São Paulo – The eighth edition of the South-American Festival of Arab-African Culture (Saca), event held annually by the Arab, African and South American Library and Research Center (BibliASPA), will begin on Saturday, March 18, in São Paulo. It opens with a ceremony at the Museum of Image and Sound (MIS) that will include musical and typical dances presentations from the Arab, African and South American regions.
For two weeks, the city of São Paulo and other 23 cities will host events such as exhibitions, film festivals, lectures, debates, concerts and dance presentations, gastronomy activities, theater, photo exhibits, workshops, among others. These presentations will be spread out, taking place in different places such as Sesc (Social Service of the Commerce) and Senac (National Business Education Service) units, universities, theaters and movie theaters.
The festival is always scheduled for March to coincide with the Arab Community Day in Brazil, which is March 25.
“Our goal is to strengthen the connection between South America and the Arab countries and Africa based on the respect to cultural diversity and historical ties, plus to promote the peace culture by bringing the nations together,” said Semíramis Nahes, BibliASPA’s communication coordinator.
This year, once again, the festival will go beyond the borders of São Paulo state, where the event will also include the region of ABC Paulista and the city of Ribeirão Preto, and will happen also in Rio de Janeiro and Niterói (RJ), Curitiba (PR), Brasília (DF) and even Buenos Aires, Argentina. “Over 20 cities will be included. The event is open to all civil society,” said Nahes.
In Curitiba, for instance, there will be a film festival with South American and Arab movies and a gastronomy fair with food being prepared by refugees. All the details are in the online folder (this year there won’t be a printed version).
On this note, refugees will be the topic of a seminar organized in partnership with the Education Department of the São Paulo State government. The event will be held from March 30 to April 1 at theater Teatro Fernando Azevedo and will have representatives from the United Nations (UN), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Arab League, Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty) and other organizations – plus, of course, of refugees.
All the events are for free, as is the seminar.
Quick info
South-American Festival of Arab-African Culture (SACA)
From March 18 to 31
Several venues (online folder: https://issuu.com/bibliaspa/docs/folder_130mmx230mm_viii_festival_sa)
Information: https://www.facebook.com/festivaldaculturaarabe/
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
