URUGUAY: Jornada artística Zeitgeist 2012

“Human capacity for attention is limited.
It must be ceaselessly stimulated,
spurred on by provocation”
- Albert Camus

On Saturday August 4th, the second edition of the Zeitgeist Media Festival was held at the Carlos Martinez Moreno Cultural Center in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Those of us working for social change, although we often have similar goals, tend to forget that there are many people out there who also criticize the current system and propose new ways of living and thinking. Artists, for instance, vividly capture the injustice and inequality of the system we live in, and are able to criticize it in a more creative and provocative way than most can.

Furthermore, many groups work in areas of our interest in a very creative way as well. That´s why we decided to get together to talk, share and do the same in one single place. This is what the Zeitgeist Media Festival is all about: bringing together experiences to connect art and activism, in the search for a better world for us all.

During the event, which lasted from 15:00 to 21:30 p.m., there were several stands of kindred movements:

Montevideo Stencil’s stand shared a workshop in which we could all learn from each other and create various stencils to make walls say what the media won't.

Also joining us were our friends from Gratiferia, a kind of flea market where everything is free, to help us get rid of material objects and leave behind our sense of scarcity, in order to live the abundance of love. In addition, Articultores Montevideo taught us to eat healthy, plant our own food and make "seed bombs".

Pinhole Photography´s stand promoted the idea of ​​"Do It Yourself", teaching us to make cameras with recycled elements from everyday life.

Finally, The Zeitgeist Movement Uruguay had its own stand, so that people could get informed of all goals, activities and forms of participation involving the movement.

Following the example of Gratiferia, the festival featured a "Graticantina" (freecanteen), which offered free food and mineral water, open to anyone who wanted to eat something delicious and healthy during the event.

We also had controversial photographic projections made by Colectivo Rebelarte, pictures of street artist Maan House and a touching presentation by Gonzalo Pacheco which connected prose and photography through a humane and sensitizing perspective on the reality of our city.

As in many of the past events we have organized, we showcased a wide selection of projections reflecting our concern for the current system status. We had classics like the final discourse of The Great Dictator by Charles Chaplin, a segment of Waking Life by Alex Jones, and also the short film Tea Time by the local filmmaker Nicolas Botana respecting domestic violence and its impact on children. We also want to especially emphasize the mini-documentaries Side Effects: Stories of people affected by agro-business in Uruguay, by Redes Amigos de la Tierra and Radio Mundo Real, as well as Zoocósis en el Zoológico Villa Dolores by Ramiro Cabrera, the latter regarding both animal stress in the zoo and human stress in the city.

The busiest moments of the festival were, as expected, the musical ones. The public was delighted with the performances of all three local bands, Boca Negra, Nueva Sangre and El Tembleque Del Barba, which, through rap, heavy metal and rock and roll respectively, expressed themselves conveying their own particular thoughts on the actual paradigm we all live in.

Boca negra:

Nueva sangre:

Tembleque:

The day came to an end with the performance of the actor Nacho Durex, who concluded the event with two great irony-soaked monologues: Hamsters, on the actual life routine; and The Fish’s Speech, which criticized the alienation of people provoked by television.

With free entry, a warm environment and despite the bad weather, nearly 300 people attended the event. It is important to mention that during the festival, dozens of nonperishable foods were collected for Andares Refuge, which is managed by the NGO Factor/S.

As Zeitgeist Movement Uruguay we want to thank the Carlos Martinez Moreno Cultural Center for offering us, once again, their space and good vibe. And we wholeheartedly thank all artists, musicians, filmmakers, photographers and activists who joined this event.

We look forward to keeping up with these integration events, because the aspects where we connect are infinitely greater than our differences...

Thank you all!