The Argentina Autonomista Project (Aap) has presented its "Que se vayan tod@s:" and "Women in the Road Blockades" puppet/multimedia show at universities, theaters and community centers in Argentina, the US, Canada, the UK and Ireland: at Georgetown University, Cornell University, Vassar College, Brown University, York University, Simon Frazer University, Enero Autonomo 2003 (International Encuentro in Buenos Aires), and many other venues.

The Aap is a partnership program designed to facilitate communication between artists, activists and students from the US and Argentinean autonomous organizations.

The Aap Multimedia Presentations last two hours and include puppet shows, videos and a discussion on the present situation of the social movements in Argentina, with a special emphasis in the role of women in the context of the current global socio-political situation. The presentations allow time for a dialogue with the audience and can be done in either Spanish or English.

 

the aap puppet show

Bread and Puppet artists Damiano Giambelli and Cristina Discaciatti from Italy visited Graciela Monteagudo in Buenos Aires to build a puppet show about the history of Argentina's social movements with special emphasis on current events: Que se vayan tod@s: a cardboard production. This piece is a combination of songs, puppets, acting and storytelling. It has successfully toured the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as community centers, universities and colleges in Northeastern United States including Duke, Vassar, Cornell, and many others. The puppet show is an introduction to an array of lectures, workshops, slide shows and video presentations on
  • the unemployed workers movement (the "piqueter@s" who build community projects in their neighborhoods)
  • the "asambleas" (the horizontally-organized neighborhood meetings)
  • the "trueque," (barter network which is massively used instead of money)
  • the workers who occupy and manage more than 200 workplaces
  • the special participation of women in the movement.
  • the history of Argentina and its relationship with the United States and the international lending institutions.
The argentina autonomista tour is the result of a horizontally organized creative collaboration. The makers of this multidisciplinary project include US, Argentinean and European Bread and Puppet puppeteers, the Unemployed Workers Movement (MTD/piqueter@s), members of the popular assemblie, faculty, young graduates and students of the University of Buenos Aires, feminists, autonomist anthropologists, philosophers and historians. This project is endorsed by: Bread and Puppet Theater, Glover, Vermont; Chris Hables Grey, Ph.D., Professor and Rita Arditti, Ph.D., Senior Faculty, Union Institute; Manuel O'Neill, Professor, Goddard College; Beverly Naidus, Professor, University of Washington, Tacoma; Brian Tokar, Institute for Social Ecology; Vermont; School of the Americas Watch, DC.

Women in the road blockades
& self managed enterprises

Graciela Monteagudo’s new multimedia presentation is based on her ongoing interviews with unemployed women who were part of the road blockade movement and also work in self managed enterprises. Mid-nineties, when IMF recipes rendered 26% of the population unemployed, women were the first to take over the national highways bringing international attention to the desperate situation of vast masses of families who had no income nor welfare programs to take care of their basic needs. It was women too who started the first self managed enterprises (bakeries, sewing workshops, organic gardens) in neighborhoods all over the country where unemployment sometimes rose to 80%.

This presentation frames these women’s lives in a comprehensive socio-historic background of Argentina’s social movements through the use of puppets, songs, video clips and other media. Graciela is also working on a book in English based on these women’s lives. The book will include interviews as well as essays by organizers and intellectuals, poems, rants, narratives, photos, artwork and other materials.