Maputo hosts the first edition of the Cidade nas Mãos Festival, organized by Catalogus and the Spanish Embassy in Maputo, from October 21st to 24th. The festival will occupy different cultural spaces throughout the city to provide the public with an experience of encounters, dialogue, knowledge, and artistic expression.
Poster: Catalogus
Cidade nas Mãos is a space for encounters, celebrations, and critical thinking, expressed in different ways, through art, debates, shows, connections, and books. This diversity reflects the city and the way we inhabit, dream, and build the future within it.
At a time when environmental, social, and urban challenges intertwine, Cidade nas Mãos champions art as a transformative practice, capable of humanizing, mobilizing, and re-enchanting public space.
The program includes multidisciplinary performances that blend poetry, narrative, theater, music, and dance, as well as a photography exhibition, a book and art fair, public book readings, and discussion groups that invite us to see Maputo through new eyes.
Four days of intense and accessible programming will be held, designed for all audiences, with special attention to youth, artists, creative industry professionals, students, and cultural agents.
Participants include anthropologist Maria Ângela Nyambihu, architect and writer David Melar, cultural manager Quito Tembe, and artists and writers Maria Chale, Ídio Chichava, Álvaro Fausto Taruma, Yassmin Forte, Jessemusse Cacinda, Lily Maxwel, Eusébio Sanjane, and Letícia Deozina.
By occupying spaces such as the Camões - Portuguese Cultural Center, the Guimarães Rosa Institute, the Central Library of the Pedagogical University, Ntsindya - Municipal Cultural Center, and with the involvement of the Carlos Morgado Foundation, the festival affirms its commitment to the city as a place of diversity, memory, and sharing.
More than an event, Cidade nas Mãos is a living platform where culture becomes community, and where artistic gestures become tools for imagining more sustainable, caring, and inclusive cities.
