Protests at the G8 summit

     Because of the G8 summit which will be held in Heiligendamm from the June 6^th to the 8^th 2007, lots of protests will take place. Angela Merkel has invited seven other heads of government to discuss political questions and globalisation. The other G8 members besides Germany are France, Russia, Italy, Canada, Japan, the USA and Great Britain.

     But there will be some problems caused by the opponents of the G8. The enemies criticise globalisation in general and especially that developing countries are left behind and that a lot of money is wasted on security. That is why many official demonstrations are planned and human barricades will be built on the streets near Heiligendamm. From the 28^th of May on 17 big demonstrations will be held in Rostock alone. The first official assembly is called: “Globalisation….no thank you!”. All in all, demonstrators will come together four times in May.

     On June 2^nd the first big demonstrations are planned with two routes that surround Rostock. They will run through well-known places like the “Lange Straße” or the “Vögenteich”. From this time on there will be protests in the north of Germany every day. Many people will come together in Bad Doberan, Rostock and other small towns around Heiligendamm.

     One of the biggest events against the G8-summit will be the concert on the 7^th of  June in the IGA-Park in Rostock. Famous singers of that concert will be Bono from U2 and Herbert Grönemeyer who fight with their acts against poverty.

     All in all, a lot of demonstrations and protests are planned. Some violent and some non-violent groups will be part of different assemblies of protesters, as it is always the case. The aims of the demonstrators are clear, they want to fight against globalisation and some will try to disturb the G8-summit.

written by P.P., 22.05.2007

Famous Faces

     The most important question on that topic is: Who is a “famous face” and what is his or her task?

 

     A famous face is a popular or at least well-known person in his or her homecountry. In the best of cases he or she is known all over the world. Famous faces are often popular through movies, music, sports, politics or social activities. These people have a role-model function and you can see those so-called celebrities on television, in magazines or you can hear them on the radio. It doesn´t matter if these celebrities are from the A Category (stars known worldwide such as Bob Geldorf), or from the B Category (like Herbert Grönemeyer).

 

     Society pays attention to what they say and about what topic. Almost every time they do a good job, but now and then they are criticized enormously. Especially political topics, such as the G8 summit this year in June they obtain a hearing all over the world. That is a chance to explain their own opinions and to represent the opinions of thousands of people. First of all young people need a person to orientate themselves to and they find that one among celebrities. As you can see, famous faces influence and fascinate young people. Expressing attitudes is a social and politically correct task of famous faces.

 

     But there is one critical point. Some of these famous faces are not taken seriously. People ask if these celebrities do things only because they want to use the spotlight to increase their popularity or if they really want to help and tell the facts? Most of them, however, do a good job and have been politically or socially active for years and have tried to find a solution to worldwide problems, to mention for example Bono Vox, leadsinger of UK´s band U2.

 

     The result is a higher attention to main problems. That is the way it is going to be this year again, in Heiligendamm,Germany. Events for and against the G8 summit are planned and we will see lots of famous faces again and are curious what they will tell us from 4^th of June until 6^th of June. We may see some of them in the middle of demonstrations or on stage in a music event against the G8 summit.

 

written by S.S., 23.05.2007

Security at the Baltic Sea

      During the G8 summit there will be a high level of security. The fence in Heiligendamm, thousands of police officers and secret service agents are some of the measures which are used for making the summit peaceful and safe. But there is another important area, which must be controlled by the police: the water.

 

      Heiligendamm is at the Baltic Sea and that’s why there will be a high level of security at sea, too. Two warships of the US-Navy (Ticonderoga and Arleigh-Burlee Class), sea hawk helicopters and big weapons will secure the waters near the G8 summit with a crew of 370 seamen per ship. Divers will search for terrorists and bombs under the water level. The exact security system of the US-Navy at the Baltic Sea is top secret.

 

      11 km round the beach of Heiligendamm the water is a high-security area and nobody is allowed to go in there. No ships and no swimmers, that is no person at all is allowed to be in this area at sea. A net in the water makes the water round the beach more secure, too. If a ship tries to get past the net, the propeller will be destroyed by it. So the ship can’t navigate anymore and the Navy can catch the intruders.

 

      As you can see, the government of Germany does very much for making also the Baltic Sea around Heiligendamm very safe. For the eight richest countries our state pays lot’s of money, American ships guard our coast and the water near Heiligendamm is now safer than some German jails.

 

 

written by J.S., 22.05.2007

Maintaining security with ban on demonstrations during the G8-week

      The G8 summit in Heiligendamm will be held in June. The location was chosen because it is normally very quiet – especially in comparison to former G8 towns such as Rome, Düsseldorf… But now it is over: Heiligendamm is not as idyllic as it used to be. Gigantic precautions were taken for the security of the G8 visitors, such as a fence of several kilometres which is used for sealing off the terrain.

      Opponents of the summit are not permitted to protest in the security zone of 1 kilometre around the fence. The decision provoked a storm of protest and for example the organisation “Attac” is willing to take legal action against this policial injunction. The ban on demonstrations concerns the days from May 30^th to June 8^th in a distance of 200 meters from the fence and around the airport Rostock-Laage. The reason for it are protesters threatening to block G8. Because of the prohibition the “Sternmarsch-Bündnis” will make a complaint at the constitutional court. Their argument is that the freedom of demonstration is a basic element of democracy.

      This reaction shows the dimension of the security measures. Angela Merkel supports the freedom of demonstration as long as the protest is peaceful. Any regulation against the freedom of demonstration is a prediction of danger that states that the public safety may be endangered. In this case, an infringement of the ban of demonstration will be regarded as violation of the order. The media call for peaceful protests to avoid serious acts of violence like in Genua, where the protests claimed the death of one person.

 

written by S.K., 22.05.2007

Here we are!

It’s only some days to go until the G8 summit starts in Heiligendamm. But people have been busy preparing for this special occasion weeks and months before. So have we. Here are the first articles that have been written by pupils of the advanced course English 3 in year 12 on different aspects of this event.

Have a look and feel free to ask questions and to tell us your opinion.

 

Your G8-Blog team!

Acting G8

      Art means expression. And if such omnipresent issues like those which refer to the G8 summit in Heiligendamm go round in everybody’s mind, it is obvious to express your opinion with the help of art. There are many ways, but to provoke and start the conversation with people, maybe theatre can be the best way. That is also what the “Gorillas” thought, a theatre group from Berlin, who could be joined in Rostock’s “Stadthafen.”. Their play was all improvised and dealt with themes like G8 and globalisation. Decisive on the occasion was the audience’s collaboration, because they had to choose the theme, for example the big fence in Heiligendamm, or the hole in the ozone layer. But everything had to be done in a funny and ironic way. Actress Regina Fabian for example had to play the fence…

 

      The “Gorillas”-evening had one more reason. It was the beginning of another art project. There is going to be a workshop during the G8 summit where pupils aged 16 and older can learn techniques of theatrical improvisation. This is going to take place from June 6^th to 8^th with the “Gorillas” and other theatre groups from Canada and Colombia.

 

  But this is not the only “acting” dealing with G8 and globalisation. Rostock’s “Lichtspieltheater Wundervoll” also had an offer referring to that theme. On May 21^st, the small cinema showed a film which takes place in Mali and deals with the problems of development policies in Africa. The film was followed by a discussion lead by the organizers of the film festival “globale”, which organized a whole film tour referring to G8.

 

 

written by U.S., 23.05.2007

G8 and photography

 

 

     Every historic event needs to be documented and the G8 summit is no exception. Besides writing, photography is the best medium to meet these requirements. Every poster, every newspaper article, every news report contains photos. The visual sense is the most important one for apprehending information. But photography isn’t exclusively used for catching up on bygone events – artists use this medium as a way of expressing their thoughts and individual opinions concerning the G8 summit.

     Photographies of protesters are most popular. The photographers want to capture the truth, the fear and the anger which are conveyed by facial expressions, postures and scenery. Another well-liked form are composite photographies. The most expressive parts of photos are put together to strengthen the intention. Colours and details are often alienated, contours are sharpened, words and symbols are added.

      The web page www.deviantart.com is the best in all matters concerning art. Browsing for pictures with the keyword “G8” gives you a huge collection of emotive portraits and photographies excoriating politics. My best compliments.

 

 

written by D.L., 21.05.2007

G8 and the arts

     Not only the police and politicians prepare for the G8 summit in June. Also, artists work on a lot of events to make people pay attention to the summit.

 

     On the 24^th of May, there was a temporary exhibition of modern art in the city port of Rostock. The artists call it the “little Coast-Documenta”. The “Documenta” is a huge art exhibition, which takes place in Kassel once a year. For a few weeks the well-known local artist Judith Sigmund has invited residents from Rostock and Heiligendamm to the “Frieda” art school to let them talk about their expectations and experiences concerning the topic G8. While they’re discussing, Judith Siegmund is filming them to gather material for her video installation. This is a part of the project “Art Goes Heiligendamm” which is a collaboration of many international artists.

 

     But not only these groups get ready for the G8 summit. Everywhere in Rostock and its surrounding villages there are eye-catching flyers and posters concerning the G8 summit and upcoming events and exhibitions which are planned by different organizations. Street artists also work on projects for the summit: Stickers and graffiti make people discuss about protest, provocation and vandalism.

written by M.E.T., 20.05.2007

G8-wall around Heiligendamm

      18 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Frank Neumann and his team are putting finishing touches to their biggest commission. The fence they have to build is 7.5 miles long and 2.5 metres high.

     It is a steel fence which is topped with barbed wire, movement detectors and video cameras. The construction is made of enough steel – 500 tonnes – to build a ship. This barrier is transforming the beach resort of Heiligendamm on Germany’s Baltic coast. The access through the fence is controlled by flying x-ray machines. Only people with passes will be allowed to pass the wall. The fence will be taken down after the G8 summit. The building costs 12 million Euros and is meant to protect the members of the G8 summit from demonstrators and other people.

      The police can intervene in only three minutes. A reporter who took a ladder to get a better view of the area behind the wall was surrounded by two policemen after only three minutes. They controlled his ID card and they checked it on their PCs. Michael Benett, a student from Offenbach, writes his exam paper about the fence in Heiligendamm. His record is five controls in one hour. He always has to show his ID card in spite of the fact that the policemen already know the student of photography. He just wants to make some photos for his exam paper.

      A lot of people criticize the wall and the fact that for each resident three policemen are encouraged and say the 12 million Euros are wasted money. “They’re trying to create a democracy-free zone in there and showing a lack of taste by building a barrier like this in a country that had a bad experience with walls”, says Monty Schädel of the German Society for Peace.

      But even the wall is no guarantee of safety during the G8 summit, there have to be much more security measures to warrant a safe summit.

written by F.L., 22.05.2007

Coming soon…

This blog will provide some articels with information and news during the G8 summit. This is a student’s project of the Innerstädtisches Gymnasiums Rostock.

Please be patient till the first item is released online.

Your G8-Blog team.