Fence is torn down during protests against the WTO ministerial in Cancún, Mexico in 2003 shortly after the suicide of South Korean farmer Lee Kyung Hae. PhotoLangelle.org
Buffalo, NY (US) – Orin Langelle, a Buffalo-based photojournalist, in conjunction with the Asia Pacific Research Network [1], has a new photo exhibit documenting two decades of protests against globalizationhttp://wp.me/p2Mr2B-JC that is being shown during the WTO ministerial in Bali, Indonesia. The meeting started yesterday and ends on 6 December.
The exhibit is titled Peoples’ Struggle Against the WTO and Neoliberal Globalization.
The exhibit marks the 10th anniversary of the death of South Korean farmer Lee Kyung Hae, who took his life in 2003 while atop the barricades surrounding the WTO Ministerial in Cancún, Mexico. He wore a sign around his neck that said WTO Kills Farmers. His action was part of massive protests in Cancún against the trade policies of the WTO. Moments before he died, Lee Kyung Hae said, “Don’t worry about me, just struggle your hardest.” He was a member of La Via Campesina [2], the International Peasant’s Movement.
Langelle’s photos in the exhibit are from the 2003 WTO Cancún Ministerial, a 1993 protest against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) [3], World Bank protests in Washington, DC from 1995 through 2004, Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) demonstrations from 1999 through 2003 [4], the G 8 Summit in Rostock, Germany in 2007, plus other anti-globalization events.
Protester cuts the barricade at the WTO protests in Cancún, Mexico in 2003. PhotoLangelle.org
“It’s important for me to have these photographs shown to a wide global audience,” said concerned photographer Orin Langelle. “These photos document history that people in the driver’s seat of power would rather have us forget. These photos are not of a shooting war, but document the economic war waged upon the poor, and the peoples’ resistance to this economic fundamentalism,” Langelle concluded.
The exhibit is displayed at the Peoples Global Camp against the WTO [5] which is happening in Bali parallel to the WTO Ministerial.
Last month at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Warsaw, Poland, Langelle exhibited thirty photographshttp://wp.me/p2Mr2B-HH documenting Indigenous Peoples, organizations and social movements working for climate justice across the Earth-in Bali, Indonesia – Espirito Santo, Brazil – Durban, South Africa and Chiapas, Mexico, to name a few.
IBON International [6] and the Peoples’ Movement on Climate Change [7] installed Langelle’s exhibit in Warsaw.
Notes:
[1] Asia Pacific Research Network http://www.aprnet.org/
[2] La Via Campesina http://viacampesina.org/en/
[3] In 1993, thirty years ago, the Indigenous Peoples of Chiapas, Mexico prepared for their rebellion that took place when NAFTA went into effect on New Years’ Day 1994
[4] This year marks the 10th anniversary of the FTAA demonstrations in Miami, FL (US)
[5] People’s Global Camp against the WTOhttp://indonesianpeoplesalliance.wordpress.com/
[6] IBON International http://iboninternational.org/
[7] Peoples’ Movement on Climate Change http://www.peoplesclimatemovement.net/
