keynote
speakers
Discover the trailblazers headlining our conference, sharing insights that will inspire and ignite transformative conversations.
KIHIMA KANYANGI
Filmmaker (Graphic Designer, 2D Animator, Production Designer)
Kanyangi Kihima is a Kenyan Filmmaker and Digital Visual Artist, with a specialty in Production Design, Graphic Design and 2D Animation. He holds a BA in Film and Theatre arts from Kenyatta University an MA in Film and Theatre arts from Kenyatta University and is currently undertaking a PhD in Film Studies (Animation) at Kenyatta University. He is a Tutorial Fellow in the department of Communication, Media, Film and Theatre Studies. He has actively worked in the Kenyan film and theatre industry for over 10 years.
He has also worked on more than 20 films in Kenya, animated films as well as more than 15 theatre productions. Other than that, he has also mentored young filmmakers in Nairobi as well as lecturing film courses at Kenyatta University, KCA University and African Film and Television Talent Training Institute, activities that have added on his leadership prowess and networking skills.
His areas of interest in research include 2D animation, production design, character design and directing.
He believes in art as a tool for the betterment and preservation of the African origin and history.
Coletivo Afrontosas
The Colectivo Afrontosas (Afrontosas Collective) is a Cultural Association that was born out of meetings of black/racialized cuír people linked to the world of the arts, education and celebration, motivated by the absence of projects that reflect on the importance of the black cuír of the diaspora in Portugal in confluence with migratory transits from Latin America, Africa and other regions.
One of Afrontosas' objectives is to foster, promote and disseminate the artistic and educational production of black/racialized cuír artists in order to create intersectional spaces for debate and dialogue between cultural agents at national and international level.
We fight against structural racism in the art sector in order to make the artistic field in Portugal more diverse in terms of representation and diversity.
The Collective works in five areas: Art and Research; Hosting and Ancestry; Consulting and Teaching; Culture and Celebration and Lifestyle and Fashion Design.
Taylor McCue
Taylor McCue is an indie video-game developer, responsible for the creation of the award-winning game "He Fucked the Girl Out of Me", a semi-autobiographical narrative regarding her experience as a transsexual woman who, following economic hardship, finds herself pushed into the world of “sugar dating”. The game, presented as an assemblage of McCue’s recollections of life in the sex-trade, point, not only to her personal history, but to the larger issues of isolation, stigma and economic precarity that transgender people cope with within society.
Paula Lovely
Paula Lovely is a heroine emerging from a Queer body and her work stems from reflections on contemporaneity matured as much in her activist years as in her life-long musical and artistic journey.
Although her figure crosses different artistic languages, music is her first love, the one you never forget.
Singer, songwriter and LGBTQIA+ activist, Paula Lovely was born at night, in a Lisbon bar. Since then, she wrote music, founded a band, broke into the world of culture, became a Pride Goddess, did performance art and appeared on big screens.
Francesco Spaggiari
Francesco Spaggiari is an artist, Eufonia director, music producer and a creator with a career in electronic music and live performances. The interaction between various cultural stimuli, his studies in communication and his endless curiosity for psychology and perception were an invitation to step out from doing only musical production, and in the last few years, francesco also created or collaborated in various projects, both in the scientific and artistic field, from neuroscience to astrophysics. He enjoys the challenge of creating "instruments" that empower our and other societies, that are beautiful, and that inspire cooperation.