Nesian Punx #2 - a night of Pasifika POC Punk
8pm to 11pm, doors open at 7:45pm
Tickets £6 in advance (book here) or £8 on the door
Nesian Punx #2
A night of Pasifika – poc punk raising money for Free West Papua Campaign.
Since the first days of Indonesian colonial occupation in 1963, the people and land of West Papua have been under relentless attack. Over 500,000 West Papuan civilians have been killed by Indonesia’s military.
Racism and discrimination are a daily reality and basic human rights including freedom of speech are outlawed. The Indonesian Government have banned international media and human rights organisations from operating in West Papua, ensuring that news about what is happening rarely reaches the outside world.
The Free West Papua Campaign was launched in 2004, led by Benny Wenda – an exiled West Papuan independence leader and Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP).
The Free West Papua Campaign is bringing the story of West Papua to the world and campaigning for freedom and justice in West Papua. It is time to end the violence of the last 50 years and give West Papuans the freedom to decide their own future.
With the return of the mighty Half/Time- māori led punk band from Aotearoa back in London on their UK tour and lairy London punx -GRUNT and the wider diaspora community are teaming up to raise monies for our West Papuan brothers and sisters.
Talks from Free West Papua Campaign and Boycott for West Papua and a special performance from The Lani Singers - traditional West Papuan folk band playing songs rooted in resistance and celebrating Papuan culture (tbc)
Band merch/Prints/Stickers/Patches up for grabs!
BANDS
Half/Time - are a Māori post-punk band hailing from Aotearoa (so-called
New Zealand) - they're loud, angry and making change through music.
Through visceral and vulnerable waiata (songs) they invite audiences to
engage and learn about Aotearoa New Zealand's colonised past, its
present and hopes for its future. These are unsanitized, undiluted
histories that are delivered without apology, encompassing the personal
and political, amplifying the ancestral echoes of te ao Māori (the Māori
world) and giving voice to the injustices faced by indigenous
communities today. FFO Dead Pioneers, Idles, Pixies, The Muslims and Big
Brave.
GRUNT - Lairy three piece London punx. Drums bass n vocals but not
techno... brown queer and fvcking tired. ''Raw self-righteous feminist
punk, reminiscent of the burgeoning 70's punk scene'' - Laviea Thomas
for Decolonise Fest.
Hemi Hemingway - With the rock’n’roll panache of a dive bar matador and the emotional force of a knife in the guts, Hemi Hemingway makes music that thrills, spills and breaks hearts. The effortlessly slick New Zealand star has a connoisseur’s ear for the finest parts of musical history, sweeping 60s rock, 50s sheen and 80s romanticism into the present day, refurbishing and refashioning them into something new and fresh. At home in the spotlight, he’s a showman in the best troubadour traditions, but one with real depth, showcasing swagger and vulnerability in equal measure.
The Lani Singers - from the Baliem Valley in the remote central highland
region of West Papua in the south-west Pacific, play songs that are
rooted in the sacred rituals of the Lani tribe. Formed in UK 2004 as a
way of celebrating and preserving Papuan culture – the Indonesian regime
have outlawed traditional music and cultural practices in West Papua.
The band have played at music festivals in the UK including Glastonbury,
Musicport, Port Eliot, the Mayor of London’s Thames Festival and
Celebrating Sanctuary. They have also performed live sessions on the
‘World Routes’ show on BBC Radio 3 and on DJ Ritu’s ‘A World In London’
show on BBC Radio London.
