Cultura Circular in Conversation

How can the transformation of public space through art create meaningful social change?

Featuring Cultura Circular alumni Laura Varon from Festival IBANASCA, Women’s Urban Art Festival (Colombia) and Patricia Contreras and Bárbara Martinez from Luciernagas para la Paz (Mexico), discussions centre on the festivals’ shared commitments to community engagement, gender equality and creating environmental awareness through public art. Guests reflect upon their festivals’ programmes of creative activities – ranging from lantern parades to recycling workshops, collective mural painting, and river clean-ups – and explore how to reclaim public spaces to embed sustainability and community at the heart of their work.

Guest Speakers

Laura Varón, IBANASCA Women’s Urban Art Festival, Colombia. A transdisciplinary platform for empowering and promoting the work of local, national, and international women artists, with a special focus on decentralising the “official” art spaces. It embraces decolonial perspectives that advocate for memory practices, the recognition of popular cultures, ancestral knowledge in communities, cultural geography, and the identity of territories.

Bárbara Martínez Moreno and Patricia Contreras, Luciérnagas para la Paz Festival 2025, Cuautla, Morelos, Mexico. A festival that reclaims public space at night through engaging its community in artistic creations. Running from March 5 to April 5, it features workshops for lantern making, an artistic experimentation lab, a discussion on cultural management, and the Grand Nocturnal March. This edition is strengthened by the participation of the UK-based organisation B-Arts.

Download the transcripts in English, Spanish and Portugese.

How can we transform our relationship with cities through culture, and place sustainability at the heart of festival practice?

In this episode, LuisRa Bergolla, ITINERANDO and Juan Murua Palacio, Córdoba Music Biennial, share their experiences of engaging with one another and public space at their events. The Córdoba Music Biennial in Argentina has developed innovative approaches through participatory design, circularity, and music. Itinerando, in Caracas, Venezuela emphasises sustainable mobility and its connection to heritage and accessibility, creating new ways to navigate the city. Together they explore how the Cultura Circular Programme has facilitated significant shifts in sustainability in their organisations from design and planning stages to execution and public engagement.

Guest Speakers

LuisRa Bergolla, ITINERANDO, the Sustainable Urban Tours Festival, is a platform driven by Collectivox to transform the way Caracas residents move around to explore and enjoy their city’s heritage. With a remarkable team of expert guides, the festival offers urban itineraries and experiences designed to reconnect with local heritage and identity while promoting sustainable mobility. Activities include walking tours, cycling routes, electric scooter rides, metro journeys, and guided shared transportation.

Juan Murua Palacio, Córdoba Music Biennial is an unprecedented space in the country’s music scene. Its stage extends across much of the city and its various spaces, engaging in a fluid exchange of meanings and experiences. It serves as a hub for thought and creative interconnection between industry professionals and citizens alike.

Download the transcripts in English, Spanish and Portugese.

Traditional knowledge and culture has a deep understanding of the crucial connection between community and the preservation of our environment.

Marvin George from Groundwork (Jamaica) discusses how the festival’s masterclasses connect academia and traditional knowledge holders, and Keron Niles from Welcome to Freetown (Trinidad and Tobago) talks about the importance of making traditional knowledge accessible and fun at their family-friendly Carnival event.

Guest speakers

Dr Keron Niles, Welcome to Freetown is Freetown Collective’s annual Carnival festival. Over the years, its safe, communal atmosphere has been loved by patrons. The event offers a unique interpretation of Carnival while staying true to indigenous traditions. With a core audience aged 25-44 who are socially and environmentally conscious, the festival is a space for like-minded individuals. Designed as a family-friendly event, it ensures enjoyment for all ages.

Marvin George, GROUNDWORK festival, (Jamaica). A festival run by Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts’ School of Drama that took place in March 2025. It consists of masterclasses in traditional Caribbean cultural forms including Kumina, an expressive artform celebrating life, death, and spirituality through dance, music, and the Kikongo language; Anansi Storytelling; and Jonkunnu, one of the oldest dance forms in Jamaica.

Episode 3 will be released on Tuesday 13 May.

What challenges do we face when attempting to fix everything at once?

In this episode, Reneé Chalu from The Se Rasgum Festival and Gabriel Cevallos from Kino Beat, unpack the importance of sustainable goal setting for long-term structural change. They share insights on the value of peer sharing with creative networks that face similar economic, social and environmental challenges in the Global South, whilst highlighting the importance of localised efforts to drive positive change.

Guest speakers

Reneé Chalu, The Se Rasgum Festival is a vibrant multicultural platform held annually on the banks of the Guamá River in Belém, in the heart of the Amazon. It showcases the richness of Amazonian and Brazilian music, uniting legendary artists with emerging talents from Pará and beyond. With performances spanning genres from tecnobrega, samba, and carimbó to indie, psychedelia, and funk, the festival fosters bold, unexpected collaborations. It has made multiple environmental improvements including achieving zero waste certification.

Gabriel Cevallos, Kino Beat is a multilingual art festival. With experimental curatorial projects, it presents exhibitions, performances, shows and educational activities, promoting dialogues between art, technologies, ecology and society.

Episode 4 will be released on Tuesday 27 May.

Guest speakers

Oliver Knust, Fluvial is a festival in Valdivia that promotes the development of the Chilean music industry. Through environmental and heritage education activities, it aims to raise awareness and encourage action on the climate emergency caused by the music industry.

Beatriz Cisneros, My First Festival (MPF) is an international film festival in Lima, Peru, that nurtures a love for cinema among children and youth. It incorporates an innovative solar energy program that emphasises accessibility in communities.

Episode 5 will be released on Tuesday 10 June.

Guest speaker

Liliana Núñez Velis, The “Isla Verde” International Caribbean Film and Environment Festival is located on the Isla de la Juventud in Cuba, and proposes turning the space into a hub for attraction, exchange, and networking through training. It is the only festival in Cuba dedicated to professionals in the cultural and creative industries, youth, and the community.

Episode 6 will be released on Tuesday 24 June.