Conflict Kitchen, 2. In June I wrote about Conflict Kitchen, a pop-up, take-out restaurant in Pittsburg that only serves cuisine from countries that the United States is in conflict with. In October, Kubideh Kitchen will go out of business and change identities to highlight and provoke discussion around Afghan culture. The organizers have started a Kickstarter campaign to raise $4,000 by the end of September. Donations will go towards the creation Bolani Pazi, which will serve Afghan food wrapped in a custom-designed wrapper printed with Afghan perspectives and opinions. Pledges of $15 or more will receive copies of the stylish (and informative) food wrapper designs from both Kubideh Kitchen and Bolani Pazi.

Update 9/25/10: Success! $4,178 raised!  ¶

September 11 Ephemera. How startling seeing some of those old demo flyers from nearly 10 years ago. Those were emotional days on the streets of New York, trying to help where needed and to reign in the war machine.  ¶

Architects Out of Ariel. A call for Israeli architects and planners to refuse to design settlements in Ariel, a sliver of land that goes deep into Palestinian territory: “After dozens of actors, theater workers, professors and writers declared their refusal to appear in the new cultural hall in Ariel or any other settlement, the time has come for architects and planners to wake up and announce publicly that they will not continue planning new buildings in the settlements. Architects and planners are the ones who implement in practice the occupation policy of Israeli governments and continue the conflict on the drafting table.” (via)

Update 9/6/2010: More than 150 US and UK actors, writers, and directors have signed a letter of support for the Israeli actors who said they would not perform in Ariel.  ¶

Brief Messages. In the West, the history of publishing often starts with the printed book. But before the book, short-form ephemera ruled: “The habit of spending money to read something a printer had decided to publish was an alien one.… What made print viable, Pettegree found, was not the earth-shaking impact of mighty tomes, but the rustle of countless little pages: almanacs, calendars, municipal announcements. Indulgence certificates, the documents showing that sinners had paid the Catholic church for reduced time in purgatory, were especially popular. These ephemeral jobs were what made printing a viable business through the long decades while book publishers — and the public — struggled to find what else this new technology might be good for.”  ¶