Provocate.org

Don’t despair if you missed the Dalai Lama’s visit last week.  The Tibetan Cultural Center from Bloomington is bringing Indianapolis a feast of cultural delights — singers, musicians, film, folklore, photography, traditional crafts, and momos (you have to try these!)  Even though we won’t see His Holiness, the staff from the center be on hand to discuss Tibetan Buddhism and their vision for and independent Tibet.

**Bonus: You can see the kick-off for Spirit and Place upstairs featuring “Danke        Schoen,” an exhibit of paintings by local artist Kyle Ragsdale, music by singer/songwriter from Queen Bee Music. (more…)

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The upcoming visit by Chinese ambassador Zhou Wenzhong is a great opportunity to learn more about China and its place in the world. Local groups will seek to draw attention to the Chinese government’s support for brutal dictatorships abroad and its often brutal treatment of its own people. A foreshadowing of global protests that will use the 2008 Olympics in Beijing to highlight their grievances. But first, ask whether their complaints are justified, and whether their hopes for changing China are realistic … and how we can help shape Chinese government behavior. (more…)

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Faith-based institutions are some of the wealthiest institutions around. In many religious institutions, philanthropy tends to be more noticeable through its members giving financially to their place of worship and their institutions offer various ministries back to its membership. But how philanthropic are they? How do the different religious institutions measure up to each other in regards to how much and what they give back into the community? Do they give beyond the walls of the worship facility and how? Controversial? Possibly. (more…)

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****** ******, a young photo-journalist, returns to Indianapolis to launch an exciting initiative — “The Burma Youth Program: Democracy 2.0″ … most exciting of all, we in Central can play an essential role in this project to help transform Burma. (more…)

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27 million people are enslaved worldwide, 50% of them are children. Slavery exists in many forms, however, theSOLDproject has found sexual explotation of children to be the most repugnant. Burdened by what they knew, a group of Hoosier twenty-somethings spent the summer of 2007 making a documentary uncovering the truth behind sex slavery in Thailand and Burma. Spring of 2008 The SOLD Project will be going on tour to call upon their generation to raise up and fight for these children’s freedom. (more…)

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An Evening Inspired by Current Events: Provocate presents Multi-media displays of videos & pictures from Burma, an opportunity for informal discussions with artists, activists, academics … and with Burmese refugees who have made Indiana home. (more…)

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Some day, perhaps soon, a democratic Burma will bear the faint stamp: “Made in Indiana.” Burmese dissidents and constitutional scholars are drafting a new constitution in Bloomington. Ties between the state and crisis-ridden Burma will intensify if things turn badly, too: Indianapolis is the major destination for refugees from Burma, and we will get a lot more if the goons in Rangoon respond as brutally as they have in the past. (more…)

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Interactive media artist Scott Snibbe will present interactive works that incorporate reactive video projections, large-scale tracking of humans and vehicles, and Blow Up, which amplifies human breath as a large field of wind. He will discuss the philosophical divide between language and visceral perception that motivates his creation of interactive media art. (more…)

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This interfaith worship service will feature prayers for peace from the perspectives of American Indian, Baha’i, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Jainism, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism, and Unitarian Universalism. (more…)

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IUPUI’s Democracy Plaza is an appropriate spot. (more…)

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