Politics of Nature/The Mobile Game

The PoN mobile game was officially launched on 31 August. The game, developed by Brazilian independent game studio Ilex Games, is a fun and thought provoking collaborative game for 12 to 15 year-olds aiming to engage, inspire and connect for climate action. Since its launch, the game has seen updates expanding into the Amazon and the Atlantic rainforest. This month, the multiplayer version will become available!

In October, several events are taking place throughout the country. The month was kick-started at the International European Language Day at the Museu da República in Rio de Janeiro. From 1-10 October, PoN will be featured at different locations of the Brazil-wide cultural institution SESC (in Gaurulhos, Gama and Santos) with trainings and VR experiencs, mediated by PoN ambassadors from Fridays for Future and Instituto Querô. On 28 October, PoN will have a space at the Book Biennale of Brasilia, followed by a online multiplayer session with Brazilian and Portuguese students playing and discussing PoN, as well as a roundtable debate.

In November, in collaboration with the Secretariat of Education of the Federal District of Sao Paulo, a presentation of the game and the pedagogical toolkit for about 60 school leaders and teachers. The pedagogical toolkit, elaborating how to use the game in curricula, will be distributed to about 500 public and private schools and marks the continuation of the project.

Find out how to download this game for free on the project's website.

Moving Kolkata - Kolkata Moving

Moving Kolkata – Kolkata Moving aims to create spaces for inclusive dialogue around environment and other aspects of sustainable urban development. To get Kolkata moving, the project engages with the people, communities and changemakers of the city and documents their perceptions. Central to the project is the online MKKM platform, gathering sustainability insights, a forum (coming soon), and testimonies of citizens dedicatedly working to make the city better and safer for its people and the environment - the Kolkata Movers.

The project's public activities were kicked off in September with the photo exhibition This is Now, showing work by photographers Magali Couffon and Alvaro Garcia, who spent ten days in Kolkata earlier this year, exploring climate challenges and solutions in the city. The exhibition is open until 1 November. In October, the three-day event Towards a Better Tomorrow (17, 19, and 21 October) will create a mobile pop-up-space which will travel to three different locations in Kolkata. The space will be created using local sustainable material by an artist collective. At each location, the pop-up-event will be focusing on different topics which include 'recycling and repair’‚ 'climate change’ with a focus on Sundarbans and the wetlands of Kolkata, and 'sustainable mobility and air pollution‘. The displays will not only offer a number of activities planned for people to participate but will also include showcasing of videos and other visual material leading to leaving sustainable results in situ and on the digital platforms.

Read all about the project in the MKKM digital platform.

MoldArte

MoldArte, the platform for the promotion of cultural actors from Moldova, continues its endevours to place itself as a facilitator and a promotor connecting experts and specialists in the cultural and creative fields with peers from the EU and Moldova. After five workshops dedicated to artistic professionals and artists on cultural management, financing and budgeting and ”how to..” portfolios in September, the Moldarte course continues in October with three workshops on advocacy, sustainability through culture, and "how to..." portfoloios for music professionals. Furthermore, the online platform keeps on expanding with more (bilingual) resources targeting local specialists, through podcasts, synthesis articles, local mapping.

Follow the programme on the project's website.

AfrOeste

In October, AfrOeste is offering two online workshops (in Spanish only) led by the Afroféminas collective, a local partner to the project, contributing to the project's goal of creating a network for the exchange and dissemination of the artistic creativity of afro-descendant people in Latin America.

11-14 October: "The representation of black people in the 21st century and the importance of a counter-discourse at the group and individual level" with Zinthia Álvarez.
19-22 October: "Migrate the migrated. Epistemologies: The privilege of the exceptional" with Quinny Martinez

More information and how to sign up for the workshops can be found on the project's website.

Right to Speak

Right To Speak is launching South African Poets Catalogue aimed at promoting a specially curated list of young and thriving South African Poets to international markets including Europe. The Catalogue, as one of the main outputs of the Right To Speak international exchange programme, profiles 20 prolific youth page and stage poets from the length and breadth of South Africa. Highlighting emerging poets who are ready for international stages, the catalogue is aimed at small and large poetry and literature platforms around the world and provides an easy guide for programmers and promoters interested in booking and showcasing South African spoken word talent.

During the Paths to Democracy forum, taking place 7-8 October, Right to Speak has curated a number of engaging programmes, including a Poetic Walking Tour, as well as the sessions New Alternative Forms of the Citizen’s Democratic Engagement. Right to Speak will see its culmination during the 26th Poetry Africa Festival, launching the The Right to Speak anthology, a collection of voices "speaking out about their rage and their rapture". on 12 October. Right To Speak honour the partnership with the celebratory closing event Connect The Poets also on 12 October that will include performances by some of the project's trailblazing featured poets.

Find out more here!

UMOJA

In Tanzania, the UMOJA project nears its high point. From 10 October until 13 November, the project will bring together artists from France, Kenya, Latvia, Democractic Republic of the Congo, Estonia, Spain, and Tanzania for the five-week long, gender balanced and multidisciplinary UMOJA artists’ residency in Dar es Salaam. The residency programme, through workshops and fringe festivals to further promote and unite with local urban and contemporary art, opens up dialogue between East African and European artists and intends to promote gender balance and social cohesion through the arts.

All original works produced during the UMOJA residency will be showcased in a repurposed open public space in Dar es Salaam on 12 November, thus bringing together the artists and local communities.

Follow the project on the UMOJA Instagram.