About
illustration of David by M.-C. Demers
Burning Billboard is a Mobile Journalism (MoJo) project started by David Widgington in autumn 2008. It is a contemplation of contemporary issues and events that linger in the margins of the world. The posts offer an informative combination of words, sound, photographs and video images that attempt to make sense of the world.
The project began when David realized that he didn’t know much about Southern Sudan and decided to visit the region to acquire first-hand information and share it with others. There is a void left by the media that seem uninterested in the place since the 21-year civil ended and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in 2005. David’s first visit to the region was from February to April 2009 and he plans to return in March 2010, just before the first national elections in over twenty years, scheduled for April 9-21.
David posted reports, videos and audio interviews here during his firts visit and has continued to do so, although he now has a dedicated blog for Southern Sudan information: South Sudan Info. Now he no longer has to self-censor Burning Billboard’s content without diluting the Southern Sudan information.
What came before Burning Billboard?
As David approached ten years of independent publishing as head honcho of Cumulus Press in 2008, the lure of video intensified. He revisited his five years as founding member of Montréal-based Les Lucioles video activist collective (2002-2007), aware that the time had come to recycle the printed page into moving pictures. So at Cumulus’ tenth anniversary party, he stood up onto a chair and announced to everyone present that he would publish no more books and that the party was actually a wake to celebrate a decades-old publishing house whose life had just ended. “Documentary film and video reporting,” David revealed, “will be my next foray in independent expression.”
What’s in a name?
BurningBillboard is the transition’s incarnation and this blog is its expression. As the name stipulates, there is nothing to sell. In fact, David deplores the mercantile prominence of the world around him where public spaces of expression are reserved primarly for commercial purposes: to sell stuff we don’t need. For financial profit. Public discourse is no longer appreciated in the urban landscape and little or no space is available for people to post their ideas, concerns, notices; except online.
The information presented on Burning Billboard weaves audio interviews, video footage and written articles into personal reports that reflects David’s attempts at understanding the complexities of the world as he meanders through it. Some topics are initiated locally or regionally, while others find their source across the country and around the world.
The name comes from this patch he bought at Expozine (Montréal’s annual small press, comics and zine fair) a few years back that captivated his objections to advertizement pollution. He doesn’t't know who the artist is but he’d like to give thanks, in absentia, for capturing the sense of rage that comes from the over-exposure of commercial messages that is an acute affliction in cities these days. Montréal is no exception with its particularly virulent growth in the numbers of illuminated billboard trucks driving throughout the city, polluting our air and trying to sell us things nobody really needs!
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STAY TUNED… and please don’t hesitate to comment on posts that interest you.
How to get in touch?
