Roots & Resistance Unites Culture, Art and Community for Climate Justice at PHIVE
This Sunday, Parramatta Square becomes a stage for Roots & Resistance: Migrant Stories for Our Climate, an evening of storytelling, poetry, music, dance, and art that puts migrant and diaspora voices at the heart of climate justice.
From 6 to 8pm at PHIVE, the event weaves together personal histories, cultural traditions, and urgent commentary, inviting audiences to actively imagine a future beyond the environmental cost of coal.
Co-hosted by Sapna South Asian Climate Solidarity, Sydney Bollywood, Hindus for Human Rights, Sweltering Cities and the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, the evening promises a rich cultural experience with serious political resonance.
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Decolonising the climate conversation
In Sydney, air pollution from coal-fired power stations annually contributes to 153 premature deaths, as per Environmental Justice Australia, accounting for more than half of the state’s toll—and manifesting in further illnesses.
Meanwhile, NSW’s coal emissions are projected to rise by nearly 30 percent by 2030, according to a report from 2023.
Those figures boldly underline ‘Roots & Resistance’s fight for climate justice as a statement of lived, intergenerational grief and hope.
Cross-continental call for climate justice: Voices for the Valley premieres at Roots & Resistance
The program’s centrepiece is the premiere of Jess Nipperess‘ Voices for the Valley, a short documentary filmed on Wiradjuri Country in Mudgee.
It follows Manjot, a Punjabi climate organiser, as she traces the links between her identity, the land where she grew up, and the damage wrought by Australia’s largest coal mine.
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The film draws sharp parallels between the smog and heat in Punjab, India, and scars left on land and communities in regional New South Wales, offering a deeply personal view of a global crisis.
Described by organisers as “migrant-led, for migrants and descendants of migrants,” ‘Roots & Resistance’ offers a space to share climate impact stories and community-driven solutions.
A resonant night of community, art, dance and poetry
Audiences can expect high-energy dance performances, powerful spoken-word poetry, and the chance to contribute to a collaborative art piece mapping homelands and coal-policy consequences across continents.
Culture meets the coal lobby head-on at Roots & Resistance
The atmosphere promises to be as vibrant as it is charged — bright colours, heavy beats and the collective hum of conversation over shared food and drink. Beneath the celebration lies a clear message: this is culture meeting the coal lobby head-on.
The state is still pumping billions into coal, despite its mounting human cost.
“Climate change doesn’t stop at borders,” says the Madeline Hayman-Reber from Nature Conservation NSW. “Our stories, our families, and our futures are interconnected—and so is the damage caused by fossil fuels. This is about standing together in solidarity.”
With food and drinks included in the ticket price, organisers hope the evening will foster conversation and connection—a unique chance to engage with urgent local issues.
Whether that’s adding your voice to the art, coming for the film, or dancing into solidarity, ‘Roots & Resistance; promises a night where culture, climate, and community meet.
This is where resistance is as much about creativity as it is about action.
Roots & Resistance: Migrant Stories for Our Climate is on this Sunday 10 August, at PHIVE in Parramatta.
For tickets and more details, visit events.humanitix.com
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