Rethink, Revise, Revive

Sometimes it's good to take a step away from things and look at it from a different perspective, considering improvements and planning your steps ahead. Looking at how Ecojunki originated and what it has become, it is great to see that there has been growth, support and interest. Thank you for your contribution in this!



Ecojunki started as a brand for art by one artist, and then grew into representing eco-art and recycled art by a variety of artists, and now it's a group, network or movement with projects and initiatives led by different members, such as the HumanEarth art exhibitions coordinated by Nastasha Daniels and recycled art workshops by Janet Botes. The next step is to guide it even further into something that really succeeds in making people more aware and connected to our place and inter-connectivenes with our environment, which will lead to more sustainable and responsible behavior and lifestyle choices.



Mostly this awareness-raising is done through creative media and art, but we need to refine and focus our activities and outputs. We need to form a slightly more structured system, in which members can contribute and get involved, or we need to integrate or merge with another organization in order to amplify and grow our reach and resources. YOUR opinion, suggestions and thoughts on how to proceed are needed!

Please vote in the poll to the right, and leave a comment to this post, or send an email to ecojunki@gmail.com. Your input is important and valuable, and there will be a reward for the three best suggestions received as comments or emails, up to 30 July 2011, 5pm.

Contributing to the fracking fight

TKAG (Treasure the Karroo action group) are the people who are spearheading the fight to stop fracking in the Karoo. They need funding!

Please go and donate now - if you're really strapped, donate R50 or R100.

TRUST ACCOUNT FACILITY WITH GRAAFF-REINET ATTORNEY AND FOCUS GROUP MEMBER - MR DEREK LIGHT. (most of you saw him on Carte Blanche)

1. ALL FUNDS TO GO INTO THAT ACCOUNT WITH REFERENCE 'TKAG'
2. EXPENSES OUT OF THE ACCOUNT WILL BE SIGNED BY TWO FOCUS GROUP MEMBERS.
3.ANY CONTRIBUTOR MAY VIEW THE STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT AVAILABLE FROM ME ONCE A MONTH
4. ACCOUNT DETAILS:

DEREK LIGHT TRUST ACCOUNT
FNB GRAAFF-REINET
523-000-15065
BRANCH CODE 210-216
swift code: FIRNZAJJ

You can download a copy of the PDF that was handed over to parliament here:
http://www.acutherapy.co.za/images/KarooPolicyObjection%205%20April%200903%20(FINAL).pdf

No idea what 'fracking' is? Have a look at the Treasure the Karoo Action Group blog, or www.fractual.co.za. Also have a look in the latest newspapers.

1..2..3..be the change!

Blog of the week: www.123bchange.blogspot.com

Excerpt from Lewis Pugh's speech on NOT fracking in the Karoo

“Never did I think there would be a debate in this arid country, of what was more important: gas or water, we can survive without gas, but we cannot survive without water, if we damage our water supply, and fracking will do just that, we will have a conflict again here in South Africa. Look around the world; wherever you damage the environment, you have conflict. Fellow South Africans we have had enough conflict in our land, now is the time for peace... there are many here among us who do not want the dreams of our heroes to be rubbished by an amoral corporate giant. There are many here among us who do not want this—our hard-fought Constitution—treated as mere scrawls on a piece of paper."

- Lewis Pugh at the public meeting held by Golder and Shell about fracking (hydraulic fracture mining) in the Karoo, on Friday, 25 March 2011 at Kelvin Grove in Newlands, Cape Town.

Read the full speech here:
http://lewispugh.posterous.com/the-day-we-stood-up-to-shell-what-was-said-to

Or watch it on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5PejoRGmBo

Want to know more?
Go to http://www.treasurethekaroo.blogspot.com/ and www.fractual.co.za

HumanEarth.2:Re(-)Presentations

The second installment of the HumanEarth exhibition series, curated by Cape Town based artist Nastasha Daniels, will be hosted by the North West University Botanical Gardens Gallery in Potchefstroom.

The artists for HumanEarth.2:Re(-)Presentations are:
Abri de Swardt
Janet Ranson
Russel Goodman
Hannalie Taute
SCAPES project artists: Janet Botes, Di Smith, Andrée Bonthuys, Leli Hoch

HumanEarth aims to shed some understanding on the relationship between human and nature, while encouraging dialogue and reflection on this complex relationship. The NWU botanical garden is among the 12 largest gardens of its kind in the country, and the gallery hosts art exhibitions throughout the year.

The Scapes Project, which is also included and shown as part of the exhibition, is another ongoing art project that focuses on human involvement with nature-dialogue. Contemporary art practises such as installation- and performance art are included as part of this project. The work shown at the exhibition will be Land Art prints. Land Art is a practice where the artist don't use the natural landscape only as reference and inspiration, but works physically with and within the landscape, using primarily natural found materials. The artworks are often ephemeral and transient, destroyed or decayed by natural processes like the wind and rain, and are therefore captured photographically to capture the moment.

The exhibition opens on 6 April at 5:30pm, at the NWU Botanical Gardens Gallery
Viewing: Mon – Fri, 10:00-16:00
Exhibition ends 2 May

For more information about the exhibition and gallery contact:
Elani Willemse
Tel: 018 299 2753
email: 20049820@nwu.ac.za.

For more information about the HumanEarth exhibition series and/or to participate, contact:
Nastasha Daniels
Artist, curator and organiser of HumanEarth exhibitions
Cell. 0788577551
Nastasha797@gmail.com