New Malaga, New Language,
New Malaga, New Language,
Project Statement
"Every language carries a story. Every culture carries a rhythm. When they meet, they don't replace one another; they create something new."
#TheNewMálaga
"The new Málaga is not defined by one language or one culture. It is written in many voices, danced through many traditions and united by one shared community."
A LETTER TO THE READER
Some cities speak through monuments, others through traditions. Málaga speaks through its people. Walk through its streets, and you’ll hear Spanish mixed with English, Arabic, French, Twi, Wolof, Zulu, Asturian, Portuguese, Italian, and a dozen other languages. You’ll hear laughter in different accents and music from every corner of the world and see young people dancing together in public squares without asking where one another comes from.
“New Málaga” begins with a simple belief: diversity is not something to fear; it’s something to celebrate.
This is an invitation to discover the people, cultures and communities shaping a new Málaga. It’s a story about migration, identity and belonging, and about the extraordinary way art lets us understand one another long before we share a language
Every city has a rhythm.
Málaga: A City Built by Movement
For thousands of years, Málaga has welcomed people from all over the world. Phoenicians, Romans, Muslim scholars, Jewish communities and Christian kingdoms all left their mark on the city. Its architecture, food, traditions and even its language tell the story of centuries of cultural exchange.
Today, Málaga is writing a new chapter. Students, artists, entrepreneurs, migrant families and young creatives from every continent are choosing the city as their home. The sounds, languages and artistic influences they bring continue the story of a city that has always grown through diversity. This documentary celebrates Málaga's past while exploring the people creating its future.
ABOUT THE PROJECT
“NEW MALAGA” is a community documentary exploring how languages, cultures, and artistic expression are transforming Málaga into one of Europe's most diverse and creative cities.
Rather than focusing on migration through politics or statistics, the documentary tells the human stories behind it. Through hip-hop culture, Afrobeat, Amapiano, dance, rap, singing, DJ culture and community spaces, the project celebrates the people who have chosen Málaga as their home and the local communities that continue to shape the city's future.
The documentary is not simply about people moving across borders. It is about ideas, traditions, music and languages travelling with them, creating new connections and new ways of belonging.
Vision, Aim, Objective
The project’s vision, aim and objectives are consolidated below into a single set of concrete, non-overlapping objectives:
1. Document first-person testimonies of migrant and local artists whose work is shaping Málaga’s contemporary cultural life.
2. Explore verbal and non-verbal language as tools of inclusion, identity and belonging, building directly on the findings of Words As Worlds.
3. Produce a public-facing documentary suitable for community screenings, educational use and dissemination to other Erasmus+ networks.
4. Strengthen intercultural dialogue between migrant communities and long-term Málaga residents through shared artistic practice, particularly hip-hop, dance and music.
5. Extend the outcomes of Words As Worlds beyond its original training participants into a durable, community-facing product with long-term dissemination value.
The Power of Language
Language is much more than words. It is the way we move, sing, dance, laugh and tell our stories. Sometimes we understand each other without speaking at all. The documentary explores both verbal and non-verbal communication, showing how dance circles, freestyle sessions and shared artistic experiences become spaces where people connect regardless of nationality or native language.
When words fail, art continues the conversation.
Hip Hop: A Universal Language
Hip Hop has travelled the world, constantly evolving while staying rooted in community, creativity and self-expression. In Málaga, it has become a meeting point for cultures; the same energy runs through the Afrobeat, Amapiano, Latin American and North African influences that share the city’s dancefloors and studios.
The documentary follows the dancers, rappers, singers and DJs blending these traditions into something new, while staying true to where they come from.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
This documentary has been inspired by the Erasmus+ project Words As Worlds (WAW) as a product of KAMM Artistic Europe’s Local Activity. WAW is a capacity-building initiative for youth workers and youth organisations in engaging with language as resistance, identity, exclusion, boundaries, and bonds in international youth work.
Through international training courses and collaboration with youth workers from across Europe, the project explores how language shapes identity, belonging, and participation.
The experiences and conversations developed through Words As Worlds inspired KAMM Artistic Europe to bring these ideas home to Málaga and explore them through the stories of local artists and communities.
Meet The Team And Artists
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Kelvin Akpaloo
PRESIDENT/PROJECT MANAGENT
Kelvin Akpaloo leads the project, President of KAMM Artistic Europe, youth worker, theatre practitioner and community builder. Originally from Ghana, raised in Ireland and now living in Spain, Kelvin knows migration from the inside, and it shows in how the project treats every story it tells. -
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Lovely Domínguez Díaz
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM
Lovely Domínguez Díaz is a Málaga-born dancer of Ghanaian heritage, specialising in commercial dance, flamenco, Afrobeat and freestyle. She first found KAMM through an Erasmus+ training course and has kept pushing diversity through movement ever since; her story is exactly the kind this documentary wants to tell. -
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Kyuba
PROJECT MANAGEMENT TEAM
Kyuba is a South African-born music producer and rapper, co-founder of Trustu, who has lived in Spain for over eleven years. His music carries the journey of migration in it, blending African sound with contemporary urban culture, and on this project, he brings both artistic vision and lived experience to the table. -
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Triple Jota Prods
VIDEOGRAPHERS
Triple Jota Producciones is a Málaga-based audiovisual production company specialising in music videos, short films, advertising and creative content. For THE NEW MALAGA, they will bring the project's stories and artistic expressions to life through professional filming, editing and visual storytelling. -
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One Wish
PHOTOGRAPHER
One Wish is originally from northern Spain and a longtime resident of Málaga, she is a photographer, filmmaker, and creator of AI-generated content. She combines technique, intuition, and artistic sensibility to create images full of emotion and personality. For THE NEW MALAGA, she will lead the photo shoot, capturing the diversity, stories, and artistic expressions that bring the project to life.
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Nebulab
SUPPORT TEAM
Nebulab is an open dance community where everyone is welcome, whatever your age, nationality or experience. It’s a space where dancers learn from each other and build real friendships through movement, and its whole philosophy is basically this documentary in motion.
Who Is This Documentary For, Why Get Involved and Looking Ahead?
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Anyone who believes language and culture have the power to bring people together. Artists, dancers, musicians, DJs, teachers, community organisers, local businesses, schools, neighbours- if that’s you, this project is for you too.
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This documentary is a collective celebration of Málaga's culture, creativity and community. It invites artists, organisations, businesses, schools and local residents to contribute their voices, helping preserve and share the story of a city that continues to evolve through its people.
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“NEW MALAGA” aims to become more than a documentary. It seeks to spark conversations, inspire future collaborations, and encourage people to see migration through a different lens.
Through community screenings, educational activities, artistic events, and public dialogue, the project hopes to leave a lasting legacy that extends far beyond the screen.
Join the Journey
The story of Málaga is still being written.
Every new arrival adds another chapter.
Every artist adds another rhythm.
Every language adds another voice.
“New Málaga” is an invitation to tell that story together. Whether you choose to participate, collaborate, support, or simply share the vision, you become part of a project that believes our differences aren’t barriers. They’re exactly what makes our communities stronger.
Together, we can celebrate the many languages of Málaga, the many cultures that call it home, and the people whose creativity keeps shaping its future.