An arms dealer coughs as CS Gas releases tear gas
The week of blockades and protests organised by Campaign Against Arms Trade ended on the Monday night before the DSEI arms fair actually opened, but the following day I was at work again, photographing the first performance of #ArmingTheWorld, a project by Ice & Fire theatre and Teatro Vivo with designer Takis at Woolwich Arsenal, with actors dressed as arms dealers, a Paveway IV Missile, a Eurofighter Typhoon and CS Gas.
A Paveway IV Missile on the catwalk
The audience at Woolwich was small but appreciative and the dramatic performance illustrated some of the facts about the arms trade that should be much more widely known. Further performances later in the week included one in Trafalgar Square and will have attracted rather larger crowds.
Thanks to the DLR I was able to rush back to Royal Victoria Station where East London Against Arms Fair were carrying out their annual walk around the Royal Victoria Dock to float a wreath on the dock opposite the DSEI arms fair in memory of the victims killed by arms traded their in earlier years and for those who will be killed because of the deals now being made. Numbers were a little down on previous years as some were unable to take part because of police bail conditions imposed after their arrest the previous week.
After a procession around the dock with the Reverend Sister Yoshie Maruta and Reverend Gyoro Nagase praying and drumming there was a brief ceremony, and the wreath was then placed onto the water in the dock.
where it floated away, opposite the line of warships that were moored alongside the ExCeL centre as a part of the DSEI arms fair.
There was then a period of silence in memory of the dead and some prayers.
Wreath for victims of the arms trade
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