Events

There are over 500 native languages spoken in Nigeria, two of the main being Yoruba and Igbo. In this connection to Lagos, the most populous city in Africa, hear from poets who write in a number of these languages. Listen for the similarities and differences in each language, explore the poetic forms at work, and learn about some of the country's prolific poets! Three iconic Nigerian poets are joined by DC poet and performer Charity Blackwell in performance and dialogue!

The DIVERCITIES series in collaboration between Planet Word and Shared_Studios explores the relationship between language and city. Through transformative conversations with comedians, poets, artists, journalists, educators and activists, we uncover what it means to live in a particular city, what it stands for, values, and how our understandings and misunderstandings with urban spaces are formed. How do cities shape the ways in which we communicate? How do we communicate about a particular city? What words are unique to our city? And, how do others understand our cities through the language used to communicate its identity to the rest of the world?

Each month, we will feature a creative avenue for words and language among cities in the Portal network. These moderated conversations are a chance to delve deeply into the similarities and differences of art forms in diverse cities. See below for program details and registration information. All programs are free.

Divercities: Global Poetry Share

Over the past several months, public transit use has plummeted globally as people have been avoiding buses and trains for fear of contracting COVID-19. As populations emerge from quarantine seeking safety and control over their health, car travel threatens to become a more popular post-pandemic travel mode. Cities around the world, from Stockholm to Mexico City to Brooklyn, are taking the lead with creative car-mitigation measures, from expanding biking infrastructure to reducing space and access allotted to cars. Join sustainability experts and mobility designers in pedestrianizing cities globally for an inspiring conversation exploring how innovating transit can help communities imagine new possibilities for the future of urban mobility.

The Future of Urban Mobility

Safe public spaces are needed now more than ever. As a post-lockdown cities edge into view, communities around the world are being forced to reimagine ways to use the places we share. In this conversation, Denver audiences will engage with innovative educators in the US, and creatives in the Netherlands reimagining music venues about the role public spaces play in daily life and as a tool for creating community. How are local activists responding to and rethinking safe public space? What makes a safe, compelling, and inclusive public space - and how does public space demonstrate an invaluable capacity for community building and engagement?

Creating Inspiring Public Spaces

In the era of COVID-19, people around the world are rethinking how they travel and move through the world. In the U.S., trailer hitches are sold out nationwide and it’s nearly impossible to find an RV rental. As we reimagine how people move around their cities, hear from innovative and unique global voices, from boaters in Gaza to rikshaw drivers in NYC, who are finding creative and exuberant ways to navigate the world. Conversation topics include how people move through spaces of occupation, the impact of limited mobility on mental health, and how city leaders can reimagine their own urban infrastructure to counter limitations on the free movement of peoples.

Re-Imagining Movement

In this virtual music + conversation series, join Milwaukee Portal Curator and Global Hip Hop Continuum series host Lewis Lee as he tours the hip hop hot spots around the world from Rwanda to Mexico. As a rapper, producer, and lyricist, Lewis engages artists from around the world for performances, conversation on the hip hop scenes in their communities, and interactive creative workshops. First stop, Erbil, Iraq, where Lewis will meet rapper Rami Khalaf aka MC Rami for a deep dive into the Iraqi rap underground. Lewis and Rami will be joined in conversation by Jeffrey Tribble, Executive Director of the Musicianship, an organization committed to changing lives by facilitating music lessons, experiences, and opportunities to benefit those who need us most.

Shared_Studios: Global Hip Hop Consortium

Join fearless muralists and graffiti artists from around the world for a global dialogue on the power of street art as a mode of civic engagement, an exercise in freedom of expression, and a channel to tell stories of a community. While we may not be able to roam the streets of our cities for great works of street art, learn from these artists on how they stay engaged with their creative practices in 2020.

Street Art Around the World

In this laugh-packed connection, join comedians from Kigali, the Netherlands and D.C. for a global comedy-share. These unique talents from across the globe share a quick 5-minute comedy set and a panel conversation on the comedic landscapes of their cities, and how to sustain and support independent comics during the era of COVID-19.

The Universal Language of Comedy

Throughout history, communities have turned to music to express frustrations, challenge existing systems, and bring people together to heal. In this conversation we connect musicians around the world, from Mexico City to Uganda, who use their voices, literally, and figuratively, to challenge the status quo. Language through song is a unique and meaningful way to create change; this event explores the power and limits of using art in this way.

The Language of Change: Music and Activism

In 1994, the Hutu-led government of Rwanda led a systematic campaign to wipe out members of the Tutsi minority. At first, the perpetrators were tied to the government, but ultimately, thousands of ordinary people took part in the killing. Instigated by radio propaganda, people slaughtered their own friends and neighbors, wiping out three quarters of the Tutsi population. Today, Musekeweya (New Dawn), a fictional Rwandan radio soap opera, aims to reclaim radio, build peace in the post-genocide country and empower groups to heal and foster empathy. In this interactive event, creators of Musekeweya will meet Afghan influencers fighting Islamic extremist propaganda, as well as cultural leaders in DC to understand how the language of propaganda works to infiltrate our belief systems and explore how it can be used to promote unity over division.

The Language of Propaganda

In the midst of a global pandemic, health messages are thrown at us from all angles, from top-down messaging from government agencies, to signs telling you to wash your hands and social distance, to advertisements asking you to buy a mask. This interactive event will bring in PPE producers in Bamako, Mali, Communications Professors who study disaster preparedness and NIH leaders in DC to break down where information comes from, how it’s communicated, and how to know what to trust.

The Language of Health Messaging

Language is one of the most powerful tools for sparking creative thinking and imagination; the questions we ask ourselves shape the possibilities we are able to explore. Design thinking and speculative design methodologies inspire people to create innovative solutions, with questions such as “What if?” and “How Might We?” to guide the process. The semantics of these questions are important: the ‘how’ part assumes there are solutions out there; the ‘might’ leaves room for possibilities; and the ‘we’ part assumes collaboration. This interactive workshop will explore the language behind innovation with futures thinkers from around the world who are using language to investigate the futures we want to build and the futures we want to avoid. Put these methodologies into action and learn how to imagine and create a better future.

Language and Innovation: What if language could create the future?

Join us for the first info session held for the Doha Debates Ambassador Program 2021. Hear more about the how the Doha Debates Ambassador Program will work and what to expect from it, and come prepared with questions for our open Q&A session. This is your chance to know everything there is to know about this unique opportunity! 

Doha Debates Ambassador Program: Info Session May 11th

Join us for the first info session held for the Doha Debates Ambassador Program 2021. Hear more about the how the Doha Debates Ambassador Program will work and what to expect from it, and come prepared with questions for our open Q&A session. This is your chance to know everything there is to know about this unique opportunity!

Doha Debates Ambassador Program: Info Session May 24th

As gender binaries are deconstructed and reconstructed, the language used to communicate gender identity has become more complex. While many communities are challenging the traditional gender binary, others are passing legislation that codifies that binary into law. This interactive conversation brings together experts on gender and communication, transgendered political activists from Mexico City to New York City to explore the language of gender, how we might challenge the barriers between gender identity and gender presentation, and the ways in which language permits and restricts gender-based expression.

Planet Word x Shared Studios: Breaking Barriers-The Language of Gender Identity

Code-switching — the practice of shifting the languages you use or the way you express yourself in your conversations — is something that many people around the world do consciously and/or subconsciously as they move through different environments and communities. From Sudanese refugees living in a settlement with 170 other nationalities, to Afghan women navigating the tensions of tradition and modernization, this interactive conversation explores a variety of socio-cultural contexts and the ways in which people use language to navigate multiple worlds

Planet Word x Shared Studios: Code Switching Between Worlds

Communicating ideas from one language to another is both an art and a science. While translators are meant to be a bridge  for people speaking different languages to communicate with one another, it is a challenge to remove oneself when translating meaning. In this interactive conversation, speak with a variety of translators, from technical and creative translation to the use of technology  to understand the challenges and surprises of connecting people across languages. Why is translation important and why is it especially important to “get it right?” How does translating medical jargon differ from the artistic practice of poetic translation? What is the role of technology in translation and what does that mean for human translators? Join us to explore the bridges and the barriers of language translation!


Planet Word x Shared Studios: Lost and Found in Translation

Contrary to what many believe, sign language is not a universal language. Deaf cultures around the world have translated their languages into embodied language, resulting in a myriad of global sign languages. Additionally, although deaf communities do not hear, they have found unique ways to express music through sign language. In this exciting virtual event, connect with signers from Brazil, Berlin, and Washington D.C. to learn how to sign songs in different languages and understand the ways in which they translate the meaning, rhythm, and melody of music into movement and signed expression.