I came across this video while rewriting my chapter on the border fence between India and Bangladesh. Add this to the growing list of unique ways the fences fail.
November
06
“It’s an industrially-produced medieval monster. However, I’m getting to know it.”
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
About a year ago I traveled to Arizona to write about the U.S.-Mexico border wall. There I met Glenn Weyant, a musician who ‘plays’ the border wall and makes strange and fantastic recordings of what the border sounds like. I played a ‘duet’ with Glenn in Nogales, Arizona and wrote about it here. I also […]
October
14
“The Great Wall of Foolishness”
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Here is a fantastic article by Toronto Star writer Alfred Holden. Inspired by recent news that the United States is mulling the idea of erecting fencing along its border with Canada, Holden takes on the folly of walls in general. Here is my favourite bit: But the bigger picture — the tide of history — […]
September
01
Shun Thy Neighbour – an excerpt
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
[What follows is a brief excerpt from my Walls book-in-progress. This is the beginning of my chapter on the U.S.-Mexico border wall. I visited the borderlands about a year ago and have finally hammered together a first draft. The photo is a view of the border from Bill Odle’s property.] Chicana writer Gloria Anzaldúa described […]
TEDxCalgary video: Subverting the Walls
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Last June I gave a talk about subverting walls for TEDxCalgary. In it I spoke about to men who defeated walls in Ceuta and Palestine by physically going over them, and about two artists in Arizona and Ramallah who subvert walls by transforming them through art. The video of my talk is now online. Thanks […]
July
22
“The world is not as small as Google Earth depicts it.”
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Here is an article from the Financial Times on travel writing. The piece, titled “The places in between,” is a little cranky – Paul Theroux penned it, after all – but interesting nonetheless. I especially love the line I quoted above, and the following bit: So where are we now? Of course, many would-be travel […]
Walls by the Numbers
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
My return from Belfast on Monday marked the end of my travels for my walls project. I thought a little accounting might be in order: WALLS PROJECT TRAVEL INDEX Years since beginning of the project: 3.5 Weeks spent away from home: 46 ‘Territories’ visited: 14 Continents traveled to: 4 Flights taken: 37 Train journeys: […]
July
15
Photo Essay: The Colour Orange
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
These photos were taken on July 12, 2011 – “The 12th” – in Belfast.
A dedication for my consideration
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
My 11 year-old niece, Olivia, sent me this modest request by email the other day. She has enthusiastically allowed me to share it here: Hey Zio it’s Olivia (Preferably Olive). How’s where ever you are? How are you? I KNOW WHAT I WANT YOU TO DO FOR MY BIRTHDAY PRESENT!!!! Can you dedicate the “walls” […]
July
11
Dividing the Dead
posted by Marcello Di Cintio
Sometimes reality offers up such easy metaphors that a writer feels cheap using them. One of these is the fact that Qalqilya, a city nearly completely caged by the West Bank wall, is also home to Palestine’s only zoo. Another is the fact that when the Belfast city cemetery was conceived centuries ago, a stone […]
Elsewhere 