Diaspora Aesthetics
Ai Weiwei's Next Move: Textiles as Weapons
The Chinese dissident brings his practice to Portugal's weaving capital, where every stitch is an act of resistance.
Latest
Street Syntax
From Drums to Diplomas: How Mangueira Is Turning a Samba School into a University
In Rio’s legendary favela of Mangueira, education and rhythm are colliding in the most radical way: the samba school that taught Brazil to dance is now teaching its people to dream differently.
Ancestral Echoes
Holy Brew, Dirty Politics: Guess Who Turned Ayahuasca Into a Fascist Sacrament?
Inside the União do Vegetal, where psychedelics are allegedly mixed with political indoctrination — proving that even enlightenment can be weaponized when religion and power share the same altar.
Coded Dreams
Democracy.exe: Brazil’s Unexpected Lead in Digital Governance
While the West keeps talking about AI ethics and digital transparency, Brazil just went ahead and built it — no hype, no moonshots, just governance that works.
Diaspora Aesthetics
Identidades em Trânsito: The Colonial Hangover Is Getting a Remix
Cristiana Tejo’s “Identidades em Trânsito” — Brazil, Portugal, and Africa crash into each other through poetics, memory, and migration.
Random Urgencies
The New Normal: Self-Defense, Portuguese-Style
In a courtroom outside Lisbon, a police officer explains why killing a Black man was “legitimate.” This is what justice looks like when fear becomes policy.
System Hacks
When Film Was Freedom: Portugal’s Art Rebels Return to the Screen
The Cinemateca Portuguesa digs up the 60s and 70s avant-garde — when artists like Ana Hatherly and Julião Sarmento turned their cameras on life, politics, and each other.
Sonic Cartographies
Aria Behind Bars: How a Prison in Leiria Turned Opera Into a Weapon of Freedom
In Portugal, a group of young inmates is learning to breathe, sing, and dream again—through Mozart. “Ópera na Prisão” transforms punishment into performance, forcing society to listen to the voices it locked away.
Diaspora Aesthetics
Global Citizen Festival: Amazônia — Pop Stars, Indigenous Warriors, and a Billion-Real Promise in the Jungle
What happened in Belém wasn't just another celebrity climate stunt — it was something stranger and more significant.
System Hacks
Half a Century After the Cells of Ilha Grande, the Dictatorship Still Rules by Proxy
Born in a dictatorship’s prison, the Comando Vermelho evolved into a parallel republic—proving that Brazil’s war on crime was never about justice, but about preserving power.
Street Syntax
The Rodeo, the Fintech, the Façade: When Brazil’s “Good Life” Becomes a Crime Scene
How the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) is reinventing itself as agro-entrepreneur, influencer and money-manager.
Ancestral Echoes
From Chains to Chants: The Black and Red Streets of Laranjeiras
The Festa dos Lambe-Sujos e Caboclinhos isn’t about costumes — it’s about memory, rebellion, and the unfinished story of liberation.