Guest blog from Niki S
“Pedalling for Papua” is coming to Trades Hall, 147 Gt North Rd, Auckland, Saturday at 4pm. It’s an international bicycling and performance tour.
The vision? Make West Papua a household topic, one story at a time. Jeremy is a touring a multimedia performance and cycling 12,000km to engage with citizens around the world, telling a story built around his own time spent in West Papua.
“It’s home to the bird of paradise, the second largest jungle remaining in the world, and our planet’s most bio-diverse marine zone”, says Bally, “As many as 500,000 Indigenous West Papuans have died as a result of the military presence and lack of development in their homeland. That number is impossible to confirm, though, as media organizations have never been allowed access without close government supervision”.
The performance brings the voices of Papuans to the international stage through a projected animation which brings to life nine recorded conversations with exiles, refugees and activists from West Papua. Bally narrates this film live on stage using original spoken word poetry and ukulele based hip?hop.
“I love riding my bicycle. I love telling stories. I feel like just because something is important doesn’t mean people will care,” says Bally, “I’m using this artistic approach because it’s a more open way to engage people. I want the audience to come because they’re expecting a great show. I want them to leave knowing how to make the world a more peaceful place”.
