On 7 October, BRIDGES had the pleasure to participate at the Calentura Pura festival, an international hip-hop festival organised by Voces Globales and Fundación Contorno Urbano.
Berta Güell, BRIDGES researcher, and Raquel Delgado, from the non-profit organisation Hip Hop Works and member of Contorno Urbano, presented the BRIDGES project and its co-production efforts to transform dominant, exclusive narratives on migration through hip-hop culture. Güell and Delgado presented the “BRIDGES Hip-Hop Contest: Challenging Migration Narratives” and the participatory process through which the winning artists had been developing their work.
After a brief presentation, a round table was organised on decolonising art and culture and the power of art – and specifically hip-hop culture – as a tool for change. The round table was moderated by Brisna Zaragoza from Fundación Dos Latinas, and counted on the participation of Francisco Mendoza (CHX aka Flako Mendoza), a rap artist who uses his lyrics to reflect on what it means to be a migrant in the city of Barcelona; Joel Alfredo Martínez Estrada (Danger AK), a Mexican rapper and musician who uses hip-hop as an educational tool in different schools and prisons in Mexico; DJ SU and Michael from Colectivo La Llama, an organisation working in the Raval neighbourhood in Barcelona defending human rights through hip-hop; and Ibrahim Bah, dancer and author of the book ‘Tres días en la arena’.
The round table was followed by a writing workshop, a slam poetry reading and a hip-hop concert, among others.
During the day, those attending the festival had the chance to visit a graffiti exposition and a photo exhibit by Ras Benard from Hip Hop Works Uganda, an organisation using hip-hop as an education tool in refugee camps.
The BRIDGES team at CIDOB participated in the discussions and workshops, as well as Irene Praga and Ibrahim Bah, who were also speakers at the BRIDGES conference conference “’What is going on in the world?’ Telling migration in first person”, held on 5th October at CIDOB.
