“The main objective is to promote the skills of people with disabilities and, at the same time, bring to light the discussion around inclusion, especially the inclusion of people with disabilities in the cultural market”, said the project's creator, Isis Hembe, in statements to Lusa.
According to him, the Inclusive Arts Festival “No Meu Mundo” will also be a space for reflection on the condition of employability, access to public transport and all the issues surrounding people with disabilities in Angola.
“It is an inclusive festival that aims to show an ideal that we want to propose that people with disabilities [can be] included in society and do things in parallel, [they] will be in the same space doing things with people without disabilities in a balanced symbiosis” , he highlighted.
The festival begins on October 12th at Camões – Centro Cultural Português in Luanda with the inauguration of the exhibition “Território Culturais”, composed of two projects that merge, one originating in Angola and the other originating from Portugal.
The inaugural exhibition of “No Meu Mundo” comprises a journey through the cultural traits of the people of Angola, from dances, rites of passage, funeral ceremonies, artisanal fishing, harvesting and processing of fruits and others.
Curated by Jardel Selele and Eduarda Oliveira, “Território Culturais” presents works by 11 artists (Angolan and Portuguese), namely António Arriscado, Ana Paula Berteolli, Daniel Caputo, Edilazio Neto, Eliana Calei, Erika Jamêce, Eusébio Dias, Irene Felizardo , Ismael Sequeira, Morais Mungenga and Vopsi Moma.
“Cultural Territories” originated from the Realces project promoted by the International Association of Portuguese Descendants (AILD) and had the collaboration of the Associação Irís Inclusiva Portugal “whose mission is to actively contribute to the social inclusion of blind and visually impaired people”.
Isis Hembe also highlighted the complementarity component in this project, considering that the idea of inclusion “is precisely to avoid barriers and promote a space” in which everyone participates with their skills.
“We are inviting people to look at the cause of inclusion as a collective factor”, observed the artist.
The festival is a joint initiative of Goethe-Institut Angola, Camões – Centro Cultural Português, Alliance Française de Luanda, Anim'Art – Centro de Animação Artística do Cazenga, LARDEF – Support League for the Integration of the Disabled, ANADA – National Association of Artists with Disabilities and Albinism and the European Union Delegation in Angola.
A gathering on “The Role of Art in Social Inclusion”, a round table on “The Inclusion of People with Disabilities in the Labor Market”, a circus workshop “Between Earth and Heaven”, cinema, theater and the premiere of the hip-hop opera “The Adventures of Angosat” are part of this festival's agenda.
The initiative is funded by the European Spaces of Culture program, managed by EUNIC – National Institutes of Culture of the European Union and also has institutional support from the Provincial Government of Luanda.
