Innovation in Anti-Nuke Protests

May 17, 2011

Zijie Yang

NoNuke Cultural Activism Group ("諾努客文化行動團隊" ) was set up in 2009 to protest Taiwan's fourth nuclear power plant. In the following interview, Yang Zixuan and Pei Linong introduce some NoNuke cultural actions:

The development of NoNukes could be split into 3 different stages. To see the full tale of NoNuke in images click here.

stage 1：(2009)

The first year, 2009, comprised of a music concert, local farm market and a film festival held by youth activists.

stage 2：(2010)

By 2010, Yang Zixuan, only 21 at the time, and other friends at G.Straight Café (直走咖啡) made a transformation into a loose, informal band, the NoNuke Street Band(諾努客走唱隊). They attempted to use music to communicate with the local communities in Gongliao Township (only 10km from the fourth Nuclear Power Plant) and encouraged locals to take up their cause again in 2010, after an eight year absence.

Following that, they also hijacked the HoHaiYan Rock Festival website, leading people to unexpected information about nuclear issues. It also got attention from the government who stated that they were replying to a "fake official website".

Their next stunt was to simulate a nuclear waste accident on the streets of downtown Taipei using fake barrels of nuclear waste, and see how the people reacted to this performance. In fact, they once got stopped trying to bring the barrel on the train from Gongliao to Taipei. Eventually after the police arrived on the scene and determined it wasn't dangerous, they were allowed to bring the barrel back - so long as it was covered to be invisible to other passengers and so long as he was escorted by a rail staff all the way back.

In August, Nonuke worked with Green Citizen Action Alliance to organize a music concert and demonstration in front of the fourth nuclear power plant, including a symbolic human chain around the power plant.

stage 3: (2011)

In the wake of the Fukushima disaster in March, NoNuke and the nuclear issue got so much more attention, that they planned a host of different actions in April and May. They organized bands and DJs to distribute NoNuke flyers and info during their own performances. For their part in the 4/30 anti-nuclear demonstrations", they did something unprecedented in the history of Taiwanese social movements, organizing a sound-demonstration inspired by Japanese activists Shiroto no Ran (素人之亂). Green Citizen Action Alliance and other NGOs organized this demonstration, here is their website.

Some other videos 4/30 sound-demonstration:

Electronica Truck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJtonduHuXQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vz7T9c0I1Sc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5Elh3IYgEc&feature=related

Rock Truck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDk7Z8vCdAE

---

To find out more about the NoNuke Culture Action Group please visit the NoNuke website and facebook.