Art Festivals: Sparks for Change, Inclusivity, and Social justice
Art festivals can act as powerful catalysts for change, uniting artists and audiences to tackle injustice and celebrate diversity. By shedding light on the challenges faced by marginalised communities, festivals amplify their voices and foster mutual understanding. Explore some festivals featured on FestivalFinder.eu dedicated to this mission and see how they put it into action to create a more open, welcoming, and responsible society.
TAF - Thessaloniki Animation Festival
21 Oct - 30 Oct 2023 / Thessaloniki, Greece
Since 2015, the Thessaloniki Animation Festival (TAF) is the only festival of its kind in North Greece. It engages with a plethora of subjects through the lens of education, culture, and the art of animation.
The goal is for artists to get in touch with fresh projects and prestigious professionals, so they can better understand the international animation industry. Most of all, the annual advocated ideal is accessibility and non-exclusion. The screenings, workshops and other activities that occur during the festival have free entry and there is access for people with limited mobility. For this reason, events are held on different dates every year aside from the usual festivals' dates so more people can participate.
Photo credits: TAF Facebook page
Dance Forms - Portraits of Contemporary Choreographers from the African Continent
26 Oct - 25 Nov 2023 / Dresden, Germany
What styles and influences characterise contemporary dance? Building upon the 2022/23 season's edition of Tanzformen, which focused on the German dance scene, this season at HELLERAU features works by artists and companies operating between their African countries of origin and Europe. These figures stand as some of the most influential dancers in the contemporary international scene.
Local and cultural contexts of the artistic works significantly shape their aesthetics while simultaneously addressing global themes. Choreographers amalgamate tradition with modernity as they explore novel avenues of expression. They are deeply committed to socially under-served communities, forging solidarity structures, and critically examining their roles and responsibilities as artists.
Photo credits: HELLERAU website
IMPAKT Festival 2023: Our Terms, Our Conditions
1st Nov - 5th Nov 2023 / Utrecht, Netherlands
In this pivotal moment, the global community, encompassing smartphone users, internet enthusiasts, and tech consumers, is uniting to advocate for digital rights. This movement seeks to eliminate perplexing user agreements and ensure transparency regarding the use of cookies that track user activity.
IMPAKT Festival 2023 serves as a platform for exploring how individuals, as digital consumers, can regain sovereignty over their data and bolster their influence over the technologies on which they heavily rely. This festival represents an engaging nexus for open dialogues, uniting audiences, politicians, artists, and subject matter experts.The resounding call to action seeks to shift the paradigm, effecting a transformation from Big Tech to Fair Tech. Attendees are invited to participate in this journey of reshaping the digital landscape, ultimately reinforcing individual empowerment.
Photo credits: IMPAKT Facebook Page
IPAF - International Queer Performance Festival
04 Mar - 10 Mar 2024 / Copenhagen, Denmark
IPAF is a biannual performance festival curated and produced by Warehouse9. The festival presents work that engages with identity politics, sexual expressions and body representations and is based on the belief that performance can provide different perspectives and ways to understand reality, inspire collective imagining and advocate for better and more just futures.
Warehouse9 is a multidisciplinary arts and performance organisation that supports the development and presentation of work and ideas by LGBTQIA+ artists and arts workers. The festival is WH9’s curatorial output and aims to create an annual gathering for local and international queer performance, discussion and activism. The festival’s purpose is as a connector. Gathering a diverse community of local and international artists, cultural practitioners and audiences around work made by queer artists. Connecting people, places, work and ideas.
Photo credits: IPAF website
