Imperial War Museum + Gay Pride 2009 (alongside Basement Jaxx!)
Today was a particularly exciting day for me. Not only would the class be engaging in one of the most anticipated cultural events in london in going to the Gay Pride Parade, but myself and Andy would be heading to the Barclaycard Wireless Festival of 2009, which features great acts like The Streets, Dizzee Rascal and the headliners BASEMENT JAXX!!!
but, to start off on a somber note, gerard took us to the Imperial War Museum. This Museum was created in commemorating, not only the tragedy of war, but of it’s glory and of the advancements we’ve made in war and military technology. Amongst the displays are interactive sections, simulator stations and even a life-sized trench made in a room, complete with the smell of corpses and sounds of machine gun fire and explosions. It’s something i certainly won’t forget visiting and experiencing.
the main reason for our visit was to take in the Holocaust memorial exhibition, a very daunting stretch of an exhibit that accurately documents the horrific events of the holocaust in quite good detail. I’d rather not elaborate too much on the content of the show (i’m sure everyone is aware of what happened there at that time) but i will offer some constructive criticism in the way of the show’s information. it was a class-held notion that the exhibit didn’t go deep into the discrimination of the disabled and those that were homosexual at time of capture and we felt that it would have been great to see them recognized within the show. many of us in the class left feeling very sorrowful, with some even in tears. the show was deep and heart-wrenching, so a peace area was provided within the museum’s front court, designed and approved by the dali lama, as a space to find tranquility, a personal peace and to contemplate ways of achieving world peace.
on a VERY sharp contrast, we would walk ourselves 20 mins to get to trafalgar square to go see 2009’s gay pride parade in london. we were told of good spots to view the parade from, as well as local shops to pick up drinks and celebrate! the parade lasted a good 2 hours, but it was hours well spent!
the parade didn’t have as many floats as i thought it would, but the participation of the many people that decided to walk the streets for that long was outstanding, nonetheless. the music, the crowds and atmosphere was enough to blow Canada day celebrations out of the water!
After this, me, Kylo and An-dee somehow missed Jilly and Mar-10 somewhere in the crowds of the event. After some searching, me and andy then decided to head to Hyde park for the Concerts. We may have missed Digitalism (only just stepping in to see them dismantle their set in prep for the next) and missed Paul Oakenfold, but the combination of the acts we saw were just too phenomenal to claim we really missed anything.
just take a look at this video compilation i made; 9 mins of footage from the Streets, Dizzee and the Jazz. hope you like it, as it’s gotten 2000+ hits on YouTube!
needless to say, my body ached like hell the next day, but i’d do it all over again if i had to and that’s what matters most.
No comments:
Post a Comment