to memorial services of departed loved ones arrived in my inbox—just as I had begun to wonder about the line in that old hymn, Oh Mary, Don’t You Weep, the line that gave James Baldwin the title to his powerful book back in the day, The Fire Next Time.
It was Victor Margolin who turned me on to that quote and to the ideas of Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz back when SICA began. This was the kind of vision Victor had for SICA. He could articulate it more than I could, but I could absolutely FEEL the veracity and depth of his vision.
(Click on link —>) I enclose the article he first sent to me in 1984.
More about the work of Kit Galloway and Sherrie Rabinowitz is also here:
http://www.ecafe.com/museum/history/ksoverview2.html
With love,
Latifah
Watching network news exposes us to a metronome of mayhem, death and destruction. Too much of it can deaden our feelings and fill our minds with darkness. The most creative use I’m aware of in a common digital performance space
is “Playing for Change”, where wonderful musicians from all over the world play and sing together.
“Playing For Change is a movement created to inspire and connect the world through music, born from the shared belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people.” Since the first performance of “Stand by Me” in 2005 this movement continues to gather momentum to uplift us and create a shared vision of an alternative future.
https://playingforchange.com/videos/stand-by-me-original-roger-ridley/