Brazil, Portugal: Festival of Conversations precedes this year’s Rock in Rio edition

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Rock in Rio 2022, scheduled for September 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, and 11, in the City of Rock, in Rio de Janeiro, will be preceded by a festival of conversations that will take place simultaneously in Brazil and Portugal, as a result of the Rock in Rio Learning Unit.

It is the Rock in Rio Humanorama, which will bring together special guests, with diverse experiences, to debate topics of interest to society.

“We wanted a name that conveyed the message of the human being at the center of the conversation,” Agatha Arêas, Rock in Rio’s vice-president of Learning Experience, told Agência Brasil on June 20.

To the Greek word “hórama”, which means “what is unveiled, view, spectacle”, the word “human” was added, resulting in the human spectacle to stimulate and create an exchange of conversations and messages.

Agatha explained that these are dialogues and discussions and that there are no lectures.

In each conversation, three or four guests with diverse origins, experiences, and worldviews participate in a chat about building a better and more human world. The guests are mostly Brazilian and Portuguese.

From there, the public can increase their repertoire of understanding and obtain subsidies to build critical thinking based on real information and other people’s experience.

“And then we can draw our own perceptions in a moment when the world is very polarized, we believe due to lack of information, knowledge, and active listening,” added Agatha.

The objective is that listeners and guests put themselves in each other’s shoes and exercise this empathic posture without “getting into a binary dynamic of right or wrong, it’s this or that because there are many different situations, and it is necessary to understand each one’s circumstance”, she said.

According to Agatha, even if there are non-negotiable values for each person, most of the time, it is possible to exercise tolerance and empathy to understand and realize why truths and life experiences are built differently.

HYBRID FORMAT

Among the 150 guests are Siyabulela Mandela, an activist and great-grandson of Nelson Mandela; and Brazilians Criolo, rapper, songwriter, and actor; Angélica, TV host; Rita von Hunty, teacher, actor, YouTuber, comedian, and drag queen; and Noêmia Oliveira, actress from Porta dos Fundos production company.

The second edition of Rock in Rio Humanorama will take place between July 28 and 31 in a hybrid format.

The online programming is entirely free and will take place, in Brazil, from 10 AM to 3 PM daily, having also recorded conversations and interventions by Dante Freitas and Renan Hannouche from the innovation space Gravidade Zero, who will interact with the public in real-time, working to dynamize the dialogues.

There will be translation into sign language and subtitling in Brazil and translation into sign language in Portugal.

There will be 110 activities, with 16 hours of recorded and live conversations. According to Agatha, the project aims to create an inclusive, accessible, and democratic environment because it is free. Those interested should register on the event’s platform site.

IN-PERSON

For the first time, there will be a live part in São Paulo at the Learning Village, an innovation and technology center focused on education and people development.

Tickets must be purchased, and each ticket will donate one HSM University course to entrepreneurial talents from the outskirts of Brazil.

The experience is unprecedented and will occur simultaneously with the virtual chats, with the difference that it will go on until 7 PM. The face-to-face part of the 2nd Rock in Rio Humanorama will only take place in Brazil.

The expectation is to receive 250 people daily, totaling 1,000 for the event’s four days.

In Portugal, four talk shows, or face-to-face conversations, were held in May in the workspace inside Lisbon’s City of Rock, bringing together four or five people each, among academics, entrepreneurs, and other guests, for an exchange of transformative ideas.

The action, which started in Portugal, should soon be brought to Brazil and pass through Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and other cities. The conversations last, on average, one hour, with an additional hour for socializing.

The first edition of the Rock in Rio Humanorama was held in September last year, exclusively in the online version. According to Agatha, just like last year’s festival, the goal is to reach this year’s audience of 15 thousand spectators, as it happened in 2021, “and from there on”.

With information from Agência Brasil