Agua Libre is Angela Valenzuela ’17 and Augustin Martz ’17.Agua Libre is Angela Valenzuela ’17 and Augustin Martz ’17. Credit: COA archive

During fall term 2015 Augustin Martz ’17 and Angela Valenzuela ’17 undertook an artistic residency in Paris in preparation for the 21st United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP21). During their residency, the pair, working as the musical group Agua Libre, developed music that could contest political spaces at COP21 and strengthen the voice of the climate justice movement.

On Tuesday, Jan. 5, the first Human Ecology Forum of the Winter 2016 will feature Martz and Valenzuela as they tell stories through words, songs, and videos of what they learned during their residency on Paris.

“Through our music and project we invite everybody to find their own way of contributing with their passion to the creation of a future in which we can all live well and grow our love for our mother, the Earth,” Martz said.

Angela Valenzuela was born in Santiago, Chile. In 2013 she graduated from Pearson College, UWC of the Pacific in Canada. She is currently a third year student at College of the Atlantic. At COA she has focused her studies on global environmental politics, social theory, and music. Last year she attended the climate negotiations in Lima and played the song “Hombre de Papel” inside and outside the conference. After that experience, Velenzuela decided to dedicate a whole academic term to the compositions of songs that can translate climate politics and justice into music. 

Augustin Martz was born in Zurich, Switzerland. He graduated from UWC of the Adriatic in 2012. Now he is studying human ecology at College of the Atlantic, where he has focused on climate politics, theater and music. Last year he brought his music to the COP20 in Lima as a member of Earth in Brackets.  Martz is eager to communicate the pain that we feel in the face of climate change and let it transform into the loving connection of a broad and deep movement for climate justice.

The Human Ecology Forum is a weekly speaker series based on the work of the academic community, which also draws on artists, poets, political, and religious leaders from around the world. The forum is open to the public and meets Tuesdays at 4:10 during the school term in the McCormick Lecture Hall.