The first group of participants to Sandblast Festival arrive to London
18/10/2007

The first group of the Saharawi participants to the Sandblast Festival, which will be organised in the first week of November in London, arrived on Wednesday evening to the British capital.

Sandblast Festival is a cultural festival featuring the Saharawi culture and arts, to convey the story of the people of Western Sahara, their poetry, dance, music, but also to draw light on the plight of the Saharawis, the human rights situation in the occupied zone and the life in the refugee camps.

The first group of participants, who arrived to London on Wednesday, are the members of the musical group, TIRIS, the famous Saharawi puppeteer, Balgha, the Secretary General of the Saharawi Journalists’ and Writers’ Union, Malainin Lakhal, Saharawi poet Mohamed Elkeihal, journalists Zrug Lula and Miss. Hajetna Mohamed Didi and Saharawi painter, Salek Brahim.

Receiving the group, the President of Sandblast organisation, Mrs. Danielle Smith asserted that “the members of Sandblast and supporters are rejoiced about the arrival of the group after they faced so many technical problems before they got the visa. We were forced thus to re-schedule many activities to after the main event in November”.

Nevertheless, she expressed gratitude to the staff of the British Embassy in Algiers, “who paid extra efforts to give the delegation the needed visas in time and helped us a lot to overcome all the technical problems faced”.

On another hand, the members of the delegation expressed special thanks to the Algerian newspaper EL WATAN, “which offered residence and transportation to the group during its stay in Algiers”.

They also thanked the Saharawi Embassy in Algiers for the hospitality and special care it dedicated to them during the stay in Algiers.

The rest of the members of the delegation are expected in the near future to join this first group.

In this respect the group will be joined by Mrs. Aminatou Haidar, human rights activist and ex-political prisoner, Mrs. Khadija Hamdi, Director of the Center Naaja in the camps, Mrs. Nanna Labat Rachid, a young poet, Mrs. Zahra Hasnaoui, a Spanish speaking Saharawi poet, and Miss Khadija, an artist.

The ongoing struggle of the Saharawi people of Western Sahara for self-determination is one of the most invisible issues of the day.

Located along the Atlantic coast between Morocco and Mauritania, Western Sahara is the last colony in Africa.

For over 30 years now, close to 200,000 Saharawis have been refugees in the harsh Algerian desert near Tindouf, while tens of thousands more live without freedom in their own homeland, ignored and forgotten by the international community and media.

Sandblast is a unique charity dedicated, through the arts, to empower the voices and visions of the Saharawi people and build awareness and support for their plight. Promote and showcase Saharawi talent and arts.

Sandblast Gallery is a multi-media platform that features the work of Saharawi and other artists engaged in their creative work by themes related to the Western Sahara. The organisers warmly invite all those concerned to contribute to this space. gallery@sandblast-arts.org