Cultural Week of Action Projects

The Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy is an exciting opportunity to join with others across the country who are committed to leveraging arts and culture to advance a just, multiracial democracy. We hope you’ll join us as a part of this important new initiative!

Join an already planned event. You can find an event near you using the map below.
Interested in hosting your own event or activity as part of the Cultural Week of Action? We’d love to feature it! Please fill out this form to add your project to the map!

We are excited to sponsor select projects to encourage deep, bold, and long-term change. Through a competitive process, 14 local communities that represent the diversity of our country received funding for cultural organizers and community partners to design and implement projects that align with the theme of Building the Bigger We.

To learn more about this year’s supported projects, please take a look at our map (note: supported projects are noted with an asterisk *).

Project Name

Host Organization

Project Description

This is a description of your activity associated with your project. If you have multiple activities, you may indicate that here.

Date and Time

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In-Person

Online

Location

For online projects, please include the city and state most closely related to your project.

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City/Town

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ZIP/Postal Code

Online Location

Link Title

This identifies to the user how they will be participating (e.g. "Website" "Zoom" "Facebook")

Link URL

Registration

Registration or ticket link.

Public Contact Information

You may provide a method for interested parties to learn more about your event.

Contact Name

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National Event

Race Forward and Americans for the Arts are excited to host our national kick-off event for the Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy in St. Louis this year! Join us on Friday, September 27th from 6:00 - 10:00pm for an evening of performances, arts and culture, and conversation. We’ll discuss how people are leveraging arts and culture to expand our understanding of democracy and racial justice, and new possibilities for a collective future that centers our values. And we’ll preview what’s to come over the week of action by highlighting ways that local communities are engaging in this exciting inaugural initiative.

The event will include a live performance from the band Gangstagrass, as well as other local artists and creatives! We can’t wait to celebrate with you! More details will be available on the website as they’re confirmed. Sign up to receive email updates.

International Projects

Brazil

Coletivo criação - Poesia e criação

Na vibrante cidade do Rio de Janeiro, comunidades marcadas pela vulnerabilidade enfrentam uma série de desafios socioambientais, violência e acesso limitado à educação cultural e investimento em iniciativas locais. Essa realidade cria um vazio significativo na produção e no acesso à cultura e à arte, particularmente para os talentos emergentes das periferias.

Um dos impactos mais visíveis desse cenário é a invisibilidade enfrentada por produtores, artistas e criadores de cultura, que muitas vezes ficam à margem devido a essas adversidades. Para enfrentar essa realidade e oferecer uma solução concreta, o nosso coletivo de criação acredita que é crucial garantir que esses artistas tenham a oportunidade de brilhar e expor seus talentos. Nossa proposta visa proporcionar uma plataforma para esses talentos, permitindo-lhes a apresentação de suas obras com alta qualidade em formato de vídeo para as redes sociais.

O projeto consiste na gravação de apresentações artísticas, roteirizadas pela nossa equipe com a colaboração dos próprios artistas. Essas apresentações podem incluir poesia, contação de histórias, dança ou stand-up, todas realizadas no ambiente cotidiano dos artistas. Esse formato destaca a perspectiva única de cada artista sobre o seu espaço de vida, revelando a riqueza cultural e a complexidade das experiências de jovens artistas negros oriundos das favelas e periferias.

Reconhecemos a importância da diversidade de gênero e raça para uma representação fiel e abrangente das narrativas das periferias. Nosso projeto não apenas dá visibilidade a essas histórias, mas também assegura que todas as vozes e perspectivas sejam ouvidas e valorizadas.

Em setembro, teremos o prazer de exibir todos os episódios gravados e os já agendados na Casa de Cultura Centro Afrocarioca de Cinema, com uma programação que destaca artistas das zonas norte e oeste do Rio de Janeiro. Esta será uma oportunidade para celebrar e reconhecer o talento local, promovendo uma rica troca cultural e fortalecendo a presença dessas vozes essenciais na cena artística da cidade.

When: 28/09/2024 - 18:00

Where: R. Joaquim Silva, 40 - Lapa, Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 20241-110
Rio de Janeiro, Armed Forces Americas. 21512002

More Information

Finland

Kino Caisa: You Resemble Me / Film by Dina Amer | United States, France, Egypt | 2022 | 91’

Kino Caisa organizes a series of carefully programmed screenings to impulse film as a significant instrument for cultural stimulation and social cohesion.

Kino Caisa promotes cinematic diversity with a varied program to activate Helsinki’s cultural practices and identity. Kino Caisa is a communal experience, a central player in social development, and a clear indicator of quality life for the community.

Movies are shown every Tuesday at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. There will also be movie events, which will be announced in more detail separately. The movies are either in English or subtitled in English.

When: Tue 1 October at 2pm and 6pm

Where: In-Person
Cultural Centre Caisa / Caisan Auditorio, Kaikukatu 4 B, Helsinki

Changing landscapes – Look of the other / Exhibition curated by Elif Erdoğan and Remi Vesala

A landscape is not merely a view, but rather a combination of picturesque elements such as trees, flowers, and rivers, as well as our desires, hopes, realities, and relationships.
Sometimes it can even resemble a dream or a reminiscence of the conditions in which we thrive or barely survive.

Landscape exists within us, as humans, in the multiplicity of our being and existence. Taking this aspect of being which is characterized by its transcendence as it is not limited to a static essence but is constantly in the process of becoming, the exhibition asks: what are the conditions in which we can flourish? What kind of diverse, lush landscapes can we dream and make into being?

The exhibition invites artists to reflect on these questions through their trans, nonbinary and queer identities, and across various times and geographical locations.

When: Fri 4 October – 1 November

Where: In-Person
Cultural Centre Caisa / Caisan Galleria UUSI, Kaikukatu 4 B, Helsinki

Learn More

Today My Cat Died / Premiere of the Play directed by Gil Hoz-Klemme Host Organization: Cultural Centre Caisa

Autofictional coming-of-age story about a girl navigating her relationship with her own queer sexuality, personal identity, family dynamics, and, most prominently, death – in a series of episodes conveyed through the life and perception of her cat.

Staging includes a mix of live music, performance, and digital animation.

The play written in 2021 received multiple awards in Russia, including the prestigious Lubimovka New Dramaturgy Festival Award. It has been staged in various cities across Russia, however, the text underwent severe censorship due to its exploration of queer and political themes, and as a result was cut and re-written without the consent of the author. This production is an attempt to restore the narrative and tell the story in the way it was intended for the first time. In terms of inclusion, even though it is a deeply personal story, it portrays quite a universal experience of sexual/gender/national identity search and acceptance, coming to terms with mortality and learning to live and love no matter what.

In the current circumstances, the play also deals with Russian immigrant diaspora in Helsinki – the core of the production creative team for this performance deliberately consists of Russian immigrant artists who had to flee the country due to their political beliefs.

When: Fri 4 October at 7pm

Where: In-Person
Cultural Centre Caisa / Caisan Sali, Kaikukatu 4 B, Helsinki

Global Club Nights: Musase Quintet and Skatterheads Ltd

Global Club Nights (GCN) is a club series where people who deal and work with music gather with those who love and enjoy it, to celebrate and create a safe, inclusive and creative environment. Tonight we’ll meet Musase Quintet and Skatterheads Ltd!
The aim of the clubs is to create a safe, inclusive and creative environment and build bridges between all music lovers and their communities. The events aim to build bridges between all music lovers and their communities. Kanneltalo cultural centre produces Global Club Nights (GCN) evenings in cooperation with the Sibelius Academy’s Global Music study programme.

When: Fri 4 October at 6 pm

Where: In-Person
Cultural Centre Kanneltalo, Klaneettitie 5, Helsinki Registration or ticket link: Free entry

Musase Quintet Skatterheads Ltd (kanneltalo.fi) 

IV International Queerlesque Festival in Helsinki Host Organization: We Are Queerlesque

Welcome to a world-class festival full of Burlesque, Circus, Drag and Queerness! In this festival you will see some of the most mesmerising and breath-taking performances from all around the world. On the grand stage of Savoy theatre, combined with our stunning and professional decorations and light, we will bring you the most spectacular stage of Queer art in Finland. Our project has always been a platform to empower the community - the LGBT+ and the POC. So, come join us to make positive change to our society through this Queer art project!

When: Fri 4 October at 8pm

Where: In-Person
The Savoy Theatre, Kasarmikatu 46-48, Helsinki

Learn More

Organizing Partners

Race Forward and Americans for the Arts (AFTA) are grateful to our organizational partners for their support in bringing the Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy to life. We know that collaboration and deep partnership are necessary to bring about long-term change.

These organizations are leveraging their networks to expand and deepen the project’s impact, and are offering thought partnership and leadership on various aspects of the initiative. Interested in partnering with us? Reach out to [email protected] to see how your organization can get engaged.

See below for a full list of our organizing partners: