Artivism in decolonising public spaces
Published by Communication
Posted on June 18, 2025
On April 17 and 26, 2025, S-Com aisbl hosted the first workshop in the UDEW – Urban Decolonization Walks in Europe project, entitled “Artivism in Decolonising Public Spaces” in collaboration with slam collective Slameke. The event took place in two parts, both in Brussels, as part of an effort to encourage young people and local communities to reflect on how colonial legacies are embedded in urban spaces and how they can be critically reimagined. This initiative is part of the European Commission-funded UDEW project, which promotes inclusive narratives and civic participation through non-formal educational tools.
APRIL 17th – Exploring Decolonisation through Words and Reflection
The first session took place at Pianofabriek, a dynamic cultural center in Brussels. Led by Valentina Zoccali and Nadjad Bacar, the workshop opened with a participatory presentation of the UDEW project. Through visual storytelling techniques using historical images and quotes, participants were invited to examine how public spaces can reflect colonial legacies—and to begin imagining alternatives.
This was followed by a creative slam poetry session. Participants collectively discussed what decolonisation and artivism meant to them, reflecting on personal and collective narratives. Working in pairs, they then crafted poetic texts inspired by powerful quotes from Angela Davis and Rokhaya Diallo. The final part of the session featured a moment of sharing: participants read their texts aloud and were invited to join the next session to bring those texts into dialogue with an actual colonial monument.
APRIL 26th – Performing Decoloniality in Public Space
The second part of the workshop was held at Parc du Cinquantenaire, in front of the Monument to the Belgian Pioneers in Congo. It marked a shift from reflection to action. After an introduction to the site’s colonial background, participants engaged in a critical dialogue about the meaning of such monuments in our public spaces. They were invited to look at examples from other cities around the world and reflect on what decolonising this space could look like.
Nadjad Bacar introduced slam poetry as a radical and accessible form of cultural resistance, inviting participants to see it as both a personal and political act. Participants then had the chance to perform their poems in front of the monument, accompanied by the symbolic gesture of leaving written reflections and quotes on the site—momentarily rewriting the story told by the monument itself.
This workshop offered a space for critical and creative engagement with colonial memory. It enabled participants to explore the connections between history, identity, and space, and to reclaim voice and presence in a cityscape often marked by silenced narratives. Through poetry, conversation, and collective action, the workshop embodied the core mission of UDEW: to spark dialogue, challenge dominant perspectives, and promote inclusive, anti-racist reinterpretations of urban memory.
About the Author
