Two artists who have closely collaborated with Caravan - Gues (Algeria) and King Dodge (Kenya) - were stopped from going to Brazil, where they were to attend a meet of the Artists' college of the Alliance (see article) in the month of May. And to believe that these artists with a bohemian soul, bearing so much hope and beauty, have become subversive elements for the system!

What our friends Gues and King Dodge have been through is Kafka like. After having dreamt of being in Brazil with artists from all over the world, they were barred from boarding the plane on an idle pretext: one of them did not have a transit visa required for a one hour transit... one hour only... at Brussels; the other one did not have the Paris-Sao Paulo ticket on him while leaving Algeria - he was to collect the ticket from a Brazilian airline counter (the travel agent's message vouched for this fact) at the Charles de Gaulle airport at Paris.

"Nothing more can force me to stay where man confines himself"

At the end of an argument regarding Gues' inability to embark, a bureaucrat concluded by saying: "Why did you take the lawful path?".

Perhaps a note slipped under the table would have sufficed... to open the doors of the world... of a world where one must learn to cheat and adapt to a corrupted system. Gues did not want that. He did not leave... he went back home and sat down to write the following words to his partners in Brazil who were waiting for him:

"I know of the rotten system where one must pay. It is not worth it! I feel like a stranger in my own country and the more I think of it, the more I free myself. I fly elsewhere; the world opens its doors to me, with as much love as I have for it. Nothing more can force me to stay where man confines himself and likes to be confined. I would like to be a citizen of the world and I demand it..."

As for King Dodge, - this would have been his first trip abroad and he was really looking forward to it - he returned to the bitter truth of today's Kenya, portrayed in his poems (see Poetry and "Mother Africa" sidebar), in order to pursue his relentless work of creating awareness, encouraging creativity and reviving African culture, with his group of young artists. We were witness to this tremendous and exemplary work during the unforgettable days spent in their company at Ngecha. You will find a glimpse of their work in this issue of Caravan, illustrated entirely by the Ngecha Artists Association.

This absurd and violent world is dying...

Whether it was the case of the young Kenyans or Gues, the bureaucrat was probably right: their resolute wish for another world and their ability to make it visible is truly subversive. This way, they are akin to (or preceed) a desire shared by an increasing number of people, articulated thus by the Algerian bureaucrat: why take the lawful path? He knows the absurdity of a dying reality's system better than anybody else...

The absurdity of a world where some rush from one end of the world to the other, and others are forbidden to fly, where some become unusually rich while others' stomachs remain empty, where some kindle tensions and conflicts, while others suffer the consequences...

To promote a 'culture of peace'

This absurd and violent world is dying... certainly if we are many to promote a culture of peace. This constitutes the theme of a report in this issue (see dossier) as well as Caravan ambition that began in India two and a half years back.

We have come a long way! Our caravan has become yours. The paths we have crossed, have been done with you, and we collect these echoes of a world in the making, where other ways of functioning are invented and where new links are made (see news on the association Caravane).

No doubt! The Alliance World Assembly with its various continental meetings from 17th to 21st June 2001 and the international meet at Lille (France) in December 2001 brings the tidings of a new world that is more responsible, plural and united. The intensity and the quality of debates and discussions taking place currently on the charter of the Alliance is a perfect example (see article).

Philippe Guirlet