Rockin’ 2011 Art Exhibit is honoring the Los Angeles graffiti movement. This years exhibit is curated by veteran graffiti artist, Galo “Make” Canote whose iconic pieces will be on show. A photographic timeline by Eriberto Oriol and Steve Grody of the Historic Belmont Tunnel and many other pieces from some of L.A.’s legendary artists. The exhibit even dons an altar, to memorialize those artists who have passed throughout the years. Rockin’ 2011 will run at the KGB Gallery until September 24th.
We previously brought you the top 5 LA related Wiki Leaks, but with more and more leaks being added to the online database every day, it’s time to wade back into the muck known as international relations and find more info pertinent to our city. This time around we didn’t find as much scandal and outrage, but there are some interesting nuggets worth knowing about.
Caberta stated that Scientology has declared “war on Europe.” She cited evidence from Hamburg’s Office for the Protection of the Constitution (OPC) annual reports of how Scientology attempts to influence politicians and political institutions as well as the press. According to the Hamburg OPC’s 2006 report, Scientology continues to use methods that are “against the free, democratic constitutional structure,” as was established in the 1997 State Interior Ministers meeting. Caberta asserted that Scientology in Germany has received orders from the Los Angeles headquarters to “conquer” Europe. She contends that the new Berlin headquarters have been set up for this “campaign.” She continually stressed that she views Scientology not as a religious organization, but as a “political extremist” one. According to Caberta, the Hamburg Scientologists as well as most of the Scientology members in Germany are only “small fish” and the organization’s strategic planning is conducted in the United States.
The three-time Grammy award-winning Los Angeles-based Latino funk and hip-hop band “Ozomatli” performed a series of concerts to highly-receptive audiences during a visit to Jordan last week, captivating more than 3000 young Jordanians during their tour of the Kingdom. Ozomatli thrilled audiences everywhere, drawing people out of their seats to “shake it up” on the dance floor.
At every performance, Ozomatli broke down barriers, interacting personally with their audiences, and showing by example what can be achieved when you bring diverse groups of people together. The band’s incredible musical talent is influenced by their own varied ethnic and cultural background. At a time when Jordanians maintain a largely hostile attitude toward U.S. foreign policy, through this program they saw the best of America – that diversity and mutual respect makes us stronger and feeds our ideals. Not just with their music, but also with their words and actions, Ozomatli promoted American culture and values and suggested to the audience that peace and tolerance can bring people closer together. An example of Ozomatli’s willingness to learn about its audiences: bassist Will Abers performed an improvised song he composed on-the-spot in Arabic at the Souf Palestinian refugee camp to delighted children.
SABER pointed us to this short French documentary, wherein Chaz Bojorquez drops bombs of historical, cultural and artistic wisdom and insight. There is also nice footage of him creating his mural for the Art in the Streets exhibition. A must watch if you are interested in the art of Los Angeles, and it happens to be very well
Check out this and other videos featuring REVOK, SABER, etc. on TheSeventhLetter.com
