Online Workshop: Sing-a-long – A Decolonial Climate Justice
Situate yourself in the struggle for good health for our planet
We’re grateful to mindfully reconnect with these ongoing and necessary weeks of re-pacing and looking out for one another in these challenging times with an event that radiates togetherness and hope. You are very welcome to join this online song workshop led by Chihiro Geuzebroek, who has contributed song lyrics to the Climate Knowledges Climate Visual Cultures Library.
Sometimes people do not conceptualize the mediated climate movement as ‘white’. Yet upon examination of contestation in decolonial chants and songs we see clear differences in framing, visual and spoken language and understanding what it means to be alive, to be a good person, maintain community and the meaning of environmental activism. There is a difference between “Act now, we have 12 years to save the world” and “Our house has been on fire for over 500 years. Decolonize earth”.
In this workshop we will learn about different chants and protest songs from Indigenous artists and identify some difference and spectrum. Through reflection and practice we will situate ourselves in the struggle for good health for our planet, the people and all our relations. We will end with an exercise in making intersectional chants and put our voices to the test and build a collective moment in our digital meeting space.
Everyone of all ages is welcome to participate, with no prior experience in writing necessary, although it is important participants support the antiracism movement. Ideally you will access the workshop activities with a computer (rather than mobile), as Chihiro will present an illustrated introduction and provide a virtual document where everyone can create together. Pens and paper will also be handy for drawing and writing your chants and slogans. Don’t have a functioning laptop or other suitable device? Contact us and we will see if we can find a solution.
The workshop is in English, but Dutch can be provided as Chihiro also speaks Dutch.
Note: Because of the corona crisis this workshop takes place online. Please reserve a free ticket beforehand through our ticketshop and leave your email so we can send you the link to the ZOOM meeting. Any additional questions or remarks? Shoot us an email. Thank you 🙂
Chihiro (Photo by Wouter Zaalberg)Chihiro Geuzebroek hosts the workshop. She is a filmmaker, songwriter and performer active in the climate movement. Her background as Bolivian Dutch with Quechua ancestry informs her body of work in which she aims to restore and re-story our relationships with earth and each other.
Chihiro is one of the core organizers of Climate Liberation Bloc and co-founder of the decolonial foundation Aralez.
This workshop is presented in the context of the exhibition Climate Knowledges, which explores alternatives ways of viewing the current mainstream climate debate. Climate Knowledges is programmed by Angela Chan of UK-based online curatorial platform WORM: Art + Ecology.
Workshop host Chihiro Geuzebroek is Director Producer of the activist coming of age movie RADICAL FRIENDS (2014) for which she traveled to Bolivia. For this movie she wrote five songs; 10 feet tall, Naked, Turkish apple tea, Fearless Future and Radical Friends. In Bolivia she performed with the Bolivian Quechua-pop band Aullagas and reconnected with her Bolivian musician father and uncle through making music together. She recently released a song Shell Must Fall with the new band the Sound of Climate Justice.
Chihiro is one of the core organizers of Climate Liberation Bloc and co-founder of the decolonial foundation Aralez. She filmed and edited diverse videos for the climate groups Code Rood and Fossil Free Culture. She wrote for the nY publication Rape enters the scene about Climate & sexual abuse, and for the climate book Nu het nog kan an article on decolonizing the climate movement. Some of her dearest moments in activism include participating in Ende Gelande mass direct action to shut down lignite mining and giving a workshop on climate justice for the program A Week with Angela Davis (2018).
About IRL
Our lives are dominated by the self-produced realities that we encounter on the internet and social media. This tension between fact and fiction touches upon the core of our leitmotiv IN REAL LIFE. The only way to escape the post-truth is to meet each other in real life. We facilitate these meetings in the form of readings, lectures, masterclasses, workshops, excursions and parties that tangibly express the ideas behind HOME | IN REAL LIFE | NETWORKS.
