Co-founded by two artists, Carlota and MoYah, the festival aims to showcase the talent of refugees and migrants “who enrich cultural life in Portugal” and “promote inclusion, representation and solidarity through culture”.

In England, where MoYah lives, Refugee Week “is a very well-known festival”, from which “many good things” have come out, the rapper, producer and artistic activist told Lusa.

“Refugee Week is the world’s largest arts and culture festival dedicated to celebrating the contributions that migrant and refugee communities make to the countries [where they live],” said MoYah, who is of Mozambican origin and met Carlota, who was born in Porto, in Bristol, England, and they had the idea of ​​creating the Portuguese version of Refugee Week.

“We think it’s an important thing that Portugal needs,” said MoYah, who left Mozambique during the civil war as a political refugee and came to live in Lisbon, where he stayed until he was ten years old, before moving to England, where he has lived for 30 years.

“I grew up in Portugal and experienced a lot of racism and I thought I could contribute by helping to create this initiative, which is to bring all communities together and understand each other,” he recalled.

The promoters consider the current moment – ​​“with what’s happening in terms of politics and many violent incidents and a lot of racism that’s happening to [refugee] communities and migrant communities” – “a good time” to hold this festival.

Refugee Week has an open, “completely decentralized” format, in which each person can propose and carry out initiatives.

To date, two dozen events are planned – including exhibitions, concerts, workshops, poetry readings, picnics, and community gatherings – in Lisbon, Covilhã, Porto, and Leiria (the schedule is available at https://www.instagram.com/refugeeweekpt/).

Between June 16 and 22, people from various backgrounds will reflect on “The Power of Community,” this year’s theme, focusing on “the impact of collective gestures and human connections on the world we build together.”

On the 21st, in Lisbon, the Bombarda Gardens will host a community picnic, with performances by refugee artists from Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, and Algeria.