Five Argentine cultural festivals have received awards from the British Council’s Circular Culture program, which encourages cultural exchange between the United Kingdom and Argentina through arts, culture and the promotion of environmental sustainability at festivals.
The five winners are: Festival Guateque Soundz, International Human Rights Film Festival (FICDH), ANIMA2024 — 14th International Animation Festival in Córdoba, Arte x Igual Festival, and Federal Celebration of Children and Youth Orchestras. They will receive up to 10,000 British pounds (US$12,982), depending on the size of the event, to promote interculturality in the development of environment-friendly actions. They will also receive training opportunities with British experts.
Created in 2021, the program has already given awards to 65 cultural festivals in more than 30 cities in Latin America. It aims to boost sustainable transition in the cultural sector to reduce environmental impact and incorporate eco-efficient solutions in cultural and artistic festivals. The selection criteria also included equality, diversity and inclusion to foster a more diverse cultural sector, according to the British Council’s announcement.
“Our goal is to develop inclusive programs and projects that bring together people with different experiences and backgrounds,” said María García Holley, the British Council’s Regional Director of Arts for the Americas. “We hope this enriches everyone’s experiences and, ultimately, leads to societies with higher inclusion and awareness of our impact and work with the environment,” she added.
The five Argentine winners are:
Festival Guateque Soundz (Buenos Aires): An independent musical project with interventions by visual artists, VJs, an entrepreneurs’ fair, food stands and workshops. The 2025 edition of the festival will be held in its street format, featuring a live music performance by British artist Soom T. The festival encourages attendees to arrive by public transport or bicycle, and provides a space for recreational sports.
International Human Rights Film Festival (FICDH) (Buenos Aires and Mendoza): The first human rights film festival in Latin America, which has already had 20 editions. For the 2024 and 2025 summer editions, the programming will feature creative studio ClimateCulture as a guest curator, addressing global issues shared by the UK and Argentina. At the Ignite Session, interactive workshops will be offered to inspire environmental actions in the culture sector and provide practical tools and initiatives to foster climate engagement.
ANIMA2024 – 14th International Córdoba Animation Festival (Córdoba): One of the main animation events in Argentina and Latin America. The 2024 edition will screen two special programs of animated short films: “Endangered Biodiversity” and “Memories of the Earth”. There will also be a “trash animation” workshop about the use of recycled materials and objects for stop motion animation by British director Ainslie Henderson.
Festival Arte x Igual (Bariloche): International Art Festival for People with Disabilities. It will be held from May to November 2025 in Bariloche, Río Negro. The 2025 edition will feature inaugural conferences on the cultural contributions of people with disabilities, with participation of British organization Outside. There will also be a special day for planting native trees in areas hit by wildfire in the Nahuel Huapi National Park, to reduce the carbon footprint generated by the participants’ air travel.
Federal Celebration of Argentina’s Children and Youth Orchestras (Chascomús): in its ninth year, a Beatles songbook will be available for orchestras and choirs in Argentina, with 12 songs featuring arrangements based on the Orchestra-School Methodology. The project will be developed by the Fundación Sistema de Orquestas Infantiles y Juveniles de Argentina (SOIJAr) and UBATEC, which has managed the collaboration of their counterpart, the UK’s Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts (LIPA). The project has the support of the Association of Independent Musicians of Buenos Aires (AMIBA) and Beatle member Ringo Starr himself. The main theme of this Beatles songbook is the search for humanism and citizenship promotion for comprehensive education of children, based on the selection of songs with themes of citizenship, peace, sustainability, gender, environment, and love, among other topics related to positive human development.
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