Press Release in Spanish: ADAO anuncia el lanzamiento de la décimo cuarta Semana Mundial Abual de Concientización Sobre El Asbesto del 1ro. al 7 de abril de 2018
Featured Video: “Asbesto: El asesino que no puede”
Featured Story: “Love is Stronger than Cancer” – Day Three Ambassador: Daniel Pineda, Colombia
Featured on April 3, 2018
Each year, ADAO dedicates April 1-7 to increasing awareness of asbestos and preventing exposure by bringing together experts and victims from around the world to share, learn, and take action. To view all 7 days of Global Asbestos Awareness Week (GAAW) contributors and content on our landing page, please click here. Also, be sure to follow the conversation with our GAAW hashtag: #2018GAAW.
Asbestos is a known carcinogen and there is no safe level of exposure. Since the 19th century, asbestos was widely used in construction, shipbuilding, and the automotive industry. Without a ban, asbestos remains legal and lethal in the USA and nearly 70% of countries around the world today.
Today we’re featuring several artists who are using their talents to raise asbestos awareness and to bring new audiences into the asbestos conversation. We’re also featuring the story of Day Three Ambassador: Daniel Pineda from Colombia “Love is Stronger than Cancer.”
ADAO has been using art to drive our advocacy since our founding in 2004. Storytelling is at the heart of the work ADAO does, and various art forms help us to translate these stories into different forms that help them be seen, felt, heard and remembered. We’ve experimented with myriad forms of art to deliver our message, from film to music and everything in between. In the digital revolution era, graphic designs and memes have become invaluable to making our messages accessible and spreadable.
Over the years, we’ve been able to do so much with art-based advocacy and been fortunate to partner with some phenomenal artists who have been using their talents to increase asbestos awareness and prevention.
Earl Dotter has created an ever-evolving photo exhibit, BADGES, memorializing the asbestos workers of the 20th century and honoring the legacy of famed asbestos treatment pioneer, Dr. Irving J. Selikoff. Earl’s traveling exhibit introduces art lovers around the country to Dr. Selikoff and the tragic history of asbestos in America.
Daniel Pineda González, leader of the #ColombiaSinAsbesto movement and the IZE Foundation, producer of “Inextinguishable” (under the direction of Felipe Rico Atara) created a powerful documentary. This film follows the lives of Ana and Daniel during the first days of their diagnosis, including the participation of different experts in the medical, legal, academic and social areas. The documentary also describes the human capacity to transform pain into love, indignation into action and the importance of citizen unity when it comes to generating changes that benefit us all.
Firdaus Kaharas, also known as “The Animated Activist,” is a world-renowned director and humanitarian who produces animation, documentaries, films and television series designed to educate, entertain, and change societal and individual behavior via a process he calls Culture Shift.. In 2017, Firdaus and ADAO teamed up to create a family-centric asbestos awareness PSA video — in six languages! This multilingual art-based PSA campaign continues to bring our message about the dangers of awareness to thousands around the globe. Each daily GAAW blog features one of these fantastic videos; please be sure to check them out and share with your family and friends.
Conor Lewis and Zack Johnson, the cousins behind the feature asbestos documentary “Dirty Laundry”. The film highlights the cousins’ 4,200 mile bike ride across the nation to honor of their grandmother, who lost her life to mesothelioma. The film is already creating buzz and has been named an official 2018 selection for the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival.
Natasha Luckhardt is the producer of “Widows of Asbestos,” an upcoming documentary focused on the widows of workers who have lost their lives to asbestos-caused cancer stemming from occupational exposure at General Electric in Peterborough, Canada. Natasha aims to dispel the myth that asbestos is a problem of the past, and to add her voice to the ongoing workers’ movement to ban asbestos in Canada.
Barbara McQueen, writer and photographer, is the widow of American film star Steve McQueen, and is a former model and photographer. She is also the author of Steve McQueen: The Last Mile, which documents the three-and-a-half year relationship between the two and includes candid photographs from 1977 to 1980. McQueen has hosted several art exhibits of her work with shows in London, Tokyo, San Francisco, Nashville, Phoenix and Idaho.
Paolo Monico, is an Italian-American filmmaker who wrote, directed and produced the short film,”The Mother,” which addresses occupational asbestos exposure and breaks the blue-collar stereotype. The award-winning film is a love-letter to the filmmaker’s father, who passed away in 2002 from mesothelioma. Paolo has partnered with ADAO to help make his film a strong platform for education around asbestos-related diseases.
Jordan Zevon, is a musician and the son of Grammy-winning singer songwriter Warren Zevon, who opened up about his battle with mesothelioma on his final album, “The Wind,” which Jordan produced. Warren’s song from that album “Keep Me In Your Heart” has become an anthem of sorts of the Mesothelioma Warrior community and continues to bring comfort and understanding to those touched by asbestos diseases.
When we partner for prevention and get creative, we make change happen!
Linda
Today, ADAO recognizes McOnie for partnering for prevention.
