Hip Hop and Lipstick

The Gulbenkian Foundation is providing support to the “HipHop de Batom” (HipHop and Lipstick) Project. Covering the various expressive forms of the HipHop culture – music, dance, DJing and graffiti – the projects aims at giving women a voice in what is still very much a male domain and helping women to exercise their rights of citizenship, with a view to reducing public and domestic violence against women.

A range of activities are being carried out on an ongoing basis to encourage the exchange of experiences between the women involved in the HipHop and Lipstick project. Films and documentaries on the importance of women and HipHop culture, exhibitions and live shows with particular appeal for female performers in the peripheral urban zones and public talks on the theme of Violence Against Women are some of the programmed initiatives. The first ever female HipHop convention in Portugal will also be organised, at which accolades will be given to outstanding figures in the various performing fields. A further event that is to be held over three weekends will feature practical and theoretical classes on singing/rapping, body expression and artistic production.

The leitmotif for the project is the creation of awareness and building capacitation amongst young girls, not only so they can be cultural agents for the inclusion of other girls, using the artistic language accepted in the neighbourhoods they come from, but also as agents of mediation and dialogue for peace and conflict resolution.