On 27 and 28 April 2023, the MigraMediaActs team took part in 2nd Congress of the National Network in Cultural Studies (RNEC), presenting a panel entitled “(In)visibilities, Identities and Activisms“, which was organised by researchers Isabel Macedo, Sheila Khan and Carla Cerqueira.

The aim of the conference was to promote discussion on the subject of Digital Citizenship and Contemporary Cultures. It took place at the University of the Algarve in Faro, Portugal, and brought together dozens of researchers and activists from European, African and American countries.

Gessica Correia Borges, Isabel Macedo and Luiza Lins presenting papers at the 2nd Congress of the National Network in Cultural Studies (RNEC)

The project panel was held on the afternoon of 27 April and featured three presentations by various members of the team, as illustrated below:

1. Mnemonic activism and the role of cinema as a tool in the critical discussion of migration and the colonial past
   Luiza Lins, Rosa Cabecinhas, Julia Alves
2. The nation’s other children: Maria Gil, a Romani woman who exists and resists
   Ana Cristina Pereira, Isabel Macedo, Gessica Borges
3. Alternative digital media in Portugal, journalism and activism
   Carla Cerqueira, Paula Lobo, Gessica Borges

Isabel Macedo, Co-Pi of the project also gave a paper on “Cinema, media literacy and citizenship”, together with Maria da Luz Correia, affiliated to the University of the Azores and the Centre for Communication and Society Studies (CECS).

In a parallel session, Carla Cerqueira, researcher and coordinator of Task 2 – Digital Media, presented another paper entitled “Glocal feminist movements: actions of resistance on the networks and in the streets”, organised together with Célia Taborda and Ana Sofia Pereira, both from the Lusófona University – Centre for Research in Applied Communication, Culture and New Technologies.

The two-day event provided excellent debates and opportunities to think about the relationship between academia and the public sphere, as well as the social character of the media. There were also contacts with members of academia and the community interested in the themes of migration, media and decolonial activism.