Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies

This Pride Month, I Exist Too and Newcastle University is hosting a hybrid event to celebrate diversity and champion LGBTQ+ visibility at sea.
Join the “The Pride and Maritime: Celebrating Diversity and Seafarers” event on June 21st (in person or virtually) for discussions, an art exhibition, and the launch of the “Queer in Maritime Cluster”!
Register by clicking the link in bio!
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Well deserved success for Newcastle University PGR Gustavo Aguilar-Miranda and his fantastic work setting up I Exist Too! Congratulations!

Newcastle University student wins diversity award Gustavo Abdiel Aguilar-Miranda’s I Exist too project has won Best New Initiative at Honours for Diversity and Inclusion in Maritime 2024.

Does your research take you to Latin America or the Caribbean? Are you interested in connecting with partners in the region? Do you want to promote your work to others at Newcastle? Then we want to hear from you!
Latin America and the Caribbean Networking Event at Newcastle University
Friday 15th March 9.30am-5pm
Find out more and register here:

Latin America and the Caribbean Networking Event - Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies - Newcastle University Latin America and the Caribbean Networking Event Latin America and the Caribbean Networking Event Does your research take you to Latin America or the Caribbean? Are you interested in connecting with partners in the region? Do you want to promote your work to others at Newcastle? Then we want to he...

Join us on Thursday 7th December, 4-6pm in Armstrong Building Room G.08 to welcome new members, socialise before the Christmas break and hear about exciting new research!

Speakers:
Dr Matthew Richmond (School of Geography, Politics and Society)
Variegated governance and durable conflict in São Paulo’s “Cracolândia”

Vic Riveros Schober (School of Modern Languages)
Second generation exiles of the Southern Cone of Latin America: entanglements of the afterlife of dictatorships and heritage

Dr Diogo Souza Monteiro (School of Natural and Environmental Sciences)
Food waste mitigation in Brazilian universities dining halls and retail sector: an ongoing collaboration with USP

CLACS is back! Join us for some fabulous events coming up this semester and let us know if you've got anything to share...

Book Presentation. Taking Form, Making Worlds: Cartonera Publishers in Latin America, by Dr Alex Ungprateeb Flynn. Monday 13th November, 2-4pm, OLB2.21.

CLACS Roundtable. Emerging Research in Latin America and the Caribbean. Early career researchers from Newcastle University will be joined by special guests from Brazil, Dr. Marília Costa Morosini (PUCRS) and Dr. Solange Ar**ha (UNESP). The event will be moderated by SML finalists. Thursday 16th November, 3-5pm, room TBC.

CLACS Social Event. Please join us in welcoming new members and hearing about their exciting research. We will have short presentations and discussion, followed by a trip to the pub. Thursday 7th December, 4-6pm, ARMB.G.08 (please get in touch if you would like to give a short presentation on your research).

Newsletter. We would love to share news and updates from our members, from research and project reports to upcoming activities, profiles of new staff and student colleagues, details of recent publications or other items of interest. Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your contribution. Deadline for submission: 22nd November.

Dear colleagues, please join us TODAY for the opening of the exhibition “The Amazonian Rubber Boom: Industrialisation, extractivism, and violence” on June 29, 5-8 pm, at the New Bridge Project Gallery. This exhibition is curated by Giuliana Borea and Erna von der Walde.

5-6pm: family friendly, dry hour; 6-8pm: with paid bar.



This exhibition is organised by Newcastle University’s Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies in partnership with the NewBridge Project and has received the NU Engagement and Place Fund. It also receives the support of the Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicación Práctica (CAAAP) and LaMula Producciones. The exhibition will be shown in connection with the Memory Studies Association meeting (July 3–7, 2023) hosted by Newcastle University.



We hope to see many of you there! Flyer attached and website link here: https://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/the-amazonian-rubber-boom-industrialisation-extractivism-and-violence/

Please join us for the opening of the exhibition “The Amazonian Rubber Boom: Industrialisation, extractivism, and violence” on June 29, 5-8 pm, at the New Bridge Project Gallery. This exhibition is curated by Giuliana Borea and Erna von der Walde.

This exhibition is organised by Newcastle University’s Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies in partnership with the NewBridge Project and has received the NU Engagement and Place Fund. It also receives the support of the Centro Amazónico de Antropología y Aplicación Práctica (CAAAP) and LaMula Producciones. The exhibition will be shown in connection with the Memory Studies Association meeting (July 3–7, 2023) hosted by Newcastle University.

We hope to see many of you there! https://thenewbridgeproject.com/events/the-amazonian-rubber-boom-industrialisation-extractivism-and-violence/

Today, 4 pm! CLACS is delighted to welcome Dr Alba Griffin (University of Leeds) to talk about her forthcoming book, Reading the Walls in Bogotá: Graffiti, Street Art and the Urban Imaginary of Violence.
Thursday May 11, 4.00 - 6.00 pm.
Old Library Building (OLB) 2.20.

CLACS is delighted to welcome Dr Alba Griffin (University of Leeds) to talk about her forthcoming book, Reading the Walls in Bogotá: Graffiti, Street Art and the Urban Imaginary of Violence.
Thursday May 11, 4.00 - 6.00 pm.
Old Library Building (OLB) 2.20.

This book explores urban imaginaries of violence in Bogotá, Colombia, through graffiti and street art. Drawing on ethnography, interviews, focus groups and vox pops conducted between 2015-2016, the book asks what it feels like to live in a so-called ‘violent society’ during a controversial and complex transition to post conflict, arguing that graffiti and street art are ways in which people both contest and reproduce imaginaries of violence. These imaginaries range from disenchantment with memory politics and peace narratives, to spatialized stigmas and marginalisation, to social hierarchies reproduced through the policing of public space. The work unites the diverse forms of graffiti and street art in the city, comparing political slogans to hip-hop influenced graffiti writing to street art stencils and large-scale murals, even though they are often separated in traditional analyses of urban art. Instead, the book argues that they work together to produce the urban visual landscape and it is through an analysis of their collective import and impact on the city that we can understand how such visual signs reflect the nuances of social imaginaries of violence.

Followed by a wine reception.

Don't forget, tomorrow, 4 pm! CLACS is delighted to welcome Dr Alba Griffin (University of Leeds) to talk about her forthcoming book, Reading the Walls in Bogotá: Graffiti, Street Art and the Urban Imaginary of Violence.
Thursday May 11, 4.00 - 6.00 pm.
Old Library Building (OLB) 2.20.

CLACS is delighted to welcome Dr Alba Griffin (University of Leeds) to talk about her forthcoming book, Reading the Walls in Bogotá: Graffiti, Street Art and the Urban Imaginary of Violence.
Thursday May 11, 4.00 - 6.00 pm.
Old Library Building (OLB) 2.20.

This book explores urban imaginaries of violence in Bogotá, Colombia, through graffiti and street art. Drawing on ethnography, interviews, focus groups and vox pops conducted between 2015-2016, the book asks what it feels like to live in a so-called ‘violent society’ during a controversial and complex transition to post conflict, arguing that graffiti and street art are ways in which people both contest and reproduce imaginaries of violence. These imaginaries range from disenchantment with memory politics and peace narratives, to spatialized stigmas and marginalisation, to social hierarchies reproduced through the policing of public space. The work unites the diverse forms of graffiti and street art in the city, comparing political slogans to hip-hop influenced graffiti writing to street art stencils and large-scale murals, even though they are often separated in traditional analyses of urban art. Instead, the book argues that they work together to produce the urban visual landscape and it is through an analysis of their collective import and impact on the city that we can understand how such visual signs reflect the nuances of social imaginaries of violence.

Followed by a wine reception.

CLACS is delighted to welcome Dr Alba Griffin (University of Leeds) to talk about her forthcoming book, Reading the Walls in Bogotá: Graffiti, Street Art and the Urban Imaginary of Violence.
Thursday May 11, 4.00 - 6.00 pm.
Old Library Building (OLB) 2.20.

This book explores urban imaginaries of violence in Bogotá, Colombia, through graffiti and street art. Drawing on ethnography, interviews, focus groups and vox pops conducted between 2015-2016, the book asks what it feels like to live in a so-called ‘violent society’ during a controversial and complex transition to post conflict, arguing that graffiti and street art are ways in which people both contest and reproduce imaginaries of violence. These imaginaries range from disenchantment with memory politics and peace narratives, to spatialized stigmas and marginalisation, to social hierarchies reproduced through the policing of public space. The work unites the diverse forms of graffiti and street art in the city, comparing political slogans to hip-hop influenced graffiti writing to street art stencils and large-scale murals, even though they are often separated in traditional analyses of urban art. Instead, the book argues that they work together to produce the urban visual landscape and it is through an analysis of their collective import and impact on the city that we can understand how such visual signs reflect the nuances of social imaginaries of violence.

Followed by a wine reception.

This Thursday, May 4, 4.00-6.00 pm. Dr Lara Coleman (University of Sussex) will discuss her book: "Struggles for the Human: Violent Legality and the Politics of Rights" (Duke UP, 2024). Henry Daysh Building (HDB), 1.10.

Next Thursday, May 4, 4.00-6.00 pm. Dr Lara Coleman (University of Sussex) will discuss her book: "Struggles for the Human: Violent Legality and the Politics of Rights" (Duke UP, 2024).

This groundbreaking text argues for a re-evaluation of the role of human rights discourse and practice, using ethnographic case studies from Colombia as a point of reference. It offers a fresh approach to the politics and ethics of human rights, in the form of a theoretically-driven ethnography based upon years of engagement with peasant, worker and indigenous movements in Colombia. It is the product of a decade and a half of dialogue and relationship, as well as direct involvement in the struggle against capitalist extraction. When scholars refer to the “violence of development”, or to synergies between neoliberalism and authoritarianism, Colombia often features as an emblematic example - in part, because of the extent to which it sustains the contradictions between a formally liberal-democratic polity and a political economy generating death on an enormous scale. This is a political enquiry into human rights as a vocabulary of resistance, as well as an ethical enquiry, concerned with human possibilities and political imaginations in the face of atrocity and devastation. What is most distinctive about the approach here is that it puts struggles against extractivist capitalism at the forefront of ethical and political reflection.
Henry Daysh Building (HDB), 1.10.
Dr Nick Morgan (SML) will provide a brief introduction to the book.
Followed by a wine reception.

This Wednesday 26th April 2023. 3 pm. Latin American and Caribbean Studies Dialogues -PGR Conference. Venue: 2.20 Old Library Building

On Wednesday, 26 April, from 1-2pm at the Exhibition Space in HDB; Talk by Professor Silke Kapp. She is visiting from the Architecture School of the Federal University of Minas Gerais, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. She has been working on the translations of writings of Sérgio Ferro – you can see the details of the project by following the below.
https://www.tf-tk.com/

On thursday, 23 March, 4.00-6.00 pm. Old Library Building (OLB), 2.21. Professor Emerita Rosaleen Howard (a former CLACS Director) will talk about her new book, Multilingualism in the Andes. Policies, Politics, Power (Routledge, 2023). In the book, Rosaleen draws key comparisons between Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia, where Quechua and Aymara are still widely spoken, in addition to many Amazonian languages.
Language policy has evolved over colonial and postcolonial history, reflecting the relationship between successive government regimes, the Indigenous social movements, and the speakers of the languages at the grassroots. Multilingualism intersects with inequality and social injustice in many respects and is currently being approached as an issue of human rights.
The book presentation will take the form of a conversation between the author and Dr Josep Cru (School of Modern Languages, Newcastle University).
We are pleased that the Routledge Series Editor, Professor Emerita Marilyn Martin Jones (University of Birmingham), will be with us to say some words of introduction. Based on Rosaleen's lifetime of work in the Andean region, this is an unmissable event.
Followed by a wine reception.

This is just a reminder that Simon Philpott and Nick Morgan will be introducing their new book this afternoon, from 3:30-5:00 in Devonshire G.21.G.22. We look forward to seeing you there!

Tomorrow we'll present the book: Understanding Conflict Imaginaries: Case studies from Colombia and Indonesia
Tuesday, 14 March, 2023, 3.30-5.00 pm. Devonshire Building (DEVON) G21.G22
Dr Simon Philpott (GPS) and Dr Nick Morgan (SML) talk about their book, Understanding Conflict Imaginaries: Provocations from Indonesia and Colombia (Palgrave, 2022).
Unlike scholars of the social imaginary who focus on the facilitation of sociability and community building, this book addresses the factors that produce and reproduce conflict in the imaginative realms of those who experience it and participate in it. Based on work carried out during the Screening Violence project (AHRC funded, 2018), it argues that to understand conflict properly we need to explore the imaginative worlds of those who live with it, whether as participants or bystanders. The place of political violence within these imaginative worlds is a complex one and it is only by exploring the metaphors, tropes and images used in each of these locations that we can determine what they have in common and what separates them. Simon and Nick discuss some of preliminary findings from their qualitative work in Indonesia and Colombia, where participants from each site were invited to reflect on the conflict in the other and its potential bearing on their understanding of their own experience of living with violence.
Dr Matt Davies (GPS) moderates.
Followed by a wine reception.

On March 8, 4 pm, Artist Rember Yahuarcani will give a talk exploring the rise of amazonian indigenous contemporary art. OLB 2.29

Today in room 3.19, Carlos Tobar, Universidad Pontificia Javeriana, Cali, presents his book on Conflict, Memory and Justice in Colombia. Sponsored by CLACS, Newcastle University, and the Contested Territories project.
All welcome!

UK premiere of Santo Domingo Waltz (Vals de Santo Domingo, 2022) this Wednesday 26 October, at 6.30pm at Star & Shadow Cinema.
The documentary’s director, Tatiana Fernández Geara, is currently visiting Newcastle from the Dominican Republic, and will attend the screening to answer questions and participate in a discussion after the film. The film has English subtitles and the discussion will take place in English.

About the film:
Three teen ballet students – Raymundo, Angel and Victor – are the only boys in a class of twenty. In a country where dance is mostly considered an activity for women, they are determined to follow their dreams and challenge traditional gender roles.

Like a waltz, music played in triple time, the three boys move through Santo Domingo while confronting, yet sometimes abiding by, the Dominican culture of machismo.

Watch the trailer here: https://ttfilmfestival.com/film/vals-de-santo-domingo-santo-domingo-waltz

Tickets/ registration:
The tickets are pay as you feel, and all proceeds go to support Star & Shadow, an entirely volunteer and community-run cinema and cultural venue. This year, amongst other things, Star & Shadow will be running a community kitchen to support vulnerable people in the local community. Tickets available via this link: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/star-and-shadow-cinema

Community filmmaking and environmental justice in Puerto Rico Nos tenemos/ We Still Here introduces the incredible youth of Comerío, Puerto Rico navigating the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/435562417917

Community filmmaking and environmental justice in Puerto Rico Nos tenemos/ We Still Here introduces the incredible youth of Comerío, Puerto Rico navigating the aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships 2022

Member Institutes of the School of Advanced Study are inviting proposals from suitably qualified applicants for the 2022 round of the prestigious British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships scheme.

If your work relates to Latin America or the Caribbean and you would wish to be hosted at CLACS and the IMLR, consider submitting an expression of interest.

Deadline: 2 September 2022

👉Further details are available here: https://www.sas.ac.uk/research/externally-funded-fellowships/british-academy-postdoctoral-fellowships

👉Subscribe to CLACS Newsletter for updates on fellowships, activities, publications and more: https://ilas.sas.ac.uk/about-us/mailing-list

Tuesday 14th June at 5pm we will be screening the film Helena de Sarayaku at Star and Shadow, with a Q&A from the director. To find out more about the context to the film and the recent issues affecting the Kichwa community in Ecuador, see LAB’s article: https://lab.org.uk/ecuador-indigenous-women-on-the-frontline/

Ecuador: indigenous women on the frontline The main concern of the government is to re-open the economy, and get the pipelines going again after lockdown, but they do not care about the wellbeing of our communities, who have no food, no water and no access to the cities to buy supplies.Helena Gualinga Ecuador, like its neighbour Brazil, has....

Great to see the work in progress from DJLU ! Come to Crescent Club on Thursday 16th, from 6pm, to hear more about Colombian street art activism. https://www.ncl.ac.uk/clacs/events/item/eventdjlu.html

We have two very exciting events coming up next week!

Join us for a special screening of Helena de Sarayaku, a film that follows the story of Helena Gualinga, the young climate change and human rights activist from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku, Ecuador. Accompanying her as she talks to village elders about their beliefs, traditions and fight against global oil corporations in the Amazon, following her student life in Finland and her travels to the United States to advocate for indigenous voices against climate change, the film touches on a number of themes, from cross-border identities to environmental struggle to Kichwa life and language. The screening is free to attend and will be held at Star and Shadow on Tuesday 14th June, from 5-7pm. There will be a Q&A session after the screening with the director, Eriberto Gualinga. Get your free tickets here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/film-screening-helena-from-sarayaku-tickets-338858564087.

On Thursday 16th June, from 6pm, we will launch a new mural from Colombian street artist, DJLU. DJLU is one of Colombia’s most renowned street artists and has travelled extensively, but this is his first time in the UK. Through the mural he will bring a taste of Colombia’s cultural diversity to the North East and will be talking about the relationship between street art, activism and protest, particularly within the context of political violence. Join us at the Crescent Club, Cullercoats, to celebrate the artwork on the Cullercoats underpass with drinks, nibbles and a talk from DJLU in conversation with local artists. The event is free to attend but please register so that we can organise refreshments: https://www.ncl.ac.uk/clacs/events/item/eventdjlu.html.

Event items - Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies - Newcastle University Event items DJLU on Colombian Street Art Date/Time: Thursday 16th June, from 6pm Venue: Cullercoats Crescent Club DJLU is a renowned street artist from Bogotá, Colombia, whose work explores both global and local socio-political issues through intricate stencils, often based on portraits of those he...

Rafael Sega will be joining us today at 1pm in Old Library Building 2.01 to talk about the intellectual and philosophical trajectory of former President of Brazil, Getúlio Vargas. Join us to hear about how his early writing and thinking reflected the tension between his intellectual influences and the state https://www.ncl.ac.uk/clacs/events/item/eventrafaelsega.html

Looking forward to hearing from Newcastle University students Laura Pinzón, Carlos Bolomey Córdova and Al Hoyos-Twomey about their Latin American research, from Latinx art and activist spaces in New York to citizen participation in Manizales and the challenges facing growers in southern Chile. Join us at 3pm today in the Armstrong Building room G69/70! https://www.ncl.ac.uk/clacs/events/item/eventstudentshowcase.html

Event items - Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies - Newcastle University Event items CLACS Student Showcase Date/Time: Wednesday 25th May, 3pm Venue: Armstrong Building G69/G70 This event will showcase the range of cutting-edge research related to Latin America and the Caribbean happening at Newcastle. Students from across the university and at different stages of their....

Very much looking forward to today’s Vanessa Knights Memorial Lecture with Professor Ben Smith. Join us at 4pm in BSTC 1.46 to hear him talk about his book The Dope: The Real History of the Mexican Drug Trade https://www.ncl.ac.uk/clacs/events/item/eventbensmith.html

Event items - Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies - Newcastle University Event items Vanessa Knights Memorial Lecture: Professor Benjamin T. Smith Date/Time: Wednesday 11th May, 4-6pm Venue: Bedson Building (Barbara Strang Teaching Centre) room 1.46 We are delighted to announce that Benjamin T. Smith, Professor of Latin American History at the University of Warwick, will...