Dili – (6th of December 2023), Centro Nacional Chega! I.P. worked with Venu Association to organize the Cultural Festival of Popular Resistance with the theme of “War, Memory, and Trauma to Hope” for 4 days from 07th – 10th of December 2023 in Dili.
The Cultural Festival of Popular Resistance is a public event demonstrating the various contemporary artistic creativity explored the psychological effects of the war on the daily lives of Timorese or human beings were born with the past war and violence memories in their mind.”
This festival is artistic creativity demonstrated through “painting, installation or projection, sculpture, theater, poems, monologue, experimental music or the combination among various artistic forms creating art performance appearing a magic effect.” It is a public event that includes the market on culinary, craftsmanship, creative arts, free entertainment, or music concerts and educational activities (for children) on arts and relevant subjects.
The principal purpose of the Festival of Cultural Resistance is to contribute to the peacebuilding and reconciliation process to reach the goal of Centro Chega! means that societies will never repeat past violence.
The three stages of activities implemented at this festival will create a healing effect consisting of Memory, Scar, and Hope Stages. Besides, among those stages, the Free Stage will be set up as well (busking area) and playground area for children.
The Cultural Festival of Popular Resistance participants are the survivors and victims of the past conflict, youths, students from secondary to university levels, general communities, creative economic groups, craftsmanship groups, artists groups, international tourists, academics, diplomats, government officers, and civil societies.
The Cultural Festival of Popular Resistance is a part of the Integrated Memorialization Program as a cultural approximation through collective memory presentation with creative means in various artistic forms that can be reflective and didactic spaces to build peace and reconciliation. It will commence on the 7th of December 2023 as the National Day Memory of Human Rights.
(Media CNC)
