Pink inspiration!

No to militaristic symbols

At the beginning of June 2011, Ofog "improved" three tanks at Utö in the archipelago of Stockholm. People visiting the islands are now met with images of nature and pink hearts instead of monuments of violence.

In the middle of May 2011 this canon in the city of Karlskoga was painted pink. Karlskoga is the "heart" of the swedish weapons industry - BAE Systems, Saab and several other weapons companies are located here and weapons produced in Karlskoga are used in wars all over the world.

In April 2011, Ofog painted this tank in Umeå pink. Ofog says in a pressrelease that military symbols should not be given space in society as they encourage a culture of war. The action is also a protest against Swedens participation in war through arms trade, militaries and military exercise areas.

Reclaim the land!

For many years, the Spanish anti-militarist network "Alternativa Antimilitarista-MOC" has protested against the military training area CENAD ('Centro National de Adiestramiento Militar"), north of the city of Zaragoza. CENAD is the main training area for the Spanish military, and is also well attended by the armies of European countries, NATO and the arms companies to test their products.

MOC has repeatedly entered into the fields of CENAD to do civilian weapons inspections to highlight the connections to the war in Iraq and the development of weapons of mass destruction. In May 2007, a large group - dressed as superheroes - entered the area and painted a tank pink. MOC demands that the military occupation of the area stops, a message that was painted next to the tank: "Devolucion del campo!" ("Reclaim the fields")

Read more
Article about the action at MOC's website (in spanish): http://www.antimilitaristas.org/spip.php?article3307
Movie from the action: http://www.archive.org/details/ElImperioOtnicoContra-ataca2007

Effective protests against Bombodrom

80km norr om Berlin, i Kyritz-Ruppiner Heide, ligger ett gammalt ryska militärt övningsområde som tyska armén sedan början på 90-talet velat återupprätta. Bland annat har flygvapnet velat öva på att släppa (låtsas)-kärnvapenbomber och upplåta området till olika NATO och EU länder.

Planerna har dock stött på motstånd från lokalbefolkning och antimilitaristiska grupper som inte vill se den så kallade "Bombodromen" användas för att förbereda och öva krig.

In connection to the G8 meeting in Heiligendam 2007, 700 people got into the area, occupied it for two days and painted the old control tower pink. The activists wanted to show the links between military exercises in the area and the aggressive militaristic policies of the G8 countries.

In April 2010 the government decided to scrap plans for a "Bombodrom" and instead shut down the field.

Read more
The network "FREIe HEIDe" (wordplay from the word "Freiheit", freedom in german): http://www.freieheide-nb.de
The network "Rosa Heide": http://www.g8andwar.de

CODEPINK

CODE PINK is a network for peace and social justice. The movement is working for an end to U.S. wars and occupations, against global militarism and for resources being spent on vital public matters rather than military. The name "Code Pink" comes from the U.S. Army color codes for terrorist threats (yellow, orange and red). CODE PINK believe that the color codes are used to substantiate fear and justify violence, and calls for the use of the color pink for "waging peace".

Read more
CODEPINKS website: http://www.codepink4peace.org

Art against war

As a protest against the Danish troops in Iraq, people from many different countries cooperated with this art project, a tank covered with over 4000 pink knitted and crocheted squares. The artwork was completed in April 2006 and stood outside Nikolaj Contemporary Art Center in Copenhagen.

Marianne Jørgensen, one of the contributors, explains on her website the idea of the artwork: The tank is a symbol of stepping over other people's borders. When it is covered in pink, it becomes completely unarmed and it loses it's authority. Pink becomes a contrast in both material and color when combined with the tank

Read more
Website of Marianne Jørgensens: http://www.marianneart.dk

Other art with painted tanks:

The art project "Love, Peace and Terror". Read more at http://boingboing.net/2007/01/13/pink-peace-tanks-inv.html

Art project in Prague. Read more at http://www.happysteps.net/tag/pink-war-tank/

Bonus: Pink!

From her song "Dear mr president":

Let me tell you 'bout hard work. Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away