Uncategorized | THE MGM

In order to complete the construction of Coltan Snapfacts, a list of content (to be placed under each icon) needed to be created. This content needed to be short and succinct, so that our facts could be portrayed as concisely as possible (more impact).

The following shows what facts where hidden in their respective icons:

Warning
<Disclaimer for graphic content>
This device contains graphic, confronting images and impacting content. There is no responsibility taken for any shock or disturbance on the viewer’s behalf. This installation’s content is to be viewed at your discretion.

Information
<An in depth (but not too large) brief on coltan mining and coltan wars>

COLTAN is a special mineral, short for Columbite-tantalite. It is a special mineral because when it is refined it is used to create devices we all use everyday: PHONES, LAPTOPS, DIGITIAL WATCHES, GAME CONSOLES, hell even in CARS.

80% of the world’s Coltan resource comes from the Congo and the Congo is in the midst of a bloody civil war. What is the issue??? Mining for COLTANis a dark business because the mining it is FINANCING the Congo civil war. At the same time coltan mining is run by warlords who force children to mine for coltan. Child laborers die mining the mineral. The sad fact is that 45,000 people [including children] die a month in Congo not only because of the civil war, but also because of them being exploited for illegal mining especially for coltan.

Huge tech companies like Motorola, Dell, HP, IBM, Nokia, Apple, Sony, Microsoft, etc. all buy processed coltan to build computer chips for their electronic devices and they DON’T PAY ATTENTION on where the coltan comes from. In a sense, they can be financing the civil war. BUT hold on there, tech companies are not only to blame! We, ordinary folks, are also to blame! The more we keep throwing away and buying more electronic devices, we can also be financing the civil war in Congo as well. In other words, your luxury may be causing someone else’s misery! This may be confronting, but this is the sad truth about the phone you’re holding in your hand, the laptop you work with, and the other devices you use everyday.

See the To-do list icon to see the advice on how to minimize this issue.

Settings
<Instructions>
1) Raise an icon to discover the hidden fact(s) behind it

2) Ensure you pay sufficient attention to this information

3) Each fact represents an issue involving coltan mining

4) Feeling happy now? Feeling guilty? What do you feel?

5) Sorry there is no parental controls on this device

Gallery
❤ really impacting and/or bloody pictures with small captions.>

Caption: An unfortunate victim of a civil dispute, erupting in the streets of a small Congolian town.

Caption: A UN peacekeeper walks past a body, killed in a dispute in Rutshuru. Death is a common, daily seen consequence of Congo’s bloody coltan war.

Caption: The civil war in the Congo has no mercy. Men, women, children, the elderly; millions of lives are directly affected. What is the main cause of this civil war? The mining of Coltan.

Caption: an example of child exploitation for the mining of Coltan. Your purchase of an electronic device may have originated from these very children.

Maps
<Map of affected area, with highlighted affected areas>

Caption: This is the location of the Democratic republic of Congo. This 3rd world country contains a whopping 80% of the world’s supply of coltan.

Internet Browser
<5 IMPACTING/INFORMATIVE external sources for more information>
If you wish to find more information about the Coltan wars in Congo, here are some good places to start:

Blood coltan: Is your cell phone soaked in Congolese blood?
http://tribune.com.pk/story/67995/blood-coltan-is-your-cell-phone-soaked-in-congolese-blood/

Blood Coltan
http://www.javafilms.fr/spip.php?article8

Coltan Mining in the Congo: We All Have Blood in Our Hands
http://www.cookiesound.com/2011/09/coltan-we-all-have-blood-in-our-hands/

Coltan Minerals 101: Coltan, The Congo Act, and How You Can Help
http://people.howstuffworks.com/conflict-minerals-congo-act7.htm

Congo Coltan War PSA
http://youtu.be/4J1s3NeyVU4

To-do List
<Tell audience what action to take>

Take your old phones or smart devices to Recycling Stations. These stations reuse the metal in your devices; reducing the need to mine for more – ultimately extinguishing the Congolese civil war.
Spread the word about this issue, and tell as many people as you can! The more people who know, the more action can be taken for this issue. Bring it out into the public eye!
Do not keep upgrading your smart devices, just because the latest one came out. The more purchases you make, the more demand for coltan, and the more mining – resulting in more deaths and unrest in Congo.