Kooj Chuhan & Crossing Footprints: culture arts and climate justice work in Manchester 2022
A quick snapshot of work by Kooj Chuhan and Crossing Footprints showing brief excerpts of five creative projects dealing with climate justice. These were highlighted in Kooj’s nomination by Community Arts North West for the #ManchesterCultureAwards 2022 (sustainability category). Featuring collaborations with Manchester Art Gallery , Amani Creatives , Emmanuela Yogolelo, Manchester Histories and Ayna Arts.
Now Kooj is a finalist for the Manchester Culture Awards. Results are to be announced at the awards ceremony 24th Nov 2022.
Oldham Libraries and Crossing Footprints present an event which celebrates the final victory day for Bangladesh Independence along with a Climate Connections Women’s Group cultural presentation.
Bangladesh Independence Victory Day Celebration
বাংলাদেশের৫১তমবিজয়দিবসউদযাপন
featuring a programme by Ayna Artsand Climate Connections Women’s Group
জলবায়ু সংযোগ মহিলা গ্রুপ
at Northmoor Library, Wednesday 7th December 2022 4.30-6.30pm
With music and songs by Nuruzzaman Ahmed, Mitra Kabir and Luthfur Rahman
Climate Connections Women’s Group at Northmoor Library
Every Monday 10am-12noon from 7th November 2022
Education, Arts and Action against Climate Change
with Jesmin Chowdhury from Ayna Arts
Meet other women
Learn about climate change
Use your skills
Improve your English
Make something creative and artistic
Some things we hope to support:
improve buses and transport
reduce air pollution
have less litter on our streets
help for Bangladesh
influence local officials
FREE – refreshments will be provided Northmoor Library, Chadderton Way, Oldham OL9 6DH
Climate Connections Women’s Group at Northmoor Library is organised by Crossing Footprints in partnership with Hope For The Future, Ayna Arts and Oldham Libraries
FREE TRAINING TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE CAN THE FUTURE FOR BANGLADESH, THE UK AND THE WORLD BE BETTER?
at Northmoor Library, Chadderton Way, Oldham OL9 6DH.
Monday 3rd October, 12-2pm: THE PROBLEM WE FACE by Kooj Chuhan • Understanding Climate Change • How does it affect Bangladesh and the UK? • What we can do about it?
Monday 10th October, 12-2pm: LOCAL ACTION by Arran Rangi • Can we push our Council to do more to fight Climate Change? • What are they doing already? • What more should they do?
All welcome, lunch provided! If you know people who live in the area please pass on this training to fight climate change or tell them about it. Organised by Oldham Libraries in partnership with Crossing Footprints and Hope For The Future,with support from the Community Fund (National Lottery).
It’s finally here, the Climate Connections Community Festival is happening outdoors at the back of Northmoor Library, Oldham on Saturday 24th Sept 2022, 12 noon – 3pm. Also coming up, free training to better understand and fight climate change on 3rd and 10th October.
So much is and has been happening due to climate change in Bangladesh over the years but so few know about it. There’s so much to say that needs to be out there and much louder than it is. Crossing Footprints are pleased to have co-developed and be supporting this Saturday’s Festival at Northmoor Library Oldham a great event with songs, stories and craftivism connecting with the Climate Emergency and a strong Bangladeshi viewpoint from some amazing artists. If you’re anywhere nearby come on down, and pass the word on.
What’s on at the Climate Connections Community Festival?
The event features Ahad Ullah Shah and Kayes Muktadir singing Bangla songs about climate change co-written with Murad Chowdhury who will also give some musical support. Then there is Apu Chowdhury from Ayna Arts who will deliver some storytelling and drama, and will also be the MC for the day. Also we have the amazing visual and craft climate activist Rabia Begum running a craftivism workshop. The local street will be closed off to be a play street so families and kids can bring their outdoor toys to play with.
Crossing Footprints has developed a set of events focusing on Climate Justice at Manchester Histories Festival 8-12 June 2022. This year’s theme for the Festival is the history of climate change, for which Manchester has played a pivotal role as the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution.
photo credit: Joe Brusky
We’ve organised four events in solidarity with low income and racially marginalised communities, including a panel discussion ‘Climate Change is a Race and Migration Issue‘ followed by a powerful Bangladeshi theatre piece ‘GHOORNI‘ by Ayna Arts, both at Manchester Central Library on Friday 10th June from 6pm. Then on Saturday 11th June at 6.15pm the singer-songwriter Emmanuela Yogolelo from DR Congo will perform a music set focused on Climate Justice at Angel Meadow. Finally, throughout the Festival the ‘Climate Connections‘ set of short video films made mostly by low income and diverse communities in Oldham responding to climate change will be exhibited on a screen at Oldham Art Gallery, with an informal talk by project director Kooj Chuhan at 1pm, Saturday 11th June.
More details about our events for Climate Justice at Manchester Histories Festival below:
Can words, pictures and social media empower people to protect our environment? A project exploring some ways in which local libraries, communities and artists in Oldham and Bremen are making climate connections using educative methods and creative media.
An online event Weds 19th May, 6.30pm (UK) / 7.30pm (Germany)
Announcing the winning entries from the Climate Connections competition
Presenting the work produced by diverse groups in Oldham (UK) and Bremen (Germany) in the first phase of the Climate Connections project
How do local people relate to and voice their feelings about climate change? Can this expression combine with social media to have some impact on climate change? This event brings together artists, activists, libraries and community members to explore these questions. If you are interested in communities and climate change, also the arts and social media, then this informal sharing event is for you.
A thought provoking discussion exploring the topic of Climate Migration and DR Congo, illustrated with music performed online. An event exploring the ways in which colonialism, conflict, race and migration connect with climate change, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and people arriving from there to the UK.
Thursday 12 November 2020, 6pm – 8pm (GMT)
How does climate change affect DR Congo and the chain of migration, what is the colonial context for this and what does it mean for how both People Of Colour and Europeans understand Climate Change / Justice?
The first event involving Crossing Footprints since we have now just begun operation as a CIC, in collaboration with Amani Creatives and the Radical Lates programme of People’s History Museum (PHM). The event involves a brief performance by singer-songwriters Emmanuela Yogolelo and Samuella Ganda, and a key discussion with Kooj Chuhan from Crossing Footprints and Alex Randall from the Climate and Migration Coalition.
They are hosting a bold weekend of films on climate change, migration and the refugee crisis titled ‘Gimme Shelter’. Here is the blurb from Tyneside Cinema’s own website:
“It is predicted that climate change will have a big impact on human migration in the next 50 years, with millions set to be displaced by shoreline erosion, coastal flooding, intensifying drought and further agricultural disruption.
Tyneside Cinema aims to inform and spark discussion through a curated programme focusing on the urgency of action on climate change as well as its very real connection to the current refugee crisis. The programme contextualises these issues and will cultivate a better understanding of the reasons behind human displacement and will see filmmakers joined by leading experts to discuss the connection between climate change, natural disasters and migration.
Join us after the screening for a special panel discussion with;
– Filmmaker and artist Kooj Chuhan, whose recent films have focused on climate-linked migration
– Professor Tahseen Jafry, whose work in Glasgow focuses on climate and international development aid
– Durham University-based Professor Andrew Baldwin, one of the world’s leading academics on climate change and migration.”
Video of panel presentations from ‘Linking Climate Change with Migration’ public event 7th March 2016 at Kings College, which began with a screening of the film ‘Crossing Footprints’ by Kooj Chuhan. The climate migration panel also included Andrew Baldwin and Alex Randall. The video is approx 40 mins long:
There’s a great twitter feed from Platform of the discussion if you haven’t time to watch this but want a flavour of the points being made – see bottom of this post.
About the event and the climate migration panel:
On Mon 7th March 2016 a leading climate migration panel explored the connection between climate change and migration and the underlying issues such as whether and how migration should be made more visible across public and policy agendas on climate change. This followed a screening of Crossing Footprints, the film by Kooj Chuhan / Metaceptive projects + media, which shows how recent research linking climate change with migration has strengthened our understanding of this enormously, and how artists have begun to articulate this in human terms.
The event was hugely over-subscribed with a waiting list of 35 people, though there were spare seats on the day itself which suggests we should release quite a few more tickets than the venue capacity in future or possibly charge a small amount to ensure attendance. Thanks to all who came, the speakers, the chair, and Fernando Mitjans for filming it.
The ‘Crossing Footprints’ film will be available to watch online soon, once it has been fully signed off after final proofing.
The climate migration panel discussion included speakers:
Richard Black, leading scholar at SOAS on migration in the context of climate change Zita Holbourne, community, union and human rights activist, writer, artist and curator; co-founder of Black Activists Rising Against Cuts Andrew Baldwin, chair of international Climate Change and Migration research network based at Durham University Alex Randall, UK Climate Change and Migration Coalition Kooj Chuhan, artist, filmmaker and curator of the ‘Footprint Modulation’ exhibition exploring climate migration and justice
+ Public launch and screening of the film ‘Crossing Footprints: Human Migration and the Environment’ by Kooj Chuhan / Metaceptive Media, about both the Human Migration and The Environment Conference and the Footprint Modulation art exhibition www.metaceptive.net/footprint-modulation
Chaired by Dr Helen Adams, researcher on human interactions with environmental change at Kings College Continue reading →
