Last week, eight American citizens were detained in Beijing for participating in pro-Tibetan sovereignty protests near the site of the 2008 Olympics, with Students for a Free Tibet. Two videobloggers who documented those protest and guerrilla art installations evaded detention, and spoke to Boing Boing TV on Friday Beijing time about why they were there, what they witnessed, and why it mattered.
Jay Dedman and Ryanne Hodson of Ryanishungry.com spoke to us over Skype from a hostel in Beijing. One of the actions they documented in photo and video was the hanging of an “LED throwies” light banner, shown below, which read “FREE TIBET.” We agreed to hold this Boing Boing tv episode until after we received word that they’d safely left the country. They have returned home, so I am posting the piece today.
Link to Boing Boing tv blog post with discussion and downloadable video, and instructions on how to subscribe to the Boing Boing tv video podcast.
Correction: Yesterday, we posted news that 6 Americans who’d been detained were now released and on their way to Los Angeles. Turns out that in fact, a total of 8 were detained — the last two, from a later protest, a photograph of which is posted below (Thanks, NF and Students for a Free Tibet).
Previously on Boing Boing blog:
* UPDATE: US citizens detained in Beijing over Tibet protests are released, returning home.
* Beijing update: New detentions, 6 US protesters missing, Tibetan protesters in Tibet reportedly shot dead.
* Beijing: “Alive in Baghdad” videoblogger among US citizens detained in pro-Tibet protests
* Beijing: Five US activists detained after lighting up “Free Tibet” LED Throwies banner near Olympics site
* GRL’s James Powderly detained in Beijing for planning pro-Tibet “L.A.S.E.R. Stencil” art protest
Related episodes of Boing Boing tv:
* BBtv WORLD (Tibet): Inside Lhasa
* Vlog (Xeni): Tibet report – monks forced to participate in staged videos.
* Vlog (Xeni): Tibet’s uprising and the internet