Intento: A decolonial attempt



Intento was physically accesible from the 18th of October to the 1st of November 2023 at Aalto University’s Väre Lobby. This is now an archival page. 
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Intento was physically accesible from the 18th of October to the 1st of November 2023 at Aalto University’s Väre Lobby. This is now an archival page. 

Intento is an experiment and a living archive, based on different research initiatives engaging with Latin American contexts present at Aalto University. Rather than relying only on the preexisting structures of the University, Intento opens up a space to foster collaboration, circulation, and reflection, in order to disseminate and instigate forms of knowledge that challenge Western epistemological hegemony.

This exhibition launches and explores the possibilities of Intento within the University. It presents a curated collection of Master's and PhD’s theses, mainly from Aalto Arts, that allow us to engage with specific territories around Latin America. This constellation of works embraces the details, the thoughts, the memories, and the experiences that have emerged from and are entangled with specific geocultural localities. Through creating a dialogue among these various possible ways of doing and thinking, we aim to raise value to alternative attitudes towards knowledge production systems.

In order to navigate the constellation of the works present in this exhibition, we have mapped three categories (Territory, Familiarity and Making) that group various of the theses, which provide us with a framework to observe and recognise potential decolonial forces latent in these works.






Program Archive 

Kollektiivi Water poems and Liquid layouts workshop: Part 2 - in collaboration with Debt for Climate Finland


Friday, 20th October
13:30-17:00 at Room F101, Väre Building, Aalto University



Our water inspired workshop is having a part two! This time we will collaborate with Debt for Climate Finland — a grassroot climate movement lead by the global South — as part of the programme of Somos S.U.R “Intento” exhibition. We will reflect on our personal relationship with water and its role in our lives and societies with a more critical perspective.

We will write short poems, and then design layouts and drawings inspired by the many forms of water. This is an invitation to visually explore how to communicate water’s flowy, changing and organic nature.
All the works will later be exhibited at Aalto University.

No previous experience or skills required. Open and free to everyone! No registration needed, limited seats so please arrive on time! Seats available on a first-come, first-served basis.

We will provide all the materials and snacks.
For further information contact tiivi.kollek@gmail.com



An interconnected Earth - What is climate justice activism in the future?


Monday, October 23rd at 17:30-19.30 in Room F101 at the Väre Lobby of Aalto University (Otaniementie 14).



S.U.R. and Debt for Climate Finland will host a panel discussion on the issue of climate justice and neocolonial debt mechanisms.

We will discuss the climate finance models that global political institutions offer to address economic climate injustice. And the implications of these financing models for the economies of the Global South.

Through a collective debate, we will discuss: what are the radical solutions for change? What are the roles and responsibilities of climate activism rooted in a social justice economy? In this historical context, where the Global North has a huge historical ecological debt to the Global South, the Global South is struggling with the severe impacts of the climate crisis, and the existence of this debt is denied by global economic institutions.

The panel participants will be activist from Latin America, an activist from the Debt for Climate movement, Niko Humalisto, the Finnish Missionary Society's advocacy expert, and with a video statement an activist in the Baaroo village area of north-west Pakistan. There will be plenty of time for questions and dialogue!

The panel is part of the Reparations for Baaroo campaign organized by Debt for Climate Finland. The campaign is raising funds for a drilling system for water in the village of Baaroo in the tribal region of North-West Pakistan. It also aims to make social media content of the ecological debt of the Global North and the consequences of this debt in the North West Pakistan region.



Decolonizing Knowledge in Design Education

26.10.2023  at 17:30 – 19:00 in Room F101 at the Väre Lobby of Aalto University (Otaniementie 14).



This panel opens a discussion about the issue of decolonizing Design education and practices within the Finnish context, with insights from active educators and professionals from the Global South. The central concern revolves around the possibility of integrating decolonial practices into the teaching and designing in Finland. This concern is rooted in the experiences of Latinx students at Aalto University's ARTS school, who have observed a marked absence of Non-Western perspectives, notably in areas such as sustainability. The panel will explore the challenges, possibilities, and implications of incorporating decolonial approaches into Finnish Design education.

This is a live panel of the podcast Diseño y diáspora, a podcast on social design hosted by Dr. Mariana Salgado. The panelists are: Dr. Andrea Botero (Aalto University), Dr. Florencia Quesada (Helsinki University), and Jimena Califa (UN Global Pulse).




La Gran Fiesta: Cold doesn’t exist, cold is only the lack of perreo.


🔊28.10.2023 at 21:00 - 03.00 🔊
@Muchachos (Iso Roobertinkatu 10) 

An open invitation to all Latinxs and allies, to join this sweaty, perreo-filled, and deculonizing experience. We kick things off with reggaetón, inviting us to move, drop to the ground and reach the clouds. As we delve deeper into the early hours, the rhythms and dembow transforms into electronic beats, where metamorphosis is unveiled.



The grand celebration comes to life in collaboration with the Latinx Decolonization Collective S.U.R., and the Latin American Cinema Festival, Cinemaissí. This evening in Helsinki is a tribute to Latinx bodies, brace yourself for an event where booty-shaking is the key to the revolution. Welcome!

 9-11 Juls Sanchez
11-12:30 DJ BURANA
12:30-1:30 DJ Carlos Papi
1:30- 3:00 DJ Wekesa

Juls Sanchez (Aka -Rola Salsera)
for the need to share what listening to Latin Rhythms generates, -Especially Salsa- of finding in their lyrics the appropriate words to express a feeling that reflects the experiences, identities and cultural fusions of the migrants, through the lyrics and rhythms with passionate dance steps, that process the themes of nostalgia, love, identity and adaptation, creating a unique fusion that resonates with the experience of the life abroad.

DJ Burana, playing neoperrex, and trying to create a safer-antipatriarchal dance floor with music created mostly by femme artists.

DJ Carlos Papi is a chaotic multidimensional entity playing some forbidden dembow, cumbia, guracha, and rhythms of the true old gods. Proper sounds If the sugar wine and other night delicacies didn't hit properly yet.

DJ Wekesa is a Helsinki based dj and a dancer, who plays amapiano, afrobeats, dancehall, hip hop, rnb and various remixes. Wekesa is a socially skillful dj, who can read the dancefloor while serving surprises and their own strong artistic view. This time they will focus on bashment, amapiano and remixes.

Safer space guidelines, taken from Myös’ collection of resources:

Respect dissenting opinions, experiences and perspectives. Respect everyone's identity. Do not assume anyone's gender, sexual orientation, financial situation, background or state of health. Respect everyone's physical and emotional boundaries. Consider your words. Take responsibility for your behaviour and actions. Don’t make physical or verbal threats. Be aware of your prejudice, your privileges, and the space you take. Take care of fellow human beings.

By acting against the rules of the space, you are excluding yourself from the event.



Collaborators

Collectives 

Cinemaissí: Diego Ginartes, Lois Armas
Debt for Climate Finland: Upu Laukkanen, Taru, Pargol, Amjad
Diseño y Diáspora: Mariana Salgado
Edible Landscapes: Alejandra Alarcón
Kollektiivi: Adelaida Ávila, Milja Komulainen, Hau Lok Lo. 
Muchachos 
You Tell Me Collective: Seela Pentikäinen and Siiri Hänninen


Research Authors

Alejandra Alarcón
Amy Gelera
Andrea Botero
Brenda Vertiz
Carolina Isasi
Claudia Garruño
Eduardo Hernández
Eva Gallegos
Florencia Pochinki
Leonardo Hidalgo
Landys Roimola
Maria Ferreira Litowtschenko
Maritere Vargas
Nandara Mendes   
Nathaly Pinto


Individuals

Alicia Romero
Andrea Botero
Maija-Tilda Kovalainen
Otso Jämsä
Vertti Virasjoki



With the support of