In the demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea stands a government building. Inside this building there is a blue room with a blue door. In front of this door a soldier stands guard. This door is, or probably by now, was, the only way to cross the border between the two countries. On Flicker there are quite a few pictures of this room, mostly taken by South Koreans visiting relatives in the north.

We took these pictures to produce an image that is, as the "Checkpoint Charlie" of the 21th century, a worst case scenario when talking about the "Dialogue among Civilizations", distorted and ritualised by political, cultural and economic barriers, and, in the text, also extends the metaphor to personal relations and personal identity.

Alfred Marseilles

"Zoals we elkaar kennen"

Zoals een man en een vrouw
zichzelf zijn in theorie
en ook hun eigen naam, hun eigen deur
hun eigen soldaat tussen twee blauwe grenzen
het bloedvat onder de huid
de huid als nasleep van een vuist
het naderend gesprek zonder paspoort.
Een lezer die zich voorover buigt
om het woord melk
voor het eerst goed te lezen.


"Like we know each other" (English Translation)

Like a man and a woman
are themselves in theory
and their own name, their own door
their own soldier between two blue borders
the blood vessel under their skin
skin as a fist's aftermath
the oncoming conversation without a passport.
A reader bending over
to read for the first time
the word for milk carefully.

Special Advocacy Invitation extended to all our visitors:

Real Stories Gallery welcomes visitors to respond to this image and poem, which were published in 2010 when the artist was invited by Art for Humanity to reflect on the theme of ‘Racism, Xenophobia and the plight of Refugees.'  What is the connection between the Human Rights theme of "Dialogue among Civilizations" and HIV and AIDS?  Please feel free to send your written or visual responses to realstoriesgallery@gmail.com.

‘The scale of global migration, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the movement of people from one area to another for varying periods of time, is vast and growing.  The International Organization for Migration has estimated that 192 million people globally, or 3 percent of the world's population, live outside of their country of birth.  Worldwide, even more people migrate within their country than out of it.  According to the WHO, migration can often have serious health consequences for migrants because of challenges involving "discrimination, language and cultural barriers, legal status and other economic and social difficulties."  Indeed, the global financial crisis has particularly thrown into relief the plight of migrants as it has exacerbated health and social inequalities.

Since the emergence of the HIV epidemic, migrant populations have received considerable recognition from the international community in the context of risk, spread, and prevention of HIV/AIDS.  However, despite the long recognition of migration's relationship to HIV vulnerability, states have largely failed to ensure that internal and international migrants have access to HIV treatment.  Instead, many states have implemented discriminatory laws and policies that restrict the entry, stay or residence of persons living with HIV (PLHIV) and serve to limit the access of internal and international migrants to treatment services within the state.  Furthermore, in many countries migrants are deported without adequate consideration of the availability of HIV treatment in the country of origin and without sufficient provision for continuity of care.

Given the global scale and frequency of migration worldwide, a rational public health strategy toward HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment cannot include any form of discrimination against migrants.  Denying treatment to migrants will only serve to perpetuate transmission and frustration efforts toward controlling the HIV/AIDS epidemic.  Interruptions in HIV treatment occasioned by restrictions on entry, stay, or residence in a state, limits on movement within a state, barriers to access, or deportation can lead to illness, development of drug resistance, and death"

(© Human Rights Watch, 2009)

"What are we women to do?  The men, they sleep in the bush, but it isn't safe for us.  If we weren't raped before we will be raped here." - Constance. Musina, South Africa ("No Healing Here: Violence, Discrimination And Barriers To Health For Migrants In South Africa."  Copyright: www.hrw.org)


For Advocacy Exhibition and For Sale:

This limited edition fine art print forms part of Art for Humanity's "Dialogue among Civilizations" portfolio, 2010.  It contains 41 Fine Art Prints and 40 Poems produced by international artists and poets.  The portfolio is available for exhibition, educational and advocacy purposes. 27 of a limited edition of 30 portfolios are available for sale.  The price for each portfolio includes shipping costs from South Africa, 5% administration fee and a 25% charitable donation, which will go to support the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation's community Tutu Tester vehicles.  For further information please contact realstoriesgallery@gmail.com.