São Paulo – The history of Syrian and Lebanese immigrants in downtown São Paulo is the theme of the exhibition “25 – Rua dos Árabes” (25th – Arab Street), which will open on Tuesday (16th). The exhibition was organized by the Social Service of Trade (SESC) Carmo, which is located close to 25th of March Street, in São Paulo.
The exhibition will have seven illustrated panels with images of Rose Koraicho’s family, the author of the book “25 de Março – Memória da Rua dos Árabes” (25th of March Street – Memories of the Arab’s Street), which inspired the exhibition. The book was published in 2013 and based in documents that Rose found in the family collection, which was one of the pioneers of the region.
Visitors of the exhibition will learn more about the characteristics of 25 of March and its surroundings and even have fun like the immigrants did in their leisure hours: playing backgammon, a board game invented in the East.
Valéria Boa Sorte, Sesc Carmo’s cultural programmer, said that the Sesc’s goal with the exhibition is to maintain a relationship with the neighborhood in its surroundings. This past October, the organizers decided that they would portray the Arab presence in the city’s downtown.
“Last year we had a project for Liberdade (stronghold of the Japanese community in the city). This year we wanted to portray the Arabs. I knew that their presence was very old, but didn’t know how much. It was interesting to learn how the region’s occupation occurred and how the immigrants prospered in it”, she said. The first Syrians and Lebanese arrived in Brazil in 1870.
One of the challenges that Sesc Carmo’s staff had to deal with was to find a collection with good pictures of 25th of March Street. In some of the researched places, the pictures were about the street’s inclination for trade. In others, the focus was on the families, and in other ones, over images from architectural projects and prohect. Construction work.
“These collecions didn’t have the images organized like Rose did, which was a beautiful research, The book, besides telling the family’s history, it is a family portrait. She based her research in family documents, which she inherited from her father”, said Valéria.
The panels were chosen in a way as to put on display some of the immigrants’ characteristics. There are images that relate the presence of Syrians and Lebanese in the immigration process and their arrival in São Paulo, as well as the food, trade and leisure.
Information
Exhibition “25 – Rua dos Árabes”
From December 16 to January 7. Monday to Friday, from 9 AM to 7:30 PM. Free.
Rua do Carmo, 147, Centro, São Paulo – CEP
Phone: +55 11 31117000
