Friday, August 28, 2009
The Being We the People: Afghanistan, America and the Minority Imprint project has taken the cooperation of numerous people across an ocean. Students and teachers from Marefat High School in Kabul and Constitution High School in Philadelphia, along with staff from the National Museum of Afghanistan and the National Constitution Center, blogger and photographer Nasim Fekrat in Afghanistan, and acclaimed photographer Harvey Finkle in Philadelphia have been working together diligently.
Finkle is a documentary still photographer who has produced a substantial body of work concerned with social, political and cultural issues. His work has been extensively exhibited and published, including three books entitled, Urban Nomads, Still Home: Jews of South Philadelphia, and Reading.
His recent work includes a documentation of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union (KWRU), a poor people's movement emanating from the most impoverished neighborhood in Pennsylvania; and The Jews of South Philadelphia, interviews and photographs of the remnants of what once was among the largest Jewish communities in the nation. Finkle also took a contingent of Philadelphia students to a Cambodian temple in South Philadelphia where they were able to conduct interviews and take photographs.
Finkle continues his work with various communities in Philadelphia by being Fekrat's counterpart stateside, taking on the role of teaching Constitution High students how to use their cameras, the techniques of photography and how to interpret the themes of the exhibition into powerful images. The results will be fascinating with the students on both sides of the ocean in such capable hands.
Discover Harvey Finkle's work at http://www.harveyfinkle.com/
Friday, August 28, 2009
Nasim Fekrat
Freedom of speech. Apart from yelling "fire!" in a crowded movie theater, the Constitution has endowed Americans with the right to say whatever we want. Daily, we read op-eds and blogs criticizing the government and scouring various members of it across the coals. No reporter fears for his life if he chooses to call the President's policies short-sighted or unwise. Papers even go so far as to endorse some political candidates over others. Not so in Afghanistan. In fact, the concept of independent media in a country so enmeshed in religion is difficult to imagine. A fact which is not surprising since anyone who speaks out against Islam, or the governmnent which supports it, can be in danger of losing his or her life. And even if there were papers available not influenced by political parties or special interest groups, in a country where over 70% of the population can't read, who would buy them?
Nasim Fekrat, a 25 year-old self taught journalist and photographer has come up with an answer. He has gone to the internet and taken advantage of the independence its media provides. With just his computer, he is able to send his thoughts on the state of his nation to a much wider readership. People beyond the borders of Afghanistan can read his words and know his plight and the plight of his people. He truly believes that blogging will change things, and it is in that spirit that he founded the Association of Afghan Bloggers whose mission it is to recruit more bloggers, to send more Afghan voices to travel the world wide web.
The National Constitution Center's own International Engagement Manager, Jeffrey Stern met Fekrat while working a two-year stint as a freelance journalist in Afghanistan. Stern saw the power of citizen journalism first hand, and upon returning to Philadelphia joined with the Center to further projects like Fekrat's to burgeoning democracies around the world. It was in keeping with this pursuit that the Being We the People at the Center and Beyond project came into being.
Fekrat is extending his talents as a teacher and motivator and photographer to the students of Marefat School. No stranger to the power of images, he is teaching them to use their cameras to be journalists covering their own lives to, like him, send pictures of their plight across the planet to museum visitors in Philadelphia who will hopefully carry those images with them beyond the walls of the Center.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Constitution High School
.JPG)
If there is something one can find in abundance in Philadelphia, in addition to great food and raucous sports fans, it's history. A fact many native Philadelphians perhaps take for granted, but never ceases to amaze its visitors, is that it's difficult to walk the streets of the city without seeing a blue sign indicating a noteworthy event that happened there. While returning a library book at 7th and Market Streets, one can happen upon the site where Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. The city is bustling with remnants of the past, and a few steps down the street from the Jefferson landmark, unbeknownst to many who walk past it daily, is a place that is making history today--Constitution High School.
A unique partnership between the private and public sectors, CHS is the first school of its kind in Pennsylvania. The Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History, the National Constitution Center, Ballard Spahr Law Firm, and the School District of Philadelphia have come together to create a school whose entire curriculum is centered around American History and is hinged on the principles of democracy and U.S. government. As a result, instead of school rules or a student handbook, CHS has drafted its own constitution. In lieu of policies being handed down from on high by administrators, the school has pioneered a ground-breaking school government model, that divides the school into the three branches of government--the House of Students, the Faculty Senate, and the Executive Branch comprised of the principal and student body president. Through the process of democratic deliberation, all components of the school act together to generate policy that works for everyone.
Students from Constitution High School, who attend classes in the heart of a city that was pivotal in the birth of this nation, are the ideal candidates to provide a stark contrast to those attending Marefat. CHS students pass the mural celebrating Abraham Lincoln's 2nd inaugural daily, casually lunching under the words, "With malice toward none, with charity toward all," while their female counterparts in Kabul have only recently regained the right to even attend school.
It is with these Afghan students that the Philadelphia students will participate in the Being We the People project. One can expect their photographs and interpretations of freedom to vastly differ from one another. However, perhaps what the resulting exhibition will actually show us is how similar these young people really are despite the thousands of miles and years of life experiences that separate them.
A unique partnership between the private and public sectors, CHS is the first school of its kind in Pennsylvania. The Gilder Lehrman Institute for American History, the National Constitution Center, Ballard Spahr Law Firm, and the School District of Philadelphia have come together to create a school whose entire curriculum is centered around American History and is hinged on the principles of democracy and U.S. government. As a result, instead of school rules or a student handbook, CHS has drafted its own constitution. In lieu of policies being handed down from on high by administrators, the school has pioneered a ground-breaking school government model, that divides the school into the three branches of government--the House of Students, the Faculty Senate, and the Executive Branch comprised of the principal and student body president. Through the process of democratic deliberation, all components of the school act together to generate policy that works for everyone.
Students from Constitution High School, who attend classes in the heart of a city that was pivotal in the birth of this nation, are the ideal candidates to provide a stark contrast to those attending Marefat. CHS students pass the mural celebrating Abraham Lincoln's 2nd inaugural daily, casually lunching under the words, "With malice toward none, with charity toward all," while their female counterparts in Kabul have only recently regained the right to even attend school.
It is with these Afghan students that the Philadelphia students will participate in the Being We the People project. One can expect their photographs and interpretations of freedom to vastly differ from one another. However, perhaps what the resulting exhibition will actually show us is how similar these young people really are despite the thousands of miles and years of life experiences that separate them.
Marefat School
The Farsi word marefat is a difficult one to translate to English. There is not a single word that conveys all of its subtle nuances. It is a noun, a quality that one can possess. If an individual is described as having much marefat, he or she can be best characterized as being extremely knowledgeable, considerate, aware, even ethical. A person with marefat is wise and has a capacity for understanding that is beyond that of the average person. Knowing this, it is appropriate then that Marefat is the name of a school in Afghanistan that teaches classes such as Humanism in the Renaissance.
It is in the rural outskirts of Kabul, in an area populated mostly by Hazaras, a Shiite ethnic minority, where Aziz Royesh decided to build his school. Spending most of his youth fighting during the Soviet occupation of his country, this 39 year-old Afghan man made it his mission to show the youth of Afghanistan, some of whom remember nothing but civil unrest, a different way.
The Hazaras are a people which have a long history of persecution in Afghanistan, even during times of peace. But it is in a small, previously bombed-out building, donated and renovated by the goodwill of many, where they are now learning notions that many of them have not actually witnessed in their lifetimes. Concepts like democracy, civil disobedience, and basic human rights, of which many of them, and their parents, and their parents before them have been deprived.
It is arguable that these children have been training in the art of marefat for their entire lives, striving to understand the unstable and often unkind world around them. Through their participation in Being We the People, it will be captivating to see how, armed with a camera, they will portray the world around them--one that is vastly different from, and in some ways, surprisingly similar to that of their counterparts in urban Philadelphia.
For more information, visit http://beingwethepeople.shutterfly.com/ and read more about Aziz Royesh and Marefat School in Trudy Rubin's column here.
.JPG){kind=link}
It is in the rural outskirts of Kabul, in an area populated mostly by Hazaras, a Shiite ethnic minority, where Aziz Royesh decided to build his school. Spending most of his youth fighting during the Soviet occupation of his country, this 39 year-old Afghan man made it his mission to show the youth of Afghanistan, some of whom remember nothing but civil unrest, a different way.
The Hazaras are a people which have a long history of persecution in Afghanistan, even during times of peace. But it is in a small, previously bombed-out building, donated and renovated by the goodwill of many, where they are now learning notions that many of them have not actually witnessed in their lifetimes. Concepts like democracy, civil disobedience, and basic human rights, of which many of them, and their parents, and their parents before them have been deprived.
It is arguable that these children have been training in the art of marefat for their entire lives, striving to understand the unstable and often unkind world around them. Through their participation in Being We the People, it will be captivating to see how, armed with a camera, they will portray the world around them--one that is vastly different from, and in some ways, surprisingly similar to that of their counterparts in urban Philadelphia.
For more information, visit http://beingwethepeople.shutterfly.com/ and read more about Aziz Royesh and Marefat School in Trudy Rubin's column here.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Being We, the People at the Center and Beyond
The National Constitution Center proudly announces a new education program and exhibition focusing on civic photography entitled, Being “We the People:” Afghanistan, America and the Minority Imprint.
Students from Constitution High School in Philadelphia, PA and Marefat High School in Kabul, Afghanistan will collaborate on the exhibition that will be hosted at the National Constitution Center and the National Museum of Afghanistan, as part of the Center’s International Engagement Project. The Project is dedicated to establishing international exchange and promoting constitutional principles to emerging democracies through educational and civic learning initiatives.
To launch Being “We the People:” Afghanistan, America and the Minority Imprint, the Center has provided students from CHS and Marefat High School with the education and equipment they need to conduct documentary photography. The students will use photography to explore how minorities in different types of democracies perceive themselves as citizens, and how they define the concept of citizenship. Students are guided by six themes, which they can interpret how they choose. The themes are: work, religion, participation, expression, commerce, myself. The themes were drawn from the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and sections of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Each day this week we will introduce you to different contributors to the project. Beginning September 4, you can follow the project's progress each Friday here on the International Insight Blog and on Shutterfly, where many of the students’ pictures will be posted.This is an exciting educational endeavor and we hope that you will be as interested as we are to discovering what these remarkable students will produce. Tomorrow, we will meet Marefat High School in Afghanistan.
To learn more, visit the Center's press room by clicking here.
Students from Constitution High School in Philadelphia, PA and Marefat High School in Kabul, Afghanistan will collaborate on the exhibition that will be hosted at the National Constitution Center and the National Museum of Afghanistan, as part of the Center’s International Engagement Project. The Project is dedicated to establishing international exchange and promoting constitutional principles to emerging democracies through educational and civic learning initiatives.
To launch Being “We the People:” Afghanistan, America and the Minority Imprint, the Center has provided students from CHS and Marefat High School with the education and equipment they need to conduct documentary photography. The students will use photography to explore how minorities in different types of democracies perceive themselves as citizens, and how they define the concept of citizenship. Students are guided by six themes, which they can interpret how they choose. The themes are: work, religion, participation, expression, commerce, myself. The themes were drawn from the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution and sections of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Each day this week we will introduce you to different contributors to the project. Beginning September 4, you can follow the project's progress each Friday here on the International Insight Blog and on Shutterfly, where many of the students’ pictures will be posted.This is an exciting educational endeavor and we hope that you will be as interested as we are to discovering what these remarkable students will produce. Tomorrow, we will meet Marefat High School in Afghanistan.
To learn more, visit the Center's press room by clicking here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)