ÚNA: Latin America – Scotland Festival 2019

ÚNA, standing for Uniting Narratives with Arts, is a nonprofit two-day festival aiming to foster a cultural and educational bridge between Latin America and Scotland.

In its first edition, we are very happy to welcome the voices, experiences and knowledge of seven passionate speakers ranging from academics, human rights defenders, artists, filmmakers, poets and activists from Latin American and Scottish backgrounds, to enhance a cross-cultural exchange, blur boundaries, and build stronger ties between both hemispheres.

The core of our dialogue will explore myths and tales emerging from the forests of the Scottish Highlands to the rivers of the Amazon rainforest, as a way to uncover parallels and contrasts between Celtic and Indigenous traditions and customs. From here we will open up discussions on wider contemporary social-environmental issues in both Latin America and Scotland, with a special focus on human impact, environmental sustainability, identity, and geopolitics.

The festival will take place at the University of Glasgow on the 18 ^th and 19 ^th of May, offering a series of panel discussions, a photography exhibition, and the screening of two award-winning films: Colombian film director and screenwriter Ciro Guerra’s Embrace of the Serpent and British documentary filmmaker Alan Ereira’s ALUNA, who will be joining us to present his film and share his experience living with the Kogi community in the Colombian coastal mountains.

We welcome the Glasgow student-bodies, academics, artists, activists, and the wider Latin American community in Scotland to contribute your experiences and feed a melting pot of ideas.