Empowering Caribbean Voices Through Art and Storytelling
The Today Today, Congotay! Climate Justice Arts Project is a groundbreaking initiative of The Cropper Foundation, created in collaboration with the Micro-Theatre Festival of Trinidad & Tobago and generously supported by Open Society Foundations. This critical support from Open Society Foundations has enabled The Cropper Foundation to create and sustain an inclusive, community-focused arts initiative that addresses climate justice through storytelling, performance, and visual arts. The funding has specifically supported activities such as workshops, community engagement, the production of micro-theatre plays, the creation of visual artworks, and the publication of literary anthologies, all aiming to amplify the voices and experiences of vulnerable Caribbean communities impacted by climate change. Initially launched as a climate justice-themed micro-theatre festival, the project has evolved into a vibrant arts-based movement, encompassing theatre, visual arts, and literature, to amplify the voices of Caribbean communities most impacted by climate change.
What is Climate Justice?
Climate justice intertwines human rights and development, prioritising a people-centered approach. It aims to protect the most vulnerable and ensure fairness in sharing both the burdens and benefits of climate change. Grounded in science, it recognises the necessity of equitable management of global resources. Climate justice underscores the unequal distribution and impacts of climate change, stemming from historical and systemic factors. It advocates for inclusive and nuanced strategies in global climate action, addressing underlying inequities. By acknowledging disparities and promoting fairness, climate justice strives for a world where all individuals can thrive amidst environmental challenges.Micro-Theatre Festival Recap
The project’s launch featured an engaging micro-theatre festival held at Williamsville and Brazil Secondary Schools in October and November 2023. Audiences experienced powerful 15-minute performances that intimately portrayed the lived realities of communities at the forefront of climate impacts. The festival showcased compelling plays including Justice? and Heat in the Market by Eric Barry, Midday Robber by Rhesa Samuel, The Assignment and Vessigny 2049 by Albert Smith, and others. These stories illuminated real-life struggles with flooding, drought, extreme heat, pollution, and community resilience. This innovative festival was the result of months of collaboration with local schools and communities, sourcing narratives, actors, and resources directly from impacted regions. The performances sparked essential conversations around environmental education, youth activism, and the urgent need for collective climate action.Visual and Literary Expansion
Building on the stories collected from neighbouring communities for the micro-theatre festival, the initiative expanded into the literary anthology, Writing for Our Lives. This anthology captures the urgency of the climate crisis from the perspective of overlooked Caribbean communities, examining the implications for their health, livelihoods, culture, and heritage.
A spin-off project, Displaced, Never Again, emerged as a compelling poster collaboration between Caribbean writers and visual artists. It creatively blends storytelling and visual art, highlighting climate awareness through stimulating designs that pair excerpts from Caribbean writers with evocative visual interpretations.
The project’s visual identity was crafted by young artist Jaidn Bain, whose impactful artwork also became the cover art for the Writing for Our Lives anthology, symbolising the initiative’s ongoing commitment to climate justice.
Spin-off Projects
Writing For Our Lives: An anthology capturing the urgency of the climate crisis from the perspective of overlooked Caribbean communities, considering health, livelihoods, culture, and heritage.
Displaced, Never Again: An impactful poster collaboration between Caribbean writers and visual artists, creatively blending storytelling and art to raise climate awareness through visually and mentally stimulating designs.
Continuing Impact and Engagement
Today Today, Congotay! underscores the critical importance of storytelling, creativity, and community engagement in confronting climate injustice. By centring underrepresented voices and empowering youth through the arts, the project inspires lasting environmental stewardship and advocates for meaningful climate action across the Caribbean region.
The ‘Today, Today Congotay!’ programme is supported through funding from Open Society Foundations. This critical support has enabled The Cropper Foundation to create and sustain an inclusive, community-focused arts initiative that addresses climate justice through storytelling, performance, and visual arts. The funding has specifically supported activities such as workshops, community engagement, the production of micro-theatre plays, the creation of visual artworks, and the publication of literary anthologies, all aiming to amplify the voices and experiences of vulnerable Caribbean communities impacted by climate change.
Climate Justice knowledge sessions recordings
