(Dror Feiler)
Swedish jazz musician, composer, performer, activist and
visual artist, Dror Feiler, will be touring South Africa from May 24 to 31 as a
leading campaigner for the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC), an international
activist peaceful initiative to break through the Israeli blockade on Gaza. His
programme will include various multi-dimensional arts workshops, public
engagements and meetings in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town.
Feiler has a long history of social and political activism,
and is highly regarded as an outspoken champion of human rights globally. Apart
from being the Spokesperson for the FFC, he is Chairman of the European Jews
for a Just Peace (EJJP), Vice-president for the Society of Swedish Composers
(FST), and Chairman for Swedish Musik. He is a celebrated artist of multiple
talents who seeks to merge art and social justice: Art as activism is able to
enlighten dialogue, understanding, and empathy where there is division and
silence.
Dror’s is focusing his energies on the FFC during this tour
of SA. In commemoration of the murder of nine activists on the FFC flotilla to
Gaza in 2010, the FFC has again set sail for Gaza on a peaceful campaign to
break the Israeli blockade. The blockade which has been in place since 2005 is
widely recognized as illegal by international law and in violation of
Palestinians’ human rights. The blockade has stifled the Gazan economy and is
suffocating the populace of over a million, who inhabit one of the most densely
populated and impoverished regions on earth. Gaza has come to be known as an
‘open air prison’.
On May 26 Dror will participate in a Jazz workshop at the
UKZN Centre for Jazz and he will be joined by Burton Naidoo and the UKZN
Storytellers. This meeting of talents will be capped by a live performance at
the UKZN Centre for Jazz at 18h00. Both the workshop and the concert are open
to the public. Tickets for the performance are R50 (R30 for pensioners) and all
students have free entry. To purchase tickets and for more information on the
concert, contact Thulile Zama on 031 260 3385 or email: zamat1@ukzn.ac.za