'The Debt' : Ultra Red in Dublin (music/activism), June 28th & 29th

national | miscellaneous | news report Monday June 16, 2003 22:43 by redflaremist

Details of Ultra Red's visit to Dublin

The Debt (in five acts) by Ultra-red.
A public art project commissioned by Breaking Ground.

For Ultra-red, our project in ballymun is very much a continuation of that project begun all those years ago with the release of the CD, “Structural Adjustments” (Mille Plateux/Germany, 2000). That is, the public release of art practices developed within the context of struggles around public housing.

Some of the analysis in those initial days centered on the connection between neoliberal globalization (as critiqued in the global justice and anti-corporate globalization movements) and domestic policy – specifically domestic policy for public housing.

On the global front, institutions like the IMF, World Bank and WTO enforce a variety of economic and social regimes – structural adjustment programs, austerity measures, and debt servicing – on the underdeveloped world. Meanwhile, in the overdeveloped world, governments enforce public sector austerity, privatization and budget cuts in an effort to shift public money to increasing corporate monopolization and militarism.

So it was that each of the album/cd releases in this series has taken for its name a title that references the global struggle around economic justice. Connecting the privatization/defunding of the public sector in the US with the neoliberal order being imposed (and militarily enforced) in the global south.

The situation in Dublin at ballymun is no doubt equally bound up with global developments. The rise of the maquiladora economy (the myth of the “Celtic Tiger”) in Ireland has created conditions of public financing not seen before. While there have been many benefits of this new economic boom in Ireland, the costs have been equally dramatic. At the center of the development in ballymun is the notion that residents are finally seeing promises made real. The regeneration is very much the result of forty years of activism and organizing in the ballymun community.

This dynamic: local struggles and global changes, grass-roots organizing and institutional co-optation, has created a situation that can be titled simple: “The Debt.”

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The Debt (in five acts) by Ultra-red.
A public art project commissioned by Breaking Ground.

The Debt is a series of collective reflections that will take place in Dublin and Los Angeles between June and October 2003. The purpose of this project is to foster a dialogue between public housing residents in ballymun, Dublin and Pico Aliso, Los Angeles. Residents from the ballymun Women’s Resource Centre and LA’s Union de Vecinos will share experiences and histories, focusing on urban geography and the impact of grass-roots leadership on urban regeneration. Each Act amplifies stories of action and struggle, offering crucial perspective on the destiny of public space and urban development.

ACT I: Peripheral Vision: Community at the Urban Margins.
Saturday, 28 June 2003 2 – 4 p.m.
Project, 39 East Essex Street, Temple Bar

ACT II: Leading Voices: The Legacy of Leadership in Public Housing Community.
Sunday, 29 June 2003 2 – 4 p.m.
ballymun Regional Youth Resource, ballymun (opposite the AIB)

ACT III: Housing Exchange.
A weekly radio show in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, accompanied by web-broadcasting.
Details forthcoming.

ACT IV: The First Women.
Details forthcoming.

ACT V: Ballad of Seán Ó Cionnaith.
Details forthcoming.

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Ultra-red is an artist group based in Los Angeles. With a fluid membership determined by collaborations between community members, visual artists, electronic musicians, and grass-roots political groups, Ultra-red develops projects around a variety of urban ambiences. For more visit http://www.ultrared.org.

The Debt (in five acts) by ultra-red is a public art project commissioned by Breaking Ground. The ballymun Regeneration Ltd art commissioning programme "Breaking Ground" is funded through the Department of the Environment and Local Government's Per Cent for Art Scheme. Partners in The Debt include the Union de Vecinos, ballymun Women’s Resource Centre, and The Metropolitan Complex. Special thanks to Project and BRYR for the generous use of their venues.

For information in Dublin, call 087 760 8529 or email info@themetropolitancomplex.com. In Los Angeles, call 310 662 7891 or email info@ultrared.org.