Event Description
Vem Camarada XIII will transform the Forum into a vibrant meeting place for movement, music, and memory. This three-day international Capoeira encounter marks the 50th anniversary of Capoeira’s arrival in the United States.
The gathering grew out of a collaboration between the Columbia Climate School and the nonprofit VaeVae in southwest Madagascar. This partnership combines archaeology, paleoecology, and community knowledge to illuminate resilience, adaptation, and the entwined histories of people and environments. Vem Camarada XIII brings this work into the realm of arts integration, exploring how social memory and ecological knowledge are shaped and transmitted by embodied practices of music, movement, and storytelling.
Through lectures, panels, movement and music workshops, and oral history sessions, participants will experience Afro-Brazilian arts in dialogue with community-centered science. By placing Capoeira alongside the ancestral practices of the Vezo people of Madagascar, the event will reveal parallel histories of endurance, adaptation, and ecological stewardship across the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.
At a time when climate change and social upheaval threaten both ecosystems and cultural heritage, Vem Camarada XIII will serve as a living archive, celebrating embodied knowledge, intergenerational exchange, and the power of art to bridge disciplines, geographies, and histories.
Event Information
Lectures and workshops are free and open to the public. Registration requested. Contact [email protected] with any questions.
Masterclasses taught by Capoeira mestres and artists require a paid ticket. Please purchase your place via the Masterclass sign-up form.
This is a family-friendly event. Children and families are welcome! Activities and some supervision for children will be provided throughout the event so that adults can participate fully in workshops and masterclasses.
Hosted by the Center for Science and Society. Co-sponsored by the Columbia Climate School.
