What's Happening

The Imagine Campaign Around the World

Since the worldwide launch of the Imagine Campaign in May 2003, Amnesty International sections in more than 40 countries have been sowing seeds of hope and challenge. Imagine-related events in participating countries are detailed below.

AUSTRALIA

• The Imagine video will be screened on stage during performance breaks at the WOMAD, a world music festival, in Adelaide, March 2004. Participants of the Womadelaide festival include:
  
  • Gilberto Gil
  • Abdullah Ibrahim, who was exiled from South Africa after the South African State of Emergency in 1976. "Unity is in music. We see music as the way of empowering people, so that they play an active part in society."
  • Sultan Khan, who scored music for the film "Ghandi" with Ravi Shankar.
  • Youssou N'Dour, who has contributed greatly to Amnesty International, including participation in the Human Rights Now! Tour 1988 and The Paris Concert 1998.
  • Inti Illimani, the Chilean group whose members have been human rights advocates for over 30 years.
• At the unveiling of a memorial to the victims of the Bali bombing at Coogee Beach in Sydney, a performance of Imagine closed the ceremony, October 12, 2003.
• The Imagine video was screened at AI Australia's Annual General Meeting with an introduction by the section president, Russell Thirgood, May 25.

CANADA

• The French Canadian section of Amnesty International organized a large-scale Imagine-themed education project with an art contest for students of all ages throughout the province of Quebec. Ima, Canada's No. 1 singer, is the official spokesperson for the project. Participants were asked to imagine a better world through drawings, poems, stories, songs, sculptures and other art forms. At the end of January 20004, the winners were chosen during a national exposition of selected works from all the schools in Quebec. The winners received t-shirts, posters and tickets to an Ima concert.

• On June 1st, 2004, eighty Canadian pop stars including David Usher and Nanette Workman assembled in Room 1742 of the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel to record a new version of the song "Give Peace a Chance" on the 35th anniversary of the original recording. The new version will be released as a single in Canada in July, with all sales revenue going to Amnesty International. Yoko Ono provided a short video message from Europe, expressing her support. This event received enormous media attention across Canada.
• The City of Montreal officially declared May 26 to June 2 "Give Peace a Chance Week". One of the highlights was another Amnesty event, namely an exhibition of unseen 1969 bed-in photos by retired TIME/LIFE photographer Gerry Deiter. Gerry spent the entire 8 days of the original bed-in with John and Yoko, and also took photos at the 2004 event (including the photo below). Justin Trudeau, son of late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, gave a very powerful and moving speech at the opening of the photo exhibition about the ongoing relevance of the message "Give Peace a Chance".
  
  

  Singing "Give Peace a Chance"     © Gerry Deiter
  
  
• At the Annual General Meeting of AI Canada on November 8, a musical performance featuring Ima and other Canadian artists was staged.

CHILE

• AI's Chilean section added Spanish subtitles to the Imagine video and public service announcements (PSAs) and screened both at a press conference held to launch AI's Annual Report.
• The music video and PSAs are being shown in schools nationwide.

COSTA RICA

• Imagine public service announcements are being broadcast on television stations around the country.

ESTONIA

• Activists are planning a concert that will feature local artists.

FAROE ISLANDS

• The Imagine music video was broadcast nationally.
• The Imagine public service announcement was added to CDs and DVDs sold to aid FUR, an umbrella organization for national children and youth associations.

FRANCE

• The Imagine music video was projected outdoors at Place du Palais des Papes as part of the Avignon Film Festival, June 2003.

GREECE

• A concert with local artists is in development and slated to occur later this fall.

GUYANA

• The Imagine video is being screened nationwide in schools.

HOLLAND

• The Dutch section of Amnesty International screened the Imagine video at their Annual General Meeting in June and is now in talks to arrange for its broadcast on local and national television.

IRELAND

• In Ireland, the Imagine video is part of a newly developed package of educational materials that includes lessons for teachers in primary and post-primary schools and provides ideas for bringing the message of Imagine to life in schools and in the community.
• RTE, the national television broadcaster, broadcast Imagine public service announcements for the duration of the week surrounding Human Rights Day, December 10, 2003. The audio version were also aired on radio spots that week.
• The Imagine music video was screened "Cinema Paradiso" style - outside in Temple Bar in Dublin. It was introduced by award-winning director Jim Sheridan.
• Various other screenings have been taking place nationwide in record stores, train stations, cinemas and on RAIL TV.

IRAN

• The Imagine music video was featured with simultaneous translation at the International Film and Video Festival for Children and Young Adults in Tehran, September 30 - October 8, 2003.

ISRAEL

• Numerous Imagine activities are being planned.

ITALY

• The Imagine video was screened as part of the inauguration celebration for AI Italy's collaboration with RomaTre University in Rome on a new masters program entitled "Peace Education: International Co-Operation, Human Rights & European Union Politics."

IVORY COAST

• Imagine-themed educational initiatives are underway in the schools.

JAPAN

• In Yokohama, an Imagine-inspired classical music concert took place on Human Rights Day, December 10, 2003, at the Yokohama Minatomirai Dai Hall.
• A screening of the music video was held at the John Lennon Museum.
• Imagine merchandise is being sold on a website created for the campaign.
• School initiatives are underway nationwide.

KOREA

• Imagine campaign details will be published on Korea's well-known "Webnews" website.
• A Korean Imagine website is currently under construction.

PERU

• Peruvian activists held a "Peace Marathon" against torture on October 5, 2003. The participants wore Imagine T-shirts and carried Imagine-themed banners.
• Peru's largest cable television news channel, as well as many local channels, broadcast the Imagine spot and an interview with Teresa Carpio, Director of the Peruvian section of Amnesty International.
• The music video has been airing in the 232 branches of Peru's largest bank, El Banco de Credito del Peru.
• Imagine public service announcements air consistently nationwide.

PORTUGAL

• The campaign was launched on the National Day for Children, June 1, 2003, with radio spots and a written press campaign.
• "Cinema Paradiso" style video screenings will be held.

RUSSIA

• MTV Russia and Moscow Echo channel are airing the Imagine public service announcements.
• The Swiss and Russian sections of Amnesty International worked together to organize a 100-day bus tour to promote human rights all over the Russian Federation and Central and Eastern Europe.

SLOVENIA

• School groups are taking on the Imagine Campaign.

SWITZERLAND

• MTV Russia and Moscow Echo channel are airing the Imagine public service announcements.
• The Swiss and Russian sections of Amnesty International worked together to organize a 100-day bus tour to promote human rights all over the Russian Federation and Central and Eastern Europe.

TANZANIA

• The Imagine music video is being shown in schools all over Tanzania.

TOGO

• In December 2003, a weeklong awareness and fundraising campaign took place to coincide with Human Rights Day around the theme of Imagine.

TURKEY

• In December 2003, on Human Rights Day, there was a broadcast of the Imagine music video with Turkish subtitles. Other Imagine events are being planned.

USA

• Imagine public service announcements are being broadcast on more than 130 television stations and networks.
• On October 23, Yoko Ono was interviewed about the Imagine campaign and her views on music, art, activism and human rights at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York City.
• Clear Channel Entertainment has donated radio spots, online banner ads, and bus shelter ad spaces all over the U.S. for the Imagine campaign.
• The Maui Film Festival featured the Imagine music video, June 2003.
• Two New York City high schools produced an Imagine-themed "human rights coffee house" with an art gallery and performances of many kinds, May 17, 2003. (Read about this event.)
• The Imagine music video had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on May 6-11, 2003.
• The Imagine music video was shown at the Arab-American Institute's annual Kahlil Gibran gala in April 2003. Amnesty International USA was honored at the gala for its work to end discrimination against Arab-Americans in the aftermath of September 11, 2001.
• The Imagine campaign officially kicked off on December 10, 2002 in Los Angeles with a star-studded event at Venice High School. Gabriel Byrne, Forest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Patrick Stewart, Mario Lopez and Joy Enriquez were all on hand to help launch the educational campaign. Student winners of a human rights essay contest were recognized and former prisoner of conscience General Jose Gallardo addressed the student body. Singer Joy Enriquez also performed along with the school's choir, which closed the ceremony with a performance of Imagine.

"IMAGINE" by John Lennon (c) 1971, 1999 Lenono Music (admin. by EMI Blackwood Music Inc.)