We’ve been offered a unique opportunity to take part in the Global Artivism Convening happening this November in Salvador, Brazil, but we need your help to get there!

The Global Artivism Convening is a global conference exploring “how art and activism can shape narratives, deepen community power, and move us toward collective liberation”. As part of the work Lili has been doing over the last year and a half with a Toronto-based activist choir, Lili and the choir’s founder submitted to present a series of case studies focused on how song and group singing can be a tool of de-escalation and nervous system regulation in tense protest scenarios. At the end of August they were notified that their submission was selected out of 650 submissions from across the world to present at the convening!

While artistic professional development opportunities such as this are usually supported by travel funding through the Canada Council for the arts, we will not hear back about whether our grant funding applications have been successful until the new year. As a result, we are paying for our flights, visas, and other trip expenses out of pocket up front (food and accommodations for the dates of the conference are covered by the conference).

Additionally, travel grants are becoming increasingly competitive due to shrinking funding, so it is not guaranteed our applications will be selected for funding. In light of these factors, we are turning to our community to help us be able to bridge the gap and take part in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

As our community, you know that the two of us are deeply dedicated to the intersection of arts & activism — it is at the core of of the work we do both professionally and in our communities. Having the chance to learn from and be in exchange with other artivists from around the world in this moment of massive social change would be an invaluable experience, deepening our work and expanding our connections on a global scale. This conference will open many, many exciting doors for us as artists and organizers — we just need your help to get us there.

In the new year, if our travel funding applications turn out to be successful and our flight costs are recouped, we will donate the equivalent of the money raised here to grassroots organizations serving marginalized folks in our communities (exact orgs TBD dependent on need at the time we hear back on funding).

About the conference location:

This year, Global Artivism is taking place in Salvador, Brazil. From the Global Artivism website: “Salvador, Brazil is the heartbeat of Afro-diasporic culture outside of Africa. A city alive with ancestral wisdom, cultural and political resistance, and creativity woven into every aspect of daily life. It is a powerful place where Afro Brazilian history is preserved, offering deep inspiration as we welcome artivists from around the world to gather in its energy and magic.”

And a little more about the conference itself:

“Building on the success of the inaugural Global Artivism Conference in South Africa, the second Global Artivism Conference in 2025 promises to be a pivotal event. Held in Salvador, Brazil, it will convene 1,000 artists, activists, and cultural leaders from across the globe ahead of COP 30. Taking place just ahead of COP 30, this year’s convening will be more than a conference; it will be a catalytic moment to align cultural strategy with political and climate action. Together, we’ll explore how art and activism can shape narratives, deepen community power, and move us toward collective liberation.”

How you can help:

We are asking our community to help us towards recouping our flight costs for the trip, which total just over $3000. Under regular circumstances these flights would have been costly enough; but because of the serious risks ICE and the Trump administration pose to activists and people of colour traveling through the States right now, we’ve also had to shell out extra in order to avoid layovers in American cities. Your donation will help ensure we are able to pay these costs without going into debt on them amidst these truly precarious times.

Every little bit helps, so please spread the word and donate what you can!

The knowledge and experiences we'll be bringing back from this conference will inevitably have a ripple effect, further enriching the work we are doing in our communities to reclaim the arts as a means of political and social transformation, and move towards a more just, liberated world.

Help us deepen this work and continue it with renewed energy, effectiveness and sustainability by making a donation, big or small, to help us attend Global Artivism, and by sending this over to friend, too.