"Art as Activism" delves into the inspiring and impactful intersection of artistic expression, ethics, and activism, highlighting how art serves as a potent vehicle for protest, social change, and cultural dialogue.
Through a series of discussions, workshops, and interactive sessions and performances, we will explore the ways in which art can provoke thought, inspire action, and create a lasting impact on society.
The event is free of charge and takes place at Curro Velho in Belém do Pará, Brazil.
To join the various public events, be sure to save your spot via the button below!
Full programme
10:00 – 12:00 Discussion circle “Art and activism, ethics and accountability”
Featuring Molemo Moiloa, Deborah Jack, and Thiago Maiandeua & moderated by Benji Boyadgian. What does ethics mean in contexts where artists, cultural agents, and activists must navigate unregulated systems governing the art and culture sector? How can ethical connections be created between governments, organizations, and communities? This discussion aims to foreground questions on ethics and accountability, to reflect on how those shape the participating artists' practices, working processes, and the outcomes of their work.
12:00 – 12:30 Performance by BorBlue
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break
Food from Armazém do Campo, along with products from other local enterprises and family-owned businesses, will be available for purchase.
13:30 – 15:00 Simultaneous workshops & film screenings*
13:30 - 15:00 Workshop by Beatriz Paiva: "Licking the City of Mango Trees; The Lambe-Lambe in Belém do Pará"
In this workshop, the artist will introduce a more open and relational approach to art-making through lambe-lambe, an art form that uses the street as its canvas, fostering a democratic, horizontal form of expression that invites a fresh and dynamic relationship with public spaces.
13:30 - 15:00 Workshop by Irene Agrivina, Dan Li and Nana Opoku (AFROSCOPE): "PHOTOSYNTHESA".
This workshop focuses on understanding the crucial role of photosynthesis in combating climate change, by demonstrating how plants absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen. Through hands-on activities with DIY electronic circuits, participants observe and measure key photosynthetic processes, gaining insights into carbon sequestration and the importance of supporting reforestation and sustainable practices.
13:30 - 15:00 Workshop by Brigitte Baptiste: "Transitional Ecologies".
The climate crisis acts as a clock, urging us to shift how we engage with one another and perform in the ecosystems we are embedded in. We must build new systems to connect and interact. To achieve this, what elements from the past, present, and future can help create a transitional ecologies for the next step on our planet? How can arts and culture play a role in shaping this ecological system?
13:30 - 15:00 Film screening & conversation with Negritar Filmes: "A Sete Palmas da Liberdade"
After almost 30 years, Raimundo and Maria, a quilombola and an indigenous woman from Vila NSª da Batalha, located in the northeast of Pará, decided to access the cemetery where their ancestors are buried. The site is occupied by a palm oil company that has privatized the area and planted crops on top of the graves. Conflict is inevitable.
13:30 - 15:00 Film screening & conversation with Tareq Khalaf: "Azziza’s Garden: A film in process".
This film explores the artist's journey of returning to Palestine and realizing the deep connection to home. Through documenting his experience with his two grandmothers and great aunt, Azziza, Tareq reflects on the privilege of being connected to a place and the profound meaning of home, even amid family fragmentation, the war, and the many challenges of life in Palestine.
*All screenings and workshops will have translations from Portuguese to English, and vice versa.
15:00 – 15:15 Coffee break
15:15 – 17:15 Discussion circle “Socio-environmental imagination art as protest and protest as art”
Featuring Sofía Acosta, Pelé do Manifesto, and Salete Cunha & moderated by Etcétera Collective. Belém is the first democratic location in over four years to host the 2025 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30). Etcétera Collective, drawing on CAREC’s “Socio-environmental Imagination” concept developed by the programme's mentors, will showcase cultural and artistic responses to climate crises, demonstrating how art can highlight socio-environmental disasters and inspire collective solutions. Artists and activists Sofía Acosta, Pelé do Manifesto, and Salete Cunha will engage in discussions on imagining and acting together to address the environmental crisis, emphasizing the Amazon’s role and promoting global-local unity for environmental justice.
17:15 – 17:30 Coffee break
17:30 – 19:00 Performance by Nova Ruth and Grey Filastine: Arka Kinari "onshore"
In a live documentary performance combining video, music and story, the two artists will share the voyage of Arka Kinari, a 70-ton sailing ship transformed into a cultural platform to sound the alarm for the climate crisis.
19:00 – 19:15 Closing remarks
19:15 – 20:00 Roda** by Os Quentes da Madrugada carimbó group
Featuring the legendary carimbó group that has been instrumental in preserving the rich cultural heritage of Santarém Novo.
20:00 – 21:00 Roda** by Sereia do Mar carimbó group
Featuring a carimbó group made up of warrior women!
**Roda, which in an attempt to translate into English could be "circle" or "round", is present in various aspects of Brazilian and Paraense culture and is connected to the notion that the past, present, and future have no beginning, middle, or end. At any point in the roda, you can connect with yesterday, today, and tomorrow as well. It is understood that we, today, in the present time, are the ancestors of the future—and the ancestors of the past are present in the codes that form the roda, which connects everything and everyone. The Carimbó roda, in this way, involves these practices and knowledge that transcend time, materializing in the drums, in the circle dances, in the repetition of verses answered by the chorus, and in the voices. In the native cultures of the Americas and the African-rooted cultures that came here through the forced diaspora, the symbol of the roda is highly valued; it represents the collective, the horizontal, the connection between past and present, which is why we have the samba roda, the capoeira roda, and our Carimbó roda.
Please note: capacity for the workshops and screenings is limited. If you'd like to participate in any of the events, please RSVP via the link below!
