On May 26th, the UrbanoScenes Project is organizing the event Imaginar Luanda, Reimaginar o Urbano at Casa da Achada in Lisbon.

The event begins at 3:30 PM with the screening of short films made in and about the city of Luanda. These films were produced in various collaborative contexts, including the workshop Imaginários Urbanos e Criação Audiovisual, held as part of the project. The screenings will be followed by a Zoom discussion with the co-creators of the short films and with filmmakers António-Pedro (Portugal) and Lara de Sousa (Mozambique).

The roundtable Urban Imaginaries begins at 6:00 PM, featuring Ramon Sarró (ICS-ULisboa), Alberto Vanolo (University of Turin), Gaia Giuliani (CES-UC), and Chloé Buire (CNRS). The discussion will be moderated by Andrea Pavoni (DINÂMIA'CET-Iscte) and Salomé Honório (ICS-ULisboa). The discussion will explore issues related to the cities of Lisbon and Luanda, with particular attention to recent urban transformations in both contexts, the historical connections established (and imposed) between them by the long history of Portuguese colonialism, and how both cities are currently positioned within ongoing disputes, projects, narratives, and fantasies concerning urban space that shape their role on the global stage.

How can we (re)think everyday life in urban space? How do (neo)colonial relations continue to influence the configuration of urban space in cities like Lisbon and Luanda? What role do the arts and diverse cultural practices play in the ongoing rearticulation of possible ways of living, coexisting, and even surviving across both contexts?

And what alternative ways of inhabiting the city emerge when we examine the specificities of each context—whether through concrete material realities or through the speculative and imaginative work that fuels the continuous creation of other worlds, other cities, and other models of urban life? The round table will be held in English, with the possibility of translating questions asked in Portuguese.

The event is organized by Simone Tulumello, Andrea Pavoni, Lavínia Pereira, Pedro Neto, Inês Ponte, and Salomé Honório, as part of the project UrbanoScenes: Postcolonial Urbanisation Imaginaries in Foresight Research. Portugal and Angola (PTDC/GES-URB/1053/2021), with the support of FCT – Foundation for Science and Technology.