Inspiring Young People to Make Change
Marcus Faustini and Kyara sit on stage with guests, holding microphones and engaging in a discussion during National Gathering 2023.
Founder of The Agency, artist, theatre maker and cultural activist from Rio de Janeiro, Marcus Faustini speaks with Agents Max and Farhad, with Kyara providing English translation. Expressing his inspiration for creating The Agency, with the methodology of using art to inspire young people to make change. Marcus Faustini explains it's a process he has dedicated over thirty-five years of his life towards.
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Max
We're the Agency, an entrepreneurship team for 15 to 25 year olds to join as our agents and change their communities. I'm Agent Max, and helping me out today is Agent Farhad. Now, today we are truly graced by royalty. The man who founded the Agency as we know it, I mean, without him. We may not even be here with this podcast right now. With all that aside, drum roll, please. Artist, theatre maker, and cultural activist from Rio de Janeiro, it's Marcus Faustini.
Max
First things first. Who are you, and what are your interests?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
I'm Marcus Faustini. I am from a slum in Rio de Janeiro, and my objective is to get the power of art so people can use that to transform themselves and to transform their communities and the world around them.
Farhad
What inspired the creation of the agency?
Max
We got him here.
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
What inspired me was first to see that we have many youth, young people with a lot of potency from poor families, and they don't have a lot of opportunity. I was this young person, and it took me many years to live through art and create something through art for society. So I kept thinking, how could this process be quicker for other people? Other young people. I had to dedicate more than 30 years of my life to be able to live through art. 30 years is a long time. Many people don't even live 30 years. So I kept thinking how to create a methodology to make that length shorter so opportunities can come quicker to the young people. Also, because society needs youth to be able to transform it. That inspired me.
Max
Why does the Agency as a whole matter to you?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Because of the young person I used to be. I recognize myself in every single young person that benefits from the methodology. I never wanted to create something that was just for me. I don't believe in just a personal salvation. I think that we need to grab what is good for us and give it to more people. And I think art has such great power, and we need to take art to its maximum potency. And the maximum potency of art is about representing the world. This is a possibility of art. We write books and we make music to say how we feel the world. But art has a greater power than that.
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Than just to represent the feelings that we have about the world, which is that through art, we can unite people to change reality. I believe in that a lot. I've been doing that for 35 years now, and this has taken me to many places in the world.
Farhad
How did your previous experience influence the agency process?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
The rage I had, the anger I had when I was young. I was so angry of the poverty that were in, angry at the lack of opportunity. And with anger, I couldn't transform anything. And there was a moment I learned, which is when arts taught me how to transform my anger into action. And not just remain in a place of being angry, but also that anger. It was good for me, because you have actually to be angry at inequality. We can't be condescendent with inequality. That's why I put whole energy into projects like the agency, because it's a positive project. And I think the anger is a negative energy. It's not anger, it's hatred. It was the hatred that began my journey, that gave me that kind of indignation. And through art, it became action to transform.
Max
I can't say anything about that. Firstly, bravo. What were the first agency projects and how did you grow the organization from there?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Actually, the methodology of the agency, it wasn't the first methodology that I created. I had done other projects before. I did a project in a community called Guangdu with theatre artists. And I was very young back then. So theatre artist would listen to a story from the community and would transform these stories into a theater, plays that would be presented inside the community itself. And we would invite the whole city to see that play, because society would look at that place as a bad place. And we wanted to show that it was a good place. So the agency is kind of like the pinnacle of all the other methodologies that I created before. Through the agency, we gave support to.
Marcus Faustini
Many projects of newspapers, of neighborhoods.
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Projects like recycling model, fashion, politics.
Max
Sports, media.
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Many young people passed through the agency in several different places.
And today they are leaders in communication, politics.
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
And this is our task.
Farhad
How did the agency expand its mission to the UK?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
It was through an international cultural exchange program.
People's Palace Projects, Queen Mary University.
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
That was done by an organization called people's Palace Project of Queens, Mary University.
That connected us with organizations of here in 2011. And that's how our story of exchange began. I never imagined to work in England. And today I consider England my second country. Ten years later, I now know England in a very special way. I know the places that tourism doesn't know. I know people that tourism doesn't know. And this is the power of culture. Culture makes you go beyond tourism. Culture connects people. And this really expanded my mind.
Max
What are the future plans for The Agency?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
My future plan is in a utopia. I dream that a young person that has gone through the agency, I dream that they will become prime minister of England, so then England can really look at the youth.
Max
Do you ever see the agency expanding beyond the UK as well? Any other places?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Now, in October, we're starting a collaboration in Portugal. They are organizations of artists in five different cities, and they're going to start a process of collaborating and training with me to create a project to make the youth of Portugal more potent through principles of the agency.
Farhad
What have you learned from the various agents and the projects that the agency has built?
Max
Got him again.
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
It actually reinforced a learning that I know that the youth is not a danger to society and we need to trust youth. They are capable to lead the changes that we need to have. When we listen to the youth and when we open the doors for them to work together with adults, they create incredible ideas, such as this podcast, for example.
Max
Well, thank you. What does a typical day in your life look like?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Wake up. I read all the newspapers and then I take my daughter to school. I go and give classes at uni. I visit the projects that are in course in the territories. I make a lot of online meetings. I have food, I make my own food. I love to write and I love to dream.
Farhad
What advice would you give someone struggling to identify their passions or community needs?
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Look for a cultural center, because art is a place that's going to help you to go beyond. If they don't open their doors to you first time, push the door. Sit down inside and tell them that you have come to stay and work together with them. The cultural centres still are the places that can open their doors for diversity. Even if you don't have any objective to make art in your life, the art is such a good place for you to connect with life and with the world. Sit down inside and tell them that you have come to stay and work together with them. The cultural centers still are the places that can open their doors for diversity. Even if you don't have any objective to make art in your life, the art is such a good place for you to connect with life and with the world.
Max
Do you have anything you want to say now?
Farhad
Amazing podcast, amazing interview. And I love the way you answered all the questions. Even there's a language barrier.
Kyara
But yeah, I'm here to help that barrier not to exist.
Max
I mean, I don't know, like, all I can do is repeat what I said yesterday about you, Mr Faustini. Yeah, you are the man. You are the man. Like, you are. Yeah, like, no, like, I mean, like, all of this is possible because not me. No, like, again, you got the ball rolling. You and your dream of just, and just believing in many young people, like giving them that chance to just like express themselves. And, you know, I just want to say thank you and yes, now, as I say, to everybody. Get out.
Marcus Faustini & Kyara
Thank you.
Max
Head on over to wearetheagency.co and fill your cup of knowledge on what we do. Shout out to our one of a kind Mister Faustini, who you can find as Marcus Faustini on Instagram. I'm agent Max, and that's that, get out.
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