Lisbon, Belém Library
16 Oct, 13 Nov, 11 Dec
2:30pm-5:30pm

16 Oct: Joyce Souza
Acknowledge to transform. Dissonance, denial and paralysis as colonial strategies

13 Nov: Sarah Nagaty
How NOT to become a savior? On the path to true inclusion and equity

11 Dec: Matilde Seabra
The false invisibility of a garden

We continue our reflection on issues related to diversity and inclusion, inviting colleagues with different experiences and points of view to share their thinking and practice. New and different approaches to the issues of cognitive dissonance, discomfort, tokenism, racism, colonialism and the way they affect our practices in the cultural sector and our relationship with society.

Programme

October 16th: Joyce Souza

Acknowledge to transform. Dissonance, denial and paralysis as colonial strategies

The search for coherence between ideologies, discourses and actions is a challenge. Changing behaviors and transforming attitudes are individual processes, but they have poignant consequences for society. The current scenario is catastrophic: colonialism, racism, the imposition of cis-heteronormativity, among other forms of violence, have shaped our experiences. Despite so much information being available, it is clear that there is no clarity on the dimensions of the consequences of these disparities. More than affecting individuals, this way of being in the world announces its own collapse. And why is it that, even with so much information, people ignore what is going on? What fosters this resistance to transform? Where are “absolute truths” created? How can you try to dissolve them? How can art and education contribute to this process? How can I deconstruct myself? At this meeting I wish to present these questions and reflect collectively on how to corrupt the colonial project that is still underway.

November 13: Sarah Nagaty
How NOT to become a savior? On the path to true inclusion and equity

This workshop will address the fine line between inclusion and “tokenism” in the cultural sphere. Tokenism is best defined as a symbolic effort that gives the appearance of equality and inclusion in a specific context. However, in many cases, people involved in cultural and social work are not aware of their practice of tokenism. Furthermore, it often happens that “tokenised” subjects, without realising it, become themselves the first to embrace this position of being a token and reproduce it. While the goal of inclusion and equity in society is in itself a worthy cause, certain forms of implementation can promote unbalanced power relations rather than challenge them.

Through the analysis of different case studies, we will talk about how cultural agents from different minority backgrounds can become tokens and how we can (de)tokenise the concept of inclusion in the cultural and social spheres. What separates true inclusion from tokenism is the long practice of “saving” others. And although being a savior is commonly associated with “whiteness”, the case studies, brought from both Egypt and Portugal, will demonstrate how the need to “save” emerges from the privileges of class and gender, as well as ethnicity. Through this seminar, we will seek to suggest ways of working together, involving different communities, without falling into the trap of “saving” or “tokenising” them.

December 11th: Matilde Seabra

The false invisibility of a garden

THE PING! Gallery Incursion Programme – an educational project of the Porto Municipal Gallery is almost celebrating 4 years of existence. This is the time to celebrate what has been done in a cycle of seminars on Diversity and Inclusion. The presentation will share two programmes – An Elephant at the Crystal Palace, which was externally curated in 2021- and Elephant’s Memory. Both designed from the place where the Gallery is located, carried, although invisibly, by the legacy of the First Portuguese Colonial Exhibition that took place in the gardens of Crystal Palace, in 1934. The ex-libris was a large sculpture of an elephant, displayed at the top of the Crystal Palace, at the time called Palace of the Colonies. Paying hommage to the elephant as a symbolic animal with a great capacity to retain and transmit knowledge, the educational programme revisits the material culture, archives and colonial reminiscences associated with the city of Porto through workshops, routes and conversations, with artists, activists and educators with the aim to discuss the implications and marks of colonialism.