“At first I thought I was fighting to save the rubber trees.
Then I thought I was fighting to save the Amazon rainforest.
Now I realize that I’m fighting for humanity.”
Chico Mendes

For the health of our planet, it is urgent to protect the Amazon and partner with the guardians who are actively taking care of the forest. At Meli, we understand the first step to support a region is to understand the local context and listen to the local voices to find more about the local challenges and learn about the potential ways to lead positive impact.

We invite you to listen to the Amazon Voices in some of the most endangered areas of the region. This event will re-signify the region previously known as arc of deforestation and focus on the creation of an Arc of Regeneration in the Brazilian states Maranhão and Pará.

The I International Decolonial Journey – Focus Region: Amazon Arc of Regeneration has this goal: invite you, in many different locations across the globe, to connect and learn about the focus region. And the local communities will be our guides in this journey.

Preliminary Program

During the event, 5 topics will guide our activities:

#Journey: Learn about some of the most endangered areas of the Amazon –and see the activities helping this area to flourish again!
#AmazonVoices: Bring Amazonian voices to the center of the conversation.
#Decolonize: Let’s build, together, a decolonial mindset.
#Nature: Find ways to connect with the nature around you.
#Connect: Connect with the other participants and feel engaged in the event.

Some of the Activities:

  • Picture Exhibition

To understand a place, it’s important to see it with the eyes of the people who knows it best. That’s why we invited amateur photographers from the region to share their favourite pictures with us and show their view of the place and the life in the region, together with a short text about it. Amazing images came to us!
To help us with the difficult mission of judging all these amazing pictures, we invited the photographers: Edgar Kanaykõ, Julio Magalhães, Magno Barros, Nubia Suriane and Olinda Yawar Wanderley. Independently, each one of them gave points to the received pictures connected with Pará em Maranhão.
We invite you now to see the 12 pictures with the most points according to the judges, and the names and texts of each one of the photographers.

  • Movie Pureza (about it here and on our blog here)

“Modern slavery”, the tool that made the barbaric invasion of the Amazon possible, which happened particularly strongly in the so-called “arc of deforestation”. Crimes perpetrated against human rights have allowed crimes against the environment to take place (which once again affect human rights globally). This is the scenario portrayed during the film “Pureza” (a personal name also with the meaning of “purity”), a production of Gaya Filmes and Ligocki Entretenimento, directed by Renato Barbieri, produced by Marcus Ligocki Jr. and with the actress Dira Paes in the main role.

  • Movie Colônia Gurupi

The construction of the Belém-Brasilia highway takes workers to Maranhão to offer a “progress” based on the destruction of the Amazonian forest. In this context the Gurupi Colony was started, near Açailândia, Maranhão. Let’s learn about this story by listening to who was part of it?
The directors, Zeca Carvalho and Arnoldo Arnoh, are also going to join the call after the movie!

  • Cobra Venenosa concert

Amazonian culture keeps the forest alive and one can feel that during the concert from “Cobra Venenosa” – the group emerged in 2016 in the alternative and popular Amazonian culture scene, uniting the roots of the “Carimbó pau e corda” (traditional Amazonian rhythm) with lyrics of great social weight, highlighting the anti-racist struggle, against homophobia and supporting female empowerment. Come to see this very special concert!
Priscila Duque, the lead singer, will join us after the concert. I also invited Imira, from Cacuria / Laborarte (São Luís-Maranhão) to join the conversation about the local dance and culture.

Event Locations

The event will be decentralised and happen in many different locations.
Check if one of the locations is close to you:

Locations at Focus Areas

Curionópolis-PA
Barreirinhas-MA
Arame-MA
São Luís-MA
Bacabeira-MA
Caxias-MA
Arari-MA

Other Locations

Ochsenhausen (DE)
Munich (DE)
Freiburg (DE)
Düsseldorf (DE)
Uppsala (SE)
Paris (FR)
Ohio (US)
Lisbon (PT)
Amsterdam (NL)

Are you interested on leading one event in a new location? Reach us at: hello@meli-bees.org

Parceiros

Check the partners who made this event possible: