Stories from and

10 Documentaries on South American Music to Watch Online

  22 January 2014

Nick MacWilliam from the blog Sounds and Colours has compiled a list of 10 documentaries, “looking at all manner of musical styles and movements from the region, with films focused on Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and Venezuela.” This list makes no attempt to rank the films, nor does it...

Understanding Human Rights in Portuguese-Speaking Countries

  15 January 2014

[All links lead to Portuguese language pages, except where otherwise stated] The Portuguese language version of the educational manual for human rights “Understanding Human Rights” is available online. The website provides the complete manual in pdf format or divided into chapters, as well as training material, bibliographical references and institutional information specifically aimed at...

25 Influential Brazilian Black Women Online

  10 January 2014

The website Blogueiras Negras (Black Bloggers, in the feminine), has created a list of the 25 most influential Brazilian black women on the Internet [pt]. The list includes human rights advocates, journalists, writers, researchers, feminists, urban artists and more, besides individual and collective blogs and Facebook pages that fight for gender...

“Beyond Brazil”: European Journalists Wanted for Reporting Trips

  21 December 2013

Coolpolitics in Portugal announces [pt] an open call for European journalists who want to go on a reporting trip to Brazil in 2014. Twenty-one young reporters from Portugal, The Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, United Kingdom and Bulgaria will be selected to take part of three different groups that will cover events in Brazil,...

Brazil: Do You Admire Mandela? Then Support Human Rights

  10 December 2013

A banner paying homage to Nelson Mandela takes on the unanimous popularity of the South-African leader in Brazil to call those who admire his legacy to support human rights. The message was spread by the non-governmental organization Conectas Human Rights in the International Human Rights Day, 10 December 2013. “Do...

Blogging the Simple and Impossible Task of Literary Translation

  2 December 2013

British writer, editor and translator Daniel Hahn is blogging his progress as he translates Blue Flowers, a novel by Brazilian writer Carola Saavedra, from Portuguese into English, a process that “is both simple and impossible”: So over these next couple of months I’m going to try to articulate what for me are the delights...

Brazilian Activists Meet in Free Media Week in Rio de Janeiro

  25 November 2013

A series of debates and workshops dedicated to the democratization of the media, digital radio, cryptography and surveillance, among other digital activism issues, starts tomorrow, November 26, in Rio de Janeiro. The Semana de Mídias Livres (Free Media Week) [pt] gathers three events in one until November 30: the second international conference Spectrum,...

Scientists from Around the World Gather in Brazil

  24 November 2013

The World Science Forum (WSF) gathers hundreds of scientists from all around the world this week in Brazil, to discuss their role in the 21st century and to emphasize the importance of scientific advice in political and economical decisions. Brazil has hosted several events to discuss poverty eradication and sustainable...

Brazilian “Wikicity” Travels to the World Forum for Democracy

  23 November 2013

Known as “the capital of participatory democracy”, the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre will become subject for a lab in the World Forum for Democracy. Focus will be given to the case of PortoAlegre.cc, a project created at the University of Vale do Rio dos Sinos (Unisinos) which is based on...

Painting an Entire Favela in Rio de Janeiro

  5 November 2013

The dream of painting an entire favela in Rio de Janeiro is closer to become real now that the crowdfunding campaign launched by two Dutch artists in September has come to an end with over 100,000 US dollars raised for paint and painters. When Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn started the...

Documentary Explores 90s Rap Culture in Sao Paulo

  30 October 2013

Through interviews and archival footage, the documentary “Sabotage Nós” (We Sabotage), available to watch online, presents important moments of Sao Paulo's rap music in the 90s. The film tells the story of the release of the album “Rap é compromisso” (Rap Is Commitment), Sabotage's debut album. Sabotage was an important...

16 Books on Latin American Street Art

  23 October 2013

In Latin America, street art is of major cultural relevance. The region’s traditions of social movements and revolution have allowed the form to give voice to otherwise unheard sectors of the population. Of course, not all street art is politically or socially-oriented in content, but it does often provide insight...

Brazil and Germany Debate ‘Democracy in the Digital Era’

  16 October 2013

Experts and scholars from Germany and Brazil will get together at a symposium to discuss Democracy in the Digital Era [pt] from October 17 to 18, 2013 in Salvador, the capital of the Brazilian state of Bahia. The event will be broadcast live via video stream. In the morning of the...

Re-Imagining Lusophony and Decolonizing the Mind

  11 October 2013

The Fourth International Congress in Cultural Studies – Colonialisms, Post-colonialisms and Lusophonies has a call for paper submissions open until October 15, 2013 November 15, 2013 [deadline has been extended]: To demystify, to dehierarchize, to establish a policy of difference, to allow a multiplicity of voices, to constitute so many projects of possible modernities/rationalities...

VIDEO: Lend Your Voice to a Dead Poet

  11 October 2013

A project by Brazilian poetry magazine Modo de Usar & Co. [pt] invites poetry lovers from around the world to read out loud their favorite authors and submit the footage of their readings on YouTube. The project is called “Lend your voice to a dead poet”. Most of the poems are in...

Brazil's Cyberculture Has a New Book

  8 October 2013

A new book on cyberactivism and mobilization on social networks, @ Internet e # Rua (The Internet and the Street) [pt] has been launched in Brazil.  The authors, cyber activists and scholars Fabio Malini (@fabiomalini), from the Federal University of Espírito Santo, and Henrique Antoun (@antounh), from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, sum...

Brazilian President Calls for Global Respect of Net Neutrality at the UN

  25 September 2013

Net neutrality, privacy and human rights were in focus on Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff's speech (pdf) at the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly, on September 24, 2013. The leader said that UN needs to establish international protections for Internet users from spying and announced Brazil's intention to prepare a proposal...

Social Media Week Discusses Principles for a Collaborative World

  23 September 2013

Social Media Week, a worldwide event which “brings people, brands and organizations together to explore how we connect and communicate as a society”, starts today, September 23, 2013. In the second edition of this year's global conference, with the cities of Berlin, Bogotá, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Mumbai, São Paulo and Toronto...