politics – Permaculture Artisan

Por Comandanta Ramona

It’s foggy when the sun first hits the horizon. Like smoke rising from the milpa it bears itself over the Chiapan highlands. I sit motionless on a crowded second class bus from Palenque. Eyes peeled out the window in disbelief. There’s a road blockade, I’m in Zapatista country and I could burst with excitement. Continue reading “Por Comandanta Ramona”

Street Art Cuban Style

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting Cuba for the second time. I was struck by public artwork at every turn. Whether it was imaginative and political ‘graffiti’ enlivening the streets of Havana or sculptures donning inner city parks, the creative side to this revolutionary nation was on full display. Continue reading “Street Art Cuban Style”

Despite the many definitions, here goes...Permaculture is a contraction of the words "permanent," and “culture.” It advocates developing permanent, self-sufficient systems based on natural ecosystems. Developed by Australian ecologists Bill Mollison and David Holmgren in the late 1970's, it originated as a solution to the destructive and toxic agri-industry. Permaculture means whole regenerative design that nourishes people, planet and soul ecologically, socially, and economically.

“Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it”—Bertolt Brecht

“Nowadays people know the price of everything and value of nothing”—Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray

“It is not the strongest animal that survives, nor the fastest but the one most adaptable to change” –Leon C. Megginson, paraphrasing Charles Darwin

“…the individual artist moves from the private narratives of self to the public discourse of art as a tool to empower and transform the lives of women and their communities…I have found the intense need to live in beauty and create meaningful works of art. The need to create forms of beauty allows the artist to transcend horror, improve society and envision a brighter future” –Marjorie Agosin, Stitching Resistance

“Permaculture is that art of the possible” –Graham Bell, The Permaculture Garden

“If I can’t dance to it, it’s not my revolution” –Emma Goldman

“We can and must respond creatively to the triple crisis and simultaneously overcome dehumanization, economic inequality, and, ecological catastrophe.” ― Dr. Vandana Shiva

“This might well be the hidden reason why permaculture appeals to me so much—it encourages creativity and individuality. No matter how hard some might try to deny it, no matter how forcefully we have been squeezed into one mold or another, we are at heart all wonderfully creative individuals. Permaculture allows us to celebrate this.”—Jenni Blackmore, Permaculture for the Rest of Us

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