Sent in by Paola via Giovanna - July 2010
Begin forwarded message: From: Paola Ghiglione Date: January 26, 2010 12:35:38 PM EST To: Dan Walsh Subject: Re: Happy New Year, Paola! Any progress to report? best, Dan Walsh Happy New Year, Dan!! Sorry for keeping you waiting so long.. I talked to Patrizio on Friday, he was very sick, with a very high temperature (about 39°), so he couldn't speak very well. But I understood that the people in charge of the old building where Kufia materials are stored so far have not done anything in order to make the place accessible. The problem is that if we cannot access the building, we cannot move the boxes.. and the building is in Napoli, so if you know my country you know what I mean.. In the meantime, before getting sick, Patrizio found a few posters and some cards from the first portfolio that may be ready for shipping. One of the posters is the original poster by Milo Manara for Kufia. If you want, we can start shipping this stuff and, as soon as Patrizio can "reach" the boxes, we will send you the other posters, photos and whatever may be of your interest. Should we send the materials to Giovanna Magnoli, as she suggested, or to you directly? I will try to call Patrizio in a couple of days, hoping he recovered, and we can organize a first shipment. Looking forward to hearing from you, Paola Il giorno 21/gen/10, alle ore 01:11, Dan Walsh ha scritto: On Nov 18, 2009, at 4:17 AM, Paola Ghiglione wrote: Dear Dan, sorry for keeping you waiting but I have been quite busy in the last couple of weeks and I did not have any news from Patrizio too.. Anyway, Patrizio is back to Napoli now and he asked me to tell you that he may need at least one more week to access Kufia materials, check what is available and select posters and other stuff. The problem is that they stored the boxes with the materials in an old building with a broken-down roof and now they need to move them to a warehouse nearby. Once the boxes are in the warehouse, Patrizio can go and collect the stuff.. As soon as I hear from him, I'll be in touch with you. Thank you for your patience. All the best, Paola Il giorno 03/nov/09, alle ore 19:06, Dan Walsh ha scritto: Dear Paola, I hope I am not making work for you... Q: Is this the poster from the exhibit at the IMA in Paris that you referred to in your email? Is this the official poster promoting the exhibit? Q: Can you email Patrizio and let him know that the PPPA would love it if he could take photos of Palestine posters on the walls of the camp AND if there are any posters IN the camp produced by the people there...we think those posters belong in the Archives. It is only through the solidarity of people actually on the ground who can make these things happen. in solidarity, Dan On Oct 30, 2009, at 5:23 AM, Paola Ghiglione wrote: Dear Dan, thank you for your nice message. Many people seem to think that Italian women are special.. apart from Italian men! And sometimes even foreigners who live in Italy follow the local trend.. ;-) This is the link to the exhibition in Paris: www.imarabe.org/temp/expo/palestinecreation.html. If you want to contact Rana Bishara, this is her email address: handalah100@yahoo.com, she is on Facebook too. I found Rula Halawani's phone numbers but not the email, I will send it to you as soon as I find it! I will also send you some other emails of people working in some cultural/educational organizations in Palestine and Italy, but I would need a few days since I'm leaving for Zurich tomorrow and I come back next Thursday. Next week I will also have news from Patrizio. BTW he also has quite a few contacts and at the moment he is running a lab of photography in Chatila camp in Lebanon, so I'm sure he can help you to find more materials that are not easy to find. Talk to you very soon, Paola Il giorno 28/ott/09, alle ore 00:09, Dan Walsh ha scritto: Dear Comrade Paola, Many thanks for your lovely solidarity. It is people such as your self, and my wonderful friend Giovanna who found you for me, who make the PPPA possible. She says "Italian woman are special"...now I know this is the truth. Yes, it would be very good to have two sets of the post cards to arrive with the sets of posters. Part of what I am trying to document is the various paper products that Palestine poster images have been made into (greeting cards, calendars, business cards, post cards, stickers, etc.) so your offer is much appreciated. I tried to find the exhibit at the Institute du Monde Arabe URL you sent below but the English version of that site is down and my French is not so good...I could not find it. Can you send me the exact URL for the exhibit? I would love to see the poster you mention. I gave a presentation at Bir Zeit when I was in Palestine in May. I would love to hear from Rana Bishara and Rula Halawani if you know how to get in touch with them. I am organizing my time now so that I can upload the next 25 posters...to reach 1,200! My next target will be 1,500 and when we reach 2,000 we plan a party. I will salute you and Giovanna with champagne. Again, many thanks, Dan PS: my address: Walsh Box 2863 Silver Spring, MD 20915 USA Please don't write the word "Palestine" or any Arabic text anywhere on the tube/box. Our xenophobic homeland nazis will disappear the package. Begin forwarded message: From: Paola Ghiglione Date: October 26, 2009 11:58:05 AM EDT To: Dan Walsh Subject: Re: Happy Day! Dear Dan, sorry if I didn't reply to your emails but I was so busy with my work that literally I didn't have time to open my mailbox. I forwarded all info about your project and website to a few friends, mostly Palestinians living in Italy, and I am sure we will find some interesting materials for you. Just a quickie: we still have the postcards with Kufia 2002 portfolio, could they be of any interest for you? Let me know and I can send you some boxes together with the posters. I would also like to put you in contact with two Palestinian friends who may be happy to co-operate: Rana Bishara and Rula Halawani. I think you know Rula since she teaches at Bir Zeit University, she is a great photographer, we included some of her pictures in Kufia portfolios. Rana Bishara is from Tarshiha, at the moment she lives and works there but she spent quite a long time in New York. They both joined a very nice exhibition of Palestinian art which I happened to see last summer in Paris at the Institute du Monde Arabe. I am sure you know about it, but just in case, this is the website: www.imarabe.org. The official poster of the exhibition is beautiful, I would have taken it myself but I was in Paris for a few hours before leaving for Africa.. I will come back to you as soon as I have news. All the very best, Paola Il giorno 20/ott/09, alle ore 16:57, Dan Walsh ha scritto: Dear Paola, I am so happy to be in touch with you. Giovanna wrote to me that she had spoken with you. I love her. Did you see the Kufia Special Collection gallery at the PPPA site? Here is the link in case not: http://www.palestineposterproject.org/browse/special-collections/30 I will count the minutes until Patrizio returns...it will be a glorious day if he has copies of the Kufia portfolios - 1988 and 2002 that he can send to the Palestine Poster Project Archives. The work of these artists belongs in the permanent archives. May I ask for two copies of each portfolio. One will go into the PPPA and the other will go into the Liberation Graphics Collection at the Lauinger Library at Georgetown University. I promise. Any other Palestine posters you send, from any time and on any issue, will be uploaded to the site and I will send you a URL notification so you can see the product of your solidarity. I promise. As an activist focussing on the poster art of Palestine I see the Kufia model as important because it can be adopted by other artists...in other countries. In fact, I have just written an article for BADIL (attached) and I am suggesting to them, since they host an annual poster contest, to follow some of Kufia's elements. Your offer to ask your artist friends about/for Palestine posters they may have is exactly the quality of solidarity that makes the PPPA work: artists who care about Palestine taking steps to preserve and promote the art of Palestine. Without your kind of commitment I could do no useful work. Many, many thanks. in solidarity, Dan PS: My mailing address: Dan Walsh Box 2863 Silver Spring, MD 20915 USA Let me know if you want me to pay for postage, I am happy to do so. May I ask that you send me an email note on the day you mail so we can be on the lookout for your package. We ask this because the mailbox is far away and we don't go there all the time. Also please DO NOT write any word such as "Palestine" or any Arabic or other political words/terms on the outside. The PO has confiscated some of our posters because here in the psychotic anti-Muslim, anti-Arab world (still) of George Waterboard Bush the right wing considers all Palestinians as terrorists. Sad but true. On Oct 20, 2009, at 6:49 AM, Paola Ghiglione wrote: Dear Dan, thank you very much for your message. I visited your website and I was really impressed, so bad I didn't know about it while I was working with Kufia! I have been President of Kufia until February 2009 and honestly I don't think the association is still active, since after 2003 I was the only animator in Italy. As to Kufia portfolio, I asked Patrizio Esposito, one of the founders of Kufia, about it and apparently he still has pretty much stuff but he needs some time to find out what he exactly has. He is going to travel out of Italy in the next two weeks, as soon as he comes back we arrange a shipment of all materials that you may be interested in. I think he still has the poster drawn by Manara for the very first campaign of Kufia, that is a very valuable piece. I am also checking with other friends who may have some interesting posters and I may have something myself, I'll let you know as soon as possible. As to the poster attached to your email, I am sorry but I don't know who is the artist, I will try to find out. I will get in touch with you as soon as I have more info, in the meantime I would like to wish you all the very best for your project. Talk to you soon, Paola Il giorno 19/ott/09, alle ore 19:36, Dan Walsh ha scritto: Dear Paola, My good friend, Giovanna Magnoli, sent me your email today. She worked to locate you and I am so glad she did. Here is the new website I am building as part of my masters thesis project at Georgetown University: www.palestineposterproject.org I would like very much to hear any comments you have. My objective now is, if possible, to acquire two copies of the 2002 Kufia portfolio. Are copies of the 2002 portfolio still available? If so, do you know who might have these portfolios? We want them to be part of the permanent archives at the Palestine Poster Project Archives and also at Georgetown University's Lauinger Library. Also, do you know the artist who did this attached poster? AKAB? I thought I got it from the Kufia site but now I do not see it there and I cannot find any info on the artist. Finally, is Kufia still active? If so, who is the current animator? in solidarity, Dan Walsh http://www.palestineposterproject.org/poster/terra-promessa