When? Saturday 15 October, 2pm – 9pm
Where? SOAS, University of London
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG
Main Building Room room G3 (registration and plenaries) and rooms G51 and G51a
Registration 2pm, event begins 2.30pm
Register: http://battlingbhp2016.eventbrite.co.uk
BHP Billiton is the world’s biggest mining company. Its record of catastrophic environmental damage and forced displacement of indigenous communities stretches back decades. Join us in London, the heart of the global mining industry, to hear testimonies from people fighting for their livelihoods and culture in Brazil, Colombia and Indonesia, and plan how we can work together to beat the company. The afternoon will also feature an exclusive storytelling piece, ‘Buried Sunshine,’ devised and performed by Coal Action Network UK.
*** TALKS – WORKSHOPS – Q&A ***
From Brazil we will hear from:
- Letícia Oliveira Gomes de Faria and Maria do Carmo Silva D’Angelo, women from the area affected by the Samarco waste spill which killed 19 people and polluted hundreds of miles of rivers; and
- Rodrigo Peret, Franciscan priest involved in the Churches and Mining Network.
From Colombia:
- Luz Angela Uriana Epiayu, Indigenous Wayuu woman from Provincial, La Guajira. The mine, joint-owned by BHP, is the largest opencast coal mine in Latin America; it has forcibly displaced thousands of rural families and uses huge quantities of water denied to indigenous people in Colombia’s driest region; and
- Annelen Micus from lawyers’ collective CAJAR in Bogota.
From Indonesia:
- Arie Rompas from WALHI, Friends of the Earth Indonesia, where the company has been planning a huge new opencast coal project, Indomet, in the rainforests of Central Kalimantan, threatening shocking environmental and social destruction. It is now pulling out leaving others to complete the damage.
We will also be joined by representatives of Coal Action Network, London Mining Network, Movimiento Jaguar Despierto, War on Want, Colombia Solidarity Campaign, Gaia Foundation and more for workshops, discussions and Q&A.
*** PERFORMANCE ***
Scarlet from Coal Action Network will perform ‘Buried Sunshine,’ a solo dramatic storytelling based on testimonies of people in Colombia.
‘Nubia is optimistic and proud but will her reminiscing help her village to unite against the mine or is she clinging to a past that is gone? The children in Carmen’s village are sick from the dust and Carmen is seriously seething but there are risks if she says too much. Hernando narrowly escapes death and now he knows that god has made him invincible. El Canoso is a criminal turned whistleblower and he is prepared to name some serious names if it gets him what he wants.’
See the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9-fsShwCCo
*** SOCIAL ***
The event will conclude with an evening of food, drink and music!
Invite friends on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1791619811052834/
Register: http://battlingbhp2016.eventbrite.co.uk