Olympic Protests Flare
An Italian artist and climber, Alberto Peruffo, is urging urban climbers all over the world to ascend landmarks and peaks in their home countries to light red flares on 8 August to protest about China’s poor human rights record and its occupation of Tibet.
The planned demonstration is stage two (or ‘Final Ignition’) of the civil action and is timed to coincide with the beginning of the Olympic Games. First Ignition took place on 11 May, when flares were lit on 100 summits.
“Urban climbers, city mountaineers -
your moment has come!” Alberto proclaims on his website. “We shall make volcanoes and monuments of ancient architectures talk the language of smoke in the evanescent colour of blood on the day on which the Olympic torch, a double-headed symbol of peace and hypocrisy, will light the Peking Olympics.”
For more information, check out Alberto’s website sadsmokymountains.net. Climbers planning on taking part should check the legality of their actions and ensure that their flares are not misconstrued as rescue signals.